Entitled

When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, they didn't just alter the country's political landscape—they systematically dismantled the legal and social reality for all women and girls. Through a continuous rollout of oppressive edicts, women and girls have been banned from universities, barred from working for NGOs, and forbidden from even speaking aloud in public spaces. Internatio...

The collapse of the Afghan government has raised grave concerns for the future of the country, particularly for women. Exit is not a generally available option, but should it be? This week, we wanted to re-release our conversation about the rights of women in Afghanistan as we prepare to release a special conversation with Rina Amiri who was the US Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human...

In this episode of Entitled , we examine how caste discrimination doesn’t end at the borders of India. As Dalit workers migrate to the US in search of better wages, many encounter familiar patterns of exclusion and abuse right here in the United States. We speak with Qayam Masumi and Roja Singh, members of the Dalit Solidarity Forum, an advocacy organization dedicated to raising awareness about ca...

In this episode of Entitled, we sit down with Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who has served as the Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations since October 2020. Despite the February 2021 military coup, he remains in his position, representing the interests of the democratic government and opposing the military junta at the UN. He has survived threats and has been challenged by the junta, but the U...

On this episode of Entitled, we sit down with Kenneth Roth, the longtime former executive director of Human Rights Watch and one of the world’s most prominent advocates for international human rights. Over nearly three decades leading Human Rights Watch, Roth helped shape the global human rights movement, documenting abuses, pressuring governments, and elevating the role of international law in ho...

On this episode of Entitled, Tom and Claudia talk with human rights advocate Rafia Khondoker  about the state of women’s rights and democratic freedoms in Bangladesh. Last week, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party secured a landslide victory in the first national election since the 2024 uprising, approving a referendum on major constitutional reforms—the "July Charter"—seeking to strengthen judiciary...

In this episode of Entitled, we speak with Leopoldo López about authoritarianism, resistance, and the future of Venezuela. Recorded before the U.S. intervention, the conversation centers on López’s long opposition to the Maduro regime—through political organizing, imprisonment, exile, and international advocacy. Following the interview, Tom and Claudia reflect on developments since the conversatio...

We speak to Mansoor Ali Shah, who served as the Senior Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan until just last month. Shah is one of two judges who resigned after parliament passed a constitutional amendment that curbed its remit and will no longer allow the Supreme Court to hear constitutional cases. The judges say the reform “stands as a grave assault on the constitution”. Hosted by Simple...

Why has gender—once a term of analysis and identity—become one of the most explosive political flashpoints of our time? From the halls of the United Nations to state legislatures across the United States, debates over gender and sexuality now shape elections, social movements, and international alliances. In this live episode of the "Entitled" podcast, hosts Claudia Flores and Tom Ginsburg sit dow...

This year, the US government has issued sanctions on a number of experts from the UN to the International Criminal Court for speaking out about human rights in Gaza. President Donald Trump authorized  sanctions on the International Criminal Court  (ICC) and its Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan with the goal of stopping the ICC from undertaking its independent mandate. UN experts strongly condemned the...

When South African runner Caster Semenya dominated international competitions, sports authorities demanded she prove she was “really” a woman. The rules they created—targeting women with intersex traits or naturally higher testosterone—have since reshaped the future of women’s sports. In this episode of Entitled , we unpack the controversial regulations of World Athletics, the recent European Cour...

What does it mean when people start calling Donald Trump a king? And why are some political theorists — on both the right and left — exploring the possibility of leaving democracy behind? All this debate got co-host Tom Ginsburg thinking about an argument he’s been turning over in his head for years: could constitutional monarchy actually be the best form of government? Is it possible that constit...

As student protests over Gaza sweep college campuses, one case is testing the limits of free speech and immigration law in America. Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia student and lawful permanent resident, was arrested by ICE without a warrant and sent to a remote detention center in Louisiana—allegedly for his political advocacy. In this episode, we sit down with Khalil's lawyer Baher Azmy, who is also t...

What happens when the country that helped design the international human rights system starts to dismantle it? In this episode, we speak with the former president of the U.N. General Assembly, Ambassador Dennis Francis, about the growing threats to global cooperation and human rights—from authoritarian drift, to shrinking U.S. commitments, to rising fears inside the U.N. system itself.  Is this th...

What happens when the government turns the law into a weapon? In these first few months of the second Trump administration human rights advocates, legal scholars, and university leaders are warning of a political landscape where funding is slashed, free speech is chilled, and legal institutions are bent to serve those in power. From defunding human rights initiatives to threatening universities an...

This week, our co-hosts Professors Tom Ginsburg and Claudia Flores discuss bitcoin, the cryptocurrency soaring in both popularity and value. In the last month, the price of a single bitcoin has risen from around $70,000 to almost $100,000. Its cultural impact is immense, yet confusing and controversial. Those who associate bitcoin with MAGA conservatives and get-rich-quick day traders might be sur...

United Nations special experts have a crucial role in upholding international human rights law. These independent specialists hold mandates to report and advise on different areas within human rights as special rapporteurs, independent experts, or members of working groups. But how exactly do these appointments work, and what are the responsibilities, capabilities, and on-the-ground impacts of the...

Since our last episode on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, we wanted to do an update on where international law currently stands in the conflict. This year, the conflict has triggered several legal cases at international courts, including at the International Court of Justice, which has accused Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In this episode, we speak with...

We've all heard about different kinds of laws...but there is a higher order law that often gets overlooked—it's called Natural Law. The idea behind Natural Law is that all humans are born with an innate understanding of what's right and what's wrong, and that laws should be based on morality. In today's world, where there is no shortage of international wars, authoritarian leaders, human rights vi...

When it comes to discussion about the conflict in Gaza, there is an endless parade of commentators on both sides telling us what is right or wrong, legitimate or illegal, a crime or a justified attack, but in all that debate and discussion the actual international laws of war often get pushed to the sidelines.  We’re planning to do a series of episodes on this conflict in the coming     weeks, but...

The word apartheid gets used in many different contexts to indicate the severity of crimes across the globe. But its use is controversial because the word has a very specific definition in international law. Even more controversial is the concept of expanding the term to include gender. If there is one place on earth where it could be argued that a gender apartheid designation is needed its Afghan...

In recent years, book bans have swept the nation. According to PEN America, more than 4,000 books have been banned in some capacity in public schools since July 2021. Books that discuss topics like racial justice or have characters that identify as LGBTQ+ are just some of the examples that have received widespread attention. While book bans are not a new phenomenon, parents rights groups have acce...

As kids, we all heard someone tell us that it's wrong to lie...but as we grew older, we realized that people lie all the time. Politicians, presidents, and even executives at corporations tell lies—big and small. As citizens, there are obvious exceptions where lying is wrong, for instance; perjury, lying on your employment application, or lying to get a bank loan. But do we have a right to lie? An...

We’re doing something special for this month’s episode. In October of 2023, we hosted a live recording here at the University of Chicago. Tom Ginsburg was joined on stage by renowned scholar Genevie Laikier to have a conversation about free speech on social media. In other words, it was very relevant to our current season about the right to free expression. We’re going to share that recording with...

Some might say one of the most important ways we exercise the right to free expression is through protests. And we’ve certainly seen groups all over the world using that right in the last few years, from the George Floyd protests in the U.S. to democratic marches in Hong Kong to demonstrations in Chile, Venezuela, Iran and Peru. On the surface this right may seem straightforward, but there are man...