Friday Round Up! 1/19/23

What Hunter Biden and Trump's legal strategies have in common.

This week Renato and I discussed the legal strategies being played out in two very different contexts: Hunter Biden and Trump. To be sure, Hunter’s strategy is one that is more rooted in reality, but both are taking into account that there are two courts in play with their respective cases: The court of law, and the court of public opinion. Give it a listen:

NEW! Freedom Academy Book Club Selection:

We had a great discussion with Scott Shapiro, author of Fancy Bear Goes Phishing: The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks last Tuesday about the modern state of cybersecurity (worth giving it a watch if only to find out how to secure your Roomba from turning into an enslaved bot). We’ll come back to the physical world with our next selection, Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America by Andrew McKevitt. We won’t know where we’re going until we understand how we got here. As we look to a future where the Supreme Court will likely begin to strip away many reasonable prohibitions on owning firearms, Drew’s book will illuminate how our society became so saturated with them in the first place, and how gun ownership intersects with race, politics, and money. I’m looking to get a date on the books for early April, so you have lots of time to start reading!

Articles worth reading:

• This piece by Greg Sargent in The New Republic about how Trump’s immunity argument is conditioning his base (and making it clear to the rest of us) that he will “cross the line” in exacting revenge against his enemies if he becomes president

• Relatedly, this report by United to Protect Democracy on Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook for 2025 and how we can expect it to play out:

  

• This fantastic analysis by Jennifer Mercieca, an expert in rhetoric, comparing Trump’s and Biden’s inaugural speeches and what they tell us about each candidate’s view of democracy. Professor Mercieca was a previous guest for my Substack class and she taught us some of the rhetorical tricks Trump uses — “the dark arts of communication” — to mislead his base and solidify their loyalty.

Upcoming events:

• Wine & Fries Happy Hour with George Conway, Sunday, February 11, 8 p.m. This is going to be really fun and informative, especially on the heels of Trump’s Supreme Court argument about disqualification under the Fourteenth Amendment. George is one of my favorite legal analysts and is also one of the funniest people I know. Zoom link will be sent to founding members three hours before the event.

• Guest Speaker Nina Jankowicz, Thursday, February 29, 1:30 p.m. I’m thrilled to have Nina, Vice President of the Center for Information Resilience and author of How to Lose the Information War and How to be a Woman Online, join our class to discuss social media, disinformation, and what we can learn from other countries tackling this problem around the world. Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers three hours before the discussion, and will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers the following day.

• Guest Speaker Barb McQuade, Thursday, March 28, 4 p.m. Speaking of my favorite legal analysts, I’m thrilled to have Barb be a guest speaker for my class, Preserving Democracy in the (Dis)Information Age. Barb is about to release her book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, and I’m excited to get her perspective on where we are as we head into the 2024 election. Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers three hours before the discussion, and will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers the following day.

Have a great weekend!