Podcast · News
by Campaign Legal Center · English · News
Our system of government is rooted in the Constitution and designed to ensure that power is shared, not concentrated in any one branch. But what happens when the institutions that were meant to hold one another accountable are tested in new and unprecedented ways? Season 6 of Democracy Decoded exam
13 Oct 2026 · 32 minNew
Host Simone Leeper is joined by Campaign Legal Center’s Jonathan Diaz and Chad Dunn of the UCLA Voting Rights Project to explore how attempts to undermine our elections reveal a coordinated effort to erode trust in American democracy, both historically and in the run-up to the 2026 midterms.
S6 · E4 · 6 Oct 2026 · 31 min
Host Simone Leeper is joined by former pardon attorney Liz Oyer and Campaign Legal Center’s Brendan Fischer to expose how President Trump has turned the pardon power into a tool for personal and political gain — rewarding donors, shielding corrupt allies, and fueling a lobbyist-driven market for clemency.
S6 · E3 · 29 Sep 2026 · 33 min
Host Simone Leeper traces a throughline from a handcuffed senator to blacklisted law firms, surveilled protesters, and hijacked government emails — and asks Yale Law Professor Robert Post and Campaign Legal Center's Danielle Lang what's left of the First Amendment when dissent comes with a price.
S6 · E2 · 22 Sep 2026 · 35 min
Host Simone Leeper is joined by Michael Feinberg, Joyce Vance, and Dana Paikowsky to unpack how loyalty to the president and his political agenda has replaced impartiality and serving the public good inside the Department of Justice.
S6 · E1 · 15 Sep 2026 · 34 min
Host Simone Leeper is joined by Melissa Murray, Michael Luttig, and Brent Ferguson to examine how the rule of law is being dismantled by the Trump administration — one court ruling, one fired commissioner, and one unchecked executive action at a time.
S6 · 1 Sep 2026 · 2 min
S5 · 10 Apr 2026 · 2 min
We are beyond thrilled to announce Democracy Decoded once again has been nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Public Service & Activism podcasts!
S5 · E8 · 20 Nov 2025 · 43 min
Host Simone Leeper speaks with experts Rick Hasen and Danielle Lang about how new voting restrictions are threatening elections, and what it will take to ensure every voter can participate meaningfully in our democracy.
S5 · E7 · 13 Nov 2025 · 43 min
Host Simone Leeper speaks with Campaign Legal Center attorneys Catie Kelley and Jonathan Diaz about the Trump administration’s efforts to seize state control of elections. From unlawful executive orders to voter registration barriers and voter roll data grabs, they explain how these actions undermine federalism—and what CLC is doing to protect American elections in the lead-up to 2026 and 2028.
S5 · 6 Nov 2025 · 1 min
S5 · E6 · 30 Oct 2025 · 41 min
Host Simone Leeper speaks with Campaign Legal Center’s Mark Gaber and Utah voters Vicki and Malcolm Reed about how everyday Americans are fighting back against gerrymandering — and what’s at stake when politicians choose their voters instead of the other way around.
S5 · E5 · 23 Oct 2025 · 37 min
Host Simone Leeper speaks with Douglas Brinkley, Rick Perlstein, Adav Noti and Juan Proaño to trace how presidential power has grown over time — and how that expansion impacts how our democracy works.
S5 · E4 · 16 Oct 2025 · 34 min
Host Simone Leeper speaks with Mark Lee Greenblatt, Jodi Vittori and Kedric Payne to examine how corruption and abuses of power are eroding safeguards in government; how failures of accountability in Congress and the courts are weakening public trust; and what reforms could protect against corruption and conflicts of interest now and in the future.
S5 · E3 · 9 Oct 2025 · 34 min
Host Simone Leeper speaks with litigation experts Anna Baldwin and Brent Ferguson to unpack threats to the rule of law — and what can be done to preserve our system of checks and balances.
S5 · E2 · 2 Oct 2025 · 44 min
Host Simone Leeper speaks with former FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and CLC President Trevor Potter to examine how court rulings opened the door to unlimited political spending; how partisan gridlock has left the FEC unable to act; and what reforms could restore transparency and accountability in American democracy.
S5 · E1 · 25 Sep 2025 · 43 min
The U.S. Supreme Court has vastly reshaped American democracy — rolling back voting rights, enabling secret money in politics and expanding presidential power. These decisions have a real impact on all Americans by making it harder for citizens to exercise their freedom to vote, easier for wealthy interests to sway elections and more difficult to hold leaders accountable. In this episode, we unpack the real-world impact of landmark Supreme Court decisions and explore what reforms could restore balance, accountability and trust in the Court.
S5 · 4 Sep 2025 · 3 min
How did American democracy reach such a precarious moment — and what can we do to fix things? Host Simone Leeper examines the fundamental threats to our democracy today, from gerrymandering and corruption to abuses of executive power and the outsized role of money in politics.
S4 · 30 Apr 2025 · 42 min
Donald Trump took office as president on January 20, 2025, having already served one term. Immediately, however, he made clear his second term would be even more unpredictable than his first. He put one of the world's richest men — and his biggest campaign donor — in charge of a shadowy new entity with seemingly unfettered access to government data. Trump also blitzed the system with a barrage of executive orders, which have seemingly upended the government. He has done everything from threatening judges and lawyers to attacking the very concept of birthright citizenship, while Congress has…
S4 · E9 · 12 Nov 2024 · 31 min
In the end, the worst of everyone’s election fears — political violence, overt foreign interference or a razor-thin margin between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump leading to a hotly contested legal battle — did not come to pass. Instead, Donald Trump won a plurality of votes for president, and did so decisively. On January 20, 2025, he will once again become the country’s most powerful executive. His victory raises weighty questions for the experts at Campaign Legal Center. Trump ran explicitly on a platform of behaving like an authoritarian, promising to fire U.S. civil servants, threatening…
S4 · E8 · 5 Nov 2024 · 2 min
This week’s episode is short, sweet, and to the point: It’s Election Day, and if you haven’t yet cast your vote, let us be your friendly reminder. Like many of her CLC colleagues, Simone will spend the day monitoring elections. Next week she’ll be back with the final episode of the season, with a look at how this most dramatic election is playing out. Until then, it’s up to you. Nationwide nonpartisan Election Protection (EP) hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)
S4 · E7 · 29 Oct 2024 · 32 min
An incumbent president drops out, mid-race. A former president becomes a party’s nominee for the first time in more than a century. There are multiple occurrences of political violence against a candidate. Newly emergent AI tools spread disinformation. And a Supreme Court that may be called upon to decide the race is perceived by the electorate as increasingly politicized. The 2024 election cycle has already made its share of history. With Election Day now just a week away, we bring you another of this season’s up-to-the-minute episodes. This time we’re speaking with Trevor Potter, president…
S4 · E6 · 22 Oct 2024 · 27 min
Imagine you’re at home when you hear a knock. At your door are people who want you to share, in detail, who you voted for in the last election, months ago. When you ask them who they are and where they’re from, they remain vague and perhaps even aggressive. This was the case for some Americans in the years after the 2020 election, part of a spate of behaviors by election skeptics and deniers that, in some cases, amounted to voter intimidation. The history of voter intimidation in the United States is sordid and violent, especially in the century between the U.S. Civil War and the passage of…
S4 · E5 · 15 Oct 2024 · 33 min
When New Hampshire voters picked up the phone earlier this year and heard what sounded like the voice of President Joe Biden asking them not to vote in that state’s primary election, the stage was set for an unprecedented election year. The call was a deepfake — and the first major instance of artificial intelligence being used in the 2024 election. With the rise of AI tools that can credibly synthesize voices, images and videos, how are voters supposed to determine what they can trust as they prepare to cast their votes? To find out how lawmakers and civil society are pushing back against…
S4 · E4 · 8 Oct 2024 · 30 min
Election certification has traditionally been a mostly symbolic process in the United States. You vote, your vote gets counted, your precinct and others get tallied together (“canvassed” is the term of art) and, within a few days, everyone looks at the counts and agrees on a winner. But lately, this banal, bland procedure has become a political flashpoint, as people who question the election process impose unrealistic requirements on certification — and, in some cases, outright refuse to certify elections, even when state law requires them to do so. In another of this season’s…
S4 · E3 · 1 Oct 2024 · 26 min
The peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of American democracy that sets the United States apart — the so-called north star of our electoral system. Yet the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 challenged that tradition profoundly. In the lead-up to this November, we answer the question that is on the minds of many voters: Will the months after this presidential election look like the aftermath of the last one? Fortunately, lawmakers who were caught in the eye of that storm seized the opportunity to make updates to our election laws that were, by some accounts, about 150 years…
S4 · E2 · 24 Sep 2024 · 31 min
Voter registration is the number one obstacle to voting in the United States. It should be easy, accessible and secure, but too often, states are moving backwards; making voter registration more difficult and less equitable. Here, we introduce a new type of episode: an up-to-the-minute interview with an expert to help you better understand some of the most important issues affecting elections. Danielle Lang, a voting rights attorney at CLC, joins Simone to explain why major actions in Arizona and Texas involve what should be a straightforward component of elections: voter registration.…
S4 · E1 · 17 Sep 2024 · 21 min
Election workers are the people in your neighborhood. They’re our friends, neighbors and co-workers who help keep American democracy safe and secure... But in 2020, many of them were maligned, harassed and threatened in battleground states — the targets of bad actors who sought to sow distrust in the electoral process. How can we better protect and support the many dedicated civil servants and volunteers who provide such crucial work? The thousands of election workers who will staff this November's election are the front line of security and safety for voters. The processes they help carry…
S4 · 3 Sep 2024 · 2 min
American elections work because we have tried-and-tested systems in place to make sure votes are cast fairly and counted correctly, and that when threats arise, everyone has their part to play: lawmakers, poll workers, voting rights advocates, and everyday voters alike. To understand how our elections continue to evolve, this season of Democracy Decoded takes a deep dive into our electoral system, exploring the checks and balances that make the process safe, secure, and accurate. Host Simone Leeper will investigate the ways in which Congress took action after the January 6th attack on the…
S3 · 25 Jun 2024 · 27 min
In this bonus episode we’re featuring content from one of our favorite podcasts called “When the People Decide”. Host Jenna Spinelle explores what happens when neighbors and local government work together to make their communities stronger and more inclusive. The episode takes place in Decatur, Georgia and tells the story of “Decatur 101” a straightforward class open to anyone in Decatur to learn about how their city government worked. We hear from Linda Harris, the originator of the class, and Decatur 101 participants about why understanding how your government works, empowers you to begin…
S3 · E7 · 19 Oct 2023 · 26 min
Across the country, voters are organizing to protect their right to elect candidates of their choice. In the final episode of Season 3 of Democracy Decoded, host Simone Leeper explores the changing landscape of state and local elections, and some of the initiatives that can help ensure voters can choose candidates who truly represent their interests. This forward-looking episode offers a glimpse into innovative reforms that hold the promise of strengthening democracy. Simone speaks with Susan Soto Palmer, a community advocate and plaintiff that Campaign Legal Center represented in a landmark…
Our system of government is rooted in the Constitution and designed to ensure that power is shared, not concentrated in any one branch. But what happens when the institutions that were meant to hold one another accountable are tested in new and unprecedented ways? Season 6 of Democracy Decoded exam
Democracy Decoded is a English news podcast from Campaign Legal Center. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.
