he spends new year's eve with ruth bader ginsburg and recently with elena kagan. when i have conversations with them so they pay attention when he speaks just like they pay attention to a lot of the regulars out there and and he has been on sixtysomething arguments before the justices. so it's fascinating to watch him and watch how the justices respond. they respond especially to many of the former solicitors general just like seth rocks man who was the solicitor general for bill clinton and ted olson was this lesser general for george w. bush. >> host: does he play to the justices? >> guest: they all do to justice kennedy who was all -- usually in the swing vote position or whether it's on something like same-sex marriage that he is doing now or if it's on a pension case. these lawyers know who they need to convince. >> host: how often and you talk a little bit about this in breaking in, how often can the justices have personal relationships with lawyers had argued in front of them? >> guest: they are all appointed for life but they all all had history before the

. >> i am not sure i understand why you are fighting elena kagan's question. is it the issue, the reason they acted? they refuse to hire someone because they had the 1 present belief that they had a religious part move upon, religious belief that they wouldn't accommodate. >> don't intend to fight elena kagan's hypothetical. is really quite easy. the reason i'm trying to separate the two is i think the situation here is the easy case. i will get to the hard case and why i am fighting. you are confusing the enormously. tell me what it is you want? you say the understands -- that doesn't do anything for me. understands, nose, believes suspects, what other firms do you need? detests the courts of appeals adopted for two decades which is the test that we ask this court to adopt is the employer needs sufficient information from any source about the employe, the applicant's religious needs that to permit the employer to understand the existence -- the courts of appeals have been -- >> i don't care what they did. that makes no sense to me. the reason it makes sense i

elena kagan was the boss to several of the men and women who argued before the court now when she herself was solicitor general. there are plenty of professional and personal interactions. >> host: what is your next book? >> guest: i don't know what i'm going to do one. so much fun. you have an idea of? this is more of a political history than a biography and i'm kind of running out of the ones with great person will story so i've got to think long and hard. another reason you have to think long and hard as you spend so much time doing it that it pulls you away from your family and your day job. he wants to choose wisely. >> host: breaking in is the name of joan biskupic's most recent book, the rise of sonia saw the mayor and the politics of justice. >> host: you are watching booktv on c-span2, 48 hours of nonfiction books about airs every weekend. we are on location at johns hopkins university in baltimore talking with professors who are authors and joining us now is andrew cherlin. professor cherlin would you do at the university? >> guest: i'm a professor of sociology. i teach courses

president obama has chosen sonya sotomayor and elena kagan.not every it race of the supreme court hears brown versus board, rowe versus wade. not every court hears cases that are household names. but the supreme court of the united states has breathtaking power on a myriad of issues. nothing else in government is like it. even just right now we're awaiting oral arguments in the next few months on cases that might eliminate the whole of obama care in one fell swoop. millions of people losing their health insurance all at once. they will hear those and rule in the next few months. we're also waiting for a case that could legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. that is all just in the next few months. the supreme court is always really important, and a president's choices around who they would put on the supreme court are among the most important criteria that we have when it comes to choosing a president. we know that jeb bush would have liked peter t. faye for the supreme court. okay. but our supreme court right now has on it's plate an unusuall

justice elena kagan: he brought a sense of humor to almost everything he did. he teased people, he ribbed people. would make you laugh, make you cry, make you do it allat the same time. he was the most extraordinary storyteller i've ever heard. roger wilkins: and the shambling kind of folksy thing that marshall did, very shrewd. you didn't realize the brilliance and the flexibility that he brought to bear with the way he used language and the way he used his own body. and it worked. narrator: by the late 1930s marshall was traveling 30.000 miles a year, often alone and with little money. sometimes he would visit 2 or 3 different cities in a single day. and when he was home, he and buster made the best of their time together (music) ♪ harlem is harmony, love is a melody, harlem is harmony, ♪ ♪harlem is harmony, harlem is harmony, harlem is harmony. ♪ jose anderson: marshall took advantage of the culture of harlem. boxing matches with joe louis and dinners and music. narrator: thurgood and buster arrived as the harlem renaissance was coming to a close, but the ef

. >> you didn't even know want to know where my elena kagan cat too tattoo is. you can watch more of the interview tonight. >>> >> new players entering the fray in the fight against isis. what does it mean for u.s. involvement? one senator at the heart of this debate weighs in next. ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i love my sister... 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. you just got a big bump in miles. so this is a great opportunity for an upgrade. sound good? great. because you're not you you're a whole airline... and it's not a ticket you're upgrading it's your entire operations, from domestic to international... which means you need help from a whole team of advisors. from workforce strategies to tech solutions and a thousand other things. so you call pwc. the right people to get the extraordinary done. ♪ ♪ good job! still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when

elena kagan was the boss to several of the men and women who argue before the court now when she herself was solicitor general. there are plenty of professional and personal interactions. >> what's your next book? >> i don't know but it's so much fun. do you have an idea? this is more of a political history than a biography. and i'm kind of running out of the ones with really great personal stories. so, i've got to think long and hard. the other reason you have to think long and hard is you spend so much time doing it, pulls you away from your family and day job so you want to choose wisely. >> "breaking in" the name of the book the rice of sonia sotomayor, and the poll sicks of justice. -- politics of justice. [inaudible conversations] >> now live from savannah, author karen abbott her book, "liar, temptress soldier, spy." the story of four women who served undercover in the civil war. you're watching booktv on c-span2. [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. i'd like to wish you a happy valentine's day if you have forgotten. my name is chris aiken and i'm del

[laughter] anyway, fast forward to my grand colleague who spoke here last year elena kagan, when she became dean of the law school, she said every years ruth, we would love for you to have a hard -- harvard law school degree. [laughter] and when elena made that offer marty said hold out for an honorary degree can. [laughter] i have only one degree, it is from columbia -- you can't rewrite history, but i do have an honorary degree from harvard university in 2011. [laughter] >> justice was belatedly done. [laughter] and you were at the top of your class at harvard, harvard law review, top of your class at columbia columbia law review. what was it like then looking for work? you talked about how hard it was, you know no women were allowed to apply for many jobs. >> i had a tailored black suit that my ever-supportive mother-in-law got for my interviews, and then i was stunned that no one was interested. only two firms called me to be downtown offers preliminary interviews, and those two with ended up not giving me an offer. but it was this wonderful professor -- [inaudible] maybe you've u

. >> i'm not sure that i understand why you are fighting the question of justice elena kagan. >> theyccommodate. >> i don't intend to separate us. but the reason that i tried to separate the two is because the situation here is easy. i will get to the hard case and why i am fighting this. >> would you tell me what it is you want? >> that doesn't do anything for me. he understands knows and believes and what other verbs do you need? this is the test that they ask us to adopt that the employer needs sufficient information from any source about the applicants religious need to permit the employer to understand the existence. >> that doesn't make any sense to me. >> the reason i think it makes sense in this case is because if that sufficient knowledge for you to actually act upon it if the critical point here -- if the employer had not assumed that this was religious they would not have hired her. the default rule is higher than she -- the person responsible for hiring, i think that she is wearing his headscarf for religious reasons and that is why i am checking it out with you. the answe

well flashforward to my grand kol league who speak here last year elena kagan who became dean of the law school. every year she said, ruth, we would love you to have a harvard law school degree. and when elena made that offer marty said, hold out for an honorary degree. so i have only one law degree. it is from columbia. can't rewrite history. but i do have an honorary degree from harvard university in 2011. >> justice was belatedly done. you were the top of your class at harvard harvard law review top of your class at columbia columbia law review. what was it like then looking for work? you talked about how hard it was. no women were allowed to apply for many jobs. >> i had a tailored black suit that my ever-supportive mother-in-law got for my interviews. and then i was stunned that no one was interested. only two firms called me to the downtown office after preliminary interview at columbia. and those two ended up not giving me an offer. but it was this wonderful professor, jerry ludlow, maybe you used his book. he was in charge of clerkships for columbia students. and he called eve

elena kagan was the boss to several of the men and women who argue before the court now when she herself was solicitor general. there are plenty of professional and personal interactions. >> what's your next book? >> i don't know but it's so much fun. do you have an idea? this is more of a political history than a biography. and i'm kind of running out of the ones with really great personal stories. so, i've got to think long and hard. the other reason you have to think long and hard is you spend so much time doing it, pulls you away from your family and day job so you want to choose wisely. >> "breaking in" the name of the book the rice of sonia sotomayor, and the poll sicks of justice. -- politics of justice. [inaudible conversations] >> now live from savannah, author karen abbott her book, "liar, temptress soldier, spy." the story of four women who served undercover in the civil war. you're watching booktv on c-span2. [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. i'd like to wish you a happy valentine's day if you have forgotten. my name is chris aiken and i'm del