Harvard Law Students Grade Trump’s First Year Back | ATB #17

WEEK 17: Welcome to Will’s home. In the snow. This week, we open with a long overdue feedback segment — responding to some of the strongest reactions we’ve gotten all season (including the Israel episodes, Larissa Part 1 & 2, and the Gen Z/Ozempic debate). We read comments ranging from thoughtful critiques to outright hostile takes, and we talk about what it means to have real disagreement online without turning into either cowards or flamethrowers.Then we hit an appetizer we keep getting asked: Does Harvard have a serious Christian community? And does it help or hurt to be a conservative Christian applying to — or surviving at — Harvard Law?The main course is the episode title: we rate Year One of the Trump administration across five categories, from F to A+:- National Security / Foreign Policy (Rubio at State, NATO pressure, China tariffs, Ukraine strategy, Israel/Iran posture, global institutions)- Immigration (border emergency posture, asylum policy changes, interior enforcement, detention levels, and the moral tradeoffs)- Culture War (DEI rollback, Title IX/sex-and-gender policy, religion/parental rights, Department of Education and foreign aid, Planned Parenthood funding fights)- Economy (GDP swings, inflation, wages, jobs, debt, youth unemployment, and whether tariffs are strategy or self-harm)- Moral + Effective Leadership (executive power, staffing, DOJ posture, special counsel policy, and the administration’s aggressive use of pardons)We try to do what most commentary won’t: give the best version of the case for each move and the most serious objections — then land on a grade.And because we can’t help ourselves, we close with Girl Problems:- Dating across Christian denominations- Do you date one person at a time?- Promise rings: sweet, cringe, or situational?- How do you plan to raise kids in this modern era?Email [email protected] with your questions/comments or submit a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench for a chance to be featured on the show! You can also submit anonymous comments through this Google Form: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z800:00 Introduction2:54 Reviewing ALL the Feedback13:17 Being Christian and Conservative at Harvard Law19:45 Grading Trump’s First Year Back57:51 Girl Problems