Strict Scrutiny - Our Favorite Things, 2024

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

In the spirit of the holidays, Leah, Kate & Melissa force themselves to say something nice about each Supreme Court Justice. Yes, all of them. Then they take a break from the tomfoolery at One First Street to share their favorite things. Whether you’re doing some very last-minute holiday shopping, looking to indulge yourself, or craving a good book or podcast, there are ideas for everyone. Programming note: we’re taking a break next week, but will be back on January 6, 2025 with a very special–and timely–episode on the presidency. Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

Mr. Chief Justice, please report. It's an old joke, but when a man argues against two beautiful ladies like this, they're going to have the last word. She spoke, not elegantly, but with unmistakable clarity. She said, I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks. Hello and welcome back to Strict Scrutiny, your podcast about the Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. We're your hosts. I'm Melissa Murray. I'm Leah Litman.

And I'm Kate Shaw. Every year for the last few years, we have done a Favorite Things episode, and we wanted to keep up that tradition. So per usual, we're going to offer some gift-giving ideas, kind of guides of our own, you can use if they're helpful. But we're also adding, and we've added a bit over the years and we're going to continue to add today, some hopefully fun new traditions that, if they work, will add some levity, some warmth, maybe some joy to what has been a trying few months.

So, we hope you enjoy the episode. So, first up, we are going to start a new tradition. And it's going to be a go around game. And we are going to say our favorite things about each justice. So should we go in order of seniority? Sure. OK.

Let's start with the chiefy chief. I love that he showed his true colors last year. Wow, that's a good one, Kate, that he's really not an institutionalist. I think it's hard for anyone with a straight face to claim that now, and I appreciate that the wool has fallen away from the eyes of all. And by not only joining, but actually writing the insanity that it was Trump versus United States and also Loper-Brite, I think he showed us who he is and I think that's actually useful information. I like that. I was going to say I appreciate that he doesn't do weird shit to cover up

his male pattern baldness. Respect. I also like this is kind of related to yours, Kate, if I'm going to be forced to say something not about appearances and looks. Like, he is the savviest politician in the entire world. Because it was looking like he was losing control of the court. And he regained it and showed us that with a vengeance. And I just think people might have something to learn about the insane political instincts and long games and machinations of John Roberts.

So yeah, he was like the Tom Hanks character in that pirate movie when Sam Alito was like, I'm the captain now. He's like, no, bitch, you're not, actually. And yeah. I was actually going to also say a hair thing, but I wasn't thinking about his male pattern baldness. I I really like that he is committed to the George Clooney circa

1995 male forward Caesar. And I like that for him. And I'm sorry, you're going to have to explain that. He really is a haircut. It's like a haircut. It's like it's a very sort of forward haircut. Yeah. Yeah. And he's fine. I'm trying to say nice haircut. Yeah, yeah. And so I'm fine. I'm trying to say nice things. Yeah. I feel like this is not the same without JVN,

but we will press on. I don't know if we're gonna go hair on all of them. No, no. Okay, next up would be Justice Thomas, who wants to go first on this one? I think I have one. Okay. I don't know if you guys feel this,

but I have sensed this slight vibe shift, which is I think six have one. Okay. I don't know if you guys feel this, but I have sensed this slight vibe shift, which is I think six months ago we were pretty sure that if Trump won he would be out the door quickly to make space for somebody much, much younger. And I think his ego is getting in the way and he's not going anywhere, at least right away. And that could save us from someone 40 years younger than him, which I appreciate. So that's what I'll say about things.

I don't know if it's ego in as much as what would the utility of giving him private jet travel and fancy vacations be if he weren't on the court. So I like that he is just so unabashed about it. The man had a whole separate income stream that basically duplicated his actual salary. Well, so what I was going to say is he seems to be good at asking for things

without asking for them, right? Like the conversation that ProPublica reported between him and the Republican legislator, where he was like, you know, unless you raise those salaries, you're going to get some retirements, after which the billionaires stepped up to basically offer a set alternative funding stream. The guy knows how to drop a hint.

Passive aggressive. I like it. Yeah. OK. Next up would be friend of the pod, Samuel Alito. What can I say about Sam? So my highlight for him would be, or my favorite thing would be every hero needs a villain.

And I feel like he is very good at being ours. So thank you, Sam. He gave Leah a whole book and I will always appreciate that. I'm going to go be shallow. I do think it's amazing that he's managed to be post-70, and his skin looks relatively supple. It has fallen off in the last couple of years.

I'm not going to lie. He was a lot better when we started the pod, but still pretty strong. And I also like how supportive he is of his wife. Yeah, and her rights and her flags. Next, Justice Sotomayor. So I think it is truly admirable the pains she goes to to continue doing her job with such care and attention to details

and to every litigant, even while her colleagues are just embroiled and descending into madness. I think about, Kate, you mentioned your colleague Karen Taney's foreword to Harvard Law Review about how the court curates its own docket, right? And the cases that it chooses to give attention to and the litigants it chooses to give attention to. And I think Justice Sotomayor really

models someone who gives attention to every case and every litigant in a way that is really admirable. I have recently had occasion to reread the immunity decision, and that dissent remains one for the ages. And I just really appreciate that she gave us that in this unbelievably shitty term the court had last year that it produced that dissent. So I obviously like a lot of things

about Justice Sotomayor, but I think related to the court, my favorite thing about her is she is always willing to try and find the kernel of good in her colleagues, even where most of us might really question if it exists. Like she, I mean, she's on this. We've been going around saying our favorite things about all of them. No, but I mean, she really digs deep.

I mean, she's on this like girls trip with Amy Coney Barrett. I mean, she really, she, she really tries to make it congenial. And even when I don't even know how she does it. So good for her. Justice Kagan. Justice Kagan. I like how cheeky she is. Um, yeah, so that would definitely be one thing. I feel like I have repeatedly expressed this,

but the utter frustration she evinces, sometimes with cheekiness, sometimes with like barely concealed rage. But the frustration like she clearly has at the stupidity and hackishness of her colleagues and some lower court judges is so eminently relatable. I love it. And I also think the way she writes makes, not makes me, but like helps me want to stay in the fight and to keep fighting, right? And it feels

like a shout of like, we ride at dawn that is just like energizing. KAZ COMPTON And I feel that way about both her writing and her persona at and substantive questions during oral arguments. Like it is profoundly energizing to listen to her eviscerate and also listen to her lift up advocates who deserve both of those kinds of treatment. Like listening to her, as we've highlighted with Solicitor General Prelogger, essentially just serve Prelogger these pitches that Prelogger uses to make these extraordinary arguments and also the kind of like unsparing contempt that she demonstrates towards some of the

advocates who appear before her and deserve it. Always polite and always graceful, but I do find like a real jolt of energy often comes from listening to her at deserve it. Always polite and always graceful. But I do find a real jolt of energy often comes from listening to her at her argument. Again, I think she's super cheeky. I also appreciate that she goes on this summer tour where she goes to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. And basically, she's just like, why can't we have an ethics code?

Yeah, exactly. What's the problem? She's just basically trolling. And everyone's like, yeah, why can't we have an ethics code? Is there one? Yeah, exactly. What's the problem? She's just basically trolling. And everyone's like, yeah, why can't we have an ethics code? She's like, I don't know. I think it'd be great. I'd be down. Love that.

She's great. All right. Neil Gorsuch. Neil M. Gorsuch. I like that he brings geographic diversity to the court. Neil M Gorsuch. I like that he brings geographic diversity to the court. So I like that his self-satisfaction makes him easy to criticize or OK to criticize

without seeming like I am going too far or like we are going too far just because he's just so. He makes snarking fun. Meal. Right, exactly. He justifies snarking, basically. I like that he wrote a book that someone, not us, because we don't have time, but someone is going to write an extraordinarily satisfying take-down book review of.

Please, I'm putting this out to the universe, because his book has of. Please, I'm putting this out to the universe because his book has, I think, some profoundly dubious characterization of some basic factual dimensions of some of the cases he talks about. And we just recently finished our hate-read book review of Josh Hawley's Manhood, the Masculine Virtues America Needs. And I don't think we have it in us to do the same to Gorsuch's book, but I really would like someone to. And I appreciate that Neil wrote a book that will make that easy for the right reviewer. Next up, Justice Kavanaugh. You can keep the silence in.

Okay, weirdly, I am going to say something you guys will probably jump down my throat for. But I, during oral arguments, he seems like he's trying to be liked so hard that I sometimes almost want to like him. Oh, God. It almost works. Or it's not quite that I want to like him, but I feel like his kind of keening need to please could be useful under some circumstances in substantive cases.

Like he just wants to be liked so much it feels like that, you know, down the road, that could be helpful. It could get him onto the right side of some issues. And yet it has never actually proved to help. Not yet. It hasn't yet. But it just feels like it's out there as a real possibility. False hope. So I don't know if I've said this before or suggested it

before, but I look at Brett Kavanaugh as, in some ways, like an inspiring story about how much you can achieve without having any real talent or smarts. So if I look around at the world, the TikTokker Addison Rae is now a Grammy nominee, right? Like that is inspiring. And in some ways, so too is the fact

that Brett Kavanaugh managed to be a Supreme Court justice despite his mediocrity. I think it's great that he's a pretty good athlete for his age. He did run that 5K. I know, that's what I'm thinking of. He was really fast. Yeah, that's what she said. Yeah, he's a good athlete.

I mean, we're all getting up there and not all of us, I'm not looking at you, Kate, but I am looking at you. Like we're not all posting like sub four marathons. Is that a thing? Well, we're talking 5Ks. He's running 5Ks. I don't think sub-4 marathons. Is that a thing? Well, we're talking 5Ks. He's running 5Ks. I don't think he's running marathons.

He's killing it. No, but sub-8-minute miles. He's running fast. Yeah, he's killing the genre. Good for him. Got it. Got him at that. No, that's good.

I'm just being snarky, Kate, because I'm not running marathons, and I'm glad you are. And I'm glad he's doing it, too. Good for him. Justice Barrett. I like her school marm energy. I like that she stays on that. She reminds me of Eliza Wilder in Little House on the Prairie. She was the school teacher and Almanzo's sister before Laura became the school teacher. She's kind of like prim. I feel like, teacher and just like kind of like prim and like I feel like you know like and she's an equal opportunity destroyer like she will wrap everyone's knuckles like not just her liberal sisters but

also I don't mean sisters in that she's liberal but like they're ladies and she will also wrap the conservative brothers like she's just like she's an equal opportunity school mom and I like that for her. I think she's been conditioning her hair differently and better, and I like it. I think there's been some improvements in her hair. I appreciate the deluluness of her thinking that her Republican bro colleagues are engaged in the project of law. I just think it must be nice to be able to inhabit

that type of fantasy world. That's what always gets her school marming going. Exactly. Yeah. That's where she's like, what do you mean? She's wrapping knuckles. I'm like, yeah. But I like that.

I like that she's there for that. Yeah. All right. Finally, last but certainly not least, Justice Katanji Brown Jackson. Favorite thing about Justice Jacksonanji Brown Jackson. Favorite thing about Justice Jackson? Go Kate.

I mean that she decided to be the first Supreme Court justice to like take a turn on Broadway, like legendary. I love that. That she's been thinking about that since college. I like that too. Yeah, there is so much to like, like the energy and positivity that she brings to the oral arguments, like while still being able to channel like the righteous indignation and kind of horror,

like what her colleagues are doing. Like, I just think that is a really tricky balance to be able to strike and she somehow does it. And also anyone who can secure Beyonce concert tickets, that is some- And disclose them. And disclose them. Respect, respect.

So my favorite thing is that she's married to Dr. Patrick Jackson, and before you jump all over me, let me explain myself. It's not him, per se. But I like that she has him out there being so unabashedly adoring of her. And she's just sort of thinking, you're like, yes, bitches, this is what I deserve. I am beautiful.

I am smart. I am capable. And this is what I deserve, a doctor who unabashedly adores and worships me. And I think every person needs to know that that is what they deserve, someone who unabashedly adores everything about them and is leveling on their level. And that's what I love about her. Aspire to more. One of the many charming things about her memoir is the sort of early development of

her relationship in college. They were really young when they got together, she and Patrick. Anyway, so it's a very, very... I saw your eyebrows go up like, where is she going with this? I can't. You landed it. You landed it. I did. I did. It's all very PG. Next up is our gift giving ideas.

We are going to go around and offer recommendations for something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. You should also use this if you have grabby, asky kids. Like just limit them to four gifts, something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. Follow us for more parenting tips. So first up is something you want. I'm going to go big in my asks here.

So I want an album, recordings of all of the acoustic surprise songs from the Ares tour, especially the mashups. I just think she has to release that as an album. It would be incredible. I would love it. So that's one thing. Second, smaller, a portrait of my dog.

I already have like three or four, but you can never have too many. My wants are pretty minimal, I guess, a bit like the Fifth Circuit. I would really like the Elena Kagan gold paperclip chain necklace. I know it's not just her gold paperclip chain necklace, but I saw her wearing it once, and I really loved it.

It's just really simple, and it looks really nice. And I'm hoping that someone will get one for me for the holidays. Quince has a very good one but lots of other jewelry stores like Anna Luisa have them as well but it's just kind of a classic thing and you can layer it. It's really great. The other thing I would want is like just a totally rando gift. I want a consumer classic retro manual typewriter. I don't know if I'll actually type on it but I would like to put it in my background and have it on the shelf just looking cute.

As Taylor Swift said, who uses typewriters anyways? Well, maybe not me, but I think I would like to decorate with it. I just love the idea of an old school typewriter. And then I just saw this new green pan, non-stick ceramic cookware. And you all know I cannot stand to cook. But maybe I would if I had these really great pans. And then the last thing I just really want,

I want an alternative to Amazon Prime so I can stop being Jeff Bezos' bitch. I like the go big asks, dream big. There are small local efforts to do like alternatives to Amazon Prime. So there's a like in New York there's a grocery delivery app called Mercado which will get from like lots of Sahadis will deliver from there like this. There's like a seafood place in Brooklyn by me, Mermaid's Garden I think it's called that is on there.

Anyway so it's they do like Italy now also. Anyway, so if you wanna like avoid Instacart and like Whole Foods slash Amazon, but for grocery delivery, Mercado I think is an alternative. There's like an annual fee, but it might be worth it. But you're saying like, that's not everything under the sun I need. I need, but it's impossible for somebody to enter the market and be a genuine competitor.

So I think you need to replace with multiple alternatives that fill some of the Amazon-shaped gap. What I need is someone to send me like three styrofoam balls and some acrylic paint and pipe cleaners the night before a diorama is due. Like that's what I need. Someone who's gonna do that in two days or less. But I do think you said something completely offhand

to me the other day about going to the LEGO's website. And there are things that you will sometimes do on Amazon because it's fast. And Amazon does have some LEGOs. But you know what? You know where you can find a lot more LEGO sets? The LEGO store. If you go to the fucking LEGO website.

And so I actually ordered a couple of really good sets from the LEGO website. So yes, do you have to like, sometimes depending on whatever device you use, enter your credit cards. Well, no, no, I'm saying like, no, you have to, it's a little, that's the, that is the cost. And the benefit is like the ease and like, you know, seamless transactions. But sometimes you have to put in a credit card, just make yourself spend a couple of extra minutes doing your online shopping in order to diversify the places that you give your monies beyond just Jeff credit card, just make yourself spend a couple of extra minutes doing your online shopping

in order to diversify the places that you give your monies beyond just Jeff Bezos. What's your something you want? So a couple of things that I want. I feel like this might be related to that necklace that you mentioned. I have not seen Elena Kagan's paperclip necklace, but I do have a paperclip-ish necklace from a designer named Jennifer Fisher. My husband got this for me. I love it.

I would kind of like more of her jewelry. And if folks don't know her, now you do. Okay, so there is a designer on the Lower East Side named Kallmeier who makes beautiful suits. So my friend Isa dressed me for both of our live shows in June, including this like mustard suit I wore to the Tribeca live show that is by this designer, Kallmeier. My friend Isa dressed me for both of our live shows in June, including this like mustard suit I wore to the Tribeca live show that is by this designer, Kallmeier. And I want one of her suits that I actually own as opposed to just borrow.

So that's another thing I want. I have, so this is literally me just sharing something that I have found incredibly useful in my life and with my family is we have an electric scooter that we are now on our second electric scooter. We had one last year that we just kind of rode into the ground and we have a second one. Rides two people. We like ride our kids around in like the one to two mile radius where we have to take people for basketball practice and you know piano lessons and things like that.

And it's actually kind of amazing if you are in an urban place and don't have a lot of access to a car and sometimes need to go places that are just a little far to walk with a kid and the subway doesn't conveniently go to. Electric scooters are actually amazingly helpful. Are you worried about getting hit by something or do you wear a helmet when you ride? We wear helmets. So, I wear a helmet and the kid wears a helmet and I mostly go where there are bike lanes and I feel like people are pretty acclimated to bike lanes. But like, yeah, there's, you know, a non-zero risk that happens. So I think you have to be super, super vigilant.

But I've been an urban cyclist for, you know, 25 years. And so I'm really used to being very active monitoring kind of the movements of cars and pedestrians around. So I feel like I'm a good defensive scooter. But yeah, there's obviously a risk. Okay. And the last thing I want is I want some WNBA tickets. I want those too. I want to see Ellie the Elephant so badly. Me too. So the games are, so we're talking about the New York Liberty, but if you live in a city

that has, there's not one in every city. There are like a dozen teams now. There were six or eight when they started 20-some years ago. But the WNBA is an unbelievable delight and it's exploding in popularity, but it's still a lot cheaper to go see a WNBA playoff game than it is to see like NBA playoff game. Like my games are now the finals are five games, not seven. But my kids and I and my husband went to two of the five of the playoff games that the Liberty won this year and the tickets were totally reasonable. the five of the playoff games that the Liberty won this year. And the tickets were totally reasonable.

And the team is amazing. Yeah, Ellie the Elephant is amazing. The crowd is amazing. It's like, I wish when we had been kids, there had been women professional athletes like this. I just think I would have, at least as a kid, developed a very different relationship to professional sports spectatorship than I did.

I just like was a little annoyed that it was all men in all these sports that seemed to select for like the things that men's bodies were better at or that they trained better at. And I was just kind of irritated by the whole enterprise. And so I just never got super into watching professional sports.

And I think I would have if the WNBA had been a big thing when I was a kid. And I love that my kids are super into it. And it's not just my 13 year old daughter, but like my 10 year old boy and his like super bro-y friends know the New York Liberty stats like they know the- year old daughter, but like my 10 year old boy and his like super bro-y friends know the New York Liberty stats like they know the love stats. Sabrina Inescue.

Yeah. They have jerseys. Like they went, there was like a celebration at Barclays after they won the playoffs, after they won the finals and they went and spent like six hours like listening to Chuck Schumer talking shit. Like it was amazing. So, and these are like these kind of free tickets they were just giving out in Brooklyn. Anyway, WNBA tickets, like it doesn't need to be the whole season, but like a little

10 game package or something. Melissa, we should go in on those. We should definitely go in on them. I do remember when WNBA started. I'm having fomos. This is why it stinks to live somewhere else. What I want, I want Leah to just like spend a year or a semester at one of the fine law schools in the New York City area. Can we please do that? Let's make this happen. It's not up to me. Or you could just fly out. We can go to one of these games.

But I remember when the WNBA got started. And you're right, Kate. When we were kids, I think the only thing where women's sports were kind of a big deal were the Olympics. Like every, like really episodically, every four years, we'd find some very small teenager to celebrate because she was a great gymnast. Now something we need.

Oh, girl. Yeah, where to start. So one is emotional support fill in the blank. So Kate, you mentioned how your students gave you the plush potato after the election, I got an emotional support pickle as a gift. Your students gave you gifts after the election? No, this is not from a student.

I'm just as a gift. I got an emotional support pickle and it really makes me smile. Like a little crochet and stuffy kind of thing. Okay, I don't think I knew it was a genre. There's a pickle, there's a potato. Exactly, exactly. I really I knew it was a genre. There's a pickle, there's a potato. Exactly.

I really am into that. And I think they just make nice, nice gifts. So the other thing I need is I need the Wisconsin Supreme Court race to go the way it should this next year. That is super important to maintain control of that court. Yeah. So I'm going to start big. I need an independent media.

And how do I get that? I mean, I'm already zero for one with the Amazon Prime. But I think I can make a dent in this one by getting a year-long subscription to my local NPR affiliate. So that could be WNYC here in New York. But I also really love supporting my longtime Bay Area affiliate, KQED, and all of those folks.

And I think that's something I'm going to do this year just because independent media matters more than ever, and that is really important. Other emotional support that I think I need, Leah, I'm going to really dig into this muslin comfort sheets and blankets. So for January 20th, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in bed with the covers over my head and I want covers that are super soft and breathable. And I really want to try this because it's supposed to be this muslin and it wears really well over time

and when you wash it, it gets softer and softer. So I want to try that. I also want to try the Barabee weighted blanket. So if it gets really bad on January 20, maybe the blanket can just be weighted enough to smother me to death and put me out of my misery. That would be great. And if that doesn't work.

Less weighted than that. That would be ideal. Well, and if I then have to come out of my shell and meet people and interact, I want some Jow hand refresher. So this is a hand sanitizer, but it's also hardcore aroma therapy. Every time I use it, I'm just like putting my hands in my face so I can smell it. And I know my hands are clean afterwards, too.

And then I'm going to go home after shaking all those hands with people who maybe attended the inauguration because Unity. And I'm going to use my Anson towels. These are my absolute favorite towels. They're awesome. Japanese waffle weave. They're super absorbent. They look great. They come in a variety of very fashion forward colors.

Kate, you got any needs? I have so many needs, Melissa. Um, but I'll just mention a few of them. I agree, I also need an independent media. We all need an independent media. Sometimes employers will even match contributions to nonprofits, including nonprofit media orgs. So that might include NPR or ProPublica. If you're in New York, the city is a relatively new outlet.

If you're in Chicago, the Chicago Reader is being revived as a nonprofit. So these are all places to support and to check to see if your employer will match your support of to double your impact. That is like a real thing. One thing I feel like I need, I have, but I probably need more, and I also just think we all need in our lives, are group chats. I just feel like group chats are actually a very important social media. Maybe you guys know this.

Like I have, I'm on it. I'm not super active on it. I feel very conflicted about it. I'm very happy not to be on Twitter anymore. I do think the vibes on Blue Sky, as we have noted, are very good. And so I check Blue Sky pretty regularly. But the places that I find like the most fulfilling in sort of digital life are just various group chats. We have one we're on with Melody all the time. I have various

kind of like girlfriend groups. My husband and I have like a couple of groups that we were people we were tight with when we lived in DC. My family group chat. And those are just these spaces that, you know, there's not like strangers reading your words and you're not, you know Reading sort of strangers or like loose mutuals words It's just like your people and and that is I feel like the kind of digital interaction that actually is really healthy and generative And so I feel like less social media more group chats. I do like our group chat. Yeah, I love So we've done something you want something you need. Now I think it's time for something to wear. So Leah, what would you like to wear in the new year? I am obsessed with Skim's soft lounge.

Like that fabric on the pajamas is... It's really nice. So nice. I change into it seriously like every evening after like 8 p.m. I just, I love it. I love it. And it's like actual loungewear. It is. It is. So I cannot recommend that enough. I also am obsessed with the Cozierth viscous from bamboo crew neck. I put it on every morning when I do physical therapy. Like it has this really nice like buttery fabric but it's also light.

And so when I like work up a sweat it doesn't feel like too heavy. I work up a sweat, it doesn't feel too heavy. I really, really like it. Also super into the RealReal online consignment, basically where I get all my work wear now. And they just have amazing deals. So also the RealReal. Melissa's been mentioning these for years.

I should I have not ever tried the RealReal. I've been on the RealReal since 2013. Wow, I don't think I've been on that long. I actually ran into, I think, the GC of the RealReal or the associate GC and just completely fangirled. And she was like, no one's really approached me like this before. Get ready.

Get ready. The whole Strict Scrutiny team's on board. All right. I will get on board before next year, before our next failure thing. I'm gonna make sure you do. Like when I showed up in Austin wearing a wool blazer. It was September, I was like.

It was really hot, and Melissa was like, I've seen this blazer too many times, you need to change your clothes more, and also not wear a wool blazer in Austin in September. And that was true, and maybe a real real is the solution to that problem. I think it is the solution for you. I just like, it was uncomfortable because it was so warm. And maybe a RealReal is the solution to that problem. I think it is the solution for you. I'm just like, it was uncomfortable

because it was so warm. It's a beautiful blazer. It's fine. Yeah, it's nice. Oh, it's an Arjun blazer. It's very nice. But it was the wrong seasonally off. Seasonally off.

That's OK. And that's why I'm here for you. I'm here to tell you these things in a non-judgmental but judgmental way. A little judgmental. A little bit. OK, so in addition to the RealReal, what are your something to wear recommendations? Well, if you're going out and you're wearing like a fancy dress

and you want like a smooth line or you just want to make sure that you've got lots of support with your outfit, I cannot recommend highly enough Honeylove Shapewear. It's really fantastic. It smooths everything and the best part is your internal organs don't move around. It's fantastic. It smooths everything. And the best part is your internal organs don't move around. It's not like you're like, whoa, is that my kidney that's now up by my liver? It's not a literal corset? Yeah, it's exactly. I mean, there was this period where people were really into waist shapers because the Kardashians were into it.

And honestly, it just looks so uncomfortable. This is not that. It's just really nice and comfortable. It's easy to get on. I mean, some of the shapewear, it's like hydraulics. You're trying to get into that. You need a spotter. This is much easier and very effective.

I really like it. So I highly recommend Honeylove. And they've got lots of different kinds of shapewear for all kinds of things. I really love the Aritzia Super Puff Belt Bag, which holds a little bit more than the very ubiquitous Lulu Lemon Fanny Pack, but it's still very lightweight and stylish, comes in a lot of different colors and different fabrics.

It's fantastic. This is not a clothing recommendation, but I am totally into Danessa Marek's Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder, which is this really interesting, no makeup foundation situation. You take a little brush and you just dab it on, and it just blurs your skin tone. So you don't need more makeup on top. It just smooths everything out.

And a little goes a long way. So you pay $39 for this. But I think it will literally last until the rapture. It's so like, it's just a little goes a really long way. And then finally, I really love the Veronica Beard iconic scuba dickie jacket. So it's a classic blazer that you can wear on your own, or they have these little zip in inserts that you can use to change the look. But here's my caveat. It's crazy expensive. It's almost $700 for the blazer and then in addition for the inserts. But, and this is

where the real real comes in, sometimes you can find really gently used or even new with tags versions of this blazer on the real real and you can pick them up at a sizable discount. on the real real and you can pick them up at a sizable discount or if you really want to try something new quince has a really fantastic dupe of the scuba blazer and it's just 89 dollars for the blazer and then a little bit more for the inserts and it looks really great super professional very very versatile this is so pathetic that what i i'm but i i'm listening to your recommendations and I will heed them and make them my own because as we've discussed I just like I'm not attentive enough to I don't like know enough even to know really what I want. So I we do need to work on my wardrobe in 2025. One thing I do want I actually have a version it, but I want a better version of it, is a really

good running water backpack, to carry your water with you while you run. Because I ran my first marathon a month ago. Congrats. And thank you. It was not fast, but I ran a five-hour marathon, which in the marathon world is not a fast marathon. It's actually like, there was definitely an 85-year-old lady in front of me as I was in the last mile of the marathon. is like not a fast marathon. It's actually like there was definitely like an 85 year old lady in front of me as I was like in the last mile of the marathon.

But I ran it. It was an awesome experience. But the training often happened like out of the city and I did not like when you're running like 10 or 15 miles like you do need to have water with you because if you're not in the city with water fountains, you just you know, you can't like stop to drink along the way. Anyway, Solomon is like one brand that makes like nice water backpack, so I invested in one, but it was like not super big, and so I think I need a little bit more water because I want to keep running.

I think the Camelback has one that's really what people seem to like a lot. I think I should try that kind. Yeah, maybe I should. But anyway, isn't that a sad addition to my... So you want a water backpack. That's what you want to wear. Something to wear. That's what I want to wear. You want a water backpack. A water backpack. I also, I want, but I've also already ordered these.

So I more want to share with you guys and our listeners. I think family jammies are really fun. And we do Hannah Anderson family jammies. The dog ones pretty cute in the two years. Three years, I guess, has been since we've this be our third year with Shadow and some family jammies. She's like a big girl now. So like they don't always have the extra large and whatever pattern that people

jammies come in. But I found some this year. But yeah, the Hannah Anderson ones are my rec. I used to love Hannah Anderson when my kids were really little. Yeah, turns out though. They're really soft. Yeah, it's good high quality kids clothing. But they also excel in the matched family jammies sets.

And dog jammies, apparently. Yeah, and dogs are well part of the family. So you want a water backpack and pajamas for you and your dog. Anything else? These are my... I am going to take over your wardrobe this year. I think you might need to do that. Yeah, yeah. So final category is something to read.

We will start with some friend of the pod favorites, so some of our, I think, collective favorites from people who are friends of the pod. One is Vigilante Nation by John Michaels and David Knoll. This is a book about laws that are empowering vigilantes, as the title suggests, kind of like SB8 and other laws like it and kind of what that structure is doing to our democracy. Second is The Interbellum Constitution by Alison LeCroy.

This book is a phenomenal, rich, exhaustive look at federalism before the Civil War. I think so much of the book is really going to change how we teach and understand federalism before the Civil War. I think so much of the book is really going to change how we teach and understand federalism going forward. So we definitely recommend that. Also, Anti-Democratic by David Daly, understanding and unpacking the different anti-democratic pathologies within the United States. So those are I think kind of the group ones. My particular ones that I loved last year, you might have heard me mention this in

the bookshop.org ads, but Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. I absolutely loved. It's not a bright happy book, but it's just like a very powerful read from the perspective of you know the victims of a Ted Bundy-like serial killer. And it's fantastic. It just like looks at all of the different ways that like misogyny infected, like our understanding of the crimes, the coverage of the crimes, the way they were dealt with. It's really, really good. Funny Story by Emily Henry, another delightful read. You Should Be So Lucky by Kat Sebastian, another kind of like romantic book

that has some like light fun elements to it. The Women by Kristin Hannah, I think that was pretty popular this last year. Fight Like Hell by Kim Kelly about the history of the labor movement. The Hunter by Tana French and The Blue Stockings by Susanna Gibson, which is a history of this early cadre of women writers. And I just love that. Also not books, but recommend to read subscriptions to Law Dork, Chris Geidner's Legal Newsletter,

Abortion Every Day by Jessica Valenti, and One First Street by Steve Lattic. And one book I am anxiously waiting for in 2025 is The Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean. I love her you know historical romance books. This is going to be a modern one and I'm just super psyched to see what she does with it. Awesome. So I've read some but not all of those. So that is a great list. I do. I'm going to repeat a few that I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before. So I've read some, but not all of those. So that is a great list. I, too, am going to repeat a few that I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before. So I really loved Miranda July's All Fours and Percival Everett's James. I mean, just the formal conceit of James is just so brilliant. And I was a little bit like, I don't know if I even like love

Huck Finn that much. Do I need to reread? It's a little bit like Demon Copperhead. I was like, do I need to reread David Copperfield to actually read and get Demon Copperhead? And the answer is absolutely not. James is, you know, for many people was like the best book of the year. It is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim in the book, James in this book, who is the enslaved person who accompanies Huck on and Tom Sawyer for part of it on this, you know, kind of journey down the river to an island and much, much, much more. And I don't want to say too much about the formal conceit and the language of the book, but it is stunningly brilliant in conception and execution. I absolutely

loved it. Highly, highly recommend it. Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower I had somehow never read and read sometime earlier this year, and it's set in 2024, which is pretty wild and has shockingly current resonance including some, there's dystopia and political figures who will just like ring very very current even though the book is you know decades old. Elena Ferrante's Days of Abandonment I had never read even though you know I've read other books of hers and that's a tough but really excellent book. Adele Waldman's Help Wanted is a fiction book, but it's kind of in the tradition of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, which is, that's a reported book where she goes

undercover and like works a retail job. Waldman kind of did the same to research this book, but then the book itself is not this memoir but in fact a fictional account of this kind of like big box store in upstate New York and this amazing cast of characters in the store. And it's just incredibly well done. I also really loved Hillary Leichter's Terrace story, a very, very weird sort of couple short stories woven together, but neither kind of defies the novel or novella versus short story distinction. Anyway, really loved that. And then a handful of nonfiction books.

One is Eve by Cat Behanon. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing her last name properly, but it is kind of an evolutionary biology book about women's bodies and has chapters on everything from menopause to breastfeeding to why women are better distance athletes. And it is lyrical and beautiful. She's like a PhD in fiction. And she's not a doctor or a PhD scientist, but it is deeply researched medicine and science in the book. And I thought it was incredible. And then we've had on the show before the authors of a couple of wonderful books that Leah didn't mention, so I did want to shout out

Rebecca Nagel's By the Fire We Carry and Dylan Penningroth's Before the Movement, two extraordinary books published in the last year. By the Fire We Carry has made, like, several best book lists, and then Dylan Penningroth's Before the Movement and Steve Lattic's Shadow Docket just won the Order of the Coif Book Award, um, both of them, so, yeah.

Two more. One, I finally read David Blight's It just won the Order of the Coif Book Award, both of them. So yeah. Two more. One, I finally read David Blight's Frederick Douglass Project of Freedom, a Douglass biography that got a lot of praise when it was published a few years ago. I say read, but I actually listen to it. But it's a great, it's beautifully read. And I don't know what, 20 hours or something?

So it takes a long time. But I highly recommend it if you have not read it. And then I reread To Kill a Mockingbird with my seventh grader who was reading it in seventh grade. So last spring, she's in eighth grade now. And I'm glad I did. I actually, as a lawyer, had not revisited it. I hadn't revisited it since I was a kid.

And so I really enjoyed that. So that's what I got. OK. Those are all really good ones. I also read James, and we talked about it. I thought James was absolutely fantastic. I also like Percival Everett's Erasure, which is the basis for the movie American Fiction,

starring Jeffrey Wright, which is fantastic as well. And that got me down a big rabbit hole, where I figured out that one of my favorite authors, Danzie Senna, is Percival Everett's wife, which I did not know. And Danzie Senna had a great debut novel back in the day called Caucasia, but she just wrote a new book this year called Colored Television, and it's just a fantastic novel. She's a terrific writer in her own right, and Colored Television is a hilarious send-up of academia and literary culture. And it's about Jane, a mixed-race writer and college

teacher who is desperate for money and struggling to finish her second novel and somehow talks her way into a meeting with a Hollywood producer who is making a sitcom about a biracial family. And it's kind of hilarious. So highly recommend that. I also read Jonathan Eaghe's King, A Life, and it is just amazing.

It's going to be the definitive biography of Martin Luther King. It won the Pulitzer Prize for biography this year. Just absolutely fantastic and sweeping and amazing. So highly recommend. I also loved Colm Toyben's Long Island, which is the sequel to his wildly successful Brooklyn. And this one finds Eilish Lacey, 20 years later, trapped in a marriage on Long Island with Tony, who was her love interest in the first book. And there is a

surprising turn of events that requires her to return to her Irish hometown and reconnect with old friends and an old love. And I'm just going to leave that tantalizing detail there. I also read Il-Yon Woo's Master Slave Husband Wife, An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom. And this was also a Pulitzer Prize winner. And it is just absolutely fantastic. It reads like a novel, but it's actually

nonfiction about these two enslaved people, William and Ellen Kraft, who basically went undercover to escape from Georgia to the north and then everything that follows. It's just absolutely amazing. So riveting and just it should be made into a movie, full stop, fantastic. And then my last one, which is absolutely fantastic,

is Rob Sears' The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump, the strictly unauthorized version. And Sears realized after reading some of Donald Trump's tweets that this is a man who has a way with words. And so he combed all of Trump's tweets that this is a man who has a way with words. And so he combed all of Trump's tweets and all of his speeches for signs of poetry and realized that if he just rearranged some of the phrases and words, beautiful verse emerged and the results are stunning and surprising and of course hilarious. And I highly recommend it. It's completely sold out on

bookshop.org because it's that great. Okay, so that is, I think, I hope, a useful list of book recs for your book gifting and just general reading pleasure over the holidays and in the coming year. Let's now mention a couple of podcasts. And I just have two that I wanted to mention, but I'm curious if there are others that you all are listening to that we should tell our listeners about. The first is one that friend of the show Cliff Sloan flagged for me.

It's called Ear Witness. And it's a story of DeForest Johnson, who really appears to be, I haven't listened to the whole, it's like eight, I think, episodes, but really appears to be an innocent man who has been on Alabama's death row for a quarter century for the murder of a police officer. He was convicted basically on ear witness testimony, which is where the title comes from. So I'm really enjoying that and looking forward to finishing it. And I also want to mention a podcast called Less Radical, which is about Dr. Bernie Fisher,

who is a fascinating figure who really revolutionized our understanding of and treatment of breast cancer. The show was produced by our own fabulous producer, Melody Rowell. The thanks that Dr. Fisher got for his revolutionary work was being dragged before Congress for a misguided hearing that destroyed his reputation. And the themes of the podcast are just all too familiar.

Politicians, strong arming scientists, women being cut out of their healthcare choices, and it's a six part series. Episodes are all out now if you want to binge them. Right. Mine are pretty quick, because I don't have time to listen to any other podcasts but the ones on the Crooked Network.

But when I do, I listen to Mind Your Own with Lupita and Yongo. This is by Lemonada. And it's a storytelling podcast in which the Oscar-winning actress narrates stories from the modern African diaspora. It's really great. There's also a really terrific podcast. It's a series called Rebel Spirit with Akilah Hughes.

And it's a documentary where Hughes goes back to her hometown in Florence, Kentucky to convince her town to abandon their longtime high school mascot, the rebel, in favor of the humble southern buttermilk biscuit. What ensues is a very richly reported meditation on race and culture and sports. Really fantastic. And then finally, this isn't a podcast, it's a Netflix documentary and it's called Yacht Rock, the documentary. And it's absolutely

fantastic. And I will not hear a word against it. It is the Meghan Markle of 1970s, 1980s music documentaries and I loved it. Okay, so now to bookend our gift guides with another favorite things go around game. We are going to usher in a new tradition about saying our favorite things about each other. One thing collectively, which is that this is like an aspiration in addition to favorite things, which is I absolutely love it when we very occasionally in our insane lives get a little bit of like downtime together to hang out like when we were in Hawaii like a year and a half ago. That was so fun and I just really wish we had more time in our lives to occasionally do that.

We had a great roadie carrying our luggage and that was absolutely critical. He's fun but with or without any spouses of the pod. I really wish that we were able to do that more. You guys, I'm gonna do a little bit of collective. You guys are both so goddamn fast at synthesizing everything and writing and thinking. And I just admire the shit out of it, both like the speed and the depth that you both bring.

And I constantly am like, I saw the Fifth Circuit issued this crazy ass opinion with 150 different concurrences. And by the time I processed that, Leah has like read them all and like written up a show note about them. It's out of control. And you're just so generous and selfless, Leah, on the kind of labor front. And Melissa, I don't understand how you fire across all of the different literary, cultural, genre, like spaces that you do at any given time, deep history, you know, Greek philosophy, reality TV,

like it's insane and so impressive. Anyway, you two are just, I'm doing collectively, hope that's okay. Yeah, I'm just like endlessly impressed by both of you and feel deeply lucky that I get to spend time, you know, basking in your auras on a weekly basis. But I just wish we got to do it on the beach a little bit. Totally agree.

I'll go next, cause I don't wanna go after Melissa, cause I feel like Melissa's very good at this. And I don't want to follow her. So Melissa, I'll start with you. I feel like you are so good at the pull and the in-the-moment reference, where you can just immediately take something someone said and do this crazy pull, either from pop culture or philosophy or literature and whatnot, and

just make it hilarious. The references are out of control. Also, I don't think our listeners appreciate how fucking funny you are because you make us edit out all of the funny things. Or not all of the funny things, but many of the funny things you say. No, we leave it a lot, but there are so many that come out. There are so many that come out. Because they get a little cheeky.

Yeah. Oh, but they're so funny. Try not go to Dale. There's so many that come out. There's so many that come out. Because they get a little cheeky. Yeah. Oh, but they're so funny. Try not go to Dale. Also, style is off the hook. One time you said you liked a blazer I wore and I was like, fucking put it in the Louvre because I know I made it. It was a good blazer.

It was such a good blazer. There we go. So Kate, I can't believe you just said you are jealous of the speed and depth we go into. Because I feel like you are one of the craziest, busiest people I know. And you are constantly jetting around. But then you have five to 10 minutes to, I don't know, pop in to a note and then immediately add

like these like high level thoughts that I feel like make an episode and like make our commentary really work that I just like wouldn't have come up with. And second is you managed to be very cool without making me feel bad about myself. And I feel like that is a really admirable quality. And I'm not sure how you do it, because I

don't know many people who do. Thank you. All right, so it's my turn. I have to land this. OK. Let me just call out the folks in the background who are not on the camera right now, Melody and Michael, who make us sound great all year long.

You guys are absolutely fantastic. Melody, I so appreciate your patience with us because we are always turning it around, being like, hey, what about a whole new series this summer that we plan to take off on Project 2025? And I appreciate that you roll with it. You chide us gently sometimes and really sort of pull us back and try to keep it contained, but you're really good about letting us do our thing, and we really appreciate that. Michael, you are such a great new addition to the team. I love how you very graciously invite us to record,

so this isn't all for naught, and we always have backup recordings. Thank you for that, because some of us are not tech savvy and thank you for getting crooked to give me a new microphone In the new year, I appreciate that a lot and also Michael has to endure our pre recording chatter at the beginning of every episode and he handles it like a champ So cannot because it's wild. It is. It is. It's actually wild. Off the chains. And Melody, I feel like she keeps me cool and hip

with the kids. She's the one that got me into TikTok. So yeah, really. She's an agent of the Chinese gate. She is not. But she is just very generous and positive, but also has this cutting humor. So yeah, great combo.

Melody and I have some good book talk. They're not talks, really, but good side book conversations. And she's the one who turned me on to Book of the Month. Kate, I think you are the most generous person about other people's work. You always find a way to highlight other people's work and make it relevant to what we're talking about. And you're just really, really good at calling out and giving

people credit where we're just like we're so busy that it's sometimes hard and we can miss things that are really important. But you're always really great about calling attention to people whose work is really relevant and might go overlooked. And you're especially good about doing it for people who are junior.

I also love how gracious you are when we snark on your pop culture. It's a running bit. I think we have to keep doing it just because everyone expects it. But I love that you're trying to add more popular culture to your repertoire. No one else tries as hard to get up to speed.

I mean, if Brett Kavanaugh could just apply this kind of work ethic to other things, everything would be totally different. And I love that about you. Leah, you're like the heart and soul of this whole enterprise. You're always like, I was supposed to write the show note for the December recap. I went to go do it and found that you had already done most of it.

That happens all the time. You are like the beating heart of this. And you have such a clear vision for the show and what we should be doing and how we can be impactful, even when it feels like everything is just going to shit. So one of your best qualities is that you are unbelievably pessimistic and realistic, and yet you channel your rage into something positive. And it's so nicely complimenting

Kate's incredibly delusional optimism in some cases. It's just the perfect marriage. We are the perfect marriage, if you will. We are three people, so maybe we are polyamorous in that respect. And that's interesting too. But I love everything about this. I don't think I could have made it through November 6 through 10 without knowing I had you all to come back to. Because it was kind of a dark time. And knowing that I would be able to come back and talk to you guys about it made it easier.

I will also say, Leah, you should go into your own t-shirt making business. You just made me the best in search of emotional support billionaire t-shirt. And you're always doing stuff like that, making these great t-shirts. Back in the day when we used to make all that merch, it was really all you.

Just making merch constantly. And yeah, those were the salad days when we just made merch all the time. And it's your genius, all of it. And we just wear it. And we wear it proudly. So I'm glad we are all in this together. I'm excited for 2025.

Actually, I'm not excited for 2025, but I'm excited for 2025 with you all. And it's gonna be great. One of the only things about 2025. Ish. It's gonna bring some comfort. We're gonna be the real project 2025. That's what we're gonna, we're gonna rename this podcast,

the real project 2025 and watch's what we're going to rename this podcast, the real Project 2025. And no, no girl. We're not. All right. Finally, we have a tribute to our most favorite thing. You are listeners. Earlier this year, we asked you to send in voice memos telling us a little bit about yourself and when you listened to the pod.

And a brief kind of side note here, a special thank you to the listeners who responded to my desperate cries and pleas when I needed to go to the Heirs Tour after I couldn't go this past summer. And they literally made it possible. So Gianni Janke, Jennifer Buttrick, Laura Peddo, Alyssa Frederick, The insane grace and generosity you showed was truly moving. And I now have a video of myself seeing Cornelia Street live in which I burst into tears the moment I realized what song is playing. And yeah, I just cannot even articulate like how meaningful that was. But back to the listener voice memos. Okay, so we can't play all the listener voice memos,

but we did listen to them all and they mean so, so much to us. Our reviews aren't always the kindest and there are challenges to doing the podcast. And again, the best thing about this is you are listeners Our reviews aren't always the kindest and there are challenges to doing the podcast. And again, the best thing about this is you are listeners and we wanted to give you a taste of the Strict Scrutiny audience that makes this all possible and this community so wonderful.

Hello ladies. Oh, should I say bonjour mesdames? Hi, Strict Scrutiny. I'm coming to you from Zug, Switzerland. Greetings from Germany. From the upper valley of Vermont and New Hampshire. I'm calling from you from Zug, Switzerland. Greetings from Germany. From the Upper Valley of Vermont, New Hampshire.

I'm calling from the Great Southwest. I am an APOS government teacher and debate coach who works at an international school in Taipei, Taiwan. I'm a financial analyst listening to you from my home in Newcastle, Australia. I just finished my second year of law school at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. I'm Isaiah. I'm a first-generation law student and I just finished my 1L year at Mizzou. I am currently a law student in the southeastern United States, also known as HELL. I have completed my PhD and started a position as Assistant Professor of Musicology at Wichita State University.

I am a veterinary student at the University of California Davis. I'm in Mill Valley, California and I sell real estate here. I'm listening to you from Butte, Montana. I'm an attorney who works on offshore fisheries. I'm actually a physician. I practice anesthesiology here in North Dakota. For work, I'm an applied mathematician working on problems in the ocean domain. I'm a dairy farmer in Wisconsin.

I'm a sign language interpreter from Melbourne, Australia. I am a bat biologist. I'm a sign language interpreter from Melbourne, Australia. I am a bat biologist. I am a patent examiner. I am an OBGYN and a full-time abortion provider in Chicago. I always listen to the podcast on my Monday morning runs. I have had strict scrutiny in my ears on cross-country flights, on cross-country drives. I am a mother to a nine-month-old and I have been listening to the pod during my maternity leave and what I wanted to recommend for was empowering me to be a court watcher.

That is a genuine train sound. And in my small French town, I listen to you and I shake my head thinking that we are living in a strange world at a strange time. I've been listening a lot while mucking horse pens and stalls and given the Supreme Court decisions y'all have been going through, it just feels like the fact that I'm actually shoveling horse manure is relatable content. You've helped me learn about the law whilst flinging a lot of poop. I mean it's literally got to be in the thousands of pounds by this point.

So thank you for inspiring me, each and every one of you, for being true to who you are and making law approachable and fun even in the face of the demise of our democracy. I am just so appreciative of all your work and for making the Supreme Court and all its shenanigans so accessible. Now I listen to your podcast to keep abreast of how the right is dismantling the rule of law and get ideas for how I can help defend democracy and civil rights. It feels like a voice of sanity and reason. You guys allow me to process it along with you and release all of that rage that I feel.

As a fellow Swiftie I'll say that I definitely enjoyed the collective excitement over Taylor releasing the tortured Poets Department. I think that Taylor should absolutely make an appearance on the show. I love you guys, and thanks for the Taylor Swift references, too. I'm really just going to keep doing abortions by day

and keep listening to you all by night. Keep on fighting the good fight. And I'm sipping a Martha Rita and a Ginny Tonic, cheersing to you three. Please know that somewhere out there, there's a pretty run-of-the-mill transactional attorney brewing coffee in a firm and saying out loud with a grin, all I ask of our brethren is that they take their motherfucking feet off our necks. feet. I'll see you next. Some concluding notes. If there are positive or unhinged court developments you want us

to highlight in the new year, please feel free to write in with them. We love being able to celebrate the great things some of our listeners are helping to do. We all need to find positives these days. And a note on our programming, we will be off next week, but we'll return in the new year with a special episode tailored to the day. The episode will be released. So in the meantime, happy holidays from everyone at Strict Scrutiny and we will see you in the new year. Before we go, some additional thoughts. From gripping hidden histories to mysterious cold cases,

Crooked's limited series are your ultimate road trip or cozy couch companions. Whether you're driving to your in-laws, relaxing in front of the fire, or just avoiding those awkward family convos, unravel the mystery of a prominent judge's death in killing justice. Follow the shocking transformation

of a Chinese civil rights activist into a MAGA Trump supporter in Dissident at the Doorstep. Or immerse yourself in the hidden history of America's largest police force with Empire City, the untold origin story of the NYPD. Named one of the top podcasts of 2024 by Time magazine, Vulture, and the New York Times. You can binge these series and more, including Strict Scrutiny, at crooked.com. Or find them wherever you get your podcasts. Strict Scrutiny is a Crooked Media production hosted and executive produced by Leah Lippman, Melissa Murray, and me, Kate Shaw.

Produced and edited by Melody Rowell. Michael Goldsmith is our associate producer. Audio support from Kyle Seglen and Charlotte Landis. Music by Eddie Cooper. Production support from Madeleine Herringer and Ari Schwartz. Matt DeGroat is our head of production, thanks to our digital team, Phoebe Bradford and Joe Matuski. Subscribe to Strict Scrutiny on YouTube to catch full episodes.

Find us at youtube.com slash strict scrutiny podcast. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to Strict Scrutiny in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. And if you want to help other people find the show, please rate and review us. It really helps. Only if you're nice. Only if you're nice, not if you're naughty. Cole for you.