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The Baldy Center Podcast 2023 - 2024

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.

  • 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.
AUDIO STREAMING 24/7

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.

Logan, Podcast Host/Producer 2023-24

Logan.

Logan

Logan, The Baldy Center’s 2023-2024 podcast host/producer, is a graduate student in UB's School of Architecture and Planning, Program on International Development and Global Health. Logan is interested in NGOs and nonprofit global health initiatives within the global south. Logan completed undergraduate studies in Public Health, with a minor in Spanish, and has recently been accepted into a certificate program at NYU x Rolling Stone for Modern Journalism. As graduate research assistant, Logan has worked for the Women’s Health Initiative, and, the Community for Global Health Equity. Recipient of the 2022 Art Goshin Global Health Fieldwork Award for research on Decentralization of Health Services in Ghana, Logan currently serves as a research assistant with Dr. Tia Palermo's 2PE lab. 

Executive Producers

Samantha Barbas, JD, PhD
Professor, UB School of Law; Director, The Baldy Center

Amanda M. Benzin, MFA
Associate Director,
The Baldy Center