Boom! Lawyered

In this episode of Boom! Lawyered, Imani and Jess are joined by Jodi Hicks, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California to unpack the redistricting fight between California and Texas and explain why the battle of the maps is a reproductive justice issue.   Expert Repro Journalism that Inspires.    Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom!...

In this episode of Boom! Lawyered, Imani and Jess explain the arguments and what's at stake in Chiles v. Salazar , the case challenging Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy practices.   Expert repro journalism that inspires.   Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you understand what’s at stake in our courts, chip in to keep our fearless leg...

In this episode of Boom! Lawyered, Imani and Jess preview the upcoming Supreme Court term, including a challenge to conversion therapy bans, protections for transgender student athletes, and more.   Expert repro journalism that inspires.   Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you understand what’s at stake in our courts, chip in to keep our...

Turns out the closet wasn’t locked—it was glass all along. Sometimes you just can’t see your way out.  Imani Gandy talks with comedian, actor, and writer Franchesca Ramsey about coming out later in life, visibility, and the joy of saying, "Surprise, bitch, I’m gay." They also discuss how comedy can be an opening for tougher conversations about race.   Expert Repro Journalism That Inspires. Expert...

Expert repro journalism that inspires Expert Repro Journalism That Inspires.  Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you understand what’s at stake in our courts, chip in to keep our fearless legal analysis alive. Become a member today .   B*itch, Listen now has its own dedicated feed on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , and wherever else...

Boom! Lawyered is back for its ninth season! In this episode, Imani and Jess explain why they believe we’re living through a “Deconstruction era”—think Reconstruction era, but in reverse—and what that means for our public institutions and the rule of law.   Expert repro journalism that inspires   Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you und...

In this episode of Boom! Lawyered Summer Session, Imani and Jess unpack the current landscape of the federal courts and what the conservative capture of the judiciary means for fighting President Donald Trump’s authoritarian agenda. They are joined by Alliance for Justice President Rachel Rossi, who highlights dangerous new Trump appointees and explains how progressives can win back the federal co...

 In this episode of Boom! Lawyered Summer Session, Imani and Jess dig into the Republican efforts to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood clinics and explain how it fits with their larger attacks on health care and Medicaid. They are joined by Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, who explains the day-to-day impact of these attacks and how t...

In this episode of Boom! Lawyered Summer Session, Imani and Jess dive into the attacks on birthright citizenship and unpack the absurd constitutional arguments conservatives are making to advance these attacks. They are joined by Lourdes Rivera, president of Pregnancy Justice, who connects birthright citizenship to the movement to establish legal personhood rights for fertilized eggs, zygotes, and...

Boom! Lawyered Summer Session is back—and now we’re on video, too! In this season opener, University of Texas Law Professor Elizabeth Sepper joins Imani and Jess to unpack big changes in the relationship between religion and government ushered in by the Roberts Court.  Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you understand what’s at stake in o...

On June 27, the Supreme Court wrapped up its extraordinarily consequential, controversial, and, at times, surprising term. Imani and Jess break down the best and worst of the 2024-2025 opinions, and what it could mean for the future of the nation. All that and… alligators? Tune into the final episode of this season of Boom! Lawyered. Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the...

Chief Justice John Roberts contorted logic to find a path for Tennessee to enforce its anti-trans law, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett left breadcrumbs for conservatives to lodge future attacks on trans rights. In this week's episode, Imani and Jess break down this devastating decision and more. Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you unde...

Did the Supreme Court really make it easier for straight white folks to bring reverse discrimination claims? Kind of, yes. In this week's episode, Imani and Jess explain the Court's unanimous reverse discrimination decision, and why it matters that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote it. Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you understand w...

This episode has everything: strict scrutiny, the “big, beautiful bill,” and even Marbury v. Madison . This week, Imani and Jess answer listener questions in our second AMA episode. Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you understand what’s at stake in our courts, chip in to keep our fearless legal analysis alive. Become a supporter today....

This week Imani and Jess have a very special guest join the pod. Robin Stevenson, author of the LGTBQ+ children’s book Pride Puppy , joins Boom! Lawyered to talk about what it’s like having her work at the center of the Supreme Court fight in Mahmoud v. Taylor . Listen in as Stevenson shares her experience being targeted by the conservative legal movement, and learn what folks everywhere can do to...

Buckle up, y’all—we have a doozy for you today. This week, Imani and Jess get into the Supreme Court oral arguments in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools . It was supposed to be a narrow education rights case that looked at whether students have to meet an impossibly high bar to sue schools under the Americans with Disabilities Act—that is, until Supreme Court litigator Lisa Blatt entered the chat and m...

School libraries are not indoctrinating kids with “LGBTQ+ ideology”—I know that, you know that, we know that. But conservatives love pretending they don’t. This week, Jess and Imani get into Mahmoud v. Taylor , a Supreme Court case that could upend First Amendment rights with the potential to fundamentally erase the separation of church and state in public schools. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit...

Editor's note: This episode was recorded on April 16, 2025. The Trump administration’s lawlessness is hard to exaggerate—and especially so in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the White House admitted was mistakenly deported to a detention center in El Salvador. And even though the Supreme Court ordered the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, Trump and h...

This week, Jess and Imani join Lizz Winstead and Moji Alawode-El of Feminist Buzzkills live from The Black Cat in Washington, D.C. for a rowdy takedown of the latest abortion case to reach the Supreme Court, the election results in Wisconsin, and more. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means that episodes like this one are only made possible with the support of listeners l...

President Donald Trump famously has a… strained relationship with the law, to say the least. His first term saw numerous legal challenges to attempted policies—not to mention his two impeachments.  Now, barely two months into his second term, Trump is already facing more than 100 lawsuits over his attacks on birthright citizenship, gutting of the federal workforce, and more. In this episode, Jess...

We have a treat this week—more attorneys! Law professor David S. Cohen and sociologist Carole Joffe join the pod to talk about their newest book, ' After Dobbs .' They chat with Jess and Imani about the legal battle over abortion pills, the Comstock Act, the importance of abortion care advocates, and what’s next in the abortion fight. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which mean...

We’re sweating! We’re hyperfixating! Because a bunch of conservative attorneys general have filed a lawsuit trying to weaken or eliminate Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which served as a precursor to the Americans with Disabilities Act. This week, Jess and Imani get into the conservative legal movement’s attempts to roll back Section 504—and how it could constitute government-sponsored eug...

You asked, we answered! On a special Q&A episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani answer listener questions. They cover everything from what could happen if fetal “personhood” becomes enshrined into law to whether abortion bans allow states to assert dominion over people’s bodies. Mentioned in this episode: Juridical Persons Are Not Natural Persons, And Why it Matters Why Being Born Kind Of Matte...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed and sworn in as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And almost immediately, Trump fired off another executive order establishing a “Make America Great Again” commission. The group, made up of leadership from multiple federal agencies, was tasked with making healthy food more affordable and fighting chronic disease. Sounds reasonabl...

Abortion, and dildos, and porn, oh my!  No but actually, there’s a dusty old law on the books that could unravel reproductive health access for years to come—the Comstock Act. And it’s just waiting for someone like the recently-confirmed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to enforce it.  On today’s episode of Boom! Lawyered, Imani and Jess revisit how the Trump administration could effectively ban ab...