At Liberty
334 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 535 ratingsAt Liberty is a weekly podcast from the ACLU that explores the biggest civil rights and civil liberties issues of the day. A production of ACLU, Inc.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Alan Rusbridger on the Press in Times of Crisis
February 21, 2019 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBAlan Rusbridger is the former editor of The Guardian and author of "Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now." He joins At Liberty to discuss the state of journalism in the social media age: what has been lost in this information revolution and what has been gained?
Marriage and the Regulation of Sex
February 14, 2019 08:00 - 33 minutes - 31 MBThis Valentine's Day, we're joined by Melissa Murray, NYU Law professor and expert on the legal regulation of sex and sexuality. Professor Murray and host Emerson Sykes discuss the legal institution of marriage as it has been used by and against marginalized people, and consider the victories and setbacks in the fight for marriage — and nonmarriage — equality.
At Liberty Live! Kwame Anthony Appiah on Identity and the Law
February 07, 2019 08:00 - 37 minutes - 34 MBAs part of the "Night of Philosophy and Ideas," renowned philosopher and NYT Ethicist columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah joined host Emerson Sykes — and a live audience! — to discuss identity, ethics, and the law. The event was hosted by the Brooklyn Public Library and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.
Adam McKay on Dick Cheney's Legacy
January 31, 2019 08:00 - 37 minutes - 34 MBIn his new Oscar-nominated film "Vice," Adam McKay(Saturday Night Live, "The Big Short") tells the story of Dick Cheney's journey from college dropout to becoming the most powerful — and probably the most controversial — vice president in American history. McKay joins At Liberty to discuss Cheney's legacy and why he chose to tell this story now.
A Wave of Laws Target Boycotts of Israel
January 17, 2019 08:00 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBA raft of new state and federal laws are seeking to stop people from participating in political boycotts aimed at the state of Israel. ACLU attorney Brian Hauss has challenged these laws across the U.S., and just this month argued against one in Arkansas. He joins Emerson Sykes — At Liberty’s new host! — to discuss what exactly this all means and why it's a major threat to the First Amendment. Update (1/18/19): After this episode was released, J Street clarified that the organization does no...
Whither Abortion Rights?
January 10, 2019 08:00 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBThe Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973, establishing access to abortion care as a fundamental right. But state legislatures have been chipping away at that right ever since, passing thousands of restrictions on abortion access and targeting abortion providers with burdensome rules. Several states now have only one abortion clinic left. Millions of women have no meaningful access to abortion care. Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the ACLU, discusses what to watch for at this piv...
ACLU Staffers Go to the Movies
December 20, 2018 08:00 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBFor our final episode of 2018, we're making a slight departure from our typical format. As we wind down the year and prepare to spend more time indoors, we've asked ACLU staff to give you their movie recommendations to make sure you're properly entertained this holiday season. Happy viewing, and we'll be back to regularly scheduled programming in 2019.
The Criminalization of Homelessness
December 13, 2018 08:00 - 26 minutes - 23.8 MBAs homelessness steadily rises in America, so too does the willingness of state and local governments to use criminal laws against their homeless residents. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court found that laws making it illegal to sleep in public violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when they're used against individuals without access to shelter. Maria Foscarinis, the founder and executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Pove...
Jill Lepore on the Construction of American Citizenship
December 06, 2018 08:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBAlmost 250 years after the adoption of the Declaration of the Independence, debates about founding principles like equality, rights, and representation are as fraught as ever. Jill Lepore, a Harvard history professor and New Yorker staff writer, discusses her latest book, “These Truths,” an ambitious exploration of the evolution of our nation from its earliest days.
A Shifting Landscape for Transgender Rights
November 29, 2018 08:00 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBThe state of transgender equality is in rapid flux in state legislatures, in federal law, in the courts and at the ballot box. Progress is consistently met with backlash. In the past midterm election, Massachusetts voters staved off an effort to dismantle legal protection for trans individuals in public spaces. Yet the Supreme Court is poised to reconsider legal victories won by trans plaintiffs in the federal courts, and Trump's White House seeks to exclude trans people from the military and...
A Growing Movement for Ethical Tech
November 21, 2018 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBIn recent weeks, hundreds of Amazon employees have spoken out to oppose the company marketing its facial recognition software for use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They join a chorus of voices — both in the tech world and outside of it — who are concerned about the use of artificial intelligence by law enforcement. We’re replaying a recent episode on the impact of A.I. on our civil liberties, featuring Meredith Whittaker of the AI Now Institute.
What’s the Deal With Florida?
November 15, 2018 08:00 - 31 minutes - 28.3 MBFlorida seems perpetually to be at the center of the national conversation and news cycle. The current recount to determine the results of Florida's Senate and gubernatorial races is just the latest in a series of high-profile elections and attention-grabbing cases in the Sunshine State. This week’s guest, Howard Simon, has had a front row seat to it all as the executive director of the ACLU of Florida for over 20 years. We’re asking Howard for his insights into a state that reflects a lot of...
In Florida, a Historic Victory for Voting Rights
November 07, 2018 21:00 - 27 minutes - 25 MBThe midterm elections made a lot of news, but one result particularly stands out: Florida's vote on Amendment 4. In a historic change, Floridians voted to amend their state constitution to restore voting rights to most people convicted of felonies once they've completed their full sentences. It sailed over the 60 percent threshold it needed to pass. The passage of Amendment 4 marks the largest single expansion of voting rights since the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971. In ...
Voting Rights and the Midterms
November 01, 2018 07:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBWith the midterm elections only a few days away, voting rights advocates have been working furiously to ensure that the result will be the product of a free and fair election where everyone eligible to vote is able to do so. Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, discusses the state of the vote in 2018 and the biggest challenges and opportunities for voting rights this election season.
Tarana Burke and Alyssa Milano on the Future of #MeToo
October 25, 2018 07:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBOne year ago this month, the first bombshell allegations against Harvey Weinstein appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker. Shortly thereafter, #MeToo went viral on social media. But the origins of this movement are at least a decade older. They lie with the work of Tarana Burke, a civil rights advocate devoted to fighting sexual harassment and violence. We talk to Tarana and actor and activist Alyssa Milano, whose tweet helped bring #MeToo mainstream.
Civil Liberties on the Midterm Ballot
October 18, 2018 07:00 - 31 minutes - 28.4 MBThe 2018 midterm elections will determine the fate of governorships nationwide, the party that controls Congress, and the outcome of hugely consequential ballot questions in many states. The stakes are high, including for key civil rights and civil liberties. This week, At Liberty features Faiz Shakir, the ACLU’s national political director, who discusses what we can expect from next month's ballot, and how the ACLU is getting involved.
Affirmative Action and the Case Against Harvard
October 11, 2018 07:00 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBHarvard University is facing a lawsuit alleging that its undergraduate admissions practices unlawfully discriminate against Asian American applicants. This suit is the latest salvo in the legal battle over whether and how schools can consider race as a factor in their admissions process. Jin Hee Lee, senior deputy director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, joins At Liberty to discuss the case. She represents 25 Harvard students and alumni groups who have filed bri...
Why the ACLU Opposes Kavanaugh
October 02, 2018 00:45 - 22 minutes - 21 MBThe nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has turned into a full-blown national drama, amid credible sexual misconduct allegations against him. Late last week, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh denied her claims in a combative and emotional response. The ACLU does not ordinarily oppose or support judicial nominations. However, the day after the Senate hearing,...
What Happens When Prisoners Go on Strike?
September 27, 2018 07:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBMore than 2,000 firefighters battling the blaze in California this summer came from inside the state’s prison system. They were part of a national workforce of incarcerated people, paid pennies per hour and sometimes nothing at all, for hourly labor benefiting the U.S. economy. Driven in part by demands for better working conditions and wages, incarcerated workers last month began a nationwide prison strike. David Fathi, a longtime prison rights advocate and director of the ACLU National Pris...
How the ‘War on Terror’ Corrupted America
September 20, 2018 03:59 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBAmerica’s response to the 9/11 attacks have dominated our foreign policy, military priorities, and human rights record for 17 years now. Perhaps no place on earth is a better symbol of that response than the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Today, 40 prisoners remain, as does the legacy of torture — in the bodies and minds of many of these men, and in the lingering stain on our legal system. Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, discusses how the “War on Terror” has ch...
Family Separation Update: Searching for Parents in Guatemala
September 13, 2018 15:24 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBMore than a month ago, a federal court ordered the Trump administration to reunite immigrant children and parents it had separated at the U.S. border. Yet hundreds of children remain on their own in government custody, and many of their parents have already been deported. Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project and attorney for the separated families, just returned from a trip to Guatemala to find some of the parents whose children are still being held in the U.S.
Brett Kavanaugh and the Case Against the Supreme Court
September 06, 2018 03:59 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MBThe Supreme Court is meant to protect the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. Historically, however, it has repeatedly failed to live up to that promise. Can one justice change the course of the Supreme Court? Erwin Chemerinsky, a Supreme Court litigator and dean of Berkeley Law School, discusses the court’s history and the threats a Justice Brett Kavanaugh could pose to our constitutional rights.
Criminalizing Schoolkids
August 30, 2018 03:59 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBMany of the children who are presently gearing up for a new school year are also preparing to face police on a daily basis. The numbers of cops in schools is growing, which often means that instead of a detention or a time out, routine misbehavior can result in arrest and criminal charges — with children of color disproportionately impacted. The U.S. Department of Education recently released data collected from America’s 96,000 public schools. That data shows that students of color make up th...
Since When Is Every Immigrant A Criminal?
August 23, 2018 12:01 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBPresident Trump often demonizes entire immigrant groups, referring to Mexican people as “rapists” and undocumented immigrants as “animals.” Yet statistics show that immigrants, both undocumented and otherwise, are actually less likely to commit crimes than the average U.S. citizen. How did our American political conversation start to conflate immigrants with criminality? And how has immigration policy changed along with this rhetoric? Cecilia Wang, the deputy legal director of the ACLU, discu...
A Nation in Love With Locking People Up
August 16, 2018 03:59 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBThe United States sends more people to prison or jail than any other nation in the world. Donald Trump pledged to be tough on crime, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has pushed to reinvigorate the war on drugs. They're contributing to the mass incarceration crisis, but they didn't create it. It's the result of decades of criminal policies enacted in every state in this country. Local prosecutors are big drivers of mass incarceration. Can they be part of the solution? Udi Ofer, the de...
Lessons From Charlottesville
August 09, 2018 03:59 - 35 minutes - 32 MBOn August 12, 2017, a group of white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia. The day was a disaster, with violence in the streets and Heather Heyer murdered by a man who drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters. The ACLU of Virginia had represented Jason Kessler, the march organizer, in a First Amendment lawsuit when city officials attempted to move the location of the event. The ACLU’s representation of Kessler has renewed debate, both inside and outside the organiza...
How to Fight an Algorithm
August 02, 2018 03:59 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MBIt seems like artificial intelligence is everywhere these days — in our homes, in our cars, in our offices, and of course online. Government decisions, too, are being outsourced to computer code. In one Pennsylvania county, for example, welfare services use digital tools to assess the likelihood that a child is at risk of abuse. Los Angeles contracts with the data giant Palantir to engage in predictive policing, in which algorithms identify residents who might commit future crimes. Local poli...
America’s Criminalization of Blackness
July 26, 2018 03:59 - 31 minutes - 29 MBIn recent months, Black Americans have had the cops called on them for things like waiting in Starbucks, entering their own dorm rooms, moving into their own apartments, and barbecuing in a public park. Why are these stories making waves now, and what do they say about being Black in America? Jeff Robinson, director of the ACLU Trone Center for Justice and Equality, discusses America’s history of criminalizing race, and how we can meaningfully confront it.
Desmond Meade and Dale Ho on Restoring the Right to Vote
July 19, 2018 03:59 - 25 minutes - 35.6 MBThe 14th Amendment, ratified exactly 150 years ago, promises equal protection to everyone. But it’s also used to strip the right to vote from millions of Americans who have been convicted of felonies. How did this happen, and who’s affected? Desmond Meade talks to At Liberty about his campaign that could restore voting rights to a huge number of Floridians. We also hear from the ACLU’s Dale Ho, about why the Florida initiative could tip the scales — in a good way — for the rest of the country.
Patrisse Cullors on a Lifetime of Activism and the Founding of Black Lives Matter
July 12, 2018 03:45 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBOn the eve of the five-year anniversary of the creation of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Cullors discusses the life that led her to co-found one of the most consequential racial justice movements of our time. She talks about the evolution of the organization since its inception, what it’s like to live under surveillance, the books that inspired her, and more.
ACLU Legal Director David Cole on the Supreme Court's Uncertain Future
July 05, 2018 04:46 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBAn eventful Supreme Court session just came to a close. This year, the court handed down major decisions on partisan gerrymandering, warrantless searches and seizures, union dues, the religious rights of business owners, and the Trump administration's notorious travel ban — to name a few. But the most consequential news from the court came once the session ended, with Justice Anthony Kennedy announcing his retirement. ACLU David Cole looks back on the most important cases of the session, and...
Lee Gelernt on a Major Victory for Immigrant Families
June 28, 2018 02:36 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBLee Gelernt has been fighting Trump’s family separation policy since early this year, months before it became the subject of national outrage. Thousands of children remain separated from their parents, despite the president’s executive order purporting to end the practice. Just hours before taping this interview, a federal judge issued a decision calling for the government to take immediate action to unify these families. Lee discusses the future of this policy and the consequences of the Sup...
Cecile Richards on the Fight for Reproductive Rights
June 28, 2018 02:35 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBAfter 12 years at the center of a heated national debate about abortion rights and women’s healthcare, Cecile Richards recently stepped down as the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She joins At Liberty to discuss recent gains and losses of the reproductive freedom movement, why the 2018 midterm elections are giving her hope, and more.
Introducing At Liberty
June 07, 2018 16:01 - 1 minute - 1.3 MBCOMING SOON: At Liberty, from the ACLU, with host Lee Rowland. Every week, At Liberty will take on the hottest civil rights and civil liberties debates of the day. Subscribe now.