
CAFE Insider
Co-hosts Preet Bharara and Joyce Vance help you to make sense of law and politics each week, plus weekly notes and bonus content exclusive to CAFE Insider members.
Latest episodes

Apr 10, 2025 • 6min
Bonus: Friendships at SCOTUS (with Justice Stephen Breyer)
In this bonus from Stay Tuned, Preet speaks with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. They discuss how justices with deep disagreements stay collegial—and what the rest of us might learn from that.Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.Tweet your questions to @PreetBharara with hashtag #AskPreet, email us at letters@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail.Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Apr 9, 2025 • 1h 3min
SCOTUS Hands Trump Deportation Win (with Barb McQuade & Ben Wittes)
On this week’s Insider episode, Joyce Vance is joined by former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barb McQuade and Lawfare editor-in-chief Ben Wittes, while Preet is out. On the docket:– The legal arguments that might support President Donald Trump’s claim that he could serve a third term as president;– The Supreme Court order vacating a lower court decision that froze the Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador; and– The lawsuit in which the Trump administration admitted that officials erroneously deported a Maryland man.Shownotes & transcript can be found at CAFE.com.Did you miss last week’s Insider Live with Preet and Joyce? Watch a video recording.We hope you’re finding CAFE Insider informative. Email us at letters@cafe.com with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Joyce. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.This podcast is brought to you by CAFE and Vox Media Podcast Network.

Apr 1, 2025 • 51min
No Trump Third Term
On the CAFE Insider docket:– President Donald Trump’s latest executive order targeting a prestigious law firm;– The Trump administration’s admission that a Maryland resident was erroneously deported to El Salvador;– Trump’s suggestion that he could serve a third term as president; – The fallout after senior Trump officials accidentally included a journalist in a group chat discussing imminent war plans;– Trump’s executive order taking aim at voting procedures in federal elections.Shownotes & transcript can be found at CAFE.com.RSVP to Insider Live.We hope you’re finding CAFE Insider informative. Email us at letters@cafe.com with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Joyce. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.This podcast is brought to you by CAFE and Vox Media Podcast Network.

Mar 27, 2025 • 7min
Bonus: Trump's War on the Free Press (with Ruth Marcus)
In this bonus episode of Stay Tuned, Preet speaks with Ruth Marcus about the White House’s escalating attacks on the press and the broader implications for a free and independent media.Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.You can now watch this episode! Head to CAFE’s Youtube channel and subscribe.Tweet your questions to @PreetBharara with hashtag #askpreet, email us at letters@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail.Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Mar 26, 2025 • 57min
That Signal Chat, Alina Habba, Domestic Terror, and Deportations
On the CAFE Insider docket:– The accidental inclusion of The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg in a Signal group chat containing highly sensitive information about imminent war plans;– The naming of Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba as the interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey; and– The attacks targeting Tesla and DOJ’s decision to investigate these acts as domestic terrorism; and– The latest in Trump’s ongoing efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.Shownotes & transcript can be found at CAFE.com.RSVP here for the Insider Live event on Thursday, April 3 at 5:30pm ET, and submit your questions!We hope you’re finding CAFE Insider informative. Email us at letters@cafe.com with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Joyce. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.This podcast is brought to you by CAFE and Vox Media Podcast Network. Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Editorial Producer II: Jake Kaplan; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Deputy Editor: Celine Rohr; CAFE Team: Nat Weiner, Matthew Billy, Noa Azulai, Claudia Hernández, and Liana Greenway.

Mar 20, 2025 • 6min
Bonus: The Best and Worst Supreme Court Opinions (with Kate Shaw)
Where does thoughtfulness factor into Supreme Court opinions? In this bonus from Stay Tuned, Preet and constitutional law expert Kate Shaw discuss the most and the least thoughtful Supreme Court opinions and who wrote them.Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.Tweet your questions to @PreetBharara with hashtag #AskPreet, email us at letters@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail.Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Mar 18, 2025 • 41min
The Case of Mahmoud Khalil (with Erwin Chemerinsky)
On a new episode of Insider, Preet and Joyce are joined by Erwin Chemerinsky, distinguished constitutional law scholar and Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law.On the docket:– The Trump administration’s detention and attempted deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, due to his involvement in pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University; – President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang and the administration’s decision to disregard a judge’s order halting implementation of Trump’s plans; and– The Trump administration’s decision to seize control of the White House press pool and ban the Associated Press from some White House spaces because the organization refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” Shownotes & transcript can be found at CAFE.com.We hope you’re finding CAFE Insider informative. Email us at letters@cafe.com with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Joyce.Subscribe to our YouTube channel.This podcast is brought to you by CAFE and Vox Media Podcast Network.

Mar 13, 2025 • 7min
Bonus: Trump’s Dangerous Approach to Russia-Ukraine
In this bonus from Stay Tuned, former US Ambassador Dennis Ross, Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour, and Gazan-American writer Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib discuss President Trump’s recent approach to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.Tweet your questions to @PreetBharara with hashtag #askpreet, email us at letters@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail.Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Mar 11, 2025 • 46min
Martin’s Mischief & Trump’s Wrath
On the CAFE Insider docket:– How President Trump’s comments about Elon Musk’s role at DOGE might impact lawsuits challenging the department’s actions;– The misconduct complaint filed with the D.C. Bar by Senate Democrats accusing interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin of violating lawyer ethics rules; and– Trump’s executive order targeting prestigious law firm Perkins Coie.Shownotes & transcript can be found at CAFE.com.We hope you’re finding CAFE Insider informative. Email us at letters@cafe.com with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Joyce. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.This podcast is brought to you by CAFE and Vox Media Podcast Network.

Mar 6, 2025 • 7min
Bonus: Language in This New Trump Era (with Frank Bruni, Joanne Freeman, & Jonah Goldberg)
In this bonus from Stay Tuned, Yale history professor Joanne Freeman, columnist Frank Bruni, and political commentator Jonah Goldberg join me to discuss the use of language in the Trump era. Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.Tweet your questions to @PreetBharara with hashtag #AskPreet, email us at letters@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail.Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.