Podcasts
Another Way
This season, Larry Lessig and the Equal Citizens team will be talking to presidential candidates, authors, activists, and more to bring you in-depth information about the most important issues in our democracy, and to let you know who can finally make change happen.
The Law, such as it is.
An exploration of a broken if beautiful institution, The Law, launched with a particular case — LESSIG v. The New York Times. The show will track the development of that case — explaining each part as it happens as an introduction to the law — but then extend far beyond this particular case to the institution of the law generally.
Another Way Stories
Can we make 2020 something more than a civil war between Democrats and Republicans? That’s the challenge that has inspired this podcast by Lawrence Lessig. Without doubting the urgent need to defeat our current President, Lessig lays out a strategy that leverages the common ground that unites America, to the end of fixing our rigged and broken democracy. Drawing upon the history of other moments of fundamental change in America, Lessig maps a strategy that steps above our partisan divide. It is a moonshot, no doubt. But it is the one shot that could get us beyond the pathological division that destroys our government today. This is the conversation that the politicians won’t give us. And that’s precisely why we citizens must begin it now.
Beyond Politics
What if the laws that allow billions of dollars of dark money to drive American politics are based on...a mistake? One of America’s
most prominent legal scholars thinks that’s exactly what’s happened, and he’s going to give someone $50,000 to help him prove it.
Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School and the founder of Equal Citizens, an advocacy
group whose mission is to fix democracy by establishing truly equal citizenship. On Labor Day, September 4, 2023, Equal Citizens will launch a video competition with (at least one) $50,000 prize for whoever can help clearly and concisely explain the legal argument for why SuperPACs can be regulated.
To find out more about the contest and enter, go to the contest page: https://equalcitizens.us/crowdfund-video/ And to watch a longer explanation of Professor Lessig's argument, see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPTY327iRJA&feature=youtu.be
Talking Feds
In this episode of Talking Feds on Patreon, Lawrence Lessig discusses with Harry Litman his article in the New York Review of Books, "Why the US Is a Failed Democratic State."
Ideas with Nahlah Ayed: The New World Disorder | The End of America
Aired September 29, 2022
The U.S. is at a turning point and experts say the country hasn't been this divided since the Civil War. Some are predicting the end of American democracy, while others claim the potential for political violence looms. IDEAS contributor Melissa Gismondi explores where the country might be headed and what — if anything — can save it. *This episode is part of our series, The New World Disorder.
IDEAS is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. No topic is off-limits. In the age of clickbait and superficial headlines, it's for people who like to think.
Party of One - The Piper
Aired July 18, 2021
Try to imagine a world where corporations don't run Washington. We can't either.
Most Americans think money plays too big a role in US politics. So where's the bipartisan support for legislating a new path forward? And if the Dems and the GOP aren't going to fix this, how can we? When will cash take a back seat to real human voters? We’re dumpster diving deep into the pockets of one of the richest congresses in US history and finding out just how far both parties will go to ensure that sweet green speaks louder than you.
Special thanks to guests Peter Overby, Lawrence Lessig, and Ellen Moorhouse.
From Maffick Podcasts, Party of One. Written, hosted, and produced by Amanda Getty and Gregory Haddock. Theme song by Jonathan Hurley. Production assistance by Ryan Wentz.
Yang Speaks
Aired August 20, 2020
Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig joins to talk about how we can reform our democracy and save ourselves from this mess. Lawrence and Andrew discuss the cubicle farms where politicians dial for dollars, how "slow democracy" can improve our political discourse, and how we can reverse the decline of journalism in America.
Hell & High Water with John Heilemann (Lawrence Lessig & Laurence Tribe)
Aired November 24, 2020
Lawrence Lessig and Laurence Tribe are among the most important and influential legal minds of this or any era. Lessig, a pioneer in the field of cyber-law, is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School and founder of Equal Citizens, a non-profit focused on the cause of electoral reform. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor Emeritus at Harvard, is arguably the preeminent constitutional scholar of his generation, has argued 35 cases before the US Supreme Court, and was a key member of Al Gore's legal team in the 2000 Florida recount. Heilemann invites the Legal Larrys, as he calls them, to discuss Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election, how his efforts have revealed serious weaknesses in our democratic processes, and the increasingly urgent arguments for scrapping the Electoral College.
Ask a Harvard Professor: Lawrence Lessig: What Leads to Academic Corruption?
Aired September 9, 2019
There’s a kind of academic corruption that most people have never considered. Not plagiarism. Not cheating on an exam. This is the kind of corruption that occurs when corporations and industry lobbying groups pay academics for expert testimony before Congress. Even the perception that such payments have occurred will result is an erosion of public confidence in scholarly research and the impartiality of the academy. And the people most vulnerable to this ethical trap are those who believe they are doing good. As Furman professor of law Lawrence Lessig explains in this podcast, “doing good can make you bad."
The Ezra Klein Show: Why good people are easily corrupted
Aired May 27, 2019
I’ve been learning from, and arguing with, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig for a decade now. We have a long-running debate over whether money or polarization is the root cause of our political ills. But our debate works because we share a crucial belief: Bad institutions overwhelm good individuals.
In his latest book, America, Compromised, Lessig is doing something ambitious: He’s offering a new definition of institutional corruption, then showing how it plays out in politics, academia, the media, Wall Street, and the legal system. This is a definition of corruption that doesn’t require any individual to be corrupt. But it’s a definition that, if you accept it, suggests much of our society has been corrupted.
Here, Lessig and I discuss what corruption is, how to understand an institution’s purpose, whether capitalism is itself corrupting, our upcoming books about the media, how small donors polarize politics, Lessig’s critique of democracy, why good people are particularly susceptible to institutional corruption, whether we should ban private money in politics, and ways to reinvent representative democracy. So, you know, nothing too big or heady.
The West Wing Weekly: The Wake Up Call (with Lawrence Lessig)
Aired April 9, 2019
We’re joined by the real-life Professor Lawrence Lessig, who appears as a character in this episode, played by the real-life Christopher Lloyd.
Stanford Law: Free Culture, Copyright and the Future of Ideas (Final Talk)
Talk with Lawrence Lessig on free culture, copyright and the future of ideas. (January 31, 2008)
Opening Arguments: OA346: Faithless Electors (w/Lawrence Lessig)
Today’s episode features an in-depth interview with Prof. Lawrence Lessig, counsel for the Colorado faithless electors, about the electoral college system.
We also go through the answer to last week’s #T3BE about the differences and similarities between burglary and larceny. You won’t want to miss it!
Mixed Mental Arts:
Lawrence Lessig ran for President of the United States in 2016. He lost, and we got Donald Trump instead. Lessig is a Harvard Law professor whose book, "Republic Lost" outlines exactly how the swamp in Washington DC got so swampy to begin with.
The Politics Guys: Lawrence Lessig on Campaign Finance Reform
Mike talks with Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Prior to his time at Harvard, Professor Lessig clerked for not one, but two of Mike’s intellectual heroes: Judge Richard Posner and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.