you begin with sally yates, forgotten by most people already , but she was thacting attorney generaled to stay on as interim head of the justice department after trump was inaugurated. she refused to sign off on his travel ban and was sent packing. >> that's right. the book starts with sally yates both because she stood for the rule of law, stood up to the justice department, refused to put the perimeter of the justice department on the travel ban. she thought it was lawless. she thought it was full of religious animus against muslims. she really just said no. she was the first of many, many lawyers. -- who refused to bend the law to trump's. the book starts with sally yates and the head of the leadership conference and ends on stacey abrams in georgia, who at that point wasn't just using court cases, was really using a massive amalgam of women, largely women of color, to get out the vote, to register voters come to challenge boats oppression loss. in a sense, i think the book sparks from the one lone hero that is sally yates needs to be held up and celebrated and lands onveryday wom

that acting attorney general was this woman, sally yates.xamples of women and particularly women lawyers who have stood up to defend american principles. there is roberta kaplan who sued the neo-nazis who organized and participated in the unite the right rally in charlottesville, virginia. there is stacey abrams, a tireless advocate of voting rights who has shown how we can improve our democracy to form a more perfect union. their work is chronicled in a new book called lady justice, women, the law, and the battle to save america. it is about the women who have worsened up in defense of american values against the wave of trumpism. it speaks to the current moment just three months after the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. when we come back, i will speak with the author of that book and one of the country's finest legal scholars, dahlia lithwick. lithwick. it's a delicious night on... for everyone at the table. panera. $0 delivery fee for a limited time. so, you're 45. that's the perfect age to see some old friends, explore new worlds,

when it came back to fighting against trumpism, it was women who took center stage, women like sally yatesomised national security adviser michael flynn. and stacey abrams who has relentlessly mobilized to register voters in the face of republicans to undermine our democracy. those are two of the extraordinary women featured in dahlia lithwick's new book, lady justice. she writes in a constitutional democracy, enduring power lies in the people who step into the fight and by that yardstick, the women who stood up to defend the constulation in the trump era and who remain in the fight for democracy and equality today held the line. dahlia lithwick joins me now. it's great to talk with you. and i'm excited about your new book. i cannot wait to read it. that quote that i just did, you know, it speaks of the heroism of people who fought back against trumpism. but you also tell a story of sort of heartbreak in this era, and some of the things we lost. i want to read another quote. it says this. you talk about the last truly great day for women in 2016. i sometimes think of a supreme court's oral