SCOTUS’s October Preview

David Lat takes over the host’s chair and is joined by Zachary Shemtob, executive editor of SCOTUSblog, and Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, to discuss Justice Samuel Alito’s retirement plans (not yet), President Donald Trump’s new executive order targeting birthright citizenship, and hot cases in the upcoming October term. The Agenda: –Sarah Isgur’s rebuttal –Justice Alito’s back! (He never left) –Previewing SCOTUS’s October term Show Notes: Order Sarah’s book here. Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here. Zachary Shemtob is the executive editor at SCOTUSblog and is based in Summit, New Jersey. Prior to joining the company in 2025, he was an attorney at a boutique law firm in New York. When Zach is not commissioning and editing pieces, he is probably listening to heavy metal, watching a horror movie, or being jumped on by his children. Amy Howe is a reporter at SCOTUSblog, based in Washington, D.C. Before SCOTUSblog became part of the The Dispatch in 2025, she worked for the blog as a reporter and as its editor. In her previous incarnation as a practicing lawyer, she argued two cases before the Supreme Court. When Amy is not covering opinions or emergency appeals at the Court, she is probably at the gym, the pool, or walking her two poodle mixes, (Michael) Jordan and (Dean) Smith. The podcast transcription below was generated using artificial intelligence and may include occasional errors or misspellings. Music 0:00 [clinking sound] Ready? Music 0:02 I was born ready. David Lat 0:19 Welcome to Advisory Opinions. I am not Sarah Isgur, and that is not David French. I'm David Lat, author of the Original Jurisdiction newsletter on Substack, host of its companion podcast, and a columnist for Bloomberg Law. And I do have some company today. Zack, please introduce yourself. Zachary Shemtob 0:37 I'm Zack Shemtob Interactive transcripts are available to Premium members. Join to follow along with the audio. Join Now More We Think You’d Like