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Episode: Our Favorite Things, 2024

Author: Crooked Media
Duration: 01:04:39

Episode Shownotes

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

Full Transcript

00:00:02 Speaker_12
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.

00:00:44 Speaker_03
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 Littman.

00:00:53 Speaker_02
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.

00:01:07 Speaker_02
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.

00:01:22 Speaker_02
So, we hope you enjoy the episode.

00:01:24 Speaker_16
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.

00:01:43 Speaker_02
I love that he showed his true colors last year.

00:01:47 Speaker_03
That's a good one, Kate, that he's really not an institutionalist.

00:01:50 Speaker_02
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.

00:01:58 Speaker_02
And by not only joining, but actually writing the insanity that it was Trump versus United States and also Loper Bright, I think he showed us who he is. And I think that's actually useful information.

00:02:10 Speaker_16
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. This is kind of related to yours, Kate, if I'm going to be forced to say something not about appearances and looks.

00:02:27 Speaker_16
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.

00:02:40 Speaker_16
And I just think people might have something to learn about the insane political instincts and long games and machinations of John Roberts.

00:02:51 Speaker_03
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.

00:02:58 Speaker_03
You're not actually and yeah, I was actually gonna also say a hair thing But I don't I wasn't thinking about his male pattern baldness I I really like that.

00:03:07 Speaker_03
He's committed to the George Clooney circa 1995 male forward Caesar and I like that for him and I

00:03:15 Speaker_02
I'm sorry, you're going to have to explain that. Is that a haircut?

00:03:18 Speaker_03
It's like a haircut. It's a very sort of forward haircut. I'm trying to say nice things.

00:03:28 Speaker_02
I feel like this is not the same without JVN, but we will press on. I don't know if we're going to go hair on all of them. No, no.

00:03:34 Speaker_16
Next up would be Justice Thomas. Who wants to go first on this one?

00:03:41 Speaker_02
I think I have one. 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.

00:03:54 Speaker_02
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.

00:04:10 Speaker_03
I don't know if it's ego in as much as what would the utility of like 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.

00:04:24 Speaker_03
Like the man had a whole separate income stream that basically duplicated his actual salary.

00:04:30 Speaker_16
Well, so what I was going to say is he seems to be good at asking for things without asking for them, right?

00:04:37 Speaker_16
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 said alternative funding stream.

00:04:56 Speaker_16
You know, the guy knows how to drop a hint. Passive-aggressive. I like it. Yeah.

00:05:01 Speaker_03
Hmm.

00:05:02 Speaker_16
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.

00:05:22 Speaker_02
He gave Leah a whole book. And I will always appreciate that.

00:05:27 Speaker_03
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.

00:05:40 Speaker_03
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.

00:05:50 Speaker_16
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 like with such care,

00:06:09 Speaker_16
and attention to details and to every litigant, even while her colleagues are just embroiled and descending into madness.

00:06:19 Speaker_16
You know, I think about, Kate, you mentioned your colleague Karen Taney's four words to Harvard Law Review about how the court curates its own docket, right?

00:06:27 Speaker_16
And like 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.

00:06:39 Speaker_02
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.

00:06:58 Speaker_03
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

00:07:13 Speaker_03
most of us might really question if it exists.

00:07:17 Speaker_16
Like she, I mean, she's on this- Hey, we've been going around saying our favorite things about all of them.

00:07:21 Speaker_03
No, but I mean, she really digs deep. I mean, she's on this like girl's trip with Amy Coney Barrett. I mean, 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.

00:07:36 Speaker_03
I like how cheeky she is.

00:07:41 Speaker_16
Um, yeah, so that would definitely be one thing I, I feel like I have repeatedly expressed this but the utter frustration she evinces sometimes with cheekiness sometimes with like barely concealed rage.

00:07:56 Speaker_16
But the frustration 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

00:08:15 Speaker_16
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.

00:08:26 Speaker_02
And I feel that way about both her writing and her persona at and substantive questions during oral arguments.

00:08:32 Speaker_02
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

00:08:45 Speaker_02
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.

00:09:02 Speaker_02
Always polite and always graceful, but I do find like a real jolt of energy often comes from listening to her at her argument.

00:09:09 Speaker_03
I think, 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 is just like, why can't we have an ethics code? What's the problem?

00:09:25 Speaker_03
I mean, she's just basically trolling. And everyone's like, yeah, why can't we have enough? So she's like, I don't know. I think it'd be great. I'd be down. I love that. She's great. All right. Neil Gorsuch. Neil M. Gorsuch.

00:09:41 Speaker_03
I like that he brings geographic diversity to the court.

00:09:47 Speaker_16
So I like that his self-satisfaction makes him easy to criticize or okay 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. Neil. Right, exactly.

00:10:07 Speaker_16
He justifies snarking, basically.

00:10:11 Speaker_02
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 takedown book review of. Please, I'm putting this out to the universe.

00:10:24 Speaker_02
Because his book has, I think, some profoundly dubious characterization of some basic factual dimensions of some of the cases he talks about.

00:10:35 Speaker_02
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.

00:10:49 Speaker_02
And I appreciate that Neil wrote a book that will make that easy for the right reviewer.

00:10:52 Speaker_16
COLLEEN O'BRIEN Next up, Justice Kavanaugh. You can keep the silence in.

00:11:03 Speaker_02
Okay, weirdly, I'm going to say something you guys will probably jump down my throat for. During oral arguments, he seems like he's trying to be liked so hard that I sometimes almost want to like him. It almost works.

00:11:20 Speaker_02
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.

00:11:33 Speaker_02
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.

00:11:41 Speaker_16
And yet it has never actually proved that. Not yet.

00:11:44 Speaker_02
It hasn't yet. But it just feels like it's out there as a real possibility.

00:11:47 Speaker_16
False hope. So I 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.

00:12:07 Speaker_16
So, you know, if I look around at the world, you know, TikToker 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.

00:12:24 Speaker_03
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, he's a good athlete. I mean, we're all getting up there, and not all of us.

00:12:38 Speaker_03
I'm not looking at you, Kate, but I am looking at you. Like, we're not all posting like sub-4 marathons. Is that a thing?

00:12:45 Speaker_02
Well, we're talking 5Ks. He's running 5Ks. I don't think he's running marathons. But he's killing it.

00:12:50 Speaker_03
He's killing the genre.

00:12:52 Speaker_02
Good for him.

00:12:54 Speaker_03
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. I mean, she reminds me of

00:13:12 Speaker_03
Eliza Wilder in Little House on the Prairie. She was the school teacher and Almanzo's sister before Laura became the school teacher. And just like kind of like prim and like I feel like, you know, like, and she's an equal opportunity destroyer.

00:13:27 Speaker_03
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 they're ladies. And she will also wrap the conservative brothers. She's an equal opportunity school barman.

00:13:43 Speaker_03
I like that for her.

00:13:44 Speaker_02
I think she's been conditioning her hair differently and better, and I like it. I think there have been some improvements in her hair.

00:13:50 Speaker_16
I appreciate the de luluness 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.

00:14:07 Speaker_03
That's what always gets her school marming going. Exactly, yes. She's like, what do you mean? And then she's rapping knuckles. But I like that. I like that she's there for that. Yeah.

00:14:19 Speaker_03
All right, finally, last but certainly not least, Justice Katonji Brown Jackson. Favorite thing about Justice Jackson? Go, Kate.

00:14:29 Speaker_02
I mean, that she decided to be the first Supreme Court justice to take a turn on Broadway. Legendary. I love that. That she's been thinking about that since college. I like that too.

00:14:41 Speaker_16
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.

00:14:58 Speaker_16
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... And disclose them. And disclose them. Respect. Respect.

00:15:20 Speaker_03
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.

00:15:34 Speaker_03
And she's just sort of saying, 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.

00:15:49 Speaker_03
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.

00:15:59 Speaker_02
Aspire to more. One of the many charming things about her memoir is the sort of early development of her relationships in college. They were really young when they got together, she and Patrick.

00:16:09 Speaker_03
Anyway, so it's a very, very... I saw your eyebrows go up, like, where is she going with this? You landed it. You landed it. I did. I did. It's all very PG.

00:16:31 Speaker_16
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.

00:16:43 Speaker_03
You should also use this if you have grabby, asky kids. 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.

00:16:54 Speaker_16
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 Heiress Tour, especially the mashups. Like, I just think she has to release that as an album.

00:17:11 Speaker_16
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.

00:17:22 Speaker_03
My wants are pretty minimal, I guess, a bit like the 5th 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.

00:17:39 Speaker_03
It's just like really simple and it looks really nice and I'm hoping that someone will get one for me for the holidays.

00:17:47 Speaker_03
Quince has a very good one but lots of other jewelry stores like Ana 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.

00:17:58 Speaker_03
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.

00:18:08 Speaker_16
As Taylor Swift said, who uses typewriters anyways? Well, maybe not me, but I think I would like to decorate with it.

00:18:16 Speaker_03
I just love the idea of an old school typewriter. And then I just saw this new green pan nonstick ceramic cookware. And you all know I cannot stand to cook. But maybe I would if I had these really great pans.

00:18:30 Speaker_03
And then the last thing I just really want, I want an alternative to Amazon Prime so I can stop being Jeff Bezos' bitch.

00:18:38 Speaker_16
I like the go big ask, stream big.

00:18:42 Speaker_02
There are small local efforts to do alternatives to Amazon Prime. In New York, there's a grocery delivery app called Mercado, which lots of Sahadis will deliver from there.

00:18:56 Speaker_02
There's 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 Eataly now also.

00:19:04 Speaker_02
Anyway, so if you want to 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.

00:19:14 Speaker_02
But you're saying like that's not everything under the sun 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 gap.

00:19:27 Speaker_03
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 going to do that in two days or less.

00:19:41 Speaker_02
But I do think you said something completely offhand to me the other day about going to the Legos website. And you know, there are things that you will sometimes do on Amazon because it's fast and Amazon does have some Legos. But you know what?

00:19:55 Speaker_02
You know where you can find a lot more Legos? If you go to the fucking Lego website. And so I actually ordered a couple of really good sets from the Lego website.

00:20:03 Speaker_02
So, yes, do you have to, like, sometimes, depending on whatever device you're using, enter your credit cards.

00:20:10 Speaker_02
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.

00:20:20 Speaker_02
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.

00:20:30 Speaker_16
What's your something you want?

00:20:32 Speaker_02
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.

00:20:44 Speaker_02
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 Kallmeyer who makes beautiful suits.

00:20:59 Speaker_02
So my friend Issa 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 Kallmeyer. And I want one of her suits that I actually own as opposed to just borrow.

00:21:13 Speaker_02
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.

00:21:25 Speaker_02
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 and like the one to two mile radius where we have to take

00:21:34 Speaker_02
people for basketball practice and piano lessons and things like that.

00:21:38 Speaker_02
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.

00:21:48 Speaker_02
Electric scooter is actually amazingly helpful.

00:21:50 Speaker_03
Are you worried about getting hit by something? Or do you wear a helmet when you ride?

00:21:54 Speaker_02
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 yeah, there's a non-zero risk that happens.

00:22:05 Speaker_02
So I think you have to be super, super vigilant. But I've been an urban cyclist for 25 years. And so I'm really used to being very active, monitoring the movements of cars and pedestrians around. So I feel like I'm a good defensive scooter.

00:22:18 Speaker_02
But yeah, there's obviously a risk. Okay, and the last thing I want is I want some WNBA tickets.

00:22:23 Speaker_16
I want those too. I want to see Ellie the Elephant so badly.

00:22:29 Speaker_02
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.

00:22:40 Speaker_02
But the WNBA is an unbelievable delight. It's exploding in popularity, but it's still a lot cheaper to go see a WNBA playoff game than it is to see an NBA playoff game.

00:22:55 Speaker_02
Now the finals are five games, not seven, but my kids and I and my husband went to two of the five 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.

00:23:08 Speaker_02
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.

00:23:19 Speaker_02
I just like was a little annoyed that it was all men and all these sports that seem 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.

00:23:31 Speaker_02
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.

00:23:39 Speaker_02
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 Library stats like they know the library stats. They have jerseys.

00:23:50 Speaker_02
Like, 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 listening to Chuck Schumer talk and shit. Like, it was amazing.

00:24:00 Speaker_02
And these were 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.

00:24:09 Speaker_03
We should definitely go in on them. I do remember when the WNBA started.

00:24:15 Speaker_02
This is 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.

00:24:24 Speaker_03
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.

00:24:36 Speaker_03
Like every, like really episodically every four years we'd find some very small teenager to celebrate because she was a great gymnast.

00:24:46 Speaker_16
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.

00:25:09 Speaker_16
Your students gave you gifts after the election? No, this is not from a student. Just as a gift, I got an emotional support pickle. And it really makes me smile.

00:25:19 Speaker_17
Like a little crocheted stuffy kind of thing? Okay, I don't think I knew it was in the genre. There's a pickle, there's a potato.

00:25:25 Speaker_16
Exactly. I really am into that. And I think they just make 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.

00:25:44 Speaker_03
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.

00:26:03 Speaker_03
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.

00:26:14 Speaker_03
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.

00:26:21 Speaker_03
Other emotional support that I think I need, Leah, I'm going to really dig into this muslin comfort sheets and blankets.

00:26:28 Speaker_03
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.

00:26:38 Speaker_03
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 Baribee weighted blanket.

00:26:49 Speaker_03
So if it gets really bad on January 20th, maybe the blanket can just be weighted enough to smother me to death and put me out of my misery. That would be great.

00:26:58 Speaker_02
And if that doesn't work... Less weighted than that, that would be ideal.

00:27:01 Speaker_03
And if I then have to come out of my shell and meet people and interact, I want some jowl hand refresher. So this is a hand sanitizer, but it's also hardcore aromatherapy.

00:27:12 Speaker_03
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.

00:27:25 Speaker_03
And I'm going to use my Onsen 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?

00:27:40 Speaker_02
I have so many needs, Melissa. 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.

00:27:57 Speaker_02
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

00:28:10 Speaker_02
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.

00:28:17 Speaker_02
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, I'm on it.

00:28:31 Speaker_02
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.

00:28:41 Speaker_02
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.

00:28:53 Speaker_02
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.

00:29:00 Speaker_02
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.

00:29:10 Speaker_02
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.

00:29:17 Speaker_03
I do like our group chat. Yeah. I love group chats. 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?

00:29:28 Speaker_16
I am obsessed with SKIMS Soft Lounge. That fabric on the pajamas is so nice. It's really nice. I change into it seriously every evening after 8 PM. Love it, I love it. It's like actual loungewear. It is, it is. So I cannot recommend that enough.

00:29:51 Speaker_16
I also am obsessed with the Cozy Earth 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.

00:30:02 Speaker_16
And so when I like work up a sweat, it doesn't feel like too heavy. I just, I really, really like it. Also, super into the RealReal online consignment, basically where I get all my workwear now, and they just have amazing deals. So, also the RealReal.

00:30:20 Speaker_02
Melissa's been mentioning these for years. I have not ever tried RealReal. I've been on the RealReal since 2013.

00:30:25 Speaker_03
Wow, I don't think I've really been on that long.

00:30:26 Speaker_02
Yes.

00:30:26 Speaker_03
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.

00:30:43 Speaker_02
All right, I got it. I will get on board before next year, before our next favorite thing. I'm going to make sure you do. Like when I showed up in Austin wearing a wool blazer.

00:30:50 Speaker_03
It was September.

00:30:52 Speaker_02
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 RealReal is the solution to that problem.

00:31:03 Speaker_03
I think it is the solution for you. It was uncomfortable because it was so warm. It's a beautiful blazer.

00:31:09 Speaker_02
It's fine. It's nice. Oh, it's an argent blazer. It's very nice. It's beautiful. But it was the wrong, it was seasonally off.

00:31:14 Speaker_03
Seasonally off. That's okay. That's why I'm here for you. I'm here to tell you these things in a non-judgmental but judgmental way.

00:31:20 Speaker_02
A little judgmental. Yeah.

00:31:21 Speaker_03
A little bit.

00:31:22 Speaker_02
Okay, so in addition to the RealReal, what are your Something to Wear recommendations?

00:31:25 Speaker_03
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 Honey Love Shapewear.

00:31:39 Speaker_03
It's really 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 like up by my liver?

00:31:49 Speaker_02
It's not a literal corset.

00:31:50 Speaker_03
Yeah, exactly. I mean, I mean, There was this period where people were really into waist shapers because the Kardashians were into it. And like, I mean, honestly, it just looks so uncomfortable. Like, this is not that.

00:32:02 Speaker_03
It's just really nice and it's comfortable. It's easy to get on. I mean, some of the shapewear, like, I mean, 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.

00:32:16 Speaker_03
So I highly recommend Honey Love. And they've got lots of different kinds of shapewear for all kinds of things.

00:32:22 Speaker_03
I really love the Aritzia Super Puff Belt Bag, which holds a little bit more than the very ubiquitous Lululemon Fanny Pack, but it's still very lightweight and stylish, comes in a lot of different colors and different fabrics. It's fantastic.

00:32:36 Speaker_03
This is not a clothing recommendation, but I am totally into Danessa Myrick's Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder, which is this really interesting like no makeup kind of foundation situation.

00:32:50 Speaker_03
Like you take a little brush and you just dab it on and it kind of just blurs your skin tone. So you don't need more makeup on top. It just kind of smooths everything out and a little goes a long way.

00:33:00 Speaker_03
So you pay like $39 for this, but I think it will literally last until the rapture. It's so, like, it just a little goes a really long way. And then finally, I really love the Veronica Beard Iconic Scuba Dickie Jacket.

00:33:16 Speaker_03
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.

00:33:32 Speaker_03
But, and this is where the RealReal comes in, sometimes you can find really gently used or even new with tags versions of this blazer on the RealReal and you can pick them up at a sizable discount.

00:33:43 Speaker_03
Or if you really want to try something new, Quince has a really fantastic dupe of the scuba blazer and it's just $89 for the blazer and then a little bit more for the inserts. And it looks really great, super professional, very, very versatile.

00:33:59 Speaker_02
this is so pathetic that what 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 of it but I want a better version of it is a really good like running water backpack

00:34:28 Speaker_02
track, like to kind of carry your water with you while you run. Because I ran my first marathon like a month ago. And thank you. It was not fast, but I ran like a five-hour marathon, which in the marathon world is like not a fast marathon.

00:34:42 Speaker_02
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

00:34:51 Speaker_02
often happen 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.

00:35:02 Speaker_02
Anyway, Salomon is like one brand that makes like nice water backpacks 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.

00:35:10 Speaker_03
I think the Camelbak has one that's really what people seem to like a lot.

00:35:14 Speaker_02
Maybe I should try that kind. Yeah, maybe I should. So you want a water backpack. That's what you want to wear. That's what I want to wear, a water backpack.

00:35:23 Speaker_02
I also, I want, but I've also already ordered these, so I more want to share it with you guys and our listeners. I think family jammies are really fun and we do Hannah Anderson family jammies.

00:35:34 Speaker_02
The dog ones, pretty cute in the two years, three years I guess it's been since we've, this will be our third year with Shadow and some family jammies.

00:35:40 Speaker_02
She's like a big girl now, so like they don't always have the extra large and whatever pattern that, you know, people jammies come in. But I found some this year. But yeah, the Hannah Anderson ones are my rec.

00:35:52 Speaker_03
Those are, I used to love Hannah Anderson when my kids were really little. Yeah, turns out though. Yeah.

00:35:57 Speaker_02
Yeah, it's good, high quality kids clothing, but they also excel in the matched family jammies set.

00:36:03 Speaker_03
And dog jammies, apparently.

00:36:05 Speaker_02
Yeah, dogs are well part of the family.

00:36:07 Speaker_03
So you want a water backpack and pajamas for you and your dog. Anything else?

00:36:12 Speaker_02
These are my... I am going to take over your wardrobe this year. I think you might need to do that. Yeah, yeah.

00:36:19 Speaker_16
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 Noll.

00:36:37 Speaker_16
This is a book about kind of 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 LaCroix.

00:36:55 Speaker_16
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 going forward. So we definitely recommend that.

00:37:12 Speaker_16
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.

00:37:24 Speaker_16
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.

00:37:39 Speaker_16
But it's just like a very powerful read from the perspective of, you know, the victims of Ted Bundy, like serial killer. And it's fantastic. It just like looks at all of the different ways that like misogyny

00:37:53 Speaker_16
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.

00:38:05 Speaker_16
You Should Be So Lucky by Kat Sebastian, another kind of like romantic book that, you know, has some like light fun elements to it. The Women by Kristen Hanna, I think that was pretty popular.

00:38:17 Speaker_16
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.

00:38:33 Speaker_16
Also, not books, but recommend to read subscriptions to Lawdork, Chris Geidner's legal newsletter, Abortion Every Day by Jessica Valenti, and One First Street by Steve Vladeck.

00:38:45 Speaker_16
And one book I am anxiously waiting for in 2025 is The Summer Storms by Sarah McLean. 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.

00:39:00 Speaker_02
Awesome. 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.

00:39:10 Speaker_02
I mean just the formal conceit of James was just so brilliant and I was a little bit like I don't know if I even like love Huck Finn that much? It's a little bit like Demon Copperhead.

00:39:19 Speaker_02
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.

00:39:28 Speaker_02
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 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.

00:39:42 Speaker_02
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.

00:39:55 Speaker_02
Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower I had somehow never read and read.

00:39:59 Speaker_02
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.

00:40:16 Speaker_02
Elena Ferrante's Days of Abandonment I'd never read even though you know I've read other books of hers and that's a tough but really excellent book.

00:40:25 Speaker_02
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.

00:40:37 Speaker_02
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.

00:40:53 Speaker_02
I also really loved Hilary Leichter's Terrace Story, a very, very weird sort of couple short stories woven together. But, you know, neither kind of defies the novel or novella versus short story distinction. Anyway, really loved that.

00:41:07 Speaker_02
And then a handful of nonfiction books. One is Eve by Kat Bahanen.

00:41:12 Speaker_02
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

00:41:23 Speaker_02
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.

00:41:40 Speaker_02
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.

00:41:52 Speaker_16
By the Fire We Carry has made several best book lists. And then Dylan Penningrod's Before the Movement and Steve Laddick's Shadow Docket just won the Order of the Coif Book Award, both of them. So yeah.

00:42:05 Speaker_02
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 listened to it. But it's a great, it's beautifully read.

00:42:18 Speaker_02
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.

00:42:30 Speaker_02
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.

00:42:43 Speaker_03
Okay, those are all really good ones. I also read James and we talked about it. I thought James was absolutely fantastic.

00:42:52 Speaker_03
I also like Percival Everett's Erasure, which is the basis for the movie American Fiction, starring Jeffrey Wright, which is fantastic as well.

00:43:01 Speaker_03
And that got me down a big rabbit hole where I figured out that one of my favorite authors, Danzey Senna, is Percival Everett's wife, which I did not know.

00:43:11 Speaker_03
And Danzey 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.

00:43:23 Speaker_03
And color television is a hilarious send up of academia and literary culture.

00:43:27 Speaker_03
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

00:43:41 Speaker_03
biracial family and it's kind of hilarious. So highly recommend that. I also read Jonathan Ege's King Alife 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.

00:43:57 Speaker_03
Just absolutely fantastic and sweeping and amazing. So highly recommend. I also loved Colm Toibin's Long Island, which is the sequel to his wildly successful Brooklyn.

00:44:09 Speaker_03
And this one finds Eilish Lacy 20 years later trapped in a marriage on Long Island with Tony, who was her love interest in the first book.

00:44:19 Speaker_03
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.

00:44:31 Speaker_03
I also read Ilyan Wu's Master Slave, Husband, Wife, An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom. And this was also a Pulitzer Prize winner. It is just absolutely fantastic.

00:44:44 Speaker_03
It reads like a novel, but it's actually nonfiction about these two enslaved people, William and Ellen Craft, who basically went undercover to escape from Georgia to the North and then everything that follows. It's just absolutely amazing.

00:45:01 Speaker_03
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.

00:45:17 Speaker_03
And Sears realized after reading some of Donald Trump's tweets that this is a man who has a way with words.

00:45:24 Speaker_03
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.

00:45:40 Speaker_03
And I highly recommend it. It's completely sold out on bookshop.org because it's that great.

00:45:46 Speaker_02
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.

00:45:57 Speaker_02
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.

00:46:08 Speaker_02
And it's a story of Taforis 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.

00:46:23 Speaker_02
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.

00:46:30 Speaker_02
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.

00:46:42 Speaker_02
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.

00:46:54 Speaker_02
And the themes of the podcast are just all too familiar. Politicians, strong-arming scientists, women being cut out of their health care choices. And it's a six-part series. Episodes are all out now if you want to binge it.

00:47:06 Speaker_03
Alright, mine are pretty quick because I don't have time to listen to any other podcast but the ones on the Crooked Network. But when I do, I listen to Mind Your Own with Lupita Nyong'o.

00:47:15 Speaker_03
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.

00:47:25 Speaker_03
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.

00:47:43 Speaker_03
What ensues is a very richly reported meditation on race and culture and sports. Really fantastic.

00:47:51 Speaker_03
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.

00:48:01 Speaker_03
It is the Meghan Markle of 1970s, 1980s music documentaries, and I loved it.

00:48:23 Speaker_16
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.

00:48:38 Speaker_02
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.

00:48:54 Speaker_02
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.

00:49:02 Speaker_02
He's fun, but with or without any spouses of the pod, I really wish that we were able to do that more. I'm going to do a little bit of collective. You guys are both so goddamn fast at synthesizing everything and writing and thinking.

00:49:17 Speaker_02
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.

00:49:29 Speaker_02
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.

00:49:42 Speaker_02
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.

00:49:59 Speaker_02
Anyway, you two are just... I'm doing it collectively. I 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.

00:50:13 Speaker_02
But I just wish we got to do it on the beach. I totally agree.

00:50:17 Speaker_16
I'll go next because I don't want to go after Melissa because I feel like Melissa is very good at this. I don't want to follow her. So, Melissa, I'll start with you.

00:50:29 Speaker_16
I feel like you are so good at the pull and the like in the moment reference where you can just immediately take something someone said and do this like

00:50:42 Speaker_16
crazy pull either from pop culture or like philosophy or literature and whatnot and just make it hilarious, like the references are out of control.

00:50:50 Speaker_16
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.

00:50:59 Speaker_16
No, we leave in a lot, but there are so many that come out. Because they get a little cheeky.

00:51:04 Speaker_03
So funny. Try and not go to jail.

00:51:08 Speaker_16
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.

00:51:20 Speaker_03
It was such a good blazer.

00:51:21 Speaker_16
There we go. So Kate, I can't believe you just said like you are jealous of like the speed and depth we go into because I feel like you are like one of the craziest busiest people I know and you are constantly jetting around.

00:51:38 Speaker_16
But then you have five to 10 minutes to, I don't know, pop in to a note and then immediately add these high-level thoughts that I feel like make an episode and make our commentary really work that I just wouldn't have come up with.

00:51:57 Speaker_16
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.

00:52:10 Speaker_03
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.

00:52:26 Speaker_03
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.

00:52:42 Speaker_03
You tried 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.

00:52:54 Speaker_03
I love how you very graciously invite us to record so this isn't all for naught and we always have backup recordings.

00:53:03 Speaker_03
Thank you for that because like 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.

00:53:11 Speaker_16
And also, Michael has to endure our pre-recording chatter at the beginning of every episode, and he handles it like a champ. Because it's wild.

00:53:23 Speaker_09
It is.

00:53:24 Speaker_16
It is off the chains. Melody, I feel like she keeps me cool and hip with the kids. Like she's the one that got me into TikTok. So yeah, really. She's an agent of the Chinese gate. No, she is not.

00:53:40 Speaker_16
But she is just very generous and positive, but also has this like cutting humor. So yeah, great combo. Yep.

00:53:48 Speaker_03
Melody and I have like some good book talk not they're not talks really but like good side book conversations and she's the one who turned me on to book of the month.

00:53:57 Speaker_03
Kate I think you were like the most generous person about other people's work like you always find a way to highlight other people's work and make it relevant to what we're talking about and like you're just really really good at

00:54:12 Speaker_03
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 but might go overlooked and you're especially good about doing it for people who are junior.

00:54:31 Speaker_03
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.

00:54:47 Speaker_03
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.

00:55:00 Speaker_03
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. Like, that happens all the time.

00:55:15 Speaker_03
So you were 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.

00:55:29 Speaker_03
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 complementing Kate's incredibly delusional optimism in some cases.

00:55:49 Speaker_03
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.

00:56:04 Speaker_03
I don't think I could have made it through November 6th through 10th 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.

00:56:17 Speaker_03
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, like making these great t-shirts.

00:56:29 Speaker_03
Back in the day when we used to make all that merch, it was really all Leah, just making merch constantly. Yeah, those were the salad days when we just made merch all the time. And it's your genius, all of it.

00:56:42 Speaker_03
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.

00:56:55 Speaker_02
And it's gonna be great. One of the only things about 2025. Ish. It's gonna bring some comfort.

00:57:00 Speaker_03
We're going to be the real Project 2025. That's what we're going to do. We're going to rename this podcast The Real Project 2025 and watch what happens.

00:57:07 Speaker_02
No. No, girl.

00:57:10 Speaker_17
We're not.

00:57:11 Speaker_02
All right, finally, we have a tribute to our most favorite thing, you, our 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.

00:57:22 Speaker_16
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.

00:57:39 Speaker_16
So Gianni Genchi, Jennifer Buttrick, Laura Petto, Alyssa Frederick, like the insane grace and generosity you showed was like truly moving and

00:57:51 Speaker_16
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 how meaningful that was. But back to the listener voice memos.

00:58:10 Speaker_16
OK, 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.

00:58:24 Speaker_16
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.

00:58:36 Speaker_05
Hello, ladies. Or should I say, bonjour, mesdames.

00:58:39 Speaker_06
Hi, Strict Scrutiny. I'm coming to you from Zug, Switzerland. Greetings from Germany. From the Upper Valley of Vermont, New Hampshire.

00:58:48 Speaker_00
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.

00:58:55 Speaker_06
I'm a financial analyst listening to you from my home in Newcastle, Australia.

00:58:59 Speaker_11
I just finished my second year of law school at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

00:59:04 Speaker_00
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

00:59:13 Speaker_00
I have completed my PhD and started a position as assistant professor of musicology at Wichita State University.

00:59:19 Speaker_06
I am a veterinary student at the University of California Davis.

00:59:24 Speaker_04
I'm in Mill Valley, California and I sell real estate here.

00:59:27 Speaker_06
I'm listening to you from Butte, Montana. I'm an attorney who works on offshore fisheries.

00:59:31 Speaker_01
I'm actually a physician. I practice anesthesiology here in North Dakota.

00:59:35 Speaker_10
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.

00:59:43 Speaker_14
I am a bat biologist. I'm a patent examiner.

00:59:47 Speaker_05
I am an OBGYN and a full-time abortion provider in Chicago.

00:59:51 Speaker_06
I always listen to the podcast on my Monday morning runs. And 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.

01:00:09 Speaker_06
And what I wanted to recognize you for was empowering me to be a court watcher. That is a genuine train sound.

01:00:23 Speaker_05
I'm 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.

01:00:34 Speaker_14
I've been listening a lot while mucking horse pens and stalls and given the Supreme Court decisions y'all have been going through, just feels like the fact that I'm actually shoveling horse manure is relatable content.

01:00:49 Speaker_13
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.

01:00:57 Speaker_10
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.

01:01:10 Speaker_07
I am just so appreciative of all your work and for making the Supreme Court and all its shenanigans so accessible.

01:01:21 Speaker_08
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.

01:01:31 Speaker_11
It feels like a voice of sanity and reason.

01:01:35 Speaker_04
You guys allow me to process it along with you and release all of that rage that I feel.

01:01:42 Speaker_01
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.

01:01:49 Speaker_06
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.

01:01:58 Speaker_05
Keep on fighting the good fight. and I'm sipping a Martha Rita and a Ginny Tonic, cheersing to you three.

01:02:06 Speaker_15
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.

01:02:27 Speaker_16
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.

01:02:42 Speaker_16
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.

01:02:56 Speaker_16
So in the meantime, happy holidays from everyone at Strict Scrutiny, and we will see you in the new year.

01:03:03 Speaker_03
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.

01:03:12 Speaker_03
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.

01:03:22 Speaker_03
Follow the shocking transformation of a Chinese civil rights activist into a MAGA Trump supporter.

01:03:27 Speaker_03
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.

01:03:41 Speaker_03
You can binge these series and more, including Strict Scrutiny, at crooked.com, or find them wherever you get your podcasts.

01:03:50 Speaker_02
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.

01:03:59 Speaker_02
Audio support from Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis. Music by Eddie Cooper. Production support from Madeline Harringer and Ari Schwartz. Matt DeGroat is our head of production, thanks to our digital team, Phoebe Bradford and Joe Matosky.

01:04:10 Speaker_02
Subscribe to Strict Scrutiny on YouTube to catch full episodes. Find us at youtube.com slash strictscrutinypodcast. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to Strict Scrutiny in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.

01:04:22 Speaker_02
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.

01:04:30 Speaker_03
Cole for you.