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
37 episodes
Episode 34 | Immigration and Due Process: the Emerging Battleground
"Due process of law" is emerging as THE central legal battleground for immigration reform in 2026-27. In this episode, Kathryn Johnson and law professors Joshua Kleinfeld and Ilan Wurman break down the three biggest new cases — and confront the...
Episode 33 | Give Parents the Vote
Parent proxy voting for children is in the news and it's gone viral!On Ross Douthat's podcast, Yale Law professor Samuel Moyn proposed giving 20-somethings extra votes, rather than parents, because “young people — not people who are rais...
Episode 32 | The Constitution at the National Constitution Center
In this bonus episode, we cross post our host's appearance at the National Constitution Center. You can also listen to this episode on We the People, the NCC's wonderful podcast. Julie Silverbrook, Chief Content and Learning Office...
Episode 31 | Who Writes the Rules of the Game?
Election Money, Mail-In Ballots, and the Supreme CourtIn this episode, Kathryn Johnson and law professors Joshua Kleinfeld and Ilan Wurman take on three fights over the rules of American elections — and the deeper question of who should...
Episode 30 | Are All Cultures Created Equal?
In this episode, hosts Kathryn Johnson and law professor Ilan Wurman take on a hard and controversial question: Are all cultures created equal? Or, more precisely, do all cultures have the same current capacity for constitutional self-governmen...
Episode 29 | The Constitution, Slavery, and Patriotism
Can You Love America While Facing Its Hardest Truth?In this special episode of our series on the American Founding, hosts Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld take on the hardest question about American pa...
Episode 28 | Supreme Court 6-3: States Can Keep Biological Males Out of Girls' Sports
In this episode, Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld break down the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision upholding state laws that bar biological males who identify as girls from competing in girls’ sports.The maj...
Episode 27 | Supreme Court Delivers a Landmark Win for the Unitary Executive
In this episode, Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld break down two blockbuster end-of-term SCOTUS decisions on the administrative state: Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook.In the first...
Episode 26 | Birthright Bombshell at the Supreme Court
In this episode, Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld break down the Supreme Court's 5-4 birthright citizenship decision — a much more closely divided ruling than many expected.Chief Justice Roberts, writi...
Episode 25 | Alito Day
In this special episode, our hosts — Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld — tackle four recent Supreme Court decisions. They focus on the two big immigration cases from Thursday, where the Supreme Court upheld the...
Episode 24 | Welfare Fraud and the Constitution
In this episode, our hosts — Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld — take on a topic that has taken the country by storm over the last several months: welfare fraud. They go over some legal developments involving t...
Episode 23 | When Law Firms Go Hard Left: Trump & the Law Firm EOs
In this episode, Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld take on one of the most controversial actions of the Trump administration: executive orders targeting major law firms. Some legal scholars have cal...
Episode 22 | Judges vs. The People: The Latest Battles on Transgender Activism & Illegal Immigration
In this episode, our hosts — Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld — examine the three latest examples of judicial power being used to block elected officials. They cover Florida’s effort to hold the ...
Episode 21 | America's Disordered Cities
In this special episode of Rationally BASED, our host, law professor Ilan Wurman, is joined by guest co-hosts Sanjana Friedman and Judge Glock. Both write about homelessness, public encampments, and other disorders in America's progressive citi...
Episode 20 | Anti-Weaponization Fund – Tit-for-Tat or Unilateral Disarmament?
Our hosts Kathryn Johnson, Joshua Kleinfeld, and Ilan Wurman break down the controversial new DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund. Is it legal? Is it justified? And after decades of Democrat “sue and settle” tactics, does it even matter? Th...
Episode 19 | Autocrat Judges: Israel's Warning for America
Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, are joined by guest co-host Joshua Kleinfeld, law professor at Scalia Law School at George Mason University, former professor at Northwestern, and a recent alum of the Trump Administrati...
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...