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Michael Sargent
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Biweekly

Much of what gives life meaning, continuity, and order is the act of setting boundaries. Much of what gives you a clear sense of who and what you are is a clear sense of who and what you're not. This is a podcast about drawing such lines. It's about the processes involved in setting and maintaining boundaries, but also stretching and crossing them. We explore questions about boundaries and identity in three areas: religion, foreign policy, and constitutional law.

  1. 6d ago

    Episode 17: Entangled: Race, Politics, and Post-Callais America

    Guy-Uriel Charles is the Charles J. Ogletree Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he also directs the Charles Hamilton Institute for Race and Justice. Along with a coauthor, he’s also working on a book that focuses on the past and future of voting rights. He was appointed by President Joe Biden to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. Rick Hasen is Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, and he also directs the Safeguarding Democracy Project. He is an expert on election law, and is the author of A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy. We discuss Section 2 of the Voting Rights, and the aftermath of the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision. OTHER LINKS --"House Majority Leader William Lamberth cannot answer several questions from Rep. Jesse Chism (D)," from YouTube --Louisiana v. Callais (et al.), Supreme Court opinion, decided April 29, 2026 --"Pathological racism, chronic racism, & targeted universalism," (2021) by Guy-Uriel Charles and Luis Fuentes Rohwer, in the California Law Review --Social dominance, (1999) by Jim Sidanius & Felicia Pratto, Cambridge University Press --Wikipedia summary of Rucho v. Common Cause --"Callais confusion, power-sharing, and the inevitability of proportional representation," (2026) by Guy-Uriel E. Charles, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Michael Latner & Carlos Algara, in the Yale Law Journal --Wikipedia summary of proportional representation --A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy, (2024) by Rick Hasen, Princeton University Press --the Safeguarding Democracy Project website MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license) --"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts --"Monsters of the past," by Pawel Feszczuk --"Funky end," by Pawel Feszczuk --"Caress me to sleep," by rui Special Guests: Guy-Uriel Charles and Rick Hasen.

    58 min

  2. Apr 28

    Episode 16: Threading the Needle

    Brandon Yoder is Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University. He holds a Ph.D. in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. He studies a range of topics, including foreign policy, international security, US-China relations, and signaling and credibility. He’s the author of a 2025 article in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, titled, “Will there be war over Taiwan? Structural stability and policy pitfalls in cross-Strait deterrence.” Yoder and I discuss stability in the relations between China and Taiwan. OTHER LINKS --"Wen and Bush in Oval office," from YouTube --"Obama tells Trump to 'think it through' on China," from YouTube --"Biden reaffirms 'One China Policy' after talks with Xi | ANC," from YouTube --"Will there be war over Taiwan? Structural stability and policy pitfalls in cross-Strait deterrence," (2025) by Yoder, in The British Journal of Politics and International Relations --"The Taiwan tightrope: Deterrence Is a balancing act, and America is starting to slip," (2025) by Mastro and Yoder, in Foreign Affairs --"Iran war complicates contingency plans to defend Taiwan, some U.S. officials say," (2025, April 23) by Ward et al., in The Wall Street Journal MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license) --"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts --"Precisamos de um plano," by rui --"Post Drone," by Uuriter --"Monsters of the past," by Pawel Feszczuk Special Guest: Brandon Yoder.

    58 min

  3. Feb 3

    Episode 15: Decline and Fall

    Chris Federico is Professor of Political Science and Psychology at the University of Minnesota and the Arleen C. Carlson Professor of American Government and Politics. He’s also past president of the International Society of Political Psychology. Eric McDaniel is a Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, and author of two books, The Everyday Crusade: Religious Nationalism in American Politics, as well as Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches. The three of us discussed the background leading up to this moment in U.S. history, and what it might take for change to occur. OTHER LINKS --"McCain counters Obama 'Arab' question," from YouTube --"Trump: They're eating the dogs, the cats," from YouTube --"New angle shows moment federal agents shoot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis," from YouTube --Lilliana Mason's website --Social dominance, by Sidanius and Pratto --"Curse and mark of Cain," Wikipedia entry --"Curse of Ham," Wikipedia entry --"A new measure of affective polarization," (in press) by Campos and Federico, in the American Political Science Review --Linda Skitka's website --"The Sermon on the Mount," Wikipedia entry --"Crockett, Talarico locked in dead heat in Texas Senate primary: Poll," The Hill --"Polarized attitudes and anti-democratic attitudes: Robust evidence for paradoxical relationaships among American partisans," (2025) by Malka et al. in Political Studies MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license) --"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts --"Funky End," by Pawel Feszczuk --"Imprecation," by Kevin Hartnell --"Pleasure," by Haunted Me --"Caress me to sleep," by rui Special Guests: Christopher Federico and Eric McDaniel.

    55 min

  4. Jan 21

    Episode 14: Rough

    Paul Schofield is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bates College. His areas of speciality are ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of film. He teaches a range of courses, including Capitalism and Its Critics; Wellbeing and the Good Life; and Human Natura, Morality & Politics. Much of his recent public-facing writing has focused on the problem of homelessness. OTHER LINKS --YouTube video of Rally for Housing and Services to End Homelessness --Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women, by Elliot Liebow (1995) --"The necessity of guaranteed housing," by Paul Schofield (2022), Blog of the American Philosophical Association --Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion, by Paul Bloom (2018) --Quixote Village website --"Trump says 'Housing First' failed the homeless. Here's what the evidence says," by Jason DeParle (2025), New York Times --Law professor Danieli Evans's website --"The homelessness crisis is a crisis of democracy," by Paul Schofield (2025), Jacobin --King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" --"An inconvenient truth," by Paul Schofield (2023), Slate MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license) --"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts --"Breath," by Kirk Osamayo --"Pleasure," by Haunted Me --"Caress me to sleep," by rui Special Guest: Paul Schofield.

    54 min

  5. 12/23/2025

    Episode 13: Exile

    Danieli Evans is Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, and later earned a Ph.D. from Yale Law, completing a dissertation titled, “Belonging, Equality, and the Law.” Her work investigates how people's experiences with government institutions influence their sense of belonging, and how levels of belonging influence their wellbeing and social opportunities. OTHER LINKS --Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "The Other America," 1967 speech at Stanford University --"The Fourteenth Amendment," at Constitution Annotated: Analysis and Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution --Dred Scott v. Sandford Wikipedia entry --The Cyberball game (hosted at Purdue University) --"Institutionalized ostracism," by Danieli Evans (2025), Michigan Journal of Race and Law --Plyler v. Doe Wikipedia entry --"The new Equal Protection," by Kenji Yoshino (2011), Harvard Law Review --Democracy and distrust: A Theory of judicial review (1980), by John Hart Ely --"The id, the ego, and equal protection: Reckoning with unconscious racism," by Charles R. Lawrence III (1987), Stanford Law Review --"A quantitative meta-analysis of functional imaging studies of social rejection," by Stephanie Cacioppo et al. (2013), Nature: Scientific Reports --"Social pain and the brain: Controversies, questions, and where to go from here," by Naomi I. Eisenberger (2015) Annual Review of Psychology MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license) --"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts --"Imprecation," by Kevin Hartnell --"Pleasure," by Haunted Me --"Caress me to sleep," by rui Special Guest: Danieli Evans.

    1h 6m

  6. 12/10/2025

    Episode 12: This Land Is Your Land

    In this conversation, we discuss the history of birthright citizenship in the U.S., as well as the current controversy, including the role of the courts, especially the Supreme Court. My guest is Jacob Hamburger. Hamburger is Assistant Professor of Law in the Marquette Law School. Previously, he taught at Cornell Law, and he earned his J.D. at the University of Chicago Law School. He teaches Immigration Law, Civil Procedure, and a seminar on Immigration Federalism. His research explores the legal processes at the federal, state, and local levels that shape the lives of noncitizens in the United States. OTHER LINKS --"Jeb Bush: Birthright citizenship is part of our global [sic] heritage," video clip from NBC News --President Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship --United States v. Wong Kim Ark Wikipedia entry --"The consequences of ending birthright citizenship," by Jacob Hamburger, in the Washington University Law Review --Jus soli vs. jus sanguinis (Wiki entries) --December 8, 2025 edition of Steve Vladeck's "One First" Substack ("On the docket" section) --"Statewide injunctions," by Jacob Hamburger, work in progress --"The rise of the 'immigrant-as-injury' theory of state standing," by Jennifer Lee Koh, in the American University Law Review MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license) --"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts --"Funky End," by Pawel Feszczuk --"Pleasure," by Haunted Me --"Caress me to sleep," by rui Special Guest: Jacob Hamburger.

    1h 11m

  7. 11/25/2025

    Episode 11: Tatter Archives: "Slurred Speech"

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE The utterance and writing of gendered and racial or ethnic slurs has often evoked controversy. My philosopher colleague Lauren Ashwell has taken up slurs as a subject of scholarly inquiry. In this episode, we sit for a 90-minute conversation about such issues as what makes a slur a slur, whether slurs can be reclaimed by members of the target group, and why the study of slurs matters. LINKS --Lauren Ashwell's personal website --"Gendered Slurs," by Lauren Ashwell (requies JSTOR access) --"CNN's Brooke Baldwin Chastises Trump Critic For Using N-Word On The Air," by Oliver Gettell, Entertainment Weekly --Myisha Cherry's interview with Luvell Anderson, about slurs, on The Unmute Podcast --Luvell Anderson's Syracuse profile --"Kreayshawn's White Girl Mob & The N-Word," by Brandon Soderberg, Spin --"A History of Outrage Over the Word 'Pākehā'," by Branko Macetic, The Spinoff --n****r: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word, by Randall Kennedy --"SlutWalks Sweep The Nation," by Laura Stampler, HuffPost --"An Open Letter from Black Women to SlutWalk Organizers," contributed by Susan Brison, HuffPost --"Is The Word 'Queer' Offensive? Here's A Look At Its History In The LGBTQA+ Community," by Marissa Higgins, Bustle --Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, by Kate Manne Special Guest: Lauren Ashwell.

    1h 27m

  8. 11/11/2025

    Episode 10: The Cloth of Protection

    This episode features a discussion of academic freedom with David Rabban, the Dahr Jamail, Randall Hage Jamail, and Robert Lee Jamail Regents Chair in Law, and Distinguished Teaching Professor in the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. Previously, he served as counsel, and then general counsel, to the AAUP (American Association of University Professors), and he has chaired its committee on academic freedom and tenure. In his teaching and research, he focuses on free speech, academic freedom, higher education and the law, and American legal history. His most recent book (published in 2024) is Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right. OTHER LINKS --CBS News interview with MIT professor Alan Lightman --Homepage for the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) website --AAUP's 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure --AAUP's 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure --Wikipedia entry on Brandenburg v. Ohio MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license) --"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts --"Pleasure," by Haunted Me --"Breath," by Kirk Osamayo --"Caress me to sleep," by rui Special Guest: David Rabban.

    58 min
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About

Much of what gives life meaning, continuity, and order is the act of setting boundaries. Much of what gives you a clear sense of who and what you are is a clear sense of who and what you're not. This is a podcast about drawing such lines. It's about the processes involved in setting and maintaining boundaries, but also stretching and crossing them. We explore questions about boundaries and identity in three areas: religion, foreign policy, and constitutional law.

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Sargent
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Michael Sargent
  • Show Website
    Circumscription