Checks & Balances

Latest Episodes:

AI Companies Don’t Get to Be Above the Law Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

Who should control your data—and what happens when that power is abused?

Gregg Nunziata talks with former DHS Chief Privacy Officer Nuala O’Connor about government overreach, digital privacy, and why AI companies must play by the same rules as everyone else. Also: What does it mean to protect liberty and the rule of law in an increasingly connected world?

Listen to Checks & Balances, a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

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Can Trump Take Control of the Midterms? Oct 07, 2026

Show notes

Former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter joins Gregg Nunziata to explain how America’s election safeguards have weakened—and why the Trump administration’s efforts to expand federal control over elections deserve close scrutiny.

They discuss the collapse of meaningful FEC enforcement, potential voter-roll purges, federal involvement at polling places, threats to the certification process, and the legal preparations underway to protect the midterms. Potter also reflects on campaign-finance reform, his work with John McCain, and the founding of the Campaign Legal Center.

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Is the Right Abandoning Its Own Principles? Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

What happens when winning elections becomes more important than the principles a movement claims to defend?

Gregg Nunziata talks with Reason senior editor Stephanie Slade about her new book, “Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right,” and whether conservatism can reclaim its commitment to freedom, faith, and the rule of law.

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How Hitler Used Democracy to DESTROY It Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

Historian Timothy Ryback joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to discuss his book, 53 Days, and the decisions that helped Hitler dismantle Germany’s democracy in 1933.

They examine the journalists and lawyers who resisted, the politicians who recognized the danger but voted to give Hitler power, and what this history can—and cannot—tell us about America today.

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Federal Judges Under Siege: Threats to Judicial Independence Sep 18, 2026

Show notes

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Federal judges are facing an unprecedented wave of threats. Amrit Singh, Professor of Practice and the founding director of NYU Law’s Rule of Law Lab, and Jeremy Fogel, a former district judge in California and the Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, join Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances. Professor Singh and Judge Fogel discuss the findings from their recently published report Threats to the Independence of the Federal Judiciary, which offers concrete recommendations for strengthening judicial independence, the keystone of our nation’s constitutional order.

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Note: This episode was recorded on September 16, 2026.

Resources:

* Professor Singh and Judge Fogel’s report: Threats to the Independence of the Federal Judiciary

* Professor Singh and Judge Fogel’s article in The Hill: “Federal judges are being targeted with pizza doxxing; no one has been held to account”

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“Everybody Agrees: This is a Rule of Law Imperative” Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

William Baude, the Harry Kalven, Jr. Professor of Law and the Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Institute at the University of Chicago Law School, joins Gregg Nunziata, the Executive Director of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute, for a conversation about the postal service executive order, the White House ballroom, and cases to watch in the upcoming Supreme Court term. They also delve into Professor Baude’s research interests, including the development of uniform time, and how Professor Baude’s popular legal podcast Divided Argument came to be.

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Note: This episode was recorded on September 3, 2026.

Resources:

* Professor Baude’s podcast Divided Argument.

* Professor Baude’s articles on the 14th Amendment.

* Professor Baude’s lecture on William Winslow Crosskey, the “forgotten originalist.”

* The Society for the Rule of Law’s amicus briefs in the postal service case.

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Congress’s Core Work is Negotiation w/ Yuval Levin Aug 26, 2026

Show notes

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Yuval Levin, the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances for a discussion about our constitutional system—and how it’s holding up today. Levin explains why institutions matter, why Congress’s core work is negotiation, and why AI offers tempting shortcuts but could deprive us of the formative experiences gained through thought and reflection.

Follow along now on Substack, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Resources:

* Yuval Levin’s essay in The New Atlantis on Artificial Intelligence: “Idols of the Valley”

* Yuval Levin’s appearance on The Ezra Klein Show

* Yuval Levin’s book The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left

* Yuval Levin’s book American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation―and Could Again

Note: This episode was recorded on August 20, 2026.

Get full access to Checks & Balances at chkbal.substack.com/subscribe

“We Don’t Just Have One Constitution. We Have Fifty-One.” w/ Justice Clint Bolick Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Justice Clint Bolick of the Arizona Supreme Court joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to discuss the power of state constitutional law. Justice Bolick explains why state courts often have the final word on protecting individual rights, discusses four key principles necessary to safeguard the rule of law, and offers young lawyers a roadmap for making a difference.

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Resources:

* Justice Bolick’s op-ep: “I don’t need to be a Supreme Court justice. But Arizona needs the system that got me here.”

* Justice Bolick’s commentary: “The Assault on the Independent Judiciary.”

* Justice Bolick on the country’s core four constitutional principles: https://arizonatalks.org/voices/2026-07-on-americas-250th-protecting-core-constitutional-principles

* Justice Bolick on state constitutions and the protection of rights: https://americanhabits.org/state-constitutions-and-the-protection-of-rights/.

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Stephen Richer on How Elections Actually Work Aug 12, 2026

Show notes

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Stephen Richer, the former Recorder of Maricopa County, AZ, joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to discuss how elections actually work in the United States of America. Stephen walks Gregg through the mechanics of election administration across the country, explains why our decentralized election system enhances security, and offers concrete ways Americans can get involved to protect the integrity of our electoral process.

Follow along now on Substack, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Resources:

* Society for the Rule of Law Institute’s amicus brief in Watson v. RNC.

* Society for the Rule of Law Institute Board Member Richard Bernstein’s articles on Watson v. RNC: here and here.

* Stephen Richer and Gregg Nunziata’s Checks & Balances article on election laws.

Get full access to Checks & Balances at chkbal.substack.com/subscribe

The Past, Present, and Future of the Conservative Legal Movement Aug 05, 2026

Show notes

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

John Malcolm—the Vice President of the Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law at Advancing American Freedom—joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to discuss the conservative legal movement, the most recent Supreme Court term, and the arguments now dividing the right. Plus: what he learned debating at the Oxford Union.

Follow along now on Substack, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Get full access to Checks & Balances at chkbal.substack.com/subscribe

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