Conservative Conversation and Community
Richard Epstein responds to the latest developments in the House’s impeachment inquiry, including a detailed breakdown of the White House’s argument that it can refuse cooperation.
More Richard Epstein reacts to the latest news in the impeachment saga surrounding President Trump.
More Richard Epstein provides a forceful response to the question of whether President Trump’s alleged pressuring of the Ukrainian government provide grounds for impeachment.
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The men of Law Talk reconvene between their respective journeys to Greece and there’s a very full docket. On this episode: could President Trump’s conversations with Ukraine lay the predicate for impeachment? What’s the proper role for the U.S. in the Iran-Saudi Arabia conflict? Is the FDA within its rights to crack down on vaping? Should California be able to go its own way on regulating automobile emissions? Can the president solve West Coast homelessness? And why has New Mexico made it a little more dangerous to get married?
More Richard Epstein fans know that, when it comes to legal analysis, all roads lead to Rome. For years we’ve been ribbing Richard about his propensity to analyze current legal disputes through the prism of Roman law. Now we’ve finally buckled to the pressure and given him an entire episode on the topic. In this show, Richard explains why Roman Law remains relevant today; why it made especially valuable contributions on the topic of water law; how a failure to understand Roman law has weakened Supreme Court decisions; and what the connection is between the Romans and the Anglo-American legal tradition.
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A growing number of Democratic presidential candidates are calling for the abolition of the Electoral College. In this episode, Richard Epstein explains what drove the Founders to construct this complex system for picking presidents; warns of the practical dangers of relying purely on the popular vote; looks at how Maine and Nebraska have constructed variations on the winner-take-all system; and explains why the inability to pass constitutional amendments is a feature rather than a bug in the current political environment.
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One Hundred years after the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I, Victor Davis Hanson argues that the effects of the agreement are widely misunderstood. In this episode, we look at Versailles in the context of the wider war (and the wartime diplomacy of the era), examine the American role in World War I, parse the claim that the First World War was little more than a tragic mistake, and scrutinize claims that modern geopolitical tensions have parallels to those of 1914.
More As Prime Minister Boris Johnson attempts to get Brexit across the finish line, many MPs are complaining that he’s violating constitutional norms. In this episode, Richard Epstein considers those criticisms; weighs the cases for and against a departure from the EU; explains how the European Union overshot the legitimate goals of continental integration; and describes how Britain’s “unwritten constitution,” far from being an English aberration, actually has echoes in the American system.
More A growing chorus of activists claim that American corporations are too focused on the bottom line — and not sufficiently dedicated to improving the broader society. Even some figures from the business community have begun to call for corporations to move from a narrow focus on shareholders to a much more expansive commitment to “stakeholders.” In this episode, Richard Epstein explains how such efforts blur the lines between private business, charity, and government; why a corporation’s responsibility to shareholders isn’t inherently anti-social; And where progressive critiques of corporate governance and “quarterly capitalism” fall short.
More On the 80th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Victor Davis Hanson reflects on how the short-lived German-Soviet treaty shaped the course of World War II — and what it revealed about the leadership styles of both Hitler and Stalin.
More With signs of a possible recession on the horizon, Richard Epstein considers some of the purported causes and proposed solutions. Is President Trump right that the Federal Reserve needs to be more accommodating? Are the disruptions from the trade war with China worth it because of their potential geopolitical dividends? Is cutting payroll taxes a reasonable way to jumpstart the economy? And are we better off letting recessions burn themselves out rather than seeking to arrest them through government intervention?
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Once a year we throw open the doors of the faculty lounge and let the Law Talk audience ask questions of Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo. This year’s result: a conversation that touches on everything from acquiring Greenland to whether John Adams was a constitutional scofflaw, from whether federal courts have gotten too trigger happy with injunctions to which foods make the professors wretch. Most importantly: which class did Richard struggle with in law school? The answer will … not surprise you at all.
More Richard Epstein analyzes the multitude of Democratic gun control proposals in the wake of the El Paso and Dayton shootings, proposes an alternative strategy for dealing with mass gun violence, and weighs the merits of proposed “red flag” laws.
More Richard Epstein describes the catastrophic consequences that single-payer healthcare will have for both the economy and the medical profession.
More Richard Epstein uses new cases from Chicago and San Diego — in both of which he is serving as counsel — to illustrate how government land use regulations often serve the desires of powerful interests while harming everyday citizens.
More Victor Davis Hanson explores the factors driving the social, economic, and political decline of California.
More Victor Davis Hanson explains why a change in circumstances since the Bush years necessitate a changed approach to the U.S. relationship with Iran.
More Richard Epstein shares his memories of the moon landing and reflects on what NASA’s history says about the capabilities — and limits — of the federal government.
More Richard Epstein looks back on the career of the late Justice John Paul Stevens, reviewing some of his most consequential judicial decisions.
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It’s time for summer school in the faculty lounge and Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo are reviewing the Supreme Court term that was. On this episode: was the census ruling a backdoor victory for critics of the administrative state? Are critics right that Alex Acosta should have done more to prosecute Jeffrey Epstein? John gives us one weird trick for determining when religious symbols are allowed on government property. And the professors weigh in on the legal repercussions of renegade ice cream licking. All that plus Epstein’s tips for how to defraud grocery stores, Yoo condemns a legendary American political figure to eternal damnation, and we get a faculty lounge review of Maine’s state soft drink.
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