Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Cristina Rodríguez and Adam B. Cox Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

Cristina Rodríguez, Professor of Law at Yale Law School, and Adam B. Cox, Professor of Law at NYU, join us to discuss their new book, The President and Immigration Law, where they outline how the Executive Branch gained nearly-unchecked discretion over immigration policy, the implications of this are for the future of immigration policy, and what this system says about the nature of executive power more broadly.

Additional readings, including those referenced during the episode, are available on our website: DiggingAHolePodcast.com.

Steven Teles Oct 13, 2020

Show notes

On our third episode, we speak to Steven Teles, Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University and Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center about his new book, Never Trump: The Revolt of the Conservative Elites, co-authored with Robert P. Saldin. He outlines what he thinks drove “Never Trumpers” (elite conservatives) to campaign against then-candidate Donald Trump and the role this group now plays at the margins of the Republic Party. He also touches on the theories underlying his views on Never Trumpers—including the role played by elite policymakers, ideologues, and outsiders in political parties.

Additional reading, including those referenced during the episode, are available on our website: DiggingAHolePodcast.com.

Amy Kapczynski Oct 09, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, we speak to Amy Kapczynski, Professor of Law at Yale Law School, about about her new article in the Yale Law Journal, “Building a Law-and-Political-Economy Framework: Beyond the Twentieth-Century Synthesis,” co-authored with Jedediah Britton-Purdy, David Singh Grewal, and K. Sabeel Rahman. The article outlines how approaches to law that center questions of market efficiency, neutrality, and formal equality render certain forms of power invisible, and “encases” the market from questions of politics and claims of justice. While various scholars have been writing in this vein for some time, this article synthesizes that work and offers a new approach to legal analysis, one that centers questions of power, equality, and democracy. We also discuss with her the Law and Political Economy Project, of which she is a co-director, and how the “LPE” approach is catching on at law schools across the country.

Jack Goldsmith Sep 30, 2020

Show notes

With the end of Donald Trump’s presidency potentially imminent, debates have begun about how to reform American politics—and the powers of the executive branch in America’s constitutional system. On this episode, we speak with Jack Goldsmith, professor of law at Harvard University, who recently coauthored After Trump: Reconstructing the Presidency. In this episode, he discusses his vision for reforms that should—and possibly could—be used to reform the presidency after Donald Trump. A leading conservative in the legal academy, Goldsmith also talks to us about the medium- to long-term evolution of right-of-center legal arguments about the presidency.

Jack Goldsmith writes books and articles on topics related to terrorism, national security, international law, federal courts, conflicts of law, and law and technology. Before joining Harvard, he served as Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel from 2003 to 2004 and as Special Counsel to the General Counsel to the Department of Defense from 2002 to 2003.

Additional reading:

· Samuel Moyn, “The Guardians: Does ‘The Resistance’ Actually Want More Democracy or Less?” in The Nation

· Jack Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment in the Bush Administration

· Jack Goldsmith and Eric A. Posner, The Limits of International Law

· Jack Goldsmith, Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency after 9/11

· Eric A. Posner, The Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic

· John Yoo, Defender in Chief: Donald Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power

· John Yoo, Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush