{"podcast":{"title":"The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan","slug":"the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188","podcast_index_feed_id":1371188,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/61371.rss","website_url":"https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/61371/b8169094491d87e5c919fbbc549287ca.jpg","author":"Andrew Sullivan","episode_count":276,"summary":"\"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle,\" - George Orwell.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-25T06:17:14.708828+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188"},"episode":{"title":"Jeffrey Toobin On The Pardon Power","slug":"jeffrey-toobin-on-the-pardon-power","published_at":"2026-04-17T17:34:47+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188/jeffrey-toobin-on-the-pardon-power","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188","url":"https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/jeffrey-toobin-on-the-pardon-power","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/186998558/302d3397beaa9bb901277e8e5b291715.mp3","summary":"This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.com Jeff is a lawyer and a contributing opinion writer for the NYT, after a long run at The New Yorker and CNN. He has written many bestselling books, including True Crimes and Misdemeanors , The Oath , The Nine , and Too Close to Call . He appeared on the Dishcast in 2024 to talk lawfare , and in this episode we discuss his latest book, The Pardon : The Politics of Presidential Mercy . We recorded this episode a while back, and we’re posting it this week after Trump promised mass pardons for White House staffers before he leaves office. For two clips of our convo — on Biden’s corrupt pardons, and Trump’s obscene pardons — head to our YouTube page . Other topics: how pardons can be a beautiful act of mercy; the varying powers among the states; Lincoln’s amnesty for Confederate soldiers but not leaders; Andrew Johnson’s pardon for Jefferson Davis; Johnson’s impeachment; the thousand pardons of Rutherford B Hayes; Ford pardoning Nixon; Jimmy Carter pardoning resisters to the Vietnam War; the Willie Horton furlough and ad; HW’s pardons for Iran-Contra; Clinton pardoning his own brother and Marc Rich; Dubya’s refusal to pardon Scooter Libby against Cheney’s wishes; Dubya advising Obama to have a set protocol; Trump pardoning crooks like Charles Kushner and Paul Manafort who could have testified against him; the blanket pardon of January 6ers; Kim Kardashian’s role in Trump’s pardons; the ICE killings in Minneapolis; and the need for presidents with some basic virtue. Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Greg Lukianoff on free-speech fights, Jerusalem Demsas on the state of the left, Tiffany Jenkins on privacy in a liberal democracy, Adrian Wooldridge on “…","meta_description":"This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.com Jeff is a lawyer and a contributing opinion writer for the NYT,…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1623,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188/episodes/jeffrey-toobin-on-the-pardon-power/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188/jeffrey-toobin-on-the-pardon-power.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}