Just Theory

Welcome to Just Theory! In this episode we speak with Michelle Dempsey, Professor of Law at Villanova University, where she explores criminal law, feminist legal theory, and philosophy of law.  We talk about working with John Gardner, finding a life in academia as a litigator, and the notion of robust consent. We are grateful to Professor Dempsey for her time and engagement. To further engage with...

Welcome to Just Theory! In this episode we speak with Amber Polk, who works as an Assistant Professor at University of Alabama School of Law. As a legal philosopher with a primary interest in our collective environmental crises, Amber’s research focuses on rights-based environmentalism, as a legal, political, and moral movement. In this episode, we discuss Amber’s views on collectivism, consumeris...

Welcome to Just Theory! In this episode we speak with Alma Diamond, a Faculty Fellow at the University of Michigan Law School (from July 2026, Alma will be an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas School of Law) where she writes and teaches on contracts, legal philosophy, and constitutional theory. Her research explores how contracts and constitutions distribute power among individuals ac...

Welcome to Just Theory! In this episode we speak with Miranda Fricker, Professor of Philosophy, and Co-Director of the New York Institute for Philosophy. Miranda’s work is mainly in Moral Philosophy and Social Epistemology, and, since 2015 she has served as ‘expert’ moral philosopher on the Spoliation Advisory Panel, a UK government-appointed body of experts that considers claims concerning loss o...

Welcome to Just Theory! In this episode we speak with Heidi Hurd, Ross and Helen Workman Chair in Law and Co-Director of the Program in Law and Philosophy at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Her research spans areas of criminal law, torts, environmental law, environmental ethics, and moral, legal, and political philosophy. In this episode, we talk in particular about morality and the co...

In this episode, we are speaking with Salomé Viljoen, an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she studies the information economy, particularly data about people and the automated systems that are trained on such data. Salomé is interested in how information law structures inequality and how alternative legal arrangements might address that inequality. We disc...

In this episode, we are speaking with Regina Schouten, Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University, where she researches the areas of social and political philosophy and ethics.  Her most sustained research projects concern political liberalism and political legitimacy, educational justice, and the gendered division of labor. We discuss the importance of choice of normative principles in the dem...

In this episode, we speak with Dr Raquel Barradas de Freitas, who currently works as a Law Clerk to the President of the Portuguese Constitutional Court and as Lecturer in Jurisprudence at Trinity College, Oxford. Raquel’s primary research interests are in general jurisprudence with a focus on interpretation, practical and theoretical reasoning, judicial decision making and, in particular, the jus...

In this episode, we are speaking with Amalia Amaya Navarro,  Research Professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and British Academy Global Professor at the University of Edinburgh, where she works primarily in philosophy of law, with a particular focus on legal reasoning and epistemology, theories of justice, and international normative theory.  We discuss virtue ethics, reflect on...

In this episode, we had the privilege of speaking with Karen McAuliffe, Professor in Law and Language at University of Birmingham, whose principal area of research focuses on the relationship between law, language and translation in the EU legal order. We talk about the structure of decision making in EU courts, and all that is lost and found in translation of judicial opinions. Please engage with...

Welcome back to Just Theory! Season 2 is almost here.  Some pretty exciting news in this episode, too… Don't forget to subscribe - we are only getting started. Changing the face of legal theory // Championing female-led scholarship in analytic legal philosophy and jurisprudence // inaugural season generously funded by Newcastle University // Dr Emilia Mickiewicz - Newcastle University & A...

We had the privilege of speaking with Baroness Hale of Richmond, a former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom between 2017 until her retirement in 2020. Baroness Hale is also a renowned academic and one of the most esteemed figures in the history of the UK judiciary. We speak about the challenges and the beauty of judicial work, the relevance of practical wisdom in judging, and Ba...

In this episode, we speak with Alison Young, Sir David Williams Professor of Public Law at Cambridge University, and a Fellow of Robinson College. Professor Young's main interest is in constitutional theory, particularly dialogue theory, where she draws comparisons between different means of protecting human rights. We discuss the importance of popular legal education as well as Professor You...

In this episode, we are speaking with Professor Linda Zerilli,  the Charles E. Merriam Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at Chicago University, where she writes on subjects ranging from feminist thought to the politics of language, democratic theory, and Continental philosophy. We discuss her reflections on Volume I of Hannah Arendt’s The Life of the Mind as well as the interpla...

In this episode, we discuss the distinct concept of the rule of laws, the relationship between law, certainty and power, and how the expansion of legal frameworks can be far from the linear evolution that we expect. Fernanda Pirie is a Professor of the Anthropology of Law at Oxford University's Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, where she publishes on legal anthropology and Tibetan legal history...

In this episode, we discuss art, the concept of authenticity, and how law struggles to address the poignant aspects of human creativity. Amy Adler is the Emily Kempin Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, where she teaches Art Law, First Amendment Law, and Feminist Jurisprudence. Massive thanks to Professor Adler for her time and engagement - we loved the discussion and her paper,...

In this episode, we discuss algorithms, logic and how tech solutions to simple legal problems can be an easy win for all. Massive thanks to Professor Lawsky for her time and engagement - we loved the discussion and her paper, a link to which will be available [HERE] when as soon as it is published. Follow Professor Lawsky on Twitter! @sarahlawsky If you like what we do, you can buy us a coffee: ht...

In this episode, we discuss tyranny, the role of experts in modern governance and things that academics should talk about. Massive thanks to Professor O'Donoghue for her time and engagement - we loved the discussion AND the book, 'On Tyranny and the Global Legal Order' (CUP 2021), which we think everyone should read because it's seriously brilliant. You can find the book here:...

Welcome to Just Theory! In this episode, we explain why we decided to start the project, what it is all about, and where we see it going. If you like what we do, you can buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/justtheory . We would also love to hear from you about potential guests and new publications!  You can find us on Twitter: @JustTheory2 Changing the face of legal theory // Championing female-led...