How to Save the Supreme Court From Itself

Frum compares this to the paranoia and conspiratorial thinking that cost the Republican Party dearly in the 2010s and cautions the Democrats against making the same mistakes.Then David is joined by Kate Shaw, a co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny and a professor of law at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. David and Shaw discuss the current state of the Supreme Court, whether it can be reformed, and the potential dangers of radical changes to the Court.Finally, in honor of the class of 2026, David ends the episode with thoughts on the word graduate and how changes in the way we use that word reveal changes in our attitude toward individual accomplishment in American life.The following is a transcript of the episode:David Frum: Hello, and welcome to The David Frum Show. I’m David Frum, a staff writer at The Atlantic. My guest this week will be Professor Kate Shaw of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. We’ll be discussing the United States Supreme Court, what’s wrong with it, and how to fix it. My literary discussion this week will be not a book, but a single word.In honor of the class of 2026, that word is graduate, and how changes in the way we use that word reveal changes in our attitude toward individual accomplishment in American life. But before either the discussion or the dialogue, some opening thoughts on some trends that have disturbed me toward radicalism and extremism in Democratic Party primary contests.Now, I spent most of my life as a Republican, and I began to be alienated from my former party in—during the Tea Party years of the early 2010s, when I just saw gathering around me all kinds of paranoia, extremism, outlandish accusations. And back in 2013, I wrote a little short play, just a few lines, imagining a conversation between myself and a Republ