MAGA Media Law 101
From Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts by Slate Podcasts
April 25, 2026 · 1h 4m
About this episode
Dahlia Lithwick discusses the Trump administration's tactics against the press and explores the implications of defamation suits and media decline with guest Margaret Sullivan.
As journalists, a-listers, and some of the most vociferous critics of journalism from the Trump administration gather for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Dahlia Lithwick tackles the president and his allies’ tactics to chill the press and undermine the First Amendment. In conversation with Guardian columnist and former New York Times public editor, Margaret Sullivan she explores the Trump administration’s use of meritless, high-dollar defamation suits, focusing on FBI Director Kash Patel’s $250 million lawsuit lodged against The Atlantic this week. Sullivan links democratic decline to media decline, citing oligarch ownership, consolidation, weakened local news, reduced public media, and corporate leaders’ capitulation via settlements and editorial interference. Margaret’s newsletter, American Crisis can be found here: margaretsullivan.substack.com/ Next, Dahlia and co-host Mark Joseph Stern examine New York Times’ reporting on leaked Supreme Court memos showing the 2016 Clean Power Plan stay as a pivotal shadow docket moment that perfectly illustrates how activity on the shadow docket is driven by institutional grievance rather than legal urgency. They…
People in this episode
Host: Dahlia Lithwick
Guest: Margaret Sullivan
Topics covered
- First Amendment
- defamation suits
- media decline
- Trump administration
- shadow docket
- press freedom
Keywords
- MAGA
- media
- defamation
- First Amendment
- Trump
- shadow docket
- journalism
- press freedom
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Atlantic, New York Times, Slate, Guardian
More episodes of Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts
- Concrete Plans to Restore Law, after Trump · June 6, 2026 · 1h 4m
- Preview: A Shattering Blow to Fair Elections · June 3, 2026 · 13 min
- The Myth of John Roberts vs. Donald Trump · May 30, 2026 · 1h 4m
- Trump’s Slush Fund Is Even Worse Than You Thought · May 23, 2026 · 1h 12m
- Return of the Abortion Pill Wars · May 16, 2026 · 1h 7m
- The “Civility” Problem for Judges · May 9, 2026 · 1h 2m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts podcast page.