rationally BASED
Welcome to rationally BASED, a podcast about law and politics, on the edge. Law professor Ilan Wurman, with co-host Kathryn Johnson, cover cutting-edge, and edgy, legal and political news, ideas, and developments.
Episodes
21 episodes
Episode 18 | The Constitution of 1789
In this special episode, our host gives a lecture at Stanford Law School on his new book, The Constitution of 1789: A New Introduction. What caused the American Revolution? Why did we write down our constitutions? What the nature of the America...
Episode 17 | Mandatory Detention Percolation
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, start off discussing the Virginia Redistricting case. What did the state supreme court hold? What is an "election"? Is there a federal question for the U.S. Supreme Court to review? Are ...
Episode 16 | Dem Maxxing and the VRA
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, cover everything Voting Rights Act in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais. Why was the Voting Rights Act enacted, and how does it relate to the Fifteenth...
Episode 15 | Alito and the Court
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, get a full hour with Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist and author of the new New York Times bestseller, Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored t...
Episode 14 | Constitutional Commandments
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, revisit the issue of Trump's ballroom after the recent assassination attempt. Ilan sticks to his guns and thinks Congress has to approve the ballroom; Kathryn is skeptical. Both agree, t...
Episode 13 | Revenge of January 6
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, take a deep dive into the ongoing January 6 lawfare, and particularly the civil lawsuit against President Trump brought by capitol police officers and lawmakers in D.C. Did you even know...
Episode 12 | Judges Gone Wild
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, rave about the Supreme Court's shadow docket. The shadow docket allows the Court quickly to rein in rogue district judges and their crazy opinions. Our hosts in particular talk about Jus...
Episode 11 | Executive & Judicial Lawmaking
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, explore a series of issues involving both executive and judicial "lawmaking." Would the President have the power to "wipe out" Iranian civilization without Congress? Can the President on...
Episode 10 | Election Day, Election Integrity
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, devote their episode to election integrity and the meaning of "election day." Does a federal "election day" preempt state laws providing that ballots can still be received days after the...
EMERGENCY Episode 9.5 | Birthright Oral Argument
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, break down what they just heard at the Supreme Court oral argument over President Trump's birthright citizenship executive order. They prognosticate on the result. Wong Kim Ark will not ...
Episode 9 | Birthright Citizenship: The Deep Dive
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, finally take their promised deep dive into the birthright citizenship case that the Supreme Court will hear next week. Ilan recently testified in Congress on the issue, and has a lot to ...
Episode 8 | Asymmetrical Lawfare
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, are joined by conservative law students at the podcast’s first ever live taping, at ASU. The hosts tackle one of the most important and controversial legal issues of the day: the asymmet...
BONUS Episode 7.5 | Are District Courts a Threat to the Republic?
In this bonus episode, our host, law professor Ilan Wurman, gives a talk to a conference of conservative law students on Trump vs. the courts. Are we in a constitutional crisis? Is it because the executive is disrespecting the courts, or becaus...
Episode 7 | Maryland Man and Law Firms
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, are joined by special guest host Will Chamberlain. They take a deep dive into the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case and study it as a microcosm of immigration law and the immigration bar. What i...
Episode 6 | Bombs & Basketball
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson and Grace Keating, take a deep dive into the legal questions surrounding the military strikes in Iran and the earlier capture of Maduro. What is international law? Is it really "law"? Wha...
Episode 5 | Taxes, Tariffs, and Hypocrites
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, take a deep dive into the Supreme Court's recent decision invalidating many of the Trump Tariffs enacted under IEEPA, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Are tariffs taxes? ...
Episode 4 | Polar Bears and Benchslaps
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson and Grace Keating, start this episode with major news out of the EPA: it has rescinded the Obama-era "endangerment" finding the supported the regulation of C02. Find out how EPA came to r...
Episode 3 | Habeas Corpus Chaos
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson and Grace Keating, start this episode with a lightning round of legal news. Learn why it's totally fine for the Supreme Court to be "secretive" (whatever that means). Our hosts discuss a ...
Episode 2 | Farmer Don Lemon
On this episode of rationally BASED, our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson and Grace Keating, discuss Don Lemon and the freedom of the press and what that also teaches us about Citizens United. They recall the famous State of...