95. The Legal Glitch That Engineered Our Political Rage – Larry Lessig

Why Overturning Citizens United Isn't the Only Way to Stop Super PACs

Host David Beckemeyer speaks with Larry Lessig, the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Together, they unpack the hidden legal architecture driving our hyper-polarized landscape and explore why fixing the structural money in politics is a necessary first step toward reining in the outrage machine. 

While the popular narrative blames Citizens United for making unlimited campaign money unstoppable, Lessig reveals that super PACs actually rest on a flawed lower-court decision—SpeechNow.org v. FEC—that conflated independent spending with unlimited contributions. He explains how a voter-approved initiative in Maine capping super PAC contributions at $5,000 is setting up a targeted legal challenge at the Supreme Court that could dismantle super PACs without needing a constitutional amendment.

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Intro music and outro music by Michael Ramir C.

Many thanks to my co-editor and co-director, Austin Chen.

Outrage Overload, a Conners Institute podcast, is part of The Democr...