On this episode of Our American Stories, before Antonin Scalia joined the Supreme Court, he was wrestling with a question that would define his career: What is a judge supposed to do when the law produces a result he doesn't personally like? Scalia's answer was that judges should follow the law rather than their own preferences, an idea that helped shape his growing commitment to textualism and originalism.

James Rosen, author of Scalia: Rise to Greatness, 1936–1986, continues Scalia's story through his years as a lawyer, professor, government official, and federal judge. He also shares the story of Scalia's marriage to Maureen, his friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the ideas about law that would make him a distinctive figure on the bench.

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