Podcast / The Nation Podcast / Nov 5, 2025

Why the Supreme Court Will Never Stand Up to Trump

On The Nation Podcast: Elie Mystal on the Roberts court’s capitulation.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Why the Supreme Court Will Never Stand Up to Trump with Elie Mystal | The Nation Podcast
byThe Nation Magazine

It can be tempting to look away from the Supreme Court. The cases are complicated, the traditions archaic, and these days the decisions are almost always devastating and the reasoning often perverse. But alas, the Court is too important to ignore, particularly as John Roberts and his five ultra- conservative colleagues have turned it into a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.

Luckily, we at The Nation are blessed to have perhaps the only person in America who can make following the Supreme Court not only bearable but entertaining — our inimitable justice correspondent, Elie Mystal. Elie's annual roundup of the court's biggest upcoming cases is the cover story in our November issue.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Donald Trump, left, greets John Roberts, chief justice of the US Supreme Court, arrives for a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.

Donald Trump greets John Roberts in the House Chamber of the US Capitol, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.

(Al Drago / Bloomberg via Getty Images

It can be tempting to look away from the Supreme Court. The cases are complicated, the traditions archaic, and these days the decisions are almost always devastating and the reasoning often perverse. But alas, the court is too important to ignore, particularly as John Roberts and his five ultra-conservative colleagues have turned it into a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.

Luckily, we at The Nation are blessed to have perhaps the only person in America who can make following the Supreme Court not only bearable but entertaining—our inimitable justice correspondent, Elie Mystal. Elie’s annual roundup of the court’s biggest upcoming cases is the cover story in our November issue.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/subscribe.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

The Transformation of the New York Waterfront w/ Karrie Jacobs | The Nation Podcast
byThe Nation Magazine

In its heyday, the Bush Terminal industrial complex spanned several city blocks along Brooklyn’s waterfront and employed more than 35,000 people. Built by Irving Bush in the late nineteenth century, it was an "early intermodal shipping hub." Goods arrived by water and left by rail. Bananas, coffee, and cotton came in through doors on one side of the warehouses and were loaded onto trains on the other.

But after World War II, as trucks replaced rail and shipping patterns changed, the Terminal’s purpose faded and the vast complex slipped into disuse.

Today, Bush Terminal is again at the center of New York’s vision for urban reinvention— and a debate around development, displacement, and the future of work in the city.

Joining us on a deep dive into Bush Terminal is veteran architecture critic and writer Karrie Jacobs. Her essayOn the Waterfront,” appears in our December issue of the Nation.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Support The Nation’s June Fundraising Campaign

With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.

We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we’re raising $20,000 to power The Nation’s independent journalism in the run-up to November’s immensely consequential elections.

It’s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you’ll donate today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

More from The Nation

President Donald Trump arrives for a working session on promoting economic growth with G7 leaders.

Norm Eisen: Fighting Trump’s Threats to Voting— Plus Protest Success Stories Norm Eisen: Fighting Trump’s Threats to Voting— Plus Protest Success Stories

On this episode of Start Making Sense, the attorney who founded Democracy Defenders
talks about election protection, and John Nichols reports on this week’s Republican defeats.

Jon Wiener

President Donald Trump delivers remarks after touring the newest aircraft in the presidential fleet at Andrews Air Force Base.

Matt Taibbi and the New Threat to Free Speech Matt Taibbi and the New Threat to Free Speech

Eoin Higgins on the weaponization of lawsuits.

Jeet Heer

Autonomous robotic dogs fitted with hyper-realistic silicone heads modeled after US entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos come face to face as part of the interactive art installation.

A Practical Guide to Messing With Big Tech Oligarchs—With Cory Doctorow A Practical Guide to Messing With Big Tech Oligarchs—With Cory Doctorow

On this episode of Fighting Fascism, the man who named enshittification breaks down why AI is the biggest financial scam in history—and how to actually resist it.

US Vice President JD Vance makes an opening statement at the start of a quadrilateral meeting between the U.S., Iran, Pakistan, and Qatar at the Lake Lucerne Summit.

The US-Iran MOU Takes Effect, West Bank Settlements Expand, Fujimori Leads the Peru Election Count The US-Iran MOU Takes Effect, West Bank Settlements Expand, Fujimori Leads the Peru Election Count

Plus: attacks on Lebanon, a brewing battle in Sudan, Russia’s push into Ukraine, a US drawdown in Europe, and the deadly toll of DOGE cuts.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

Visitors pass by wax figures representing Cro-Magnon humans, the early Homo sapiens sapiens such as those who painted in the Lascaux caves.

Human Prehistory and How Societies Rise and Fall—With Patrick Wyman Human Prehistory and How Societies Rise and Fall—With Patrick Wyman

Historian Patrick Wyman returns to the show to talk about the deep history of human societies and how they can inform the current moment. 

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

Why Harvard Won’t Settle—Plus, the Struggles of Supermarket Workers

Why Harvard Won’t Settle—Plus, the Struggles of Supermarket Workers Why Harvard Won’t Settle—Plus, the Struggles of Supermarket Workers

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Randall Kennedy analyzes Harvard v. Trump, and Ann Larson explains work behind the grocery store checkstand.

Jon Wiener

x