Against the LAW: Recent Episodes
Against the LAW
Hi friends,
Abi here. I want to share with you a preview of a podcast series I started with C Derick Varn of VarnVlog. Varn is a prolific podcaster/vlogger with an incredible depth of knowledge. This podcast series is an exploration of politics and science with a grounding in Complexity. It will hopefully be an interesting series. I also hope to record Against the Law with Grainne again soon, but if you missed my voice, you can get a taste here.
Vulgar Complexity Episode 1 on Youtube
Varn audio (Patreon subscription)
Impeachment is the topic of the day, maybe it will result in something good. Americans love an accent. Election interference is bad and has been worse. The debates might be stupid. HBO's Watchmen is asking the wrong questions.
Be like Zach, join our Patreon!
Produced by Matt Buscher
Special thanks to Chain and the Gang for letting us use their song.
Grainne saw Jeffrey Epstein in jail. Abi thinks we need to end the war on drugs. If we're gonna have prisons (which we shouldn't), prisoners should have access to education. Bernie has an army.
Give us a couple bucks to pay our producer!
Big ups to producer Matt Buscher
Special thanks to Chain and the Gang for letting us use their song.
I'm Back!
This is the season 2 launch. Life/work has kept us from recording lately, but here is a short episode with just Abi. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to do this. This episode's topic is the Supreme Court and why the left should think seriously about engaging with the courts.
Special thanks to Ian Svenonius for letting me use Crime Don't Pay by Chain & The Gang. Buy their music here: https://chainandthegang.bandcamp.com/
In this episode we discuss guns. What are the dynamics of America's gun culture. Is gun control possible. What do other countries do? Can we do better?
Articles:
Unarmed Police
Larry Krasner Exceeding Expectations
Guns in Switzerland
(sorry for the long delay and rush editing job here)
Leave us a review on iTunes
Find us on twitter @Grainne and @AbiHassen Ask us questions anonymously at curiouscat.me/AgainstTheLaw Song: Their Law by Ergo Phizmiz
In this episode we discuss the White House tell-all The Fire and the Fury. We both binged on it as soon as it came out. We also discuss the hopeful potential of the Philadelphia DA's office under Larry Krasner and the prison organizing that got him elected.
Articles:
- Donald Trump Didn’t Want to Be President
- Krasner dismisses 31 from Philly DA's Office in dramatic first-week shakeup
- How prisoners organized to elect a just DA in Philly
Leave us a review on iTunes
Find us on twitter @Grainne and @AbiHassen Ask us questions anonymously at curiouscat.me/AgainstTheLaw Song: Their Law by Ergo Phizmiz
We're back! Sorry for the delay. We'll try and get things back in order ASAP. We have a bonus episode for you with some hot (maybe medium) takes and some general pontification on the state of things. Enjoy!
Find us on twitter @AbiHassen and @gainstthelaw Ask us questions anonymously at https://curiouscat.me/AgainstTheLaw Leave us a review on iTunes Song: Their Law by Ergo Phizmiz
This week Abi is back from South Africa with a great interview with Muthoni Muriithi, a Kenyan Human Rights lawyer who discusses her career pursuing Women’s Rights on the continent and the many challenges of working in the international context. Abi and Grainne also discuss some issues of the day including Meek Mill, Jared Fogel, the abysmal GOP tax plan.
News: Meek Mill - http://time.com/5033582/meek-mill-harvey-weinstein/
GOP tax plan - https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/17/all-out-class-war-gop-bill-cuts-taxes-private-jet-owners-hikes-taxes-students
JARED FOGEL - http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_subway_pitchman_tries_sovereign_citizen_approach
Find us on twitter @Grainne and @AbiHassen Ask us questions anonymously at https://curiouscat.me/AgainstTheLaw Find us on Stitcher Leave us a review on iTunes Song: Their Law by Ergo Phizmiz
Episode 2: The RICO Case Against Harvey Weinstein
In this episode, we highligh some of the legal news of the past week, including how the Supreme Court gets basic facts wrong, and insane decision from Louisianna.
Then we dive into the details of the RICO law. Grainne explains how the law works, how it is used currently, then she lays out how a RICO case might be used against Harvey Weinstein if the DOJ were interested in such things.
SCOTUS errors: https://www.propublica.org/article/supreme-court-errors-are-not-hard-to-find I want a lawyer, dog: http://reason.com/blog/2017/10/30/he-said-he-wanted-a-lawyer-dog-the-court
Manafort Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/file/1007271/download
RICO: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1962
Weinstein contract: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/13/harvey-weinsteins-contract-protected-sexual-harassment-allegations/
Find us on twitter @gainstTheLaw @grainne and @AbiHassen Ask us questions anonymously at https://curiouscat.me/AgainstTheLaw Find us on Stitcher Leave us a review on iTunes Song: Their Law by Ergo Phizmiz
Welcome to the Against the Law episode 1. In this episode Abi and Grainne discuss some recent legal topics in the news which turns into an conversation about how much police lie in court, the abysmal state of prison health care, the government's constant quest to hack your cellphone, and more.
Our main topic is the NY Constitutional Convention. We try and understand why the civil society organizations in one of the most progressive states are dead set on maintaining the surprisingly non-progressive status quo.
News Items:
Closing argument: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/defence-lawyer-dies-closing-argument-murder-trial-alabama-jean-darby-collapse-a8016901.html Cops lying: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/nyregion/brooklyn-judge-police-perjury-nypd.html Abortion rights in custody: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/us/undocumented-immigrant-abortion.html
NY Constitutional Convention Links:
A ton of info on the NY Constitutional Convention: http://www.newyorkconcon.info/ Deeply researched NY State Bar Association Reports: http://www.nysba.org/nyconstitution/#Reports%20 Main opposition coalition: http://www.nyagainstcorruption.com/ Aggregation of ConCon opinion polls: http://www.newyorkconcon.info/?page_id=611
Find us on twitter @Grainne and @AbiHassen
Ask us questions anonymously at https://curiouscat.me/AgainstTheLaw
Find us on Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/against-the-law
Leave us a review on iTunes: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ergo_Phizmiz/Music_For_The_Jilted_Generation/03_Their_Law
Song: Their Law by Ergo Phizmiz
Introductory test episode. URL: http://pca.st/dyxj Song: Livin' Rough by Chain & The Gang. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chain__The_Gang/