Exposing, Investigating and Inoculating Against Hate Discussion with Lisa Borden and Susan Corke from the Southern Poverty Law Center on hate and extremism groups throughout the United States. We discuss rising right radicalism, including religious and white nationalist groups and their means and methods. We also discuss \"parental right groups\" a…

A Celebration of Civics and Connection Amidst Crises and Consternation Discussion with Shannon A. Mullen on her recent book In Other Words, Leadership: How a Young Mother’s Weekly Letters to Her Governor Helped Both Women Brave the First Pandemic Year which looks at agency, representative democracy, socioeconomic and environmental crises within a p…

How Grassroots Movements for Climate and Environmental Justice Are Critical to Surviving the Climate Crisis Discussion with Vivek Maru on the importance of community paralegals in extending access to the law, enforcing rights and aiding in structural change. We discuss the Customary Land Rights Act in Sierra Leone, the Community Land Act in Kenya a…

Climate Change, Subterfuge and Building a Broad Climate Coalition Discussion with Dr. Michael Mann on the subterfuge tactics by the fossil industry to prevent systemic and structural decarbonization. We discuss how the fossil fuel industry promotes doomsday theories to engender apathy and deny agency. We also discuss how the fossil fuel industry fo…

Cattle Ranching, Palm Oil Plantations and Other Agrobusiness Drivers of Deforestation, Fraud and Violence Against Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples, Bolsonaro's Crimes and the Need for Due Diligence and Accountability in Financing and Supply Chains Discussion with Gabriella Bianchini on the importance of the Amazonian biome to the local envi…

Neocolonialism, Democratic Deficits and Regulatory Chill of the Investor State Dispute Settlement Mechanism Discussion with Lisa Sachs on the regulatory chill and democratic deficit of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism (ISDS). We discuss the structural issues of ISDS, including conflict of interest, lack of transparency and lack of ac…

Palestinian Human Rights Defenders, SLAPP Suits, Anti-Boycott Laws and Human Rights Abuses in Israel and the OPT Discussion with Maria LaHood on the curtailment and criminalization of advocacy on behalf of Palestinian human rights and criticism of Israeli government policies and their conflation with antisemitism. We discuss SLAPP suits, prevention…

Regulatory Capture, Lobbying, Astroturfing, Greenwashing and the Failure to Clean up LA’s Toxic Secret Discussion with Daniel Hirsch, Denise Duffield and Melissa Bumstead on the history and current contamination of the nuclear experiment and rocket testing site, Santa Susana Field Lab, above Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. We discuss how the resp…

The Nexus Between Environmental Health and Social Justice Discussion with Dr. Jimena Díaz Leiva on the health and environmental impact of fracking, forever chemicals, flame retardants and glyphosate. We discuss how trade secrets are being utilized to protect against disclosure of all toxic chemicals in fracking, the exemptions the industry obtained…

Drafting and Establishing the 5th International Crime Against Peace Discussion with Darryl Robinson and Kate Mackintosh on the history of ecocide and the gravity and culpability elements necessary for it to be the fifth international crime against peace. We also discuss the process of establishing ecocide as an international crime, including the pr…

Adam Hochschild's Ghosts of Rapacity and Resistance Discussion with Adam Hochschild on the historical movements and moments throughout Adam’s books. We discuss the First World War, the Spanish Civil War, the turmoil and anti-immigrant and anti-labour purges in the United States during and after the First World War, apartheid, the Stalinist purges a…

The Noxious Nexus of Environmental Destruction, Corruption, Conflict and Human Rights Abuse Discussion with Patrick Alley on the intersectionality of environmental destruction, human rights abuse, conflict and corruption. We discuss how our banks and institutional funds finance deforestation while concomitantly publicly rallying against it. We disc…

Democratic Resistance in Hong Kong Discussion with Alex Yong-Kang Chow and Brian Leung on China’s increasing control over Hong Kong and its breaches of the Sino-British Declaration. We discuss the student democratic protests in 2014 and 2019 and the arrest and trials of the protestors. We discuss the enactment and use of the National Security Law t…

Abandoned Australians, Cultural Restitution and Human Rights Accountability Discussion with Geoffrey Robertson QC on how Australia’s COVID response, including its border closure to citizens abroad, has violated human rights and Geoffrey’s petition on behalf of abandoned Australians before the Human Rights Committee. We also discuss the lack of cons…

Cobalt, Chocolate, Blood and Corporate Impunity Discussion with Terry Collingsworth on forced child labor in cobalt mines in the DRC and his Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) case against American tech companies which knowingly benefit from the cheap cobalt mined by children. We discuss the legal issues in the case as well …

Expanding the Rights Rubric: Adding Rights and Rights Holders for a Good Society Discussion with Sushma Raman on The Coming Good Society: Why New Realities Demand New Rights, her book with William F. Schulz. We discuss the need for specific rights to redress the needs of LGBTQIA+ communities and why adding new rights reinforces rather than dilutes …

Chevron’s Carious Crusade Against Steven Donziger, SLAPP Suits and the Defense of Climate Necessity Discussion with Lauren Regan on corporate SLAPP suits and in particular the oil and gas industry’s utilization of RICO against grassroots environmental activists. We also discuss the miscarriages of justice in Chevron’s RICO action against attorney S…

The Need for a Unified, Holistic Approach to Environmental, Animal and Human Health Discussion with Professor Dr. Christine Kreuder Johnson on anthropogenic ecosystem drivers of disease emergence in wildlife and spillover into the human population. We discuss how habitat destruction, including from changing land use patterns and industrial and agri…

Regulatory Gaps and Conflicts in the Fertility Industry Discussion on regulatory gaps and issues in the fertility industry with Professors Naomi Cahn and June Carbone. We discuss the marketing of egg freezing, brokerage of egg donation and surrogacy and issues surrounding informed consent, vulnerability and inequality in the fertility industry. Add…

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, Little Gitmo and Corporate SLAPP Suits Discussion on the terrorization of activists and the criminalization of dissent with Rachel Meeropol. We discuss the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, how it may operate to violate the First Amendment and its chilling effect on activism. We also discuss corporate SLAPP suits…

Ag-Gag Laws and the First Amendment, Carious CAFOS and the Endangerment of the Endangered Species Act Discussion with Cristina Stella on the advent and continuance of Ag-gag laws that criminalize undercover reporting at animal enterprises and their violation of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. We also discuss the First Amendment violation of …

Democratizing the Colonial Space of International Law Discussion with Rachel López on the colonial development of international law and its continuing hierarchical structure. We also discuss the duty to refrain from assisting states in committing grave crimes and its interrelation with the responsibility to protect people from grave crimes under in…

U.S. and European Complicity in the Yemeni Conflict Discussion with Radhya Al-Mutawakel on the war crimes committed in Yemen by all parties, including the indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian sites and civilians and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage. We discuss U.S., U.K. and other Western countries’ participation in the…

Incarceration Rates and Sentencing Policies Throughout the United States Discussion with Nazgol Ghandnoosh on the high rates of incarceration and state differentials of incarceration throughout the United States and their causes, including the “war on drugs”. We discuss racial disparity in arrests and sentences, private prisons and legislative and …

Loss of Biodiversity, Pollution, Climate Change and Human Rights Abuses from Deforestation Discussion with Etelle Higonnet on the state of deforestation around the world with a particular focus on commodity agriculture and soy and palm oil in particular. We discuss the contribution to climate change and the loss of biodiversity from clearing wild f…

Family Separation, Mandatory Detention and Denaturalization Discussion with Paromita Shah on the effective criminalization of immigration and the right to asylum through mandatory detention and unlawful entry and unlawful re-entry prosecutions. We discuss family detainment and separation at the border and the deportation of undocumented parents of …

Religious and Racial Discrimination in the American South and the Escalation of Immigration Detention Discussion with Azadeh Shahshahani on the work of Project South, which cultivates strong social movements in the Southern United States and supports social justice movements in the Global South. We discuss religious and racial discrimination as wel…

The U.S. Visit by the Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Discussion with Professor Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, on the observations and conclusions from his country visit to the United States in December 2017. We discuss the political nature of poverty, its inextricable link to r…

The Prevalence of Human Trafficking in the United States and the Legal Framework for Bringing Justice to Human Trafficking Survivors. Discussion with Martina Vandenberg on the work of the Human Trafficking Legal Center and the prevalence and characteristics of human trafficking in the United States. We discuss the international and legal framework,…

How Israel Exploits Palestinian Land and Expels the Palestinian Population Discussion with Amit Gilutz on the human rights work of B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, including its citizenship journalism project. We discuss the human rights impact of the separation barrier and the demarcation of th…

LGBTI Rights and Freedom of Expression in Serbia Discussion with Goran Miletić on LGBTI rights in Serbia. We discuss the most recent Pride Parade in Serbia, its previous unconstitutional ban by the government and security issues. We also discuss recent anti-discrimination and hate speech legislation and their weak implementation in the context of a…

The Roma, Cultural Relativism, Autonomy and Community Empowerment Discussion with Danilo Ćurčić on the discrimination and segregation faced by the Roma in Serbia, in particular with respect to employment and housing, including forced evictions from informal Roma settlements. We discuss the need to move away from the discourse of providing humanitar…

Asylum, Criminal Justice and Media Freedom Discussion with Nikola Kovačević on the right of asylum in Serbia, the limited acceptance rate and the “ping-pong” currently being played by European countries with refugees. We also discuss criminal justice issues, including the right to counsel, pre-trial detention, the independence of the judiciary and …

Exonerating the innocent in northern California Discussion with Northern California Innocence Project's (NCIP) Linda Starr and Todd Fries on the causes of wrongful conviction in California, including but not limited to problems with eyewitness testimony, preservation of evidence, coerced confessions, paid informants, ineffective assistance of couns…

The Refugee Situation in Serbia Following Border Closures on the Balkan Route, the Work of Refugee Aid Serbia and Disrupting Hostile Discourse on Displaced Persons Discussion with Felix Thomson on the refugee situation in Serbia and how it has changed since border closures along the Balkan route severely restricted access to Northern and Western Eu…

The Double Standard in U.S. Labor Laws That Fails to Protect Children Working in Agriculture Discussion with Zama Neff on the double standard in U.S. Federal and State labor laws which allows for children at younger ages to work in agriculture and provides them less protections in their working conditions. We discuss the type of agricultural work c…

Holding the IFC Accountable for Aiding and Abetting Murder and Terrorization of Honduran Farmers and Financing the Pollution of the Kutch Coast in India Discussion with Marco Simons on Doe v. IFC in which the IFC is alleged to have knowingly profited from financing the murder and terrorization of Honduran farmers by Dinant, a land grabbing palm cor…

Selection Bias, Confirmation Bias and the Feedback Loop of Predictive Policing Algorithms, the Black Box Problem of Proprietary Algorithms and Lack of Accountability Discussion with Kristian Lum and William Isaac on how machine learning algorithms work and how seemingly neutral police data can perpetuate systemic and institutional prejudices and pr…

Jailing Children for Failure to Pay Administrative Fees and Costs, Life without Parole, Solitary Confinement, Juvenile Sex Offender Registration, Expungement of Juvenile Records and the "Kids for Cash" Tragedy Discussion with Marsha Levick on the various administrative fees and costs imposed by the juvenile justice system and the practice of incarc…

Canadian Aboriginal and Treaty Rights and the Duty to Consult, Environmental Deregulation and the Environmental and Human Rights Footprint of the Tar Sands Discussion with Robert Janes and Karey Brooks on the environmental, climate and human rights footprint on the Alberta tar sands, in particular its impact on indigenous rights. We discuss the Bea…

John Doe et. al. v Nestle et. al., Forced Child Labour in the Cacao Industry, the Alien Tort Claims Act, Koibel and Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses Discussion with Terry Collingsworth on John Doe et. al. v Nestle et. al, the prevalence of child slavery in the cacao industry in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and the assistance provided to …

Cultural Genocide, Water Protectors and Oil Discussion with Martin Wagner on the human rights violations associated with the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Standing Rock Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux and the Yankton Sioux’s petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. We discuss the environmental impact of the construction of the pipeli…

State Hacking, Cyber Surveillance and Targeted Killings Within the Digital Panopticon Discussion with Scott Gilmore regarding the human rights implications of technology, including cyber surveillance of human rights activists and journalists and state authorized hacks. We discuss the legal and policy issues respecting Western companies selling tech…

Art, Activism, Water Shut Offs, School Closures, Detroit's Restructuring, Urban Redevelopment as Code for Racial Discrimination, Community Cooperation and Urban Farming Discussion with artist and activist Antonio Cosme concerning his prosecution by the recently established Detroit Graffiti Task Force for writing “Free the Water” on a decommissioned…

The U.N.'s Egregious Negligence in Causing the Cholera Epidemic in Haiti and its Refusal to Accept Responsibility and Provide Redress and the Legal and Political Issues Surrounding the U.N.'s Assertion of Diplomatic Immunity Discussion with Brian Concannon Jr. on the U.N.'s actions in causing, covering up and refusing to accept responsibility for t…

World Bank and IMF SAPS, Water Privatization, Public-Private and Public-Public Partnerships, Cochambabinos' Resistance, North-South Cooperaton and South-South Solidarity Discussion with Marcela Olivera on water privatization and resistance in South America and the establishment of public-public partnerships for community owned and organized water s…

Drought, surface and groundwater in California, the Human Right to Water Act, the environmental impact of the Delta Tunnels Project and Center for Biological Diversity, Nestle's water permit in the San Bernardino National Forest. Discussion with Courtney A. Davis about the impact and severity of the drought and the legal and regulatory framework re…

The Contamination of Flint's Water, the Plight of Undocumented Immigrants and Emergency Financial Managers in Michigan. Discussion with San Juana "Juani" Olivares on the water supply in Flint, Michigan, which had its water contaminated by lead, bacteria and carcinogenic disinfection byproducts with a focus on the particular effects on the non-Engli…

International Environmental Law and Environmental Hazards of the Nicaragua Canal. Discussion with Professor Daniel Magraw on the environmental consequences of the Nicaragua Canal, which planned path will cut through some of the most biologically diverse areas in the world as well as Central America's largest freshwater lake, Lake Nicaragua, the cou…

Forced Sterilization, the Work of the International Justice Resource Center and the Election of the New U.N. Secretary General. Discussion with Lisa Reinsberg on the incidence of forced sterilization throughout the Americas and around the world and the International Justice Resource Center's (IJRC) petition in I.V. v Bolivia to the Inter-American C…