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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

Continuing in our series of subject-specific topics leading up to Trump 2.0, we convene a great set of experts—Frank Figliuzzi, Juliette Kayyem, and Asha Rangappa—to assess the landscape in national security, beginning with the selection of Kash Patel to head the FBI. Patel has it all--inexperience, arch loyalty to Trump, and deep hostility to the FBI, and his selection would have grave consequences. The group then moves on to the choice of Tulsi Gabbard to lead DNI & sundry topics in the area.
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Kash and Burn (Special Episode on National Security)

In a special 1-on-1 taped before a live audience as part of the Talking San Diego series (www.talkingsandiego.net) , Harry sits down with Congressman Jamie Raskin to discuss a theory of Second Amendment rights that has proliferated in recent years, including support by elected officials such as Matt Gaetz. That is an insurrectionary theory according to which the Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms in order to use them against their own government when they perceive the government has become tyrannical. Raskin completely shreds the theory as a matter of history, text, and constitutional structure. He concludes that “the real Constitution rejects the right wing fantasy that random banks of disgruntled armed citizens can claim the powers of the constitutional militia.”
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Rebutting the Insurrectionary Theory of the Second Amendment

The next in our series of subject-specific episodes to prepare for Trump’s return. Our regular economics panel–the fantastic trio of Dean Baker, Paul Kruman, and Stephanie Ruhle–assesses the latest reports & the disconnect between people’s views of the economy & its actual robust state. The panel talks at length about Trump’s economic centerpiece of large tariffs on our biggest trade partners before moving onto the economic implications of other campaign promises, especially mass deportations.
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Tarrifying (Special Episode on Economics)

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

No area represents a more stark and violent shift in U.S. policy in Trump 2.0 then immigration, where the country is bracing for the possibility of wholesale roundups of illegal aliens. Three experts in immigration policy and governmental oversight—Doris Meissner, Kristie De Pena, and Leon Rodriguez—join Harry for a preview of what’s coming and the mobilization of state governments and the private sector to push back. Core issues not just of law but of national identity hang in the balance.
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AlieNation (Special Episode on Immigration)

The latest entry in the Harry-Molly mix-it-up—the first since the election—with Molly peppering Harry with legal questions while Harry parries with political ones for her. Molly picks Harry’s brain on executive orders, Kash Patel's enemies list, and Harry's exit from the LA Times. Harry returns fire with questions about sounding the alarm on Trump’s authoritarian moves, what’s in the future for the Musk-Trump bromance, and the American mood that gives rise to lionizing Luigi Mangione, who shot a healthcare CEO on the Manhattan streets.

As always with these mash-ups, it’s rapid fire, fun, and chock full of information.
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Megalomania Mash

Continuing with our series of subject-specific episodes to gear up for Trump 2.0, we take up a wild-card element in the upcoming battles: the prospective pushback from blue states advancing their own sovereign interests and those of their residents. A great roundtable of former state AG’s and senior federal officials—Rich Cordray, Heidi Heitkamp, and Phil Weiser—explain the formidable tools that the states can deploy to parry aggressive federal policies within their own borders.
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Hold Steady States (Special Episode on State/Local Power)

Harry sits down with Greg Casar, the youngest member of the Texas delegation in Congress and an unapologetic progressive in the some-time hostile landscape of Texas (albeit the famous enclave of Austin). A charismatic campaigner, Casar made his mark in Congress by leading a nine-hour thirst strike in 2023 to advocate for workers’ protections from extreme heat. Cesar discusses his against-the-tide electoral success and his work in Congress for immigrant rights, abortion rights, worker’s rights, voting rights, and other signature progressive issues.
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A Blue Man in a Red State

Continuing with our series of subject-specific episodes to gear up for Trump 2.0, a great panel of healthcare policy experts—Dan Diamond, Ezekiel Emanuel, and Kavita Patel—sizes up the critical series of issues about to confront the country. RFK Jr’s potential confirmation to head HHS is an issue in itself, given the huge challenges of the $2 trillion agency. Then there are a serious of potential overhauls in different medical areas to consider, especially vaccines but also ACA, abortion, more.
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There’s No Vaccine Against Crazy (Special Episode on Healthcare)

Harry sits down with Representative Ro Khanna, who from his perch in the heart of Silicon Valley has become a national leader on issues of artificial intelligence and economic innovation. Rep. Khanna is bullish on new technology but keenly aware of its risks. Harry and Rep. Khanna discuss the marketing of AI products; AI’s contribution to social misinformation and how to regulate it; and antitrust protections against undue aggregation of market power by one or two platforms. Along the way, they also touch on others of Khanna’s wide-ranging interests, including term limits for Supreme Court justices
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AI and Income Inequality

Published on the day of Trump’s inauguration, this episode takes brief stock of Biden’s unusual farewell address before pivoting to the perilous future. A great roundtable of Talking Feds stalwarts--Jonathan Alter, Norm Eisen, & Jen Rubin--assesses the confirmation hearings & what they suggest about the nature of Trump rule, as well as the prospects for the most controversial nominees, especially Kash Patel. We end with a set of open-ended reflections about what to expect in the next few months.
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A Cold Day in Hell

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