Life of the Law

Series produced by Life of the Law

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A podcast offering documentary stories and investigations of people's relationship to the law.

Life of the Law publishes a new, unique episode every other Tuesday morning on our website - www.lifeofthelaw.org, Panoply, iTunes and on most podcast apps.

Investigative reports
Audio diaries
Live storytelling events (recorded)
In-Studio discussions


127 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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France has been under a “state of emergency” since November, raising questions about the appropriate balance between security and civil liberties.

  • Added: Jun 08, 2016
  • Length: 25:50
Caption: Host Osagie Obasogie, Credit: Riverview Photography
This week we take you to New Orleans, for stories told by legal scholars about what life's like as a legal scholar.

  • Added: Jun 17, 2016
  • Length: 01:00:41
Caption: John and Stuart celebrate after legally marrying in 2008., Credit: Bella Pictures
Marrying the person you love is the ideal, right? So what happens when you finally get to do that, only to have the government tell you, never mind...

Bought by WJCT


  • Added: Jul 06, 2016
  • Length: 31:17
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Veronica Martinez with her daughter inside Folsom Women's Prison in Northern California., Credit: Nancy Mullane
Veronica Martinez is a mother in prison. While in county jail awaiting trial she gave birth to her daughter Amaya Martinez. The Bureau of Justice S...

  • Added: May 13, 2014
  • Length: 24:13
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Bail is supposed to allow a person accused of a crime to put some money up as a type of collateral - a promise they will return for their court dat...

  • Added: Jul 26, 2016
  • Length: 27:06
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Since 2014 the department of justice and President Obama have been working to right the wrongs of the war on drugs. Through Clemency, Obama has com...

  • Added: Jul 26, 2016
  • Length: 15:28
Caption: Odessa Summers
For 22 years, Philadelphia FIGHT has hosted an entire month of free workshops, trainings, and outreach about HIV and AIDS. This year, Life of the L...

  • Added: Aug 16, 2016
  • Length: 01:01:58
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The US Supreme Court issued a series of decisions that teens can’t be sentenced to death and they can’t be given an automatic life sentence without...

Bought by KRZA


  • Added: Aug 23, 2016
  • Length: 29:43
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Arminio Órtiz Pérez, Credit: Eilís O’Neill
Working on a dairy--especially a small dairy--is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country, more dangerous even than construction. Over the pas...

  • Added: Sep 15, 2016
  • Length: 20:18
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Each summer, people from all around the country gather for the Soros Justice Fellowship Conference -- three days of meetings, conversations, and wo...

  • Added: Oct 04, 2016
  • Length: 39:16
Caption: Douglas Collier outside his cell, Credit: Greg Eskridge and Elisabeth Fall
Douglas Collier is a life-term inmate at San Quentin State Prison. For years he shared a 9'x4' foot cell with his friend Tony, a fellow inmate -- u...

  • Added: Oct 04, 2016
  • Length: 17:52
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Never before has a sitting justice on the Kansas Supreme Court not won a retention election. But as we all bear witness, 2016 is a different sort o...

  • Added: Oct 19, 2016
  • Length: 18:42
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Races for seats on state supreme courts have gotten more negative, more partisan, and much more expensive. And that leaves sitting justices in a t...

Bought by Marfa Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 13, 2016
  • Length: 17:57
  • Purchases: 1
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In the fact of the fear, confusing and despair many Americans feel after the election, one group of individuals joined together to share stories of...

Bought by KALW


  • Added: Nov 16, 2016
  • Length: 52:51
  • Purchases: 1
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The 2016 elections are over but what did we learn from the results? Over the past 11 months, Life of the Law’s team of reporters, editors and schol...

  • Added: Nov 21, 2016
  • Length: 55:48
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The 2016 elections are over but what did we learn from the results? Over the past 11 months, Life of the Law’s team of reporters, editors and schol...

  • Added: Nov 21, 2016
  • Length: 59:57
Caption: Babyland
Eighteen-year-old Tonia Miller was accused of shaking her baby to death. A jury in Michigan convicted the young mother of second-degree murder and ...

  • Added: Dec 20, 2016
  • Length: 30:58
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To celebrate Life of the Law’s 100th Episode, Life of the Law and the National Science Foundation brought five NSF funded scholars to the NSF Headq...

  • Added: Jan 11, 2017
  • Length: 01:07:16
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At Life of the Law, we’re going to shake things up a bit so our team can jump into the national conversation that’s taking place about the law. We’...

  • Added: Jan 25, 2017
  • Length: 41:52
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In April of 2014, federal agents raided the studios of 106.1 TOUCH FM in Boston, Massachusetts. The reason was simple: the radio station was operat...

Bought by KUER


  • Added: Feb 08, 2017
  • Length: 41:13
  • Purchases: 1