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In this episode, Thea Johnson, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Maine School of Law, discusses her excellent article "Fictional Pleas," which will appear in the Indiana Law Journal. Johnson defines a "fictional plea" as when a criminal defendant agrees to plead guilty to a crime that never actually happened. Among other things, she explains why a defendant would agree to a fictional plea, and what they tell us about criminal punishment and the criminal justice system.

Keywords: Criminal Procedure, Criminal Law, Plea Bargain, Pleas, Prosecutor, Public Defender, Courts, Legal Fictions

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In this episode, Sarah Burstein, Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, discusses her influential article "The Article of Manufacture in 1887" and her draft paper "Whole Designs." Among other things, Burstein describes the history of design patent protection and the subject matter of design patents, in theory and in practice. She then outlines the various arguments and judicial opinions in Apple v. Samsung, and explains why the central problem was a mistaken understanding of the term "article of manufacture" as used by Congress in 1887. Burstein tweets at @design_law, and her Design Law tumblr is an invaluable resource.

Keywords: intellectual property, design patents, design law, Apple v. Samsung, Supreme Court, article of manufacture, disgorgement

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In this episode, Dave Fagundes, Baker Botts LLP Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, and Aaron Perzanowski, Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University College of Law, discuss their paper "Clown Eggs & Property Norms," which will appear in the Notre Dame Law Review. Among other things, Fagundes and Perzanowski describe the Clown Egg Register, an collection of (mostly) ceramic eggs used to document the appearance of well-known clowns. They explain why the Register was created, and how clowns use it to not only to police informal ownership norms in their appearance, but also to promote and regulate their profession. You can see many of the clown eggs in Luke Stephenson & Helen Champion's book of photographs, "The Clown Egg Register."

Keywords: norms, property, informal ownership, registration, copyright, trademark, creativity without law, IP without IP

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In this episode, Richard H. Underwood, Edward T. Breathitt Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law, discusses his recent books, "CrimeSong: True Crime Stories From Southern Murder Ballads" and "Gaslight Lawyers: Criminal Trials & Exploits in Gilded Age New York." Among other things, Underwood describes the old, weird America captured in murder ballads, and tells the true stories behind several of his favorite murder ballads. He also explains how different (and similar!) 19th century lawyering was to today.

Keywords: jurisprudence, judges, American Law, Culture, Practice of Law, history, true crime

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In this episode, Michael D. Kanach, a partner at Gordon & Rees LLP in San Francisco and a trademark scholar focused especially on issues relating to the craft beer industry, discusses trademarks, branding, and craft beer. Among other things, he explains what trademarks protect, how to obtain a trademark, and the business considerations affecting whether to register a trademark. You can read some of Kanach's articles here and here.

Keywords: Patent law, authenticity, symbolic goods, evaluations, on-line reviews, mergers, acquisitions

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In this episode, Amos Jones, an independent legal scholar, constitutional litigator, and Executive Director of the African-American Trust for Historic Preservation, discusses his work on African-American legal history and the role of the church in the civil rights movement. Among other things, Jones discusses the importance of preserving historic African-American churches and recognizing their pivotal role in American history. He also discusses his work as a constitutional litigator protecting religious liberties, and how his faith shapes his scholarship and legal practice.

Keywords: Contracts, Identity

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In this episode, Eric C. Chaffee, Professor of Law at the University of Toledo College of Law, discusses his "collaborative theory" of the corporation. Chaffee begins by describing the history of corporations and the prevailing theories of the corporation. He then introduces his collaborative theory, and explains how it improves on existing theories by asking why corporations exist in the first place. Specifically, he shows how the collaborative theory provides a framework for understanding corporate social responsibility and the regulation of corporation. He also discusses how the collaborative theory illuminates the relationship between for-profit and non-profit corporation. The conversation focuses on his papers "Collaboration Theory: A Theory of the Charitable Tax Exempt Nonprofit Corporation" and "The Origins of Corporate Social Responsibility." Chaffee is on Twitter at @EricChaffee.

Keywords: Corporate Law, Nonprofit, Not-for-profit, Theory of the Corporation

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In this episode, Josh Douglas, Thomas P. Lewis Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law discusses his forthcoming book "Vote for US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting." In his book, Douglas makes a number of innovative but controversial proposals for increasing voter participation and engagement, including reducing felon disenfranchisement, lowering the voting age to 16, introducing universal voting by mail, improving access to voting machines, and changing the redistricting process, among other things. You can read more of Douglas's scholarship on his SSRN page here. He is on Twitter at @JoshuaADouglas.

Keywords: Election law, voting rights

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In this episode, Patrick S. O'Donnell, an independent researcher and writer, discusses his experiences as an independent scholar of philosophy, religion, and law. O'Donnell is well-known among legal scholars for his long history as a thoughtful and prolific commenter and contributor to many different legal scholarship blogs, as well as for his erudite and exhaustive bibliographies on a wide range of different subjects, from religion and eastern philosophy to marxism and the philosophy of mind. Among other things, he shares his intellectual history and reflects on how "bread labor" has informed his relationship to scholarship. You can read some of O'Donnell's scholarship here. And you can read a little bit about him in this blog post by Jeffrey Lipshaw of Suffolk University Law School.

Keywords: analogy, metaphor, analogical reasoning, precedent, cognitive science, pragmatics, semantics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind

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