Contact: Caitlin Graf, The Nation, press [at] thenation.com, 212-209-5400
New York, N.Y.—June 27, 2023—The Nation, America’s leading source of progressive politics and culture, today announced the launch of the new podcast Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal, featuring the brilliant legal mind and musings of The Nation’s justice correspondent and columnist. Each week, Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) will showcase his singular blend of wisecracks, wisdom, and legal expertise to discuss the most pressing questions about our country’s highest court. New episodes air every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to the trailer, out today.
The unelected and unaccountable nine politicians on the Supreme Court comprise the most powerful policy-making institution in the United States; Contempt of Court seeks to grapple with this gross miscarriage of democracy. The original podcast series will explain how to reform the court with a focus on historical insights, fresh analysis of the latest SCOTUS news, and distinct avenues for change. In each episode, Mystal will speak with the experts and advocates working to reform the Supreme Court in order to restore American democracy. Identifying six problems with the Supreme Court—and six ways to fix it—Contempt of Court will address court-packing, term limits, balancing plans, ethics reform, jurisdiction stripping, and delegitimizing the court. Stay tuned for surprise bonus episodes as well.
Contempt of Court is sponsored by The New Press, America’s leading independent nonprofit public-interest book publisher and publisher of Mystal’s New York Times best-selling book, Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution—out now in paperback.
“Elie Mystal’s brilliant legal mind is one of the worst-kept secrets here at The Nation,” said Nation editor D.D. Guttenplan. “And anyone who follows him on Twitter or has seen his many appearances on TV knows he’s also incredibly funny. But it’s great to be able to share those talents, and Elie’s incisive political and legal analysis, through the podcast to an even larger audience.”
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“People are finally starting to understand that the Supreme Court must be reformed, that it must be stopped from eating our rights while its justices enjoy the free lunches (and vacations and luxury resorts) of their wealthy benefactors,” added Mystal. “What people don’t know is how: how do we fix this? I’m working on Contempt of Court to give people the information about what court reform is, how all the different plans can work, and how close we are to accomplishing some of these goals. I want people to listen to these episodes, and then call their Congresspeople and Senators and ask them to get on board with bringing the Supreme Court to heel.”
“I’m delighted to finally bring Contempt of Court to the Nation’s slate of podcasts,” said the show’s executive producer, Ludwig Hurtado. “It’s full of passionate discussion and surprising insights into this country’s highest tribunal. With his deep legal knowledge, singular perspective, and natural knack for compelling discourse, Elie was long overdue for an audio series. I often joke that he’s too good on the mic, and we may lose him to one of the cable news networks.”
“Few books in recent memory have had such impact on our understanding of the law as Elie’s. We are thrilled to support what is sure to become one of the sharpest, funniest podcasts about our legal system at a time when it’s never been more important to hear about what’s at stake,” added The New Press’s executive director Diane Wachtell.
Named “one of the most sought-after legal analysts in the country” by CNN, Mystal will continue to pen his monthly Nation column, Objection!, as well as report on and react to legal news of the day at the freshly redesigned TheNation.com. As the Supreme Court wraps up its term this June, his astute analysis and grounded moral compass are more essential than ever to understanding the news.
Contempt of Court is the latest addition to The Nation’s impressive roster of regular podcasts covering politics, sports, and culture, as well as limited-term explanatory series exploring economics, progressivism, and the lives of working people. These include The Nation’s flagship weekly news program, Start Making Sense, with contributing editor Jon Wiener; Edge of Sports, with sports editor Dave Zirin, and The Time of Monsters, with national affairs correspondent Jeet Heer. The Nation’s limited-run podcasts include Going for Broke, with Ray Suarez—produced in partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and named one of the 50 best podcasts of 2021 by The Atlantic—as well as Next Left, where politics gets personal with national-affairs correspondent John Nichols; More Than Enough, a frank discussion about Universal Basic Income, with host Mia Birdsong; and System Check, where cohosts Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren set about diagnosing and repairing our malfunctioning democracy. In partnership with WNYC Studios, The Nation also developed the inaugural seasons of United States of Anxiety and There Goes the Neighborhood with host Kai Wright. Together, these Nation podcasts offer a distinctive understanding of news and politics and people with an eye to the stories you won’t hear anywhere else.
For interview requests or further information, please see contact information above.
ABOUT: Elie Mystal is The Nation’s justice correspondent—covering the courts, the criminal justice system, and politics—and the force behind the magazine’s monthly column, Objection! The author of the New York Times best-selling Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution, he is also an Alfred Knobler Fellow at the Type Media Center. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Mystal was previously the executive editor of Above the Law and a former associate at Debevoise & Plimpton.
Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.
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