Judges Gone Wild: The Robe Room Where It Happens

Judges Gone Wild: The Robe Room Where It Happens

From The Lincoln Project by The Lincoln Project

May 5, 2026 · 42 min

About this episode

Rick Wilson and Sarah Isgur discuss the complexities and challenges facing the modern Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court was meant to be the last guardrail—the final check when everything else fails—but what happens when that guardrail starts to wobble? This week, Rick Wilson sits down with legal analyst and author Sarah Isgur to break down the modern Court from the inside out: the personalities driving decisions, the growing reliance on the shadow docket, and the myth of pure judicial objectivity. They unpack how power actually works behind the robes, why the justices’ individual worldviews matter more than ever, and how diversity of experience—not just race or gender—shapes the outcomes that ripple across the country. In a moment where Congress is gridlocked and the executive branch is aggressively asserting its power, the Court has become the ultimate referee in America’s biggest fights—but whether it’s equipped for that role, or cracking under the pressure, is the question hanging over everything. • • • • • Sarah Isgur is on X @whignewtons & on Instagram @sarahmisgur. Her new book ‘Last Branch Standing,’ is available now wherever fine books are sold. Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at…

People in this episode

Host: Rick Wilson

Guest: Sarah Isgur

Topics covered

  • Supreme Court
  • judicial objectivity
  • shadow docket
  • legal analysis
  • political power
  • diversity in judiciary

Keywords

  • Supreme Court
  • judicial decisions
  • legal analysis
  • Rick Wilson
  • Sarah Isgur
  • political commentary
  • diversity in law

Sponsors

Kikoff

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Lincoln Project

Products: Last Branch Standing

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