ELB Podcast

How did the Supreme Court gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais? How will the decision affect Black, Latino, and Native American voters? What is the path to protecting voting rights after Callais? On Season 7, Episode 7 of the ELB Podcast, our season finale, we speak Samantha Blencke, Ellen Katz, Nina Perales, and Deuel Ross,

What is the role of state courts in guaranteeing free and fair elections? Are federal courts better equipped to handle novel attacks on the integrity of elections than state courts? What role has the United States Supreme Court played in setting election rules and resolving election disputes? On Season 7, Episode 6 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Lori Ringhand, Miriam Seifter, and Steve Vladeck.

How will federal and state court handle post-election disputes in connection with the closely contested 2026 midterm elections? Can the Speaker of the House simply choose not to seat members of Congress from the other party who have appeared to have won election? How have the courts and Congress historically dealt with very close elections? On Season 7, Episode 5 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with...

Why is the FBI investigating voting from 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, years after false claims about election fraud have been debunked? What are federal officials looking for, and who could face criminal charges? What are the broader implications of this raid for the 2026 elections, especially given the presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the FBI raid? On Sea...

What’s at stake for the Voting Rights Act at the Supreme Court in the pending Louisiana v. Callais case? Will the Court weigh in on the question whether private parties can sue to enforce Section 2 of the VRA, as was assumed by all until recently? What’s the big picture on the Voting Rights Act and the 2026 elections? On Season 7, Episode 3 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Samantha Blencke, of th...

How has the Supreme Court moved to the right in areas including voting rights and campaign finance? What is happening with “shadow docket” rulings of the Supreme Court, and what does that tell us about the relationship between the Court and President Trump? How should we understand how the Supreme Court has and should make decisions in its most controversial cases? On Season 7, Episode 2 of the EL...

How likely is it that federal troops will be in United States cities on election day in 2026? Have federal agencies moved from allies of state and local election administrators to impediments to sound election practices? What changes might we expect regarding voter rolls and mail-in voting in 2026 On Season 7, Episode 1 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Ben Haiman, Liz Howard, and Stephen Richer.

What does the Trump executive order on elections purport to do? Why did a federal court put big parts of that executive order on hold? Does this EO threaten the 2026 midterm elections? On the season finale of Season 6 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Danielle Lang of the Campaign Legal Center.

How did campaigning and false information in campaigns change in the 2024 elections? What role did platform content moderation play in 2024? Is generative AI going to change campaigns in 2028 and beyond? On Season 6, Episode 7 of the ELB podcast, a roundtable with Alice Marwick, Kate Starbird, and Joshua Tucker.

Do documentary proof of citizenship laws stop a lot of illegal voting or suppress the votes of eligible voters? How have such laws been implemented in the state of Arizona and elsewhere? What are the prospects for passage of the SAVE Act, which would bring such laws to the nation as a whole? On season 6, Episode 6 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, The Cato...

What will the new Trump Administration and the new Congress do when it comes to voting rights and fair elections? What challenges face state and local election officials going forward? Will the courts stand up for voting rights and fair elections in the years to come? On Season 6, Episode 5 of the ELB podcast, we feature a discussion with Amy Gardner, Pam Karlan, and Stephen Richer.

How did social media’s treatment of election content change in the 2024 elections? What do Meta’s new announcements mean for politics and society going forward? How might AI change everything? On Season 6, Episode 4 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with social media and politics expert Katie Harbath.

What are the risks to a peaceful transition of power once all the votes have been cast? What can we learn from history and from other democracies about our moment of democratic peril? How worried should we be about the risks of political violence? On Season 6, Episode 3 of the ELB Podcast we speak with Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, the Hoover Institution’s Larry Diamond, the Carnegie En...

Why do we have the Electoral College and is its use justified today? Why do Democrats and Republicans think differently about the Electoral College? Does the Electoral College make it harder or easier to subvert American elections? On Season 6, Episode 2 of the ELB Podcast we speak with Joey Fishkin of UCLA Law, Amanda Hollis-Brusky of Pomona College, and Derek Muller of Notre Dame Law School.

How prepared are we for a peaceful transition of power in 2024 in light of what we witnessed in the 2020 elections? What hurdles stand before minority voters in the upcoming elections? How has the social media and information environment affecting elections shifted since 2020? On today’s episode of the ELB Podcast we speak with Leah Aden, of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, John Fortier...

What’s the difference between how Americans communicated about politics and policies 20 or 30 years ago and how we do it today? What are the most effective ways to combat disinformation in elections and otherwise? Are the platforms and the rest of us ready for election-related threats in 2024? On the season finale of Season 5 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Renee DiResta, author of the new book,...

How should we understand the Supreme Court’s questions in the Trump immunity case? Will the Court let Donald Trump go to trial for 2020 election interference based just on his acts as a candidate and not as President? Are the legal theories advanced in Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York legally sound? On Season 5, Episode 7 of the ELB Podcast, a conversation about the latest Trump cases be...

Why doesn’t the U.S. Constitution contain an affirmative right to vote? Can constitutional reform promote political equality, defuse the voting wars, and thwart election subversion? How can we get a constitutional right to vote, if we can’t even get normal voting rights legislation passed in Congress? On Season 5, Episode 6 of the ELB Podcast, I am in conversation with Erwin Chemerinsky about my n...

What are the costs for democracy when the Supreme Court decides cases on the “shadow docket?” Is the Purcell Principle a license for states to act illegally in running elections? What is going to happen with the Trump disqualification case at the Supreme Court? On Season 5, Episode 5 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Steve Vladeck, author of the book, The Shadow Docket.

Has the United States done enough to minimize the risk of election subversion in 2024? How might problems in Congress affect a fair tallying of electoral college votes on January 6, 2025? How much danger of authoritarian rule does the U.S. face going forward? On Season 5, Episode 4 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Ian Bassin and Jess Marsden of Protect Democracy.

Do gag orders against presidential candidate Donald Trump in his civil or criminal trials violate the First Amendment? What should we make of Trump’s claims that his actions to overturn the results of the 2020 elections are protected free speech? How should we assess the dangers of government “jawboning” of social media platforms to remove objectionable conduct? On Season 5, Episode 3 of the ELB P...

Is the Roberts Court shifting on its protection of voting rights? How has the addition of three Trump-appointed Justices changed the nature of the Supreme Court? Should we expect a new ethics code for Supreme Court Justices? On Season 5, Episode 2 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Joan Biskupic, CNN’s senior supreme court analyst and author of the new book, Nine Black Robes.

Will the multiple indictments and expected trials of former President Donald Trump lead to violence or unrest? Are the risks of political violence in the U.S. increasing or decreasing? What can the United States learn from other countries that reversed democratic backsliding? On Season 5, Episode 1 of the ELB podcast, we have a roundtable with Ben Ginsberg, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and Rachel Kleinfeld.

What are the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Moore v. Harper for American democracy? What will the case mean for 2024 election challenges? Does the decision shut down attempts to submit slates of fake electors and subvert presidential elections? On the Season 4 finale of the ELB podcast, a voting rights roundtable with Derek Muller, Carolyn Shapiro, Bertrall Ross, and Rick Pildes.

Why did two conservative justices on the Supreme Court join the Court’s liberals to save section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Allen v. Milligan? Will voting rights plaintiffs see more success in Section 2 cases in other states including Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas? What are the political implications of the Court siding with minority plaintiffs in Milligan? On Season 4, Episode 9 of the ELB Pod...