Minnesota Law Review Releases Season Three of Podcast, Experto Crede
The Minnesota Law Review just released the first episode of season three of its podcast, Experto Crede. Currently in volume 105, MLR is planning to publish one episode each for Issues 1-5, and also potentially an interview with one of the symposium speakers who will be published in Issue 6. Two of MLR’s online editors, 3Ls Cat Ulrich (lead editor) and Zach Wright, recently answered a few questions on the podcast and their plans for the current season.
Who are some of the people who will be featured in season three of Experto Crede?
Volume 105 has many impressive authors, but we were particularly excited to be able to record episodes with Jay Wexler, Naomi Schoembaum, Shalev Roisman, Khaled Beydoun, and Deborah Widiss.
What is the format of the podcast?
Cat: The episodes are hosted by Zach Wright. Zach leads a conversation with the authors about their piece, asking them engaging questions and creating a space for authors to discuss their piece in a digestible format. Zach ensures that the episodes are interesting and illuminating, so that many in the legal community can benefit from listening to the episode.
Is this your first foray into being a podcaster? And how do you like it?
Zach: Yes, it’s my first time being a podcaster. I like it quite a bit; it’s a fun job. It’s certainly a different flavor of work than the typical editing and writing that goes into being involved with a journal. But the foundational preparation and engagement with a legal issue is pretty similar. I’m sure Cat will say something about how she isn’t involved that much, but don’t believe her—she’s the mastermind behind it all.
Cat: This is also my first foray into the podcast world. I’m a huge fan of podcasts and listen to them pretty consistently so it’s exciting to be a part of the process, although Zach does most of the work and all credit goes to him for these episodes.
Why do you think it is important for the Law Review to have a podcast?
To show we’re more than Bluebook robots. … But in all seriousness, podcasts are a great medium for authors to discuss their work and forthcoming articles. Oftentimes, MLR’s print articles can feel intimidating just by their sheer length. But the work done by these authors is incredibly important in legal academia and in the development of the law writ large. We believe podcasts are a phenomenal way to drum up excitement for a forthcoming article and to allow authors to explain the main points and thrust of their articles. We hope our podcasts make the articles we print more accessible to everyone in the legal community.
What have you learned so far?
The biggest thing is probably how to take legal issues our authors have written about and translate them into a verbal conversation that makes sense and tracks their research and/or argument. The substance is all the same, but it does take a bit of conceptual work to fit things into a format amenable to one-on-one conversation rather than article reading. The authors have all been very supportive and helpful in doing that with us. Beyond that, it’s just how passionate these authors are about the issues they write about. It’s super cool to see and experience that passion and we hope it comes across in the podcast.
How did you manage the technical aspects?
We have a great team of support tech staff at the Law School and University at large. They were able to provide us with good quality microphones and touch up the audio edits for each episode. It’s a fantastic safety net, of sorts.
What teasers can you offer to the coming season?
We have some incredibly intelligent authors who discuss articles on very timely and relevant issues such as transgender law, police brutality, and presidential law. Their articles are highly relevant and their conversations illuminate the importance of their articles being published now.
Any other plans for this season that you would like to mention?
We plan to release an episode in conjunction with the special issue all law journals in the Twin Cities will be releasing in January on policing and diversity issues in response to George Floyd's death and the subsequent events. The episode will be with Sunita Patel on her article published in Vol. 104 titled “Jumping Hurdles to Sue the Police.” In the future, we also hope to record an episode with current MLR staffers/editors regarding what it’s like to work through the Note-writing process and their experience on law review.
Anything else you'd like to share?
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