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Harry Litman

Talking Feds is a roundtable discussion that brings together prominent former government officials, journalists, and special guests for a dynamic and in-depth analysis of the most pressing questions in law and politics.

Talking Feds

Harry talks with a great set of Talking Feds stalwarts—Charlie Sykes, Ali Vitali, and Jacob Weisberg—to get a handle on the fast-changing politics of the shutdown, the worthiness of the case against John Bolton, and the new group chat scandal roiling the GOP. Why is Vice President J.D. Vance calling criticism of leaked racist messages by rising Republicans "pearl-clutching"? Is the indictment against John Bolton just another political prosecution? And are top Republicans gearing up to give into Democrats on healthcare to get the government reopened?

Mentioned in this episode:

Charlie’s Substack: https://charliesykes.substack.com/ 

Ali’s interview with Senate Leader John Thune: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/thune-msnbc-offered-democrats-vote-obamacare-subsidies-rcna237914 

Politico’s story revealing a Young Republicans groupchat: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146
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Bolton Shut

Christopher Eisgruber, the long-time president of Princeton University, joins Harry to talk about his new book, Terms of Respect. Eisgruber argues that robust free speech is alive and well on college campuses, and that instances of actual defeat of free speech are far more rare than critics charge. The key to navigating internal strife and external pressure—Eisgruber tells Harry—lies not in an abstract appeal to free speech or equality principles but rather in civil norms of respect that seek to further a model of deliberative community.

Mentioned in this episode: 

Eisgruber's book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/christopher-l-eisgruber/terms-of-respect/9781541607453/

Eisgruber's recent articles in the Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/christopher-l-eisgruber/
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Getting Free Speech Right on College Campuses

Three top-notch journalists—Emily Bazelon, Susan Glasser, and Kristen Holmes—join Harry to analyze the stunning news of a ceasefire in Gaza, the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Trump’s latest attempts to put troops on city streets. Will Trump have the attention span to ensure his deal endures, and why did he lash out at Kristen for asking about it? Are judges finally starting to wake up to the administration’s far-fetched declarations of emergencies? And what revelation about the James indictment shocked Harry most? 

Mentioned in this episode:

Emily’s reporting: https://www.nytimes.com/by/emily-bazelon 

Susan’s latest column: https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/trump-the-self-styled-president-of-peace-abroad-makes-war-at-home

Kristen’s reporting: https://www.cnn.com/profiles/kristen-holmes-bio

CNN’s story about Lindsey Halligan not coordinating the James indictment with DOJ brass: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/10/politics/lindsey-halligan-no-coordinate-letitia-james-indictment-doj

Judge Karin Immergut's ruling: https://www.portland.gov/federal/documents/10-4-2025-state-city-v-trump-temporary-restraining-order-granted/download
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Ceasefire and Crossfire

Supreme Court expert, Strict Scrutiny star, and Obama White House alum Kate Shaw joins Harry to preview the new SCOTUS term. A steady stream of emergency rulings that mostly backed President's Trump power grab has set the tone for a new year at the court. Kate and Harry preview several of the upcoming blockbuster cases, especially those dealing with executive power and gay rights. They then broaden the conversation, discussing whether any precedent is safe from the conservative supermajority; whether legal reasoning really remains the basis of the court's decisions; and most important: whether there is any executive action so heinous that the court won't permit it.
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Return of the Wrecking-Ball Court

Harry pulls in a trio of political pros—former Senator Barbara Boxer, Jonathan Capehart, and Norm Ornstein—to assess the fight over the shutdown. Who will the public blame? How long will it last? They turn next to the stunning federal raid in Chicago, with agents busting down doors and snipers dropping in from helicopters. Does the action signal not just the abandonment of the 4th Amendment, but the arrival of an American gestapo? Finally, the trio decode Trump's speech to top military leaders, with its ominous call to use U.S. cities as "training grounds" for troops.
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Shutdown Smackdown, Chi-Town Showdown

Harry turns to professor of medicine at Stanford, former Obama public policy official, and practicing primary care physician Dr. Kavita Patel to try to understand the Trump administration’s feverish transformation of federal health policy. Dr. Patel explains Trump’s warnings about tylenol, RFK Jr.’s plans for the CDC, and the costs of politicizing medicine. Dr. Patel offers a raw look at the reality of being a doctor amid these drastic changes, revealing details she’s never before shared publicly.
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Trump's Prescription for Chaos and Poor Health

In the wake of the shocking indictment of James Comey, Harry convenes DOJ veterans Paul Fishman and Mimi Rocah, plus political analyst Jonathan Alter, to discuss the seismic implications for the rule of law. The panel then breaks down the stunning details of the bribery scandal that's quickly enveloping immigration czar Tom Homan. The group ends with a turn toward some hopeful news: the return of Jimmy Kimmel to TV screens and the small respite it signals for freedom of speech.

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Comey Before the Storm

In this month’s “Molly Harry Mashup,” Harry and Molly Jong-Fast break down the whirlwind of political and legal chaos under the current administration. From Trump’s clash with Jimmy Kimmel and his obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize, to the unraveling of DOJ norms and the erosion of the Constitution, to the bizarro Trump vaccine claim, Molly and Harry cut through the noise to explain what’s really happening in the political AND legal worlds—and why it matters.

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Molly Mashup: Trump, Tylenol, and Turmoil

A week in which America suddenly came to look like classic autocratic regimes with the removal from TV of late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, and more enforced exiles to come, for the simple sin of displeasing Trump. A trenchant panel of Bill Kristol and Juliette Kayyem take stock of this nightmarish development, as well as Trump’s effort to destroy the independence of the Fed, and the increasingly checkered and controversial on-the-job performance of FBI director Kash Patel.
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Autocracy Live!

In the latest conversation in the Talking San Diego series, Harry sits down with Harvard historian and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore in front of a live San Diego audience to discuss Lepore’s important new book, “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution.” The book contains revelations about the importance to the Framers of the Amendment process, which Lepore argues has become a dead letter since the failure of the proposed Equal RIghts Amendment. In its stead various generations of Americans have looked to either political events or, more recently, the U.S. Supreme Court, to announce fundamental changes in our charter document, with significant consequences for the democracy In her book, as in her conversation with Harry, Lepore challenges the Supreme Court’s dominant doctrine of originalism; and she rallies Americans to be able to become more personally involved in repairing fundamental problems with the Constitution. The book was released for purchase Tuesday, September 16.

This event was made possible by the generous support of the Prebys Foundation, which made it possible for local high school teachers and students to attend free of charge; by KPBS who have their own deep dive series on the American founding coming out in November in the form of a new Ken Burns series; and by Warwicks, our bookselling partners. 

You can read more about Jill’s book in the Atlantic and the New York Times. 

Talk to you later

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The Constitution Was Intended To Be Amended

Harry talks with law professor and former prosecutor, Kim Wehle, one of the country’s foremost experts on the pardon power. They begin with some historical precedent to situate the pardon power and its contours within the American justice system. From there, they move onto the controversy involving Hunter Biden’s pardon, which Professor Wehle and Harry see as an overall conventional use of the power given that no one has contradicted that Hunter Biden was singled out for harsher treatment based on his father. The two then dig deep into the the prospect of a numbrella, pardons by Biden of the targets for retribution that Trump and Patel have announced, and the particular way to frame such an action to insulate it from subsequent challenge. Finally, Professor Wehle and Harry discuss the prospect of pardons by Trump for the January 6 marauders; however vexing that may be politically, and however out of the mainstream of historic pardons, Trump likely has the raw power to do it.
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Pardons Here, There, and Everywhere

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