Listen to Episode 24 of Slate’s Amicus:

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This month marks the 50^th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. It was signed on Aug. 6, 1965, in the wake of several failed attempts to remedy a long history of poll taxes and literacy tests that disenfranchised black voters throughout the South.

But 48 years later, the Roberts court struck down one of the landmark law’s central provisions. And state legislators across the South wasted no time in imposing new voting ID requirements that some worry could roll back many of the civil rights movement’s biggest achievements.

On today’s episode, Dahlia discusses the long, embattled history of the Voting Rights Act with Ari Berman, author of the new book Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America.

Please let us know what you think of our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com.

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Podcast production by Tony Field.