Advisory Opinions is a legal podcast by The Dispatch. Hosts David French and Sarah Isgur meet twice a week to talk about the law, the courts, their collision with politics, and why it all matters.
PodSkip has analyzed 2 episodes of Advisory Opinions, averaging 1.5 ads per episode (2% of runtime).
How to Fix Congress | Interview: Rep. Jake Auchincloss
Aug 27, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French invite real life Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts to discuss how to reform Congress, explain multi-member districting, and wtalk about hether the Supreme Court…
Civility vs. Collegiality | Interview: Judges Tom Griffith and David Tatel
Aug 25, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French invite former D.C. Circuit judges Tom Griffith and David Tatel to discuss relationships, judicial independence, and what it means to be a “former” judge. But first, bar…
Let’s Pretend We’re Justices | Interview: Chris Scalia
Aug 20, 2026
David French and Sarah Isgur steelman Justice John Paul Stevens and Justice Stephen Breyers’s dissents in the Heller case through a one-act play produced by ChatGPT. The two also invite Chris Scalia…
Trump’s Ballroom Blitz
Aug 18, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French return, but with a little bit of a switcheroo as David takes the host’s chair. They discuss President Donald Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court on the construction of a…
This Is Not A Vibes-Only Podcast
Aug 13, 2026
David Lat and Zachary Shemtob return as guest hosts and are joined by Adam Feldman, author of the blog Empirical SCOTUS and the Substack Legalytics, to discuss an update on birthright citizenship…
SCOTUS’s October Preview
Aug 11, 2026
David Lat takes over the host’s chair and is joined by Zachary Shemtob, executive editor of SCOTUSblog, and Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, to discuss Justice Samuel Alito’s retirement plans (not…
Fauci Pleads the Fifth | Interview: Elie Honig
Aug 06, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French are joined by CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig to discuss Anthony Fauci’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment. Is it okay? Is it not okay? How does this relate to the…
The Island of Rationality and the First Amendment
Aug 04, 2026
Welcome to First Amendment-a-palooza, where headliners Sarah Isgur and David French play the classics like: “Are license plates government speech?” and “Three cheers for Citizens United,” as well as…
Receipts on the Senate Filibuster | Interview: Mike “Frags” Fragoso
Jul 30, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the Trump administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court about its mail-in voting executive order. Then the two talk with Mike Fragoso, former chief counsel to…
Reviewing the Court’s Criminal Law | Interview: Rory Little and Orin Kerr
Jul 28, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss new data on questions that the Supreme Court justices are asking, dive into the definition of stipulation, and run through a few questionable subpoenas of…
Alaska v. a Charter Plane and a Six-Pack of Beer
Jul 23, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French explain a case in which an Alaskan charter plane was seized over a six-pack of beer and discuss Title IX due-process rights on college campuses.
Sarah and David are then…
Defy the Gods
Jul 21, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss Messi flags and The Odyssey in 4D (not IMAX!) before diving into legal topics such as the politics at the Supreme Court, 3rd Circuit defamation and cancellation…
A Bucket Full of Trump Bait
Jul 16, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Elena Kagan’s testimony in front of Congress, an Alaska Airlines forum argument about religious issues, and President Donald…
Plenty of Culture War Stuff
Jul 14, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French preview the next Supreme Court term, discuss a dissent from a cert denial on defamation, and consider a few think pieces on the court: Are any of the justices political?…
SCOTUS Vibe Check
Jul 09, 2026
Live from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., Sarah Isgur and David French review the OT25 term with Akhil Amar, professor of law and political science at Yale University, and…
Complicating the Polarization Narrative
Jul 07, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French slow things down with an overview of the yearly Stat Pack released by SCOTUSblog, look at the dissents in the birthright citizenship case, and answer listeners’ questions…
It’s the End of the Term
Jun 30, 2026
SCOTUS strikes down a Donald Trump executive order ending birthright citizenship, reshapes campaign finance law, and rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports…
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Supreme Court Weighs In on Unitary Executive Theory
Jun 30, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French break down the latest Supreme Court opinions regarding unitary executive theory, mail-in voting, and the Fourth Amendment.
The Agenda:
—Unitary executive theory gets…
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Court Rules TPS Decisions Can’t Be Judicially Reviewed
Jun 26, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French react to the latest opinions of the court in two major immigration cases and a review of Hawaii’s restrictions on concealed-carry permits.
The Agenda:
—The SCOTUS…
Enforcing International Law in U.S. Courts
Jun 24, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French explain the various legal complications of the Iran MOU and react to the most recent opinions handed down by the Supreme Court.
The Agenda:
—Waiving Iranian…
SCOTUS Rules on Illegal Drug Users Owning Firearms
Jun 19, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French react to two new Supreme Court opinions on gun ownership while possessing illegal drugs and appeal waivers.
The Agenda:
—Drugs and the Second Amendment
—Rewriting…
The Trump Administration's Internal Arguments Over Habeas Corpus
Jun 16, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French break down the most recent cert grants out of the Supreme Court's order list and Trump's argument for suspending habeas corpus.
The Agenda:
—Paid petitions vs. In Forma…
Can Transgender People Serve in the Military?
Jun 12, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the three SCOTUS decisions that dropped Thursday morning, a D.C. Circuit decision on President Donald Trump's ban on transgender military members, and…
Counting Down the Supreme Court Term
Jun 09, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French look at what’s left on the docket from this term before diving into a little Los Angeles mayoral politics.
The Agenda:
–Supreme Court bingo
–Do Rastafarians get…
Getting Out of the Redistricting Business
Jun 05, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the Supreme Court’s Alabama redistricting decision, a plea deal from the former national security adviser, and the best legal movies ever made.
The…
President Trump’s Losing Streak
Jun 02, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French (he returns!) discuss the major Trump losses—Kennedy Center name change, motion on Trump v. IRS, and injunction on the slush fund—before reviewing scrutiny of the court…
District Map Fights Before the 2026 Midterms
May 29, 2026
David Lat joins Sarah Isgur (see ya later, French) to discuss the three-judge panel overturning Alabama’s congressional maps, a new lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s slush fund, and a lying…
SCOTUS Through the Decades | Interview: Nina Totenberg
May 26, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss an anticlimactic dig from the Supreme Court over IQ tests and the death penalty and challenges to the $1.8 billion slush fund President Donald Trump created on…
All the Things Wrong with Trump’s Billion-Dollar Fund
May 21, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French analyze President Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund through the lens of three legal “buckets,” and talk about how federal appropriations work and…
Let’s Sue the Government
May 19, 2026
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the IRS lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump, SCOTUS’s mifepristone decision, and a unanimous verdict from the justices that no one except Sarah cares…
