First you get the money, then you get the power. But FIRST first you get the law students. This week we're exploring the tentacles of the Federalist Society, and how a so-called debate club pulls levers across government, the legal profession, and academia, to achieve its conservative ideological goals.Hear more from this episode's contributors:Vanessa A. Bee is the author of HOME BOUND: An Uprooted Daughter’s Reflections on Belonging (Astra Publishing, 2022).Andrea Bernstein's reporting with ProPublica and WNYC, about Leonard Leo, is available on On The Media's "We Don't Talk about Leonard" series.Nancy Gertner is the author of In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate (Beacon Press, 2011).Jon Hanson is the director of Harvard Law School's Systemic Justice Project, a problem-centric alternative to the traditional legal-educational mode.Amanda Hollis-Brusky is the author of Ideas with Consequences: The Federalist Society and the Conservative Counterrevolution (Oxford University Press, 2014).If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support.5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. This episode was fact-checked by Arielle Swedback. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations.Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On Twitter, find Peter @The_Law_Boy and Rhiannon @AywaRhiannon.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s something particularly enticing about a short book that delivers an incredible reading experience. Today's guest Vanessa A. Bee joins Anne to talk about short books that tell great stories in small packages.Vanessa is an author, mother, wife, and attorney who lives in Washington, DC. She recently released a memoir called Home Bound: An Uprooted Daughter's Reflections on Belonging about her experience as an adoptee who was born in Cameroon, and raised by a Black mother and a white father in France, England, and then the United States. Vanessa has a lot of competing demands for her time and energy, so while she does enjoy an occasional long read, she typically looks for shorter, economically written books to help her make the most of her reading time. During their conversation today, Anne recommends shorter reads that deliver the sweeping, beautiful reading experience Vanessa loves best.Find the full list of titles discussed today, as well as links to Vanessa's website, on our show notes page at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices