The Podvocate

This week, associate editor Nicole Polisar revisits the 1936 Mary Astor custody trial, the Hollywood courtroom spectacle that turned a private diary into a national obsession. Set in Los Angeles at the height of the studio era, the episode reconstructs the drama of a movie star fighting her ex-husband, Dr. Franklyn Thorpe, for custody of their four-year-old daughter, Marylyn. As tabloids and subpoenas threaten to swallow the proceeding whole, the courtroom begins to resemble a public stage as much as a forum for justice. Nicole examines how “fitness” was argued and weaponized in a courtroom culture that treated a mother’s private relationships as evidence of parental unworthiness. The episode explores how media frenzy, moral judgment, and evidentiary battles transformed a child-welfare proceeding into reputational warfare.

If you're interest in the episode's topic please check out these resources to learn more:

https://archive.org/details/mystoryautobiogr00asto

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-12-me-a2anniversary12-story.html

How serious were the January 2026 arrests of independent journalists, Don Lemon and Georgia Fort? In this episode Senior Editor Alyssa Pacheco reflects on the power of the press and historical attacks on its First Amendment protections to answer that question.

In this episode, senior editor Neha Alety provides a brief history of maternal health policy in the United States. She discusses how these policies have disproportionately affected low-income, vulnerable populations, and people of color. She ends the episode with a discussion on how we can advocate for more just policies as future lawyers.

“The Rule of Law and the American Experiment” was presented by the Seventh Circuit Bar Association and Loyola University Chicago Rule of Law institute on October 24, 2025, covering a litany of issues related to law in Trump’s America; this episode is a recording of “The Rule of Law, Peace, and National Security.” The panelists were: John C. Dehn, Associate Professor & Faculty Director, National Security and Civil Rights Program, Loyola University Chicago School of Law; Scott Carlson, Associate Executive Director of Global Programs, American Bar Association; Laura A. Dickinson, Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School.

In this episode, Associate Editor Ashvini Kartik-Narayan explores history of digital surveillance in public benefits programs and how it has set the stage for data grabs under the Trump administration. Millions of Americans receiving SNAP and Social Security will have their personally identifiable information subject to data disclosures under the guise of “reducing fraud and waste” in welfare programs. Ashvini examines the ways that low-income communities of color have long been subject to surveillance, the legal strategies used to resist surveillance in the past, and how those strategies must evolve to meet the current threat of artificial intelligence.

In this week's episode, associate editor Adam Reed dives into the issues of the common law system. He discusses the main issues facing the average citizen when facing the common law legal system: complexity, accessibility, affordability, variability, and arbitrarity. He discusses the cases he recalls, especially from law school and how absurd they could be, while also discussing how to solve them. He proposes, at least in the hypothetical, an examination of the corpus juris civilis, as well as the Napoleonic code in order to see how these problems might be solved.

If you're interested in this week's topic, check out this resource to learn more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_2E0RxVHH4&list=PLEb6sGT7oD8HLpPQ0N4UTmTtPlpXfJias

In this episode, Julian kicks off a new series on Law and Political Economy (LPE) by examining foundational assumptions of how we see the law. Using David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” as a frame to examine legal consciousness, Julian walks through what LPE scholars call the "Twentieth-Century Synthesis," and how prevailing legal thought has created a split between "market law" and "rights law." He traces how Law and Economics constructed legal common sense, and what that means for law students and lawyers in the critical examination of their field.

If you're interested in this week topic, please check out these resources to learn more:

David Singh Grewal, Amy Kapczynski, and Jedidiah Britton-Purdy, Toward a Manifesto (2017)

Samuel Aber, Neoliberalism: An LPE Reading List and Introduction, LPE Project (Aug. 10, 2020)

Samuel Aber, Legal Realism: An LPE Reading List and Introduction, LPE Project (Aug. 9, 2020)

Kendall Thomas, Law After Neoliberalism (course syllabus, Columbia Law School), LPE Project Syllabi (Jan. 23, 2025)

Amy Kapczynski, Law & Political Economy (course syllabus), LPE Project Syllabi (Sept. 27, 2022)

Luke Norris, Law & Political Economy (course syllabus, Univ. of Richmond School of Law, Fall 2023)

In this episode, Associate Editor Delaney Ferrer examines what happens when

natural disasters destroy, not just a city, but the legal systems meant to protect its people. Focusing on post-Katrina New Orleans, Delaney explores how failures in planning, infrastructure, and civil rights protections led to the collapse of the justice system--and what lessons we can take for a future that is threatened by climate change and recurring disasters.

If you're interested in this week's topic, please check out these resources to learn more:

ACLU “Abandoned and Abused: Complete Report”

https://www.unitedcajunnavy.org/

Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

National Geographic’s Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time

https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/hurricane-katrina-disaster-relief-funding

In this week's episode, associate editor Rachel Urbash begins with a brief discussion of theories underlying incarceration in the US. Next, this episode tracks the evolution of the test created by the Supreme Court in 1987 to assess the validity of prison regulations violating the constitutional rights of inmates. Starting with Turner v. Safley, the episode discusses the creation of the four-factor test. After discussing Turner, this episode discusses Beard v. Banks, a 2006 Supreme Court First Amendment case that called the efficacy of the Turner analysis into question in considering the validity of prison regulations that deprived inmates of virtually all First Amendment rights to encourage rehabilitation. This episode discusses the critiques of the Court's analysis in Beard, and the impact of the decision on circuit courts’ analyses of First Amendment free speech challenges to prison regulations.

If you're interested in this week's topic, please check out these resources to learn more:

Beard v. Banks | 548 U.S. 521 (2006) | Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center

Prisoners' Rights Archives | The Free Speech Center

beard_v_banks_deprivation_as_rehabilitation.pdf

In this episode, associate editor Addison Fouts dives into the world of “dupes” and their legality. Dupes are “inspired by” designs and have been highly promoted on social media in recent years. Joined by Attorney Daliah Saper, we unpack the recent Lululemon v. Costco lawsuit and what it reveals about how far brands can go to try to protect their designs. We break down the basics of intellectual property law, and explore how up-and-coming designers can safeguard their creative work. Finally, we clarify the crucial difference between a “dupe” and a counterfeit item. Whether you’re a creator, consumer, or just curious about IP law, this conversation will give you the legal insight behind the “dupe” trend!

If you're interested in this week's topic, please check out these resources to learn more:

https://abovethelaw.com/2023/12/fashion-victims-dupes-are-a-serious-problem/

https://www.ropesgray.com/en/insights/alerts/2025/06/imitation-game-legal-considerations-with-dupes-based-business-models

https://www.offitkurman.com/offit-kurman-blogs/trade-dress-at-a-glance-protecting-the-look-and-feel-of-a-product