In this episode, Lucy McCann is joined by Professor Steven Gunn, historian at Merton College, Oxford to discuss his recent book, An Accidental History of Tudor England (co-authored with Tomasz Gromelski). They explore the world of the sixteenth century Coroners’ Court, examine what records of inquest reveal, and consider about how people died and what this can tell us about everyday life at the time, to draw comparisons with modern day inquest proceedings and coronial statistics.

Death, deceit and the lawyer who busted big Asbestos. Rosalind English talks to author David Kinley and lawyer Richard Meeran about an international legal drama involving a UK mining company and its South African employees, tackling questions of corporate veil, forum and causation in a huge class action.

Rain of Dust is available here.

Ahead of the city’s Pride celebrations next month, Jim Duffy is joined by Clare Ciborowska and Pauline Troy of 1COR Brighton.  They take us through the legal, social and political history behind the concept of parenthood in the UK today. Drawing from their experience as seasoned advocates in the family courts, Clare and Pauline describe how the evolution of equality and human rights laws around sexual orientation have helped lead us to where we are today in terms of parenthood. They examine legal developments in relation to surrogacy, and the recent shelving of proposals by the Law Commission in England and Wales for significant reform in that area.

Poppy Mulligan and Monty Fynn tell Jim Duffy all about their time as Judicial Assistants at the UK Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Counsel.

Poppy is JA to the Court’s Deputy President, Lord Hodge, while Monty has spent the year working for former ‘Treasury Devil’ Lord Sales.

They describe what they have learned about advocacy and about themselves that they will take into their nascent careers at the Bar, while Jim recounts some of his own experience as Judicial Assistant to Lord Reed and Lord Hodge some 12 years ago.

Poppy and Monty recently travelled to America to visit the US Supreme Court and America’s federal political institutions, giving them the chance to compare and contrast their own roles with those opposite numbers in Washington – clerks to the likes of Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Clarence Thomas.

Shadow AG Lord Wolfson of Tredegar joins Marina Wheeler KC and Rosalind English of 1 Crown Office Row to discuss the legal questions to be addressed by the government in relation to the ECHR.

The Supreme Court has upheld the right to wild camp on Dartmoor in Darwall and another v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20. Lucy McCann talks to Darragh Coffey of 1 Crown Office Row about the decision.

Read Darragh’s analysis of the High Court’s decision here on the UK Human Rights Blog.

Jim Duffy is joined by 1COR colleague Benjamin Seifert to discuss recent case law touching on expert evidence, fundamental dishonesty, anonymity orders and much more.

Psychiatrist Dr Mona Gupta in Montreal joins Rosalind English and Alex Ruck Keene KC.

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0212/TIABImpactAssessment.pdf

Alex Ruck Keene KC has been deeply involved in the Bill’s passage through Parliament. Join Rosalind English in Episode 1 of this discussion, with the Canadian experience to follow in Episode 2.

In Episode 218 Emma-Louise Fenelon interviews Dr Charlotte Proudman about her new book: He Said, She Said.

Dr Proudman is a barrister at Goldsmith Chambers, a campaigner for legal reform, an author, and the founder and Director of the NGO Right to Equality. She tweets @Dr Proudman.

He Said, She Said is published by Orion, and is available to order at Waterstones here, Amazon here and at all good book shops.