After nearly 8 years, just shy of 190 episodes, and countless conversations across the legal world, The Hearing signs off with a special, full‑team finale. In this reflective and heartfelt episode, the podcast's co-founder and editor, Ben Clayton, brings together the current hosts and producers – Kaley Botting, Yasmin Sheikh, Janelle Wrigley, Becky Annison, Teneé Frazier and Christina Lynn – for an open conversation about the stories, challenges, surprises, and stand‑out moments that shaped the show.


Together, they revisit the podcast's origins – from rough and ready in‑person recordings, to pandemic pivots and globe‑spanning remote interviews. The team shares their most memorable guests and episodes, the legal insights that surprised them, the ideas that never quite made it to air, and the behind‑the‑scenes mishaps that kept everyone on their toes.

This episode celebrates the curiosity, serendipity and sheer joy of exploring the law through conversation, as we reflect on the privilege of connecting with so many listeners. Regardless of whether you found us recently or you've been listening for years, thank you so much for your support! 🙏🏼

In this episode, host Teneé Frazier and Roger Horner, a municipal law expert at Practical Law, discuss the contentious topic of book banning.

Roger outlines the background and current landscape for book bans in the US, including their rise in frequency and intensity. He sheds light on the constitutional challenges, divergent state laws, and the critical role of government speech in recent rulings.

Roger also shares practical advice for government attorneys dealing with book selection policies, and he highlights the forthcoming developments and decisions to watch out for.

Is your duty of care climate‑ready? Extreme weather, shifting regulations and liability exposure are no longer environmental side notes – they're core to competent legal advice across a range of practice areas.

In this episode, Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Senior Lecturer in Climate Law at the University of Edinburgh, joins host Becky Annison to translate climate risk into concrete legal duties and everyday practice decisions.

Navraj and Becky's conversation delves into the multifaceted impacts of climate risk on corporations – exploring the financial implications, the role of legal professionals and the evolving landscape of climate law. Their discussion highlights the necessity for companies to understand and quantify climate risks, the legal obligations that arise from these risks, and the importance of integrating climate considerations into legal practice.

This episode features a conversation with Jodi Ettenberg, a former lawyer who left her corporate practice in 2008 to travel the world and become a successful travel writer and entrepreneur. Host Janelle Wrigley explores Jodi's unconventional journey from billing 3,000 hours as a first-year attorney in New York to building Legal Nomads, a pioneering travel blog that evolved into a thriving business serving a global community.

Janelle and Jodi discuss the challenges of leaving a legal career and practical approaches for lawyers considering major life changes. The conversation takes a profound turn as Jodi shares how a routine medical procedure in 2017 left her with a chronic spinal CSF leak, a debilitating condition that ended her ability to travel and led to a new role as a health advocate.

Throughout the episode, Jodi offers candid insights on navigating grief, adapting to change, and the power of community support. Her story highlights the value of intellectual curiosity and the importance of building a life aligned with your values rather than external expectations. This conversation will resonate with anyone facing uncertainty, whether contemplating a career change or managing unexpected life challenges.

Alternative careers for lawyers: https://www.legalnomads.com/alternative-careers-lawyers/
To learn more about spinal CSF leak: https://spinalcsfleak.org/

This episode examines the post-Covid trend among many employers to increase the number of days staff are expected to attend their place of work. Host Yasmin Sheikh sits down with UK employment law expert Kate Dodd to discuss the evolving landscape of workplace culture and the legal considerations surrounding hybrid work. Kate is a partner at Pinsent Masons and heads up Brook Graham – their equality, diversity and inclusion consultancy.

Yasmin and Kate explore the implications of the UK Equality Act, generational differences in workplace expectations, and the critical role of leadership in shaping policies that promote inclusivity and flexibility. Their conversation highlights the importance of understanding and addressing employee motivations, as well as the need for clear communication, when implementing return-to-office strategies.

In this episode, Teneé Frazier sits down with Chris Gillett, owner of Chris Gillett Photography and a former trial attorney, to explore how lawyers can strategically use headshots to communicate their professional brand. Discover why your headshot is more than just a photo – it’s your first impression, a confidence booster, and a tool for shaping how clients and colleagues perceive you.

Chris shares practical tips on projecting confidence, avoiding common mistakes, and choosing attire that enhances your image. Whether you’re updating your firm’s website or refreshing your LinkedIn profile, this conversation will change the way you think about professional portraits – and might just help you become the best version of yourself, both in front of the camera and in the courtroom.

Mandeep Dhaliwal, Director of the HIV and Health Group at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) joins host Janelle Wrigley to discuss how legal frameworks and governance shape health outcomes worldwide. Drawing on more than 25 years at the intersection of health policy and human rights, Mandeep explains the UNDP's mission and her experiences showing that leadership and participation from affected communities must be at the center of effective public health policy.

Mandeep and Janelle explore how punitive laws around HIV drive-up infections, deaths, and costs. They discuss how countries can engage in reform, such as Zimbabwe's repeal of HIV criminalization after a UNDP‑supported legal environment assessment, and they examine access‑to‑medicines barriers tied to patents and trade agreements. Mandeep suggests practical ways communities and legal professionals can advance change in this critical area.

This episode delves into the infamous case of Lucy Letby – a neonatal nurse convicted of multiple murders and attempted murders of babies at a UK hospital. Our guest is Dr Sarah Bennett – a lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University's School of Law and Justice Studies.

Sarah's conversation with host Becky Annison explores the complexities of expert evidence in criminal trials, the challenges posed by our adversarial legal system, and the implications for legal practice. They also discuss the systemic issues within healthcare that may have contributed to the tragic events surrounding Letby's case, emphasising the need for reforms to ensure patient safety and prevent future tragedies.

Professor Judith Resnik and host Teneé Frazier discuss Judith's book 'Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy' – which explores the complex relationship between punishment, democracy, and social justice.

Judith, a Professor of Law at Yale Law School, delves into the historical evolution of prisons in the UK, US, and Europe, as well as the role of constitutional law in shaping prisoners' treatment. Their conversation highlights the financial and social costs associated with incarceration, with Judith calling for reform of our penal systems to prevent lasting harm to individuals and communities.

In this episode we continue exploring children's online safety and cross the Atlantic to unpack the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA). Vicki Nash, Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, joins host Yasmin Sheikh to discuss the rationale of OSA and how it aims to protect children from illegal and harmful content online.

Vicki talks about the difficulty of producing rigorous empirical studies of online harms and benefits to inform policymaking, the debates around free speech, age verification, and privacy, and the differences in approaches to these issues between the UK, EU, and US.

Finally, they discuss whether lawyers can do their part by improving their own literacy around digital issues, and the need to continually evolve our policy approach to online governance.