The Baldy Center Podcast

The Baldy Center Podcast highlights UB faculty research and perspectives on current issues and events. We focus on UB's interdisciplinary scholars of law, legal institutions, and social policy. This page contains the listing for each podcast episode, published since Fall 2020.

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The Baldy Center Podcast is streaming on PodBean, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or most any audio app. You can also listen by using the audio player on each episode's webpage.

The Baldy Center Podcast (since 2020)

Podcast Fall 2024 — Spring 2025

Korydon Smith discusses inclusive design, refugee housing, and global health equity
5/15/25
In Episode 48 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Korydon Smith discusses inclusive design, refugee housing, and global health equity. Drawing from his international work in Uganda and Rwanda, Smith reflects on the universal dimensions of design, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainability. The discussion highlights how architecture can serve as a tool for social justice, and how design can empower vulnerable communities worldwide.
"The Origins of 'The Rule of Law'" — Jeremy Kessler converses with Matthew Dimick, Paul Linden-Retek, and Matthew Steilen
5/6/25
Episode 47 of The Baldy Center Podcast features Jeremy Kessler in conversation with Matthew Dimick, Paul Linden-Retek, and Matthew Steilen. They discuss Kessler’s paper, “The Origins of ‘The Rule of Law,’” delving into early 17th-century England and tracing the conceptual shift of “rule of law” from procedural common law usage to a broader theory of political governance.
Monica Miles discusses environmental justice, STEM education, and the nonprofit community
4/9/25
In Episode 46 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Monica Miles (Engineering Education) speaks about environmental justice, STEM education, sustainability of nonprofits, and how social policies impact the health of marginalized communities.
Judith Olin and Jahna Mott discuss the first summit on Domestic Violence
11/7/24
In Episode 44 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Judith Olin (Clinical Professor and Director, Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic) and law student, Jahna Mott (3L UB School of Law) discuss how the 2024 Domestic Violence Summit became a critical platform for bringing together community members, experts, and service providers to help strengthen the network of support for survivors. The summit was sponsored by Child & Family Services, BSU Social Work Department, and UB School of Law Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic (FVWRC).
Siwei Lyu, Mark Bartholomew and George Brown explore AI regulation, ethics, and legal challenges
11/25/24
In Episode 45 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Siwei Lyu (Computer Science and Engineering), Mark Bartholomew (Law), and George Brown (Law) discuss the rapid evolution of generative AI, its applications, and the challenges it poses for regulation, ethics, and legal frameworks. From deepfake technology and privacy concerns to AI's integration in law and decision-making processes, their thought-provoking conversation is at the intersection of technology, law, and social policy.

Podcast Fall 2023 — Spring 2024

The 2023-2024 edition of The Baldy Center Podcast features episodes with interdisciplinary scholars of law, legal institutions, and social policy. Guests include:: Theophilus Edwin Coleman; Melissa Crouch; Helen “Nellie” Drew; Greta LaFleur; Rebecca R. French and Mark A. Nathan; Paul Linden-Retek; Athena Mutua; Kate Nelischer; and Mihreteab Taye.

Seasons 5 and 6

Kate Nelischer, “Privately-directed participatory planning: Examining Toronto’s Quayside smart city”
5/29/24
In Episode 43 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Kate Nelischer talks about her paper, “Privately-directed participatory planning: Examining Toronto’s Quayside smart city”. This paper discusses a past “smart city” urban development project, the importance of public participation in urban planning policy, and the implications it may have on local legislation.
Paul Linden-Retek discusses postnational constitutionalism
5/24/24
In Episode 42 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Paul Linden-Retek discusses his book, Postnational Constitutionalism: Europe and the Time of Law (OUP: 2023). He shares insight on why he wrote the book, and addresses questions concerning global justice, the open-ended nature of identity, and the humanistic qualities of law, leading to a reconsideration of the grounds of an international legal order. Linden-Retek frames refugee law and policy within the EU as humanitarian issues at the center of his research.
Theophilus Coleman discusses Ghana's proposed legislation and its impact on human rights
4/30/24
Theophilus Edwin Coleman discusses Ghana’s proposed anti-LGBTQ+ Bill and its effect on academic freedom. Coleman outlines the basic structure of the bill, the relationship between church and state within Ghana, and the possible future implications for this bill, if it were to be passed.
Melissa Crouch discusses how Myanmar's military acts as a constitutional actor
3/25/24
In Episode 40 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Melissa Crouch, The Baldy Center Fellow 2024, discusses the role of courts in military regimes and the challenges of studying the military as a constitutional actor. She recently published the paper, “Judicial Loyalty to the Military in Authoritarian Regimes: How the Courts Are Militarized in Myanmar.”
Rebecca R. French and Mark A. Nathan discuss Buddhism and Law
2/19/24
In Episode 39 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Rebecca R. French and Mark A. Nathan discuss Buddhism and Law in the context of past, present, and future plans for collaborative research among international scholars. Cultivated over decades, this research is seen in the depth and scope of related publications, and, in the remarkable trajectory of the scholarly journal, Buddhism, Law & Society, founded at UB School of Law, and continuing at Rutgers University.
Mihreteab Taye discusses the institutional design of Africa's court systems
1/30/24
In Episode 38 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Mihreteab Taye provides insight into the nuanced dynamics of state behavior in Africa's courts. He finds that the African human rights system does not automatically grant individuals the right to bring cases before the African courts unless states make a declaration allowing direct individual access to the court. Whereas in the East African Court of Justice, individuals have direct access to the Court. What matters in each court is the institutional design, which can either facilitate or inhibit the withdrawal of individual access to the courts by African states.
Greta LaFleur discusses “‘How Sex Became Good…”
1/9/24
In Episode 37 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Greta LaFleur discusses the draft monograph, “‘How Sex Became Good: The Feminist Movements and Racial Politics that Made Modern Sexuality.” LaFleur, recipient of The Baldy Center Podcast Mid-Career Fellowship (2023-24), is associate professor of American Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University.
Nellie Drew and 3L students discuss model laws and initiatives to safeguard athletes
12/7/23
In Episode 36 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Helen “Nellie” Drew, Professor of Sports Law, and her 3L students: Maddie Drechsel, Matt Pickard and Juliette Miranda discuss the importance of having pre-established action plans for professional sports injuries, as well as the need for education on how to prevent injuries in youth sports. From model laws to collaborative projects, we discuss the ins and outs of sports injury law and practice.
Athena Mutua discusses the Critical (Legal) Collective
11/14/23
In Episode 35 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Professor of Law Athena Mutua discusses the importance of protecting critical thinking inside, and outside of, the university setting. She describes its intersection with social justice issues surrounding race, sex, gender, class, and more. Professor Mutua talks about the Critical (Legal) Collective and how the diverse group of scholars has come together to work towards generating real social change.

Podcast Fall 2022 — Spring 2023

The 2022-2023 edition of The Baldy Center Podcast features episodes with interdisciplinary scholars of law, legal institutions, and social policy. Guests include: Shaun Marq Anderson, Samantha Barbas, Claire Cameron, Jorge M. Farinacci-Fernós, and Judith Olin.

Seasons 3 and 5

Episode 34: Samantha Barbas provides insight on New York Times v. Sullivan
6/16/23
In Episode 34 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Samantha Barbas speaks about the entanglement of the civil rights movement and mass media law, as well as her new book which encompasses those topics in the context of New York Times v. Sullivan.
Podcast: Farinacci-Fernós discusses Puerto Rico's Constitutional Paradox
6/1/23
In Episode 33 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Jorge M. Farinacci-Fernós speaks about his background, as well as his 2023 book, Puerto Rico’s Constitutional Paradox: Colonial Subordination, Democratic Tension, and Promise of Progressive Transformation.
Episode 32: Shaun Marq Anderson speaks to the nature of Title IX
4/3/23
In Episode 32 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Shaun Anderson opines on both the public and scholarly perceptions of Title IX. Dr. Anderson observes that media and the court of public opinion have the power to challenge and improve the application of Title IX.
Episode 31: Claire Cameron examines the challenge of implementing Erin’s Law
1/18/23
According to the Child Advocacy Center, Erie County has the 2nd highest rate of reported child abuse in New York State — more than 3,000 cases annually. Erin’s Law requires all public schools in each state implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program. In Episode 31 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Claire Cameron, observes that the challenge of implementing Erin’s Law involves the difficulty of having conversations about domestic violence and the sexual abuse of women and children. She suggests that having conversations about implementing Erin's Law can become a way to heal the wounds of domestic violence.
Episode 30: Judith Olin discusses Erin’s Law and advocacy for victims of family violence
10/21/22
Judith Olin discusses Erin’s Law, which mandates child sexual abuse prevention curricula in schools. She discusses the weaknesses in the implementation of Erin’s Law in New York and the critical need for training school professionals in responding to children who disclose sexual abuse.

Podcast Fall 2021 — Spring 2022

The 2021-2022 edition of The Baldy Center Podcast features episodes with interdisciplinary scholars of law, legal institutions, and social policy. Guests include: Samantha Barbas; Anya Bernstein; Helen Drew; Jordan Fox Besek; Matthew Dimick, Daniel Brantes Ferreira; Devonya Havis; David Herzberg; Rachael K. Hinkle; John Schlegel, Victoria Wolcott; and Seth Parker Woods.

Seasons 3 and 4

Episode 29: Anya Bernstein discusses judicial populism and the cultures of bureaucracy
5/5/22
Episode 29 of The Baldy Center Podcast features Anya Bernstein discussing judicial populism, the bureaucratic role of law clerks, and the dangers of exclusionary worldviews in law and society.
Episode 28: Matthew Dimick discusses wealth redistribution, income tax, Pareto optimality, and Marxism
4/6/22
In Episode 28, Matthew Dimick explains Pareto optimality and the differences between income taxation and legal rules for wealth redistribution. He discusses capitalism, Marxism, and how economists measure the effects various methods of redistribution may have on the economy.
Episode 27: Seth Parker Woods discusses the positioning of the cello in art performance installations
3/15/22
Episode 27 features Seth Parker Woods speaking about the cello and its use in classical music and performance pieces, including the ice cello. At the University at Buffalo, Dr. Woods is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar (2021-22) hosted by the Center for Diversity Innovation. In this podcast he discusses the Fluxus movement, Black composers, and using music and performance to create pieces that reflect events and social issues such as police brutality and the emotions they cause. This episode concludes with a performance by Dr. Woods of two pieces: Bach’s Allemande; and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay’s asinglewordisnotenough.
Episode 26: Rachael Hinkle discusses how briefs and lawyer experience can influence Supreme Court decisions
3/2/22
Episode 26 features Rachael K. Hinkle, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Hinkle speaks about her forthcoming book, co-authored by Morgan Hazelton, Persuading the Supreme Court: The Significance of Briefs in Judicial Decision Making. Hinkle discusses the process of analyzing tens of thousands of briefs, who’s allowed to submit these briefs, and how these documents and who wrote them can influence Supreme Court decisions.
Episode 25: Victoria Wolcott discusses the Long Civil Rights Movement and utopianism
2/15/22
Episode 25 features Victoria Wolcott, a professor in the UB Department of History at the University at Buffalo, speaks about her upcoming book, Living in the Future: Utopianism and the Long Civil Rights Movement. Wolcott discusses activists such as Martin Luther King Jr., Father Divine, and Howard Thurman, and how their shared belief in radical pacifism holds utopian yearnings.
Episode 24: Daniel Brantes Ferreira discusses sports betting arbitration in Brazil and beyond
2/1/22
In Episode 24 Daniel Brantes Ferreira, Baldy Center Research Fellow ('20-'22) discusses online sports betting and arbitration in Brazil. He describes how sports betting websites are hosted internationally, not in Brazil, and therefore those business operations are not regulated by Brazilian law. He identifies issues involving 'terms of services' on those websites. His research on mediation and other types of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) requires empirical data, as yet unavailable. He offers an insider's perspective on Brazil's arbitration process, as an 'ADR-friendly' country. Brantes Ferreira, a professor at Universidade Cândido Mendes, is an arbitrator and vice president for academic affairs at the Brazilian Center of Arbitration and Mediation.
Episode 23: Devonya Havis discusses the nature of truth and community practices for resistance
11/30/21
Episode 23 features Devonya Havis, PhD, a 2021-2022 UB Center for Diversity Innovation Distinguished Scholar, and, associate professor in Philosophy at Canisius College.
Episode 22: Jordan Fox Besek on climate change and life finding a way
11/15/21
Episode 22 of The Baldy Center Podcast features Department of Sociology Assistant Professor Jordan Fox Besek. Besek discusses his new project with Brooklyn College professor Daniel Shtob, humanity’s relationship with nature, and climate change. He explores the ways in which humans effect the environment, sometimes producing poor outcomes despite green intentions, and the ripple effect those actions have.
Episode 21: John Henry Schlegel and David A. Westbrook discuss “the adventure of thinking”
11/5/21
From the heights of his long tenure at the University at Buffalo School of Law, in Episode 21 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Distinguished Professor John Schlegel discusses US economic history, American Legal Realism, and his lived experience with legal education over the last half century, in particular, Critical Legal Studies.
Episode 20: David Herzberg discusses repeated waves of addiction to pharmaceutical opioids and other medicines
10/22/21
Episode 20 features David Herzberg, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of History, University at Buffalo. Herzberg discusses repeated waves of addiction to pharmaceutical opioids and other medicines in the 20th and 21st century U.S.
Episode 19: Helen Drew and Marissa Egloff discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion in major sports leagues
9/24/21
Episode 19 features Helen Drew, Professor of Law, and Marissa Egloff, a third year JD candidate, in the University at Buffalo School of Law, discussing their research examining the number of women and minorities in executive or coaching positions in professional sports.
Episode 18: Samantha Barbas discusses her new book The Rise and Fall of Morris Ernst: Free Speech Renegade
9/7/21
Episode 18 features Samantha Barbas, Professor of Law and Director of The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy in the University at Buffalo School of Law. Professor Barbas discusses her new book from University of Chicago Press (2021) The Rise and Fall of Morris Ernst: Free Speech Renegade. In the 1930s and ’40s,

Podcast Fall 2020 — Spring 2021

The Baldy Center Podcast began in Fall 2020 with episodes that offer insight from Mark Bartholomew (UB Law), Irus Braverman (UB Law), Amanda Hughett (former Baldy Center Fellow), David Herzberg (UB History), Jennifer Gaynor (Baldy Center) and others. The Spring 2021 episodes feature UB faculty discussing research about: Nurse-Initiated Protocols in Emergency Departments; Tacit Racism; Urban Renewal and School Reform; Harm Reduction; Law, Class and Racial Capitalism on ClassCrits; the Opiod Crisis; and, the Alison Des Forges International Symposium, among other topics.

Seasons 1 and 2

Episode 15: Athena Mutua discusses the origins and goals of ClassCrits
5/5/21
Episode 15 features Athena Mutua, Professor and Law and Floyd H. & Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar in the University at Buffalo School of Law. Professor Mutua discusses the origins and goals of ClassCrits, which focuses on the heterodox, or political economy approach in law. She presents the new online journal, The Journal of Law and Political Economy and discusses ways in which ClassCrits engages with ongoing and on the ground activist work in significant social issues.
Episode 14: Sustaining the Alison Des Forges International Symposia
4/21/21
Episode 14 of our podcast series is about the work of the Alison L. Des Forges Memorial Committee, and its international symposia held at the University at Buffalo. Beginning in 2012, the symposia has been sponsored, in part, by The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy. This episode features Roger Des Forges, the group's co-founder. He is joined in discussion with the Committee co-chairs, Ellen Dussourd and Shaun Irlam. Together, they offer insight on aspects of sustaining the Alison Des Forges International Symposia.
Episode 13: Victoria-Idongesit Udondian discusses her sculptural work “The Republic of Unknown Territory” and immigration
3/23/21
Episode 13 features Victoria-Idongesit Udondian, interdisciplinary artist and University at Buffalo Center for Diversity Innovation Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the Department of Art. Udondian discusses her new sculptural work The Republic of Unknown Territory on exhibit in the UB Arts Collaboratory. The work is focused on immigrants’ experiences in migrating and building society. Udondian art installation highlights the politics of the post-colonial global market in second-hand clothing. The gallery exhibit runs from February 27 to March 27, 2021, in The Space Between.
Episode 12: Marie Jauffret-Roustide discusses harm reduction as an effective response to the opioid overdose crisis
3/9/21
Episode 12 features Marie Jauffret-Roustide, PhD, Senior Fellow in Interdisciplinary Legal Studies at The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, and, Research Fellow at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris, France. Jauffret-Roustide discusses the effectiveness of drug policies that are embedded in human rights and harm reduction, and compares them to repressive drug policies that are ineffective in protecting vulnerable people and the communities in which they live.
Episode 11: Erkin Ozay discusses his new book, Urban Renewal and School Reform in Baltimore: Rethinking the 21st Century Public School
2/10/21
Episode 11 features Erkin Özay, assistant professor of Architecture at the University at Buffalo, School of Architecture and Planning. Özay discusses his new book “Urban Renewal and School Reform in Baltimore: Rethinking the 21st Century Public School” (Routledge 2021), and his holistic approach to the relationships among urban development, urban design, and schools.
Episode 10: Waverly Duck and Anne Rawls discuss their new book, Tacit Racism.
2/10/21
Episode 10 features co-authors Waverly Duck, Distinguished Visiting Scholar, 2020-21, Center for Diversity Innovation, University at Buffalo, and Anne Rawls, Professor of Sociology at Bentley University. They discuss their new book, Tacit Racism (University of Chicago Press, 2020). Their research focuses on understanding how centuries of institutional racism have shaped interactions between white people and Black Americans into patterns of implicit bias and tacit racism.
Episode 9: Jessica Castner, “Nurse-Initiated Protocols in Emergency Departments”
1/27/21
Episode 9 of The Baldy Center Podcast features Jessica Castner, a board-certified emergency nurse and an emergency nurse scientist. In 2014 she received a research grant from The Baldy Center, entitled, Complaint-Specific Protocols: Layers of Regulation and Emergency Nurse Scope of Practice. In this podcast Castner discusses her current research and recent publication on nurse-initiated protocols in emergency departments, and offers perspective on policy and protocol impacts on pandemic emergency room care in hospitals.

Keywords: Health and Society, Health Policy, Regulation, Emergency Nursing, COVID-19, pandemic.
Episode 8: Sarah Ludin discusses the socio-legal history of the Early Reformation in Germany
11/18/20
In episode 8 of the podcast Sarah Ludin discusses her developing book manuscript focused on the socio-legal history of the Early Reformation in Germany, which relies on close readings of 1521-1555 C.E. case files in the Holy Roman Empire to understand the historiography of secularism and the definition and significance of religion as a modern secular legal category.
Episode 7: Daniel Platt discusses “The Domestication of Credit.”
11/3/20
Episode 7 features Daniel Platt, Assistant Professor at University of Illinois Springfield and former Baldy Center Postdoctoral Fellow. Professor Platt discusses his recent article “The Domestication of Credit,” focused on the moral politics of personal finance in 19th and 20th century U.S., paying specific attention to women’s contributions to household finances, to credit, debt, and financial institutions, and to the roles of coercion and discrimination in a debt economy.
Episode 6: David Gerber and Bruce Dierenfield discuss disability rights and religious freedom
9/21/20
Episode 6 of the podcast features David Gerber, emeritus professor of history at UB and Bruce Dierenfield of Canisius College. Professors Gerber and Dierenfield discuss their new book, focused on the Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District case at the crossroads of disability rights and church-state separation.
Episode 5: Jennifer Gaynor discusses maritime Southeast Asia
9/23/20
In Episode 5 of the podcast Jennifer Gaynor discusses her current research and her previous book, Intertidal History in Island Southeast Asia, which drew on European and Southeast Asian sources, as well as four years in Indonesia, where she worked with rare Bugis language manuscripts and lived in communities of Sama sea people.
Episode 4: Amanda Hughett discusses the history of prisoner labor unions
9/23/20
Episode 4 of the podcast features Amanda Hughett discussing the history of prisoner labor unions. The work examines how efforts to litigate around prison conditions in the 1970s unintentionally cut against imprisoned people’s efforts to mobilize at the grassroots level.
Episode 3: David Westbrook and Mark Maguire discuss airport security and counterterrorism
9/9/20
Episode 3 of the podcast features David A. Westbrook, UB School of Law and Mark Maguire, National University of Ireland Maynooth. Professors Westbrook and Maguire discuss airport security and counterterrorism, and their new book, Getting Through Security: Counterterrorism, Bureaucracy, and a Sense of the Modern (Routledge, 2020).
Episode 2: Irus Braverman discusses medical posthumanities
8/7/20
Episode 2 of the podcast features UB School of Law professor Irus Braverman discussing her upcoming workshop, Medical Posthumanities: Governing Health Beyond the Human. Braverman's work explores holistic approaches to health that include scientific, natural science discussions between ecologists and virologists that also takes into consideration social and cultural understandings and also legal norms.
Episode 1: Mark Bartholomew discusses contact tracing
7/28/20
Episode 1 of the podcast features UB School of Law professor Mark Bartholomew. Professor Bartholomew discusses the pandemic, contact tracing, and the tension between public health security and privacy in using technology to track the coronavirus. Mark Bartholomew received a 2018-2019 research grant from the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy to help support his research, “The Law of Advertising Outrage.”

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The Baldy Center Podcast is also on Digital Commons, DC@UB