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Lawfare Daily Playlist
Lawfare Daily: Dockets Die in Darkness with Peter Beck and Seamus Hughes
In his recent piece for Court Watch, a news site covering interesting, yet often overlooked federal court filings, Lawfare Associate Editor Peter Beck wrote about the Middle District of Georgia, …which is “filled with rich news stories that even a few years ago would have been quickly reported” but which “now sits in a so-called ‘news desert,’ a place that is largely devoid of even a single newspaper, let alone a reporter dedicated to its federal court.”
Out of Georgia’s 17 counties without a single local news source, 12 fall within the Middle District of Georgia’s jurisdiction. Unfortunately, this district is not alone in this regard, writes Beck, but rather “part of a broader trend of the death of local news, leaving community members uninformed about important developments in their neighborhoods and leading to less and less transparency in the legal system.”
For today’s episode, Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien sits down with Beck, as well as Seamus Hughes, a senior research faculty at the University of Nebraska Omaha’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) and the founder of Court Watch, to discuss what happens when “dockets die in darkness.”
Read the Court Watch article: https://www.courtwatch.news/p/the-rabbit-hole-dockets-die-in-darkness 🏛️Show More
Lawfare Daily: Dockets Die in Darkness with Peter Beck and Seamus Hughes
In his recent piece for Court Watch, a news site covering interesting, yet often overlooked federal court filings, Lawfare Associate Editor Peter Beck wrote about the Middle District of Georgia, which is “filled with rich news stories that even a few years ago would have been quickly reported” but which “now sits in a so-called ‘news desert,’ a place that is largely devoid of even a single newspaper, let alone a reporter dedicated to its federal court.” Out of Georgia’s 17 counties without …
In his recent piece for Court Watch, a news site covering interesting, yet often overlooked federal court filings, Lawfare Associate Editor Peter Beck wrote about the Middle District of Georgia, …which is “filled with rich news stories that even a few years ago would have been quickly reported” but which “now sits in a so-called ‘news desert,’ a place that is largely devoid of even a single newspaper, let alone a reporter dedicated to its federal court.”
Out of Georgia’s 17 counties without a single local news source, 12 fall within the Middle District of Georgia’s jurisdiction. Unfortunately, this district is not alone in this regard, writes Beck, but rather “part of a broader trend of the death of local news, leaving community members uninformed about important developments in their neighborhoods and leading to less and less transparency in the legal system.”
For today’s episode, Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien sits down with Beck, as well as Seamus Hughes, a senior research faculty at the University of Nebraska Omaha’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) and the founder of Court Watch, to discuss what happens when “dockets die in darkness.”
Read the Court Watch article: https://www.courtwatch.news/p/the-rabbit-hole-dockets-die-in-darkness 🏛️Show More
Lawfare Daily: What To Expect on the Immigration Front in Year 2 of Trump's Second Term
Lawfare Senior Editor Eric Columbus talks with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council to discuss what is—and isn’t—likely to look different in the upcoming year of Trump administration immigration policy. After a whirlwind year, ICE and CBP have a lot more resources than at the dawn of the administration—but also a lot more opposition. How will it all shake out? To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also …
Lawfare Senior Editor Eric Columbus talks with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council to discuss what is—and isn’t—likely to look different in the upcoming year of Trump administration immigration …policy. After a whirlwind year, ICE and CBP have a lot more resources than at the dawn of the administration—but also a lot more opposition. How will it all shake out?
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: Iran Protests and Internet Shutdown
Information about the recent protests in Iran and the regime’s brutal crackdown are only starting to come to light, having been severely limited by the internet shutdown over the past few weeks. The picture that is emerging is horrifying: Thousands and possibly tens of thousands have been killed by regime security forces. In this episode, Lawfare Public Service Fellow Ariane Tabatabai talks to Nate Swanson and Iria Puyosa of the Atlantic Council to make sense of what has been going on in …
Information about the recent protests in Iran and the regime’s brutal crackdown are only starting to come to light, having been severely limited by the internet shutdown over the past …few weeks. The picture that is emerging is horrifying: Thousands and possibly tens of thousands have been killed by regime security forces. In this episode, Lawfare Public Service Fellow Ariane Tabatabai talks to Nate Swanson and Iria Puyosa of the Atlantic Council to make sense of what has been going on in Iran and the U.S. response.
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: The U.S. Plan for Venezuelan Oil Revenue
On today’s podcast, Executive Editor Natalie Orpett speaks with Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson about the recently announced U.S. plan to take possession of Venezuelan oil, sell it on the world market, and hold the revenue from those sales in accounts based in Qatar. Scott and Lawfare Contributing Editor Alex Zerden recently published an article in Lawfare digging into the complexities of the plan. Scott and Natalie talk through them all—what exactly this plan is, how it’s supposed …
On today’s podcast, Executive Editor Natalie Orpett speaks with Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson about the recently announced U.S. plan to take possession of Venezuelan oil, sell it on …the world market, and hold the revenue from those sales in accounts based in Qatar. Scott and Lawfare Contributing Editor Alex Zerden recently published an article in Lawfare digging into the complexities of the plan. Scott and Natalie talk through them all—what exactly this plan is, how it’s supposed to work, why Qatar is involved, and all the many challenges in play.
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: Unearthing and Reckoning with the Intelligence Excesses of the Cold War
Lawfare Senior Editor Michael Feinberg sits down with Matthew Guariglia and Brian Hochman to discuss their new book, “The Church Committee Report: Revelations from the Bombshell 1970s Investigation into the National Security State,” in which they chronicle the law enforcement and intelligence community’s Cold War excesses, the Senate committee which uncovered them, and what we can learn about the resulting report in terms of our own era. …
Lawfare Senior Editor Michael Feinberg sits down with Matthew Guariglia and Brian Hochman to discuss their new book, “The Church Committee Report: Revelations from the Bombshell 1970s Investigation into the …National Security State,” in which they chronicle the law enforcement and intelligence community’s Cold War excesses, the Senate committee which uncovered them, and what we can learn about the resulting report in terms of our own era.
https://wwnorton.com/books/the-church-committee-report 🏛️
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: Misogyny and Violent Extremism with Cynthia Miller-Idriss
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor at American University, discusses her new book, “Man Up: The New Misogyny & the Rise of Violence Extremism,” with Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman. She explains how different forms of misogyny shape lead to political and social violence, why most scholarship and media accounts usually ignore the role of gender, and what individuals can do to fight back. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. …
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor at American University, discusses her new book, “Man Up: The New Misogyny & the Rise of Violence Extremism,” with Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman. She …explains how different forms of misogyny shape lead to political and social violence, why most scholarship and media accounts usually ignore the role of gender, and what individuals can do to fight back.
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: The Thousands of Lawsuits Challenging Pres. Trump’s Mandatory Alien Detention Policy
Kyle Cheney, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, speaks to Lawfare Senior Editor Roger Parloff about the thousands of habeas corpus cases he has pored through challenging a Trump administration policy requiring mandatory detention for most detained aliens. They discuss how judges have ruled on these cases, the degree to which those rulings do or don’t correlate with political expectations, the appellate prospects for such cases, and why they haven’t been resolved by class action. …
Kyle Cheney, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, speaks to Lawfare Senior Editor Roger Parloff about the thousands of habeas corpus cases he has pored through challenging a Trump administration …policy requiring mandatory detention for most detained aliens.
They discuss how judges have ruled on these cases, the degree to which those rulings do or don’t correlate with political expectations, the appellate prospects for such cases, and why they haven’t been resolved by class action.
More reading on this topic:
“Hundreds of judges reject Trump’s mandatory detention policy, with no end in sight,” by Kyle Cheney, Politico (January 5, 2026) https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/05/trump-administration-immigrants-mandatory-detention-00709494 🏛️
“Judges, inundated with immigration cases, don’t mince words on ICE tactics,” by Kyle Cheney, Politico (January 26, 2026)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/26/minnesota-immigration-cases-ice-00746275 🏛️
Kyle’s thread on Minnesota cases on X
https://x.com/kyledcheney/status/2015252291066921388 🏛️
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: Trump, Greenland, and the International Order
The crisis over President Trump’s threats to annex Greenland appears to be over for now. But the second- and third-order consequences continue to unfold as NATO allies try to manage their relationship with the United States. In this episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Molly Roberts, Lawfare Public Service Fellow Ariane Tabatabai, and Egmont Institute Visiting Fellow John Drennan give an overview of the crisis and discuss its implications for the United States and NATO, as well as talk though how …
The crisis over President Trump’s threats to annex Greenland appears to be over for now. But the second- and third-order consequences continue to unfold as NATO allies try to manage …their relationship with the United States. In this episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Molly Roberts, Lawfare Public Service Fellow Ariane Tabatabai, and Egmont Institute Visiting Fellow John Drennan give an overview of the crisis and discuss its implications for the United States and NATO, as well as talk though how U.S. adversaries like Russia and China see the family feud.
For more on these topics, see:
“Western Europeans Are Hedging on a Post-U.S. NATO,” by Lucas Robinson, Lawfare (June 24,2025)
“Russia and China in the Gray Zone,” by Ariane Tabatabai, Lawfare (November 14, 2025)
“America Needs a New Nuclear Nonproliferation Toolkit,” by Ariane Tabatabai, Lawfare (January 21, 2026)
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: Elizabeth Tsurkov on Her Captivity in Iraq
Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sits down with Princeton PhD candidate Elizabeth Tsurkov to talk about the 903 days that she was held in captivity by Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq. Tsurkov describes the circumstances of her detention, the realities of life in captivity, and the sociological study she undertook of her captors while imprisoned. Wittes and Tsurkov also explore changes in U.S. hostage policy under the Biden and Trump administrations, as well as how …
Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sits down with Princeton PhD candidate Elizabeth Tsurkov to talk about the 903 days that she was held in captivity by Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed …militia in Iraq. Tsurkov describes the circumstances of her detention, the realities of life in captivity, and the sociological study she undertook of her captors while imprisoned. Wittes and Tsurkov also explore changes in U.S. hostage policy under the Biden and Trump administrations, as well as how various governments responded to efforts to secure her release.
For more on Elizabeth’s powerful story, see:
“Held Hostage by Iran’s Militias: Where Are They Now?,” a talk by Elizabeth Tsurkov, moderated by Charles Lister and Benjamin Wittes, hosted by the Middle East Institute (January 21, 2026)
“Lawfare Daily: One Year Since the Kidnapping of Elizabeth Tsurkov,” Ben’s conversation with Emma Tsurkov about her efforts to seek her sister’s release (March 25, 2024)
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: The Military’s Operational Technology Cyber Vulnerabilities
Andy Grotto, William J. Perry International Security Fellow and the founder and co-director of the Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), and Jim Dempsey, a senior policy adviser to that program and a Lecturer at the UC Berkeley Law School, join Lawfare’s Justin Sherman to discuss their recent study on the U.S. military’s domestic operational technology (OT) cybersecurity vulnerabilities, …
Andy Grotto, William J. Perry International Security Fellow and the founder and co-director of the Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation …(CISAC), and Jim Dempsey, a senior policy adviser to that program and a Lecturer at the UC Berkeley Law School, join Lawfare’s Justin Sherman to discuss their recent study on the U.S. military’s domestic operational technology (OT) cybersecurity vulnerabilities, domestic installations’ dependencies on critical infrastructure both “inside the fence” and “outside the fence,” and how U.S. adversaries could exploit the flaws. They also discuss the myth of the air gap; the Pentagon’s Energy Resilience Program; the role that standards, regulations, and procurement could play in strengthening the cybersecurity of OT systems on which the military depends; and what the threat landscape will look like in the coming years.
Resources:
James X. Dempsey and Andrew J. Grotto, “Ensuring the Cyber Resilience of Critical Infrastructure Serving Domestic Military Installations: Questions for Senior Leadership,” The Cyber Defense Review 10, no. 2 (2025): 115-138
Jim Dempsey and Andrew J. Grotto, “The Pentagon’s Operational Technology Problem,” Lawfare, December 15, 2025
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at http://www.patreon.com/lawfare 🏛️. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute 🏛️.Show More
Lawfare Daily: Can Minnesota Prosecute ICE Agent Jonathan Ross?
Senior Editor Anna Bower spoke with Carolyn Shapiro, co-director of Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Institute on the Supreme Court, and Bryna Godar, a Staff Attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School. The discussion covered the state of Minnesota’s jurisdiction to criminally investigate Jonathan Ross, the ICE official who reportedly shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7. The conversation also covered obstacles state prosecutors might …
