Prof. Geoffrey Stone has an intimate knowledge of the Supreme Court. The University of Chicago Law School scholar has spent a career studying, writing and thinking about the nation’s highest court, in particular around issues of free speech and free expression.
Never before has he been so pessimistic for where the judiciary branch is headed, Stone said on the season 2 premiere of the Big Brains podcast. “I think we are potentially on the verge of moving into an era that was utterly unimaginable at any time in our history before.”
In the podcast Stone discusses the growing politicization of justices, amid the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court; his insights on Roe v. Wade (Stone worked as a clerk to Justice William Brennan during the landmark decision); and his influential work on shaping the free expression policy at the University of Chicago.
Stone’s interview kicks off the second season of Big Brains in which pioneering thinkers at UChicago discuss their breakthrough discoveries. This fall guests will include attorney Claudia Flores discussing immigration, economist Michael Greenstone examining policy and climate change, and neuroscientist Bobby Kasthuri explaining how to map the human brain. Season 1 featured Nobel-winning economist Richard Thaler; Neil Shubin, scientist and author of Your Inner Fish; and Grammy-nominated composer Augusta Read Thomas.
Subscribe to Big Brains on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and Google Play. New episodes will be available biweekly throughout the Fall Quarter.
—Prof. Chuan He
