Taboo Trades

Frank McCormick is an economist and the author of numerous articles focused on the shortage of kidneys for transplantation. He is retired from the Bank of America where he was Vice-president and Director of U.S. Economic and Financial Research. Today, we’re discussing his recent article, Projecting the Economic Impact of Compensating Living Kidney Donors in the United States: Cost-Benefit Analysis...

Brian Frye and I engage in academic navel gazing, discuss scholarly shit posting, and argue about the virtues of plagiarism. A fun time was had! My guest today is one of the most unusual and creative voices in the legal academy, Brian Frye, the Spears-Gilbert Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky. He teaches classes in civil procedure, intellectual property, copyright, and nonprofit organ...

I say goodbye to my amazing students and they say goodbye to all of you. Join us for our final sign-off

My UVA colleague, Gregg Strauss, and I interview Sean Williams, of the University of Texas School of Law about his new paper "Sacred Children and Taboo Trade Offs" Welcome to the first bonus episode of the Taboo Trades podcast! As regular listeners know, I’ve sadly had to say goodbye to the amazing group of students who were my co-hosts for Season 2. But I decided to do a couple of bonus...

Welcome to part 2 of my interview with Gabriel Rossman, Associate Professor of Sociology at UCLA, and co-host, UVA Law 3L Autumn Adams-Jack.  We continue our discussion of sex, drugs, and Islamic finance, among other taboo trades.  It’s also our final episode of season 2. Please listen to the end of the episode for a special goodbye from America’s favorite law students. Thank you to Gabriel for he...

Want to buy sex, bribe a politician, or get your dumb kid into an Ivy League school? I discuss how to get away with taboo trades with Gabriel Rossman, an Associate Professor of Sociology at UCLA, and my co-host, UVA Law 3L Autumn Adams-Jack.  Rossman studies cultural industries (such as radio and film) and economic sociology (including diffusion and disreputable exchange). He is interested in how...

I discuss what it's like to need (and receive) a life-saving kidney transplant with AEI's Sally Satel (a two-time kidney transplant patient) and UVA 3L, Caitlyn Stollings, who co-hosts this episode. Dr. Satel is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the staff psychiatrist at a local methadone clinic in Washington D.C. She was also an assistant professor of psychiatr...

I discuss marijuana legalization and why Congress is so incompetent, with Ohio State's Douglas Berman and UVA Law 3L, Cortney Inman, my co-host for this episode. Douglas Berman is the Newton D. Baker-Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law, and the Executive Director of the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. His principal teaching and research focu...

With the Final Four nearly upon us, I discuss college sports with Paul Haagen of Duke University and UVA Law 3L, Jackson Bailey. Paul is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Sports Law and Policy at Duke University. His principal academic interests are contracts, the social history of law, and law and sports. Recommended Reading : Sports in the Courts: The NCAA and the Future of In...

Vida Panitch and I discuss (de)commodification, corruption, exploitation, and coercion with my co-host, UVA Law 3L, Nevah Jones. We're specifically interested in women's intimate and reproductive labor, including sex work, surrogacy, and egg donation.  Vida Panitch is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Ethics and Public Affairs at Carleton University. Her primary research project a...

Co-hosts Samantha Spindler (UVA Law 2L), Madison White (UVA Law 3L), and I discuss pandemic responses with Govind Persad. Our focus is how to preserve personal choice in crisis response.  Persad is an Assistant Professor at the University of Denver Sturm college of law. Persad’s research interests center on the legal and ethical dimensions of health insurance, health care financing, and markets in...

Fred and I discuss what society owes to the bodies and memories of former slaves with our co-host, UVA Law 3L Tom DelRegno Fred Smith Jr., a Professor of Law at Emory University. He is a scholar of the federal judiciary, constitutional law, and local government. In 2019, he was named the law school’s Outstanding Professor of the Year. Additional Reading: Smith Jr, Fred O. "On time,(in) equali...

Kim and I, together with co-host (UVA 3L) Thalia Stanberry, discuss surrogacy, the right (or not) to procreate, and CRISPR Kimberly Mutcherson is the Co-Dean and a Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School in Camden. Her scholarship focuses on reproductive justice, bioethics, and family and health law. Further reading: (1) Kimberly Mutcherson, Reproductive Rights without Resources or Recourse (Hastin...

Martha, John, and I discuss Martha's journey as a stranger donor with co-hosts Kaitlyn O'Malley and Caitlyn Stollings (UVA Law '22). Appearances are also made by Nevah Jones, Alex Leseney, Thalia Stanberry, Samantha Spindler, and Tom DelRegno. Martha Gershun and John Lantos are  authors of Kidney To Share , a new book published by Cornell University Press. Martha Gershun is the form...

Al Roth and I discuss hitmen, drugs, kidneys, paid sex, and other repugnances. We’re joined by co-hosts Madison White and Alex Leseney (both UVA 3Ls), with appearances from UVA 3Ls Thalia Stanberry, Caitlyn Stollings, Jackson Bailey, and Autumn Adams-jack. A good time was had by all! Alvin E. Roth is the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He works in the areas of...

Welcome to Season Two of the Taboo Trades podcast

Pat discusses marijuana legalization and disses on the tax academe Pat Oglesby is a tax attorney and the founder of the Center for New Revenue ,  a tax policy nonprofit. He worked for the Joint Committee on Taxation of the United States Congress from 1982 to 1988, first as a Legislation Attorney and then as the International Tax Counsel.  From 1988 to 1990, under Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, he...

Christian explains the rules of financial fair play in European football. Then we argue about why people have sex. Christian Turner is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Georgia. His areas of interest are legal theory, jurisprudence, the public-private distinction, legal institutions, law and cognition, property law, natural resources law, and the regulation of knowledge and inform...

Nico and Mario discuss their research on blood donation and attitudes toward taboo trades. I fail at zoom.  Mario Macis is a Professor of Economics at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. His research interests include pro-social behavior, morally controversial transactions, global health, experimental economics, development economics, and labor economics.  Nico Lacetera is a Professor of Strategi...

Nancy discusses the limits of consent. I contemplate putting silicone horns on my head. Nancy Kim is the ProFlowers Distinguished Professor of Internet Studies at California Western School of Law and visiting Professor, Rady School of Management at UC San Diego. Professor Kim is a former chair of both the section on Commercial and Related Consumer Law and the section on Contracts of the Associatio...

Josh makes the case for paying kidney donors and infecting people with Covid-19. We both admit to being bad at big law. Josh Morrison is the founder of three nonprofit organizations: Waitlist Zero , which envisions an America where no one dies because of a shortage of transplantable kidneys; the Rikers Debate Project , which teaches debate to formerly incarcerated students in six states; and 1 Day...

Peter makes the case for paid plasma. I commit basketball treason Peter Jaworski is is an Associate Teaching Professor in Strategy, Ethics, Economics and Public Policy at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. He has published in Ethics , Philosophical Studies , the Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence , and the Journal of Business Ethics , among others. Helpful links for this...