Podcast appearances and mentions of matthew butterick

Todd Rogers: Writing for Busy Readers Todd Rogers is a professor of public policy at Harvard University, where he has won teaching awards for the past seven consecutive years. He is a behavioral scientist and the cofounder of the Analyst Institute and EveryDay Labs. His opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Politico, among other outlets. He's co-author with Jessica Lasky-Fink of Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World*. You probably only skimmed that email I spent an hour writing. And let's be equally honest the other way — I only skimmed the document your team worked on most of last week. This is the reality of how we all read in a busy world. On this episode, Tom and I discuss how to write so that people actually read what you send. Key Points Virtually everyone is a writer in some significant way: emails, text messages, memos, social media posts, and many other daily communications. While your writing is important to you, the audience is often trying to spend as little time as possible processing what you've sent. Virtually everyone skims, especially in the context of work. Using fewer words make it more likely that people will engage with the message at all, much less taken action. Addressing fewer ideas often helps people engage better. Studies show better results for calls to action when fewer ideas are presented in a single communication. Asking busy readers for more can cause them to do less. Be mindful about the number of requests you are making in writing and eliminate those which aren't essential. Resources Mentioned Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World* by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes The Surprising Truth About Influencing Others, with Daniel Pink (episode 84) Improve Your Writing With Practical Typography, with Matthew Butterick (episode 145) Make Your Reading More Meaningful, with Sönke Ahrens (episode 564) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

It's Hump Day! Sam speaks with attorney Matthew Butterick about a lawsuit he's involved with representing artists against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Then, he's joined by political reporter Cameron Joseph to discuss the upcoming referendum in Ohio, entitled Issue 1, regarding ballot measures in the state. First, Sam runs through updates on Donald Trump's various legal woes, WGA-Studio talks, Flint's new natal care plan, the Fed's continuing war on labor, SCOTUS record low public approval, and Russian bombing of Ukrainian grain stores, before parsing through the recent, massive indictment of Donald Trump of multiple charges of conspiracy and obstruction. Matthew Butterick then joins, diving right into his work with various acclaimed authors taking on the unauthorized use of their work across various AI engines, which, in fact, entirely rely on pre-existing and often-copyrighted works for their primary inputs, not to mention producing infringing derivative works with its outputs. After diving a little deeper into how this case centers on copyright infringement, and how it applies to other forms of AI (e.g. art and music), they wrap up by tackling the shape of the case as a class-action suit, and what the next steps are in this battle. Cameron Joseph then walks Sam through Ohio's various upcoming referendums, first looking to the referendum to enshrine abortion rights in the State Constitutions that is scheduled for November, and tackling the long organizing process that took it to get there, before touching on the legislature-expedited response by Gov DeWine's Secretary of State to launch an earlier referendum (scheduled for August) that makes it vastly more difficult to pass a constitutional referendum. After tackling the state of Ohio politics that led to these respective referenda, and why, the anti-referendum referendum seems poised to fail, they wrap up by looking to the ongoing political debacles in Wisconsin as liberals begin to take power and abuse the tools set up by the previous conservatives in their place. And in the Fun Half: Sam is joined by Sean Fitzgerald AKA Actual Justice Warrior as they debate all things crime, walking through the impact of the George Floyd protests and the COVID-19 Pandemic on retirement rates, police funding, and overall crime rates. Plus, your calls and IMs! Check out more details on the OpenAI lawsuit here: https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/9/23788741/sarah-silverman-openai-meta-chatgpt-llama-copyright-infringement-chatbots-artificial-intelligence-ai Check out Cameron's reporting on Issue 1 here: https://boltsmag.org/ohio-gop-sets-up-vote-to-weaken-direct-democracy/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: HoldOn Bags: To shop plant based bags and replace single use plastics all over your home, visit https://holdonbags.com/MAJORITY or enter MAJORITY at checkout to save 20% off your order. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

In a world where AI is becoming more and more prevalent, how do we protect the rights of the original, human ideas? Today, Zack talks with author, designer, programmer and lawyer Matthew Butterick about his work in copyright infringement and artificial intelligence. Links from the episode:  Typogrophy for Lawyers Stable Diffusion Litigation GitHub Copilot Litigation If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Posh Virtual Receptionists, Clio, & Gavel for sponsoring this episode.

In a world where AI is becoming more and more prevalent, how do we protect the rights of the original, human ideas? Today, Zack talks with author, designer, programmer and lawyer Matthew Butterick about his work in copyright infringement and artificial intelligence. Links from the episode:  Typogrophy for Lawyers Stable Diffusion Litigation GitHub Copilot Litigation If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Posh Virtual Receptionists, Clio, & Gavel for sponsoring this episode.

Shai Yalin is a freelance software architect and mentor. He specializes in teaching organizations and individuals how to use Test Driven Development (TDD) and other development methodologies and best practices. In this episode Shai joins us to explain how to use these methods in order to create software that is resilient to change, and how to refactor existing brittle code in order to clean out the rot.Sponsors Top End Devs Coaching | Top End Devs Links Chronomatic: my side-project story Your Software as a Kitchen The Anatomy Of A Rotten Codebase LinkedIn: Shai Yallin Twitter: @shaiyallin Picks AJ - Read The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson: Prologue and Chapters One and Two Dan - Fargo Shai - Vitest Shai - We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse, #1) Shai - Citizen Of Glass, by Agnes Obel Steve- GitHub Copilot investigation · Joseph Saveri Law Firm & Matthew Butterick

Are you creating self-defeating typography by using underlines, caps, and fonts that make your argument less inviting to your reader? Author and attorney Matthew Butterick shares key points from his book Typography for Lawyers on how to make your next brief or email easier to read, which helps your reader stay focused longer and reduces annoyance. Matthew believes that small positive mental shift could sway a decision in your favor. Once you recognize that you are a legal publisher, you'll see why font matters.

Are you creating self-defeating typography by using underlines, caps, and fonts that make your argument less inviting to your reader? Author and attorney Matthew Butterick shares key points from his book Typography for Lawyers on how to make your next brief or email easier to read, which helps your reader stay focused longer and reduces annoyance. Matthew believes that small positive mental shift could sway a decision in your favor. Once you recognize that you are a legal publisher, you'll see why font matters.

Attorneys spend a lot of time choosing the right words to use in briefs and motions. But they often neglect thinking about how their words actually look on the page. Layout and typography can impact how legal work product is perceived and read. This week, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders interview an expert on how lawyers can combine solid arguments with visual appeal—writer, typographer, programmer, and lawyer, Matthew Butterick. Through books like Typography for Lawyers and Practical Typography, Matthew has encouraged many lawyers to consider how fundamental typography principles can elevate their work product. Learn how applying these ideas can turn a good brief into a great one!Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »A special thanks to our sponsors:Court Surety Bond AgencyThomson ReutersJoin the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:texapplawpod.comTwitterYouTube

After duking it out over their Super Bowl disagreement, David and Sarah get into the meat of today’s episode: The ongoing saga of religious liberty in the age of pandemic law. On Friday, the Supreme Court partly sided with a California church’s First Amendment challenge to religious service restrictions enacted by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Per David: “Pandemic law—while not entirely gone—is mostly dead.” Stay tuned to hear about technology company Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Fox News, Trump’s First Amendment defense in his impeachment trial, and more.   Show Notes: -South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Gavin Newsom. -Typography for Lawyers by Matthew Butterick. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Overview Programming is not just about creating enterprise-level apps but can be put to work to help people express themselves creatively in many different ways. This is just one of a few profound takeaways from today’s show, where we got a chance to sit down with Pine Wu, former Visual Studio Code developer at Microsoft who built Vetur, a language server that enhances the Vue editing experience. We talk to Pine about Vetur’s background and functionality, his current nomadic pursuits, and his approach to programming as an art or a means to art more than anything else. On the subject of Vetur, Pine explains the context behind the name, and what led him to build the project in the first place. He speaks about how he built out early versions of Vetur by leveraging open source code from other platforms, how the project blew up overnight, its current abilities, and what the future holds. From there, we move on to discuss Pine’s thoughts about what coding means to him. We touch on ideas about the value of exploring content outside of one's discipline, the line between learning and building, and how the tools we create and use structure the way we think about what we work on as well as what we build. Pine also shares a bunch of cool resources today – creative projects using Vue and other frameworks, as well as key texts and talks that have influenced his ideas about art, perception, tools, and computer science. For a wide-reaching conversation about creativity, learning, and writing software that is useful to the world outside of corporations, be sure to tune in! Key Points From This Episode: The human languages and programming languages Pine is fluent in. Matthew Butterick’s work with Racket and why Pine wants to learn this language next. The line between learning and building; recent projects Pine did and what they taught him. Pine’s approach to learning programming as a means of achieving his creative ends. The added perceptive abilities you get from learning things outside of your field. Why ‘computer science’ is a misnomer, describing an art more than a science; how Pine got into programming. New features in Vue 3 and the changes Pine has to make to Vetur to support them. The online channels that Pine is most active on; where to find him if you’d like to get in touch. All the great picks from our hosts and guest from today’s episode. Tweetables: “I learn while I’m doing so I try to start new projects that help me learn.” — @octref [0:04:04] “I would rather sign up for a course in sociology or philosophy or design rather than sign up for a course in programming. That’s how I learn and try to improve my ways of thinking.” — @octref [0:05:58] “Other than learning to innovate on new ideas, I also want to learn to be able to see certain things that people of other disciplines can’t. That’s one of the reasons I am learning to draw with color.” — @octref [0:08:32] Picks of the week: - Pine's picks: - Media for Thinking the Unthinkable: Designing a new medium for science and engineering, Bret Victor (http://worrydream.com/MediaForThinkingTheUnthinkable) - poolside.fm (https://poolside.fm/) - How to Hack a Painting, Tyler Hobbs (https://tylerxhobbs.com/essays/2020/how-to-hack-a-painting) - Future of Coding (https://futureofcoding.org/) - The New Media Reader, edited by Nick Montfort and Noah Wardrip-Fruin (https://bookshop.org/books/the-new-media-reader-with-cdrom/9780262232272) Tessa's picks: Moft Z 5-in-1 Sit-Stand Desk (https://www.moft.us/products/moft-z-5-in-1-sit-stand-desk) The Dance of Anger (https://bookshop.org/books/the-dance-of-anger-cd-a-woman-s-guide-to-changing-the-pattern-of-intimate-relationships/9780060726508), Harriet Lerner Ph.D., read by Barbara Caruso Chilling outside in cars https://parametric.press/issue-01/unraveling-the-jpeg (https://parametric.press/issue-01/unraveling-the-jpeg/) Pine's photography Ben's picks: Sponsor Pine on GitHub (https://github.com/sponsors/octref) Ari's picks: Renpure Rosemary Mint Cleansing Conditioner (https://www.renpure.com/products/hair/solutions-rosemary-mint-cleansing-conditioner/) Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Pine Wu on GitHub (https://github.com/octref) Pine Wu on Twitter (https://twitter.com/octref?lang=en) Pine Wu Blog (https://blog.matsu.io/) Vetur (https://vuejs.github.io/vetur/) Mrmrs (http://mrmrs.cc/) Von, 菅野 よう子 (Kanno Yōko), ft. Arnór Dan Arnarson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfksYyxGRJw) 残響のテロル (Zankyō no Teroru) / Terror in Resonance (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3613454/) Tyler Hobbs’s Guide to Simulating Watercolor Paint (https://tylerxhobbs.com/essays/2017/a-generative-approach-to-simulating-watercolor-paints) Inventing on Principle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUv66718DII) Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (https://www.amazon.com/Structure-Interpretation-Computer-Programs-Engineering/dp/0262510871) Pollen (https://docs.racket-lang.org/pollen/) Beautiful Racket (https://beautifulracket.com/) Hackers and Painters (http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html) Bret Victor (http://worrydream.com/) Enjoy the Vue on Twitter (https://twitter.com/enjoythevuecast?lang=en) Special Guest: Pine Wu.

Here are the resources mentioned in this episode: Recording of Webinar with Ernie: Uplevel Your Practice in 2020 My New Course: The Trusted Lawyer - A Simple "Referral Marketing by Email" System E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber The 80/20 Rule, (podcast episode & show notes) The 3 R’s of Referral Marketing, (blog post) Mike Kim’s 2-part email template (for getting referrals via regular emails) Mike Kim’s BrandYou podcast episode 202 (where he explains how to use the emails to start an email newsletter) Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence & Impact, by Phil M Jones TextExpander; (simple, powerful automation for text snippets and longer form documents) Typography for Lawyers, by Matthew Butterick (step-by-step guidance on how to set up templates for stationery, pleadings, contracts, business cards etc.) ConvertKit (email automation service for sending out volume email, and for scheduling) … Want to take your practice to the next level? Check out the Small Firm Bootcamp 2020 - the 2-day conference for solo and small firm attorneys coming up in May of 2020 in New Orleans. Special “early bird” pricing is now in effect. And if you want personalized from me guidance improving and growing your practice consider joining my ; Co-Pilot coaching program ...which is exclusively for solo and small firm lawyers that want to better manage and market their practices (so they can take more time off and enjoy life more!) Our Sponsor: Ruby Receptionists Ruby is a virtual receptionist service that provides all of your law firm's callers with first-class service. I used them for my solo practice and they were phenomenal in helping me surprise and delight my callers. I've been enthusiastically recommending Ruby to hundreds of lawyers and they also have been amazed by the quality of service and its affordability. To learn more about Ruby Receptionists’ exceptional services (and get a special discount for podcast listeners only) click here.   *** EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

If you want to simplify your practice you need to be realistic. It’s important to work from a plan as much as possible, so you can keep the overall process in mind easily. If you want the blueprint/framework I created you can click here to download it now. And below I’ve listed the various resources that I mentioned: Free to Focus, by Michael Hyatt (includes discussion of mapping out your ideal week) Typography for Lawyers, by Matthew Butterick (step-by-step guidance on how to set up templates for stationery, pleadings, contracts, business cards etc.) Acuity Scheduling (automate the scheduling of various kinds of appointments; all you have to do is be there on time) TextExpander; - (powerful text automation for email signatures to complex forms) … Want to take your practice to the next level? Check out the Small Firm Bootcamp 2020 - the 2-day conference for solo and small firm attorneys coming up in May of 2020 in New Orleans. Special “early bird” pricing is now in effect. And if you want personalized from me guidance improving and growing your practice consider joining my ; Co-Pilot coaching program ...which is exclusively for solo and small firm lawyers that want to better manage and market their practices (so they can take more time off and enjoy life more!) Our Sponsor: Ruby Receptionists Ruby is a virtual receptionist service that provides all of your law firm's callers with first-class service. I used them for my solo practice and they were phenomenal in helping me surprise and delight my callers. I've been enthusiastically recommending Ruby to hundreds of lawyers and they also have been amazed by the quality of service and its affordability. To learn more about Ruby Receptionists’ exceptional services (and get a special discount for podcast listeners only) click here.   *** EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

Jill Schlesigner: Jill on Money Jill Schlesinger is the Emmy-nominated Business Analyst for CBS News, the host of the Jill on Money podcast and of the nationally syndicated radio show, Jill on Money, which won the 2018 Gracie Award for Best National Talk Show. She has been recognized as a Top 10 LinkedIn Influencer and a Top 10 LinkedIn Voice. She’s the author of The Dumb Things Smart People Do with Their Money: Thirteen Ways to Right Your Financial Wrongs*. Key Points First Three Financial Steps: Pay off consumer debt Create emergency fund of 6-12 months of living expenses Maximize retirement contributions You only need a financial advisor once you’ve achieved the first three financial steps. Life insurance is a cornerstone of a family’s financial security. Think about if your death would result in financial hardship for someone else. 90% of people should buy term life insurance. Make sure your advisor is held to the fiduciary standard. Put a freeze on your credit file for each of the credit bureaus. Resources Mentioned Marilyn Pittman letsmakeaplan.org napfa.org - National Association of Personal Financial Advisors lifehappens.org Haven Life equifaxsecurity2017.com annualcreditreport.com The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns by John Bogle* Betterment Jill on Money Related Episodes Improve Your Writing With Practical Typography, with Matthew Butterick (episode 145) How to Engage With Humor, with David Nihill (episode 245) How to Reduce Drama With Kids, with Tina Payne Bryson (episode 310) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Jill Schlesigner: Jill on Money Jill Schlesinger is the Emmy-nominated Business Analyst for CBS News, the host of the Jill on Money podcast and of the nationally syndicated radio show, Jill on Money, which won the 2018 Gracie Award for Best National Talk Show. She has been recognized as a Top 10 LinkedIn Influencer and a Top 10 LinkedIn Voice. She’s the author of The Dumb Things Smart People Do with Their Money: Thirteen Ways to Right Your Financial Wrongs*. Key Points First Three Financial Steps: Pay off consumer debt Create emergency fund of 6-12 months of living expenses Maximize retirement contributions You only need a financial advisor once you’ve achieved the first three financial steps. Life insurance is a cornerstone of a family’s financial security. Think about if your death would result in financial hardship for someone else. 90% of people should buy term life insurance. Make sure your advisor is held to the fiduciary standard. Put a freeze on your credit file for each of the credit bureaus. Resources Mentioned Marilyn Pittman letsmakeaplan.org napfa.org - National Association of Personal Financial Advisors lifehappens.org Haven Life equifaxsecurity2017.com annualcreditreport.com The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns by John Bogle* Betterment Jill on Money Related Episodes Improve Your Writing With Practical Typography, with Matthew Butterick (episode 145) How to Engage With Humor, with David Nihill (episode 245) How to Reduce Drama With Kids, with Tina Payne Bryson (episode 310) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

In this episode I talk with Matthew Butterick. We talk about using Racket as someone who doesn't consider themselves a developer; the power of Domain Specific Languages; Pollen, a DSL for creating web sites; and his book Beautiful Racket.

Why should you care about typography? That’s like asking why you should practice for an oral argument or wear a tie to court. If you aren’t already using Matthew Butterick’s typography guide for lawyers, you’ll snap up a copy after you listen to this podcast. Crowdfunding Lawsuits Crowdfunding is all the rage, these days, and now it includes lawsuits. We’ve written about two crowdfunding efforts, LexShares and CrowdJustice, and now crowdfunding has hit the news. In Colorado, a court decided crowdfunders are subject to the same lending laws as payday lenders. And Wired wrote about the use of crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo to raise money to pay legal fees and fines. So is this good or bad? We weigh in on today’s podcast.

Steve Vladeck joins us to dive further into federal courts and federal rights. After getting Steve’s take on our discussion concerning federal courts of appeals and gay marriage last week with Michael Dorf, we discuss the issues raised by what Steve thinks could be a major new case in the Supreme Court this term: Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center. How and when can you enforce a federal statute or the Constitution against state officials? Simple question, right? This show’s links: Steve Vladeck’s profile, his writing, his info and posts on the Just Security blog, and his Twitter feed Oral Argument 34: There’s Not Really a Best Font with Matthew Butterick and Oral Argument 11: Big Red Diesel (when Butterick’s Practical Typography was first brought up on the show) Oral Argument 37: Hammer Blow, in which Michael Dorf delivered many lessons in the relationship between state courts and lower federal courts, an issue critical for the current state of gay marriage in the United States Danforth v. Minnesota (deciding that states, as a matter of state law, may apply retroactively new constitutional rules announced by the Supreme Court, even if federal law does not require retroactive application) Bush v. Gore (Rehnquist’s concurring opinion arguing that state courts may not interfere, even through state constitutional judgments, with certain legislatively enacted election laws that interact in advantageous ways with federal law) VOPA v. Stewart Stephen Vladeck, Douglas and the Fate of Ex Parte Young Douglas v. Independent Living Center The Eleventh Amendment: “The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.” Ex part Young (And note in dissent we find Justice Harlan, the heroic dissenter in Plessy v. Ferguson, sounding the federalist alarm: Allowing private suits in federal courts against state officers for their official actions “would inaugurate a new era in the American judicial system and in the relations of the National and state governments. It would enable the subordinate Federal courts to supervise and control the official action of the States as if they were "dependencies" or provinces.”) The cases Steve cites as leading up to Ex parte Young: Hans v. Louisiana (interpreting the Eleventh Amendment to bar suits arising under federal law against a state not only by citizens of “another state” but also by its own citizens) and Lochner v. New York Adar v. Smith (the Fifth Circuit case to which Steve referred that permitted Louisiana to refuse to add a gay adoptive parent’s name to a birth certificate) Alexander v. Sandoval (marking the end of inferring private causes of action in federal statutes) Gonzaga University v. Doe Lyle Deniston, Opinion Analysis: A Right to Sue Under Medicaid – Maybe Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association v. Houstoun (in which then-Judge Alito notes that while providers may not sue under the Medicaid access requirements “Medicaid recipients plainly satisfy the intended-to-benefit requirement and are thus potential private plaintiffs” under section 1983) SCOTUSblog page for Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, which will be updated with briefs, arguments, and, ultimately, the Court’s decision Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida Steve’s amicus brief in Douglas Jonathan Freiman, to whom both Steve and Christian trace experience with detainee cases Special Guest: Steve Vladeck.

We discuss the common law and originalism with law, literature, and history scholar Bernadette Meyler. Some of today’s most intense constitutional controversies revolve around the proper sources of interpretive tools. Some forms of originalism, believing judging is legitimate only if it foregoes political choice and instead adopts the choices made by democratically accountable institutions, attempt to locate the sole meanings that constitutional text, whether “natural born citizen,” “habeas corpus,” or “ex post facto,” had in the common law at the time of its adoption. Bernie’s research reveals that the common law itself, rather than speaking with one voice, exhibited some of the same diversity of interpretation and opinion that we see in debates about meaning today. Nonetheless, she believes that interpretation that gives weight to those original debates, rather than non-existent singular meanings, is better justified than unmoored living constitutionalism. She calls this method “common law originalism.” This show’s links: About Bernadette Meyler and her writing Follow-up from Matthew Butterick, in which he reminds us that the podcast app we mentioned last week, Overcast, uses his typeface, Concourse Ed Mazza, Nearly 1,000 Chickens Killed (a story of animal victimization related to our conversation with Matthew Liebman) Background on the common law About Sir Edward Coke and his Law Reports, which can be browsed here Calvin’s Case as reported by Coke About Dr. Bonham’s Case Background on originalism; see also here Antonin Scalia, Common-Law Courts in a Civil-Law System: The Role of United States Federal Courts in Interpreting the Constitution and Laws (upon which he expands in A Matter of Interpretation Lawrence Solum, Semantic Originalism (an originalist theory that includes “the idea of the division of linguistic labor”) Bernadette Meyler, Accepting Contested Meanings Bernadette Meyler, Defoe and the Written Constitution (compare with Andrew Coan, The Irrelevance of Writtenness in Constitutional Interpretation) Walt Whitman, Song of Myself Oliver Wendell Holmes: “A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.” Towne v. Eisner (1918) Sanford Levinson, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It Special Guest: Bernadette Meyler.

We discuss the role of design in the practice of law with renowned typographer-lawyer Matthew Butterick. The conversation ranges among very practical tips for making better documents, why so many legal documents are poorly designed, why lawyers should care about design, and what it even means to design a document. Matthew explains why IRS forms are some of the most well-designed legal documents around. Also, Joe manages to connect (positively) enjoying physical books with smelling gasoline. This show’s links: About Matthew Butterick, also here and @mbutterick on Twitter Nicholas Georgakopoulos, Knee Defender, Barro’s Error, and Surprise Norms Christopher Buccafusco and Chris Sprigman, Who Deserves Those 4 Inches of Airplane Seat Space? Keith O’Brien, America’s Chimp Problem The pronunciation of “chimpanzee” Cecilia Kang, Podcasts Are Back - And Making Money (sadly, not ours, but here’s Christian’s post on Podcasts and some of the reasons we started this show) Overcast, our preferred podcast app Episode 11: Big Red Diesel, in which we discussed typography, text editing, and the worst breaches of email etiquette Butterick’s Practical Typography (and how to pay for it if you choose!) From the book: Typography in Ten Minutes and Summary of Key Rules Matthew Butterick, Typography for Lawyers (and how to purchase physical and Kindle editions) Ben Carter, Typography for Lawyers: One Space, Double Spacing, and Other Good Ideas An example of a Supreme Court opinion, notable for its design Robin Williams, The Mac is Not a Typewriter Matthew Butterick, The Bomb in the Garden, text and images from a talk Matthew gave at TYPO San Francisco in 2013 Rob Walker, The Guts of a New Machine, reporting on the iPod’s first two years and including the quote from Steve Jobs that “design is how it works” (Note too the uncertainty in 2003 whether the iPod would go on to sell like the breakthrough Sony Walkman, which sold 186 million in twenty years. As of this article, the iPod had sold 1.4 million. It went on to sell 350 million in eleven years.) Dan Barry, A Writing Coach Becomes a Listener, a profile of William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well Mike Monteiro, Design Is a Job Lawrence Solum, Legal Theory Lexicon: Fit and Justification Patrick Kingsley, Higgs Boson and Comic Sans: The Perfect Fusion Matthew Butterick, Pollen, “a publishing system that helps authors create beautiful and functional web-based books” and that “includes tools for writing, designing, programming, testing, and publishing” Matthew’s Equity and Concourse typefaces Matthew Butterick, The Economics of a Web-Based Book: Year One Special Guest: Matthew Butterick.

Matthew Butterick: Practical Typography Written communication may say as much about you as what you wear. Typography is more than just font. Matthew's rankings of common system fonts Book resource: Garner’s Modern American Usage* by Bryan Garner Mark Twain received the following telegram from a publisher: NEED 2-PAGE SHORT STORY TWO DAYS. And famously replied… NO CAN DO 2 PAGES TWO DAYS. CAN DO 30 PAGES 2 DAYS. NEED 30 DAYS TO DO 2 PAGES. Use one space after a sentence. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Matthew Butterick: Practical Typography Written communication may say as much about you as what you wear. Typography is more than just font. Matthew's rankings of common system fonts Book resource: Garner’s Modern American Usage* by Bryan Garner Mark Twain received the following telegram from a publisher: NEED 2-PAGE SHORT STORY TWO DAYS. And famously replied… NO CAN DO 2 PAGES TWO DAYS. CAN DO 30 PAGES 2 DAYS. NEED 30 DAYS TO DO 2 PAGES. Use one space after a sentence. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.