Weekly Podcast #55: Supreme Court — It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Summary: The full panel finally returns! Allison, Nick, and Joe discuss the end of the Supreme Court term from the highs regarding marriage equality and the lows involving voting rights and workplace and consumer rights. Is the problem a progressive movement that gave up, or a failure to mobilize the middle over issues? Then Kathryn joins the group to talk about the Wendy Davis filibuster in Texas that the national media largely ignored. Finally the gang discusses what this means for Jeff Merkley’s filibuster reform ideas — is the speaking filibuster a hallmark of the system worth bringing back or an anti-democratic procedural trick that should be tossed. Here are the links to a few of the stories talked about in this episode: John Sides explains the implications of Shelby County from the perspective of a political scientist. Dahlia Lithwick and Barry Friedman wonder if progressives have given up on everything other than same-sex marriage.