2025-2026 Podcast Episodes

Spring 2026 Podcast Episodes (coming soon)

Jeffery (Jeff) White, Podcast Producer/Host

Jeffery (Jeff) White

Jeffery White (He/Him) is the current producer/host of The Baldy Center Podcast. As a full-time PhD candidate in Sociology at the University at Buffalo, his research examines how system-impacted students experience higher education as either an extension of or rupture from carceral systems. His scholarship extends traditional understandings of the school-to-prison pipeline by interrogating higher education as a possible site of both containment and transformation in the life course

White is a researcher, writer, published poet, educator, and social advocate whose work examines the intersections of race, education, and the carceral state. He began his academic journey at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, studying International Criminal Justice and Human Rights, where his research explored the relationship between the U.S. criminal legal system and international human rights frameworks.

He earned his MA from Columbia University in Human Rights and Social Stratification, conducting statistical analyses of police killings of unarmed Black men and examining patterns of racialized state violence. He later completed a teaching fellowship and earned his MS in Special Education (7-12) with a concentration in Urban Education Policy from Brooklyn College.

White taught incarcerated youth at Rikers Island, an experience that shaped his commitment to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. He went on to serve as a secondary educator and racial equity curriculum specialist, and worked with the NYC Office of Safety and Youth Development to support culturally responsive, restorative practices in District 15.

Fall 2025 Podcast Episodes

The Fall 2025 Episodes of The Baldy Center Podcast feature: a panel discussion with Helen “Nellie” Drew (School of Law) and author Ken Belson; fellowship recipients Whitney K. Taylor, and, Michael Gibson-Light.; Raj Sharman (School of Management); and (Matthew Dimick (School of Law).

Matthew Dimick discusses law, income inequality, and the economics of justice
1/20/26
The Baldy Center Podcast features Matthew Dimick discussing his recent book, Ending Income Inequality: A Critical Approach to the Law and Economics of Redistribution. Dimick explores how legal rules and institutions shape income distribution and the economy long before taxation occurs. He unpacks the concepts of redistribution, predistribution, and the “double distortion argument,” highlighting how law and society research can reveal the real impact of economic policy on inequality. This conversation touches on the interdisciplinary mission of The Baldy Center, and the role of law in creating a more equitable economic future.
Raj Sharman discusses crisis-ready healthcare, resilience, and trust in information systems
1/12/26
In Episode 52 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Raj Sharman (School of Management) discusses how healthcare systems and public institutions prepare for crises. Drawing on his research in disaster response, hospital information systems, and telehealth, Sharman explains why resilience depends on preparedness, trust, communication, and equity, not just technology, and what these lessons mean for healthcare systems in an era of AI and growing institutional risk.
Michael Gibson-Light discusses prison labor, prisoners’ unions, and the politics of work behind bars
12/5/25
In Episode 51 of The Baldy Center Podcast Michael Gibson-Light discusses his research on the 1970s prison labor movement in the United States. He details how incarcerated workers organized through underground newspapers like The Outlaw, the rise and fall of prisoners’ unions, and what this history reveals for today’s debates on prison labor and mass incarceration.
Helen Drew and Ken Belson discuss stadium financing, public subsidies, and the politics of pro sports
10/15/25
In Episode 50 of The Baldy Center Podcast, Helen “Nellie” Drew joins Ken Belson to discuss the complex intersections of professional sports, public subsidies, and policy decisions. Drawing from the Buffalo Bills stadium deal and other national examples, they explore how public-private partnerships shape urban economies, political choices, and community identity. Their conversation examines both the economic and ethical dimensions of sports development and what it reveals about how cities invest in their teams and themselves. Nellie Drew, Professor of Practice in Sports Law, is the director of the UB Center for the Advancement of Sport. Ken Belson, long-time New York Times sports business reporter, is the author of the book Every Day Is Sunday: How Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, and Roger Goodell Turned the NFL into a Cultural & Economic Juggernaut.
Whitney Taylor discusses constitutions, social rights, and prosecutorial backlash
9/12/25
In Episode 49 of The Baldy Center Podcast we welcome Whitney K. Taylor, PhD, Mid-Career Fellow at The Baldy Center. Taylor discusses her award-winning book, The Social Constitution: Embedding Social Rights Through Legal Mobilization. Her work examines how Colombia’s 1991 Constitution and the tutela procedure transformed access to justice, embedding social rights into everyday life. Taylor offers perspective on constitutional reform, the labor of law, and the political backlash that follows experiments in justice. Taylor connects her research in Colombia to ongoing debates in the United States, including the rise of reform-minded prosecutors and the challenges they face.