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Podcasts look at law and society
Law School’s unique project brings legal scholarship to broader audience
By JOHN DELLACONTRADA
Contributing Editor
As a conversation starter, legal research may seem too esoteric of a topic. But add to the discussion a little atmosphere—lunch at an Italian café, the chattering of fellow diners, a touch of jazz music in the background—and now you have the makings of an Internet talk show.
James Milles, assistant dean and director of the UB Law Library, is producing podcasts of discussions with Law School faculty members and other prominent legal scholars.
PHOTO: JOHN DELLACONTRADA
More specifically, you have a podcast on important ideas in law and society.
Within the niche world of podcasting, nearly anybody with the right digital recording equipment can inexpensively produce and post on the Internet a podcast on any topic under the sun. Likewise, nearly anyone with the right PC software can download and listen to a podcast from anywhere at anytime.
Debuting this semester among this eclectic mix of podcasts and audiences is a UB Law School podcast, "UB Law Faculty Conversations," http://ublawpodcast.com/, featuring discussions with UB Law School faculty and other prominent scholars.
Produced by Law Professor James Milles, the podcasts often are recorded during an informal dinner or lunch at an area restaurant and consist of one-on-one conversations between legal scholars. The intellectual exchange is lively and friendly, with Milles sitting silently alongside recording the conversation. The restaurant's ambient sounds are pleasing and create a sense of place.
The UB Law podcast may be one of the only law school podcast of its kind in the country, according to Milles, an expert on the intersection of law and technology, who also serves as assistant dean and director of the UB Law Library.
"The Law School is home to incredible legal scholars who are doing some very cutting-edge legal research," Milles explains. "The podcast is one way to bring their scholarship outside of the academy.
"You won't find too many people outside of law schools willing to sit down and read a 100-page law review article," he adds. "The conversational format of our podcast, on the other hand, makes these topics more accessible to law and non-law communities. Plus, the podcasts underscore our law school's emphasis on civic engagement and public policy."
Previous podcasts have focused on an array of legal matters, including workplace equity, pensions, economic development, transracial adoption and even Russian forestry. Scholars from law schools at Columbia University, Emory University, Rutgers University and St. John's University have participated in the UB podcasts, usually as a follow-up to research they presented at UB's Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy.
On a recent Thursday afternoon at the Romeo & Juliette Bakery Café on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo, UB Law Professors Susan Mangold and Martha McClusky sat down to record a podcast on Mangold's latest research, which takes a critical look at federal requirements that say an abused or neglected child must be poor to be eligible for foster-care maintenance funds.
"I came to the podcasts as a skeptic and now I'm an evangelist," says Mangold, who occasionally hosts the podcast discussions, as well.
"I've had perfect strangers say they've listened to me on their iPods when they went for a jog. This made me realize, vividly, that this is a completely new form of communication capable of reaching a new audience."
Milles, who produces a second podcast on "law, libraries and life in a northern border town" called Check This Out! (http://checkthisoutpodcast.com), says he is growing the audience for "UB Law Faculty Conversations" by posting it on several Internet lists.
"I have about 300 regular listeners each week for Check This Out! Most are librarians, but also quite a few are law professors, lawyers, law students, and anyone who happens to come across one of my episodes through Google. I'm building my audience for both podcasts by posting notices of new episodes to listservs, comments on blogs, and old-fashioned networking at conferences and other events."
Upcoming installments of "UB Law Faculty Conversations" will include such widely diverse topics as strategic planning for community development, anthropological approaches to personal injury law in different cultures and gender-based barriers to economic development.