Dean Gardina Takes to the Audio Waves

SideBar, a new podcast, seeks to alert listeners to challenges to their rights and freedoms.

SideBar is a new podcast that focuses on topics related to individual and constitutional rights. Hosted by Jackie Gardina, J.D., Ed.D., dean of The Colleges of Law, and Mitchel Winick, J.D., dean of Monterey College, the episodes will feature discussions with local, state, and national experts on existing or emerging threats to our most critical rights and will post on the first and third Saturdays of each month. The discussions are aimed at a general audience avoiding technical jargon and obscure legal references, and each episode is accompanied by a reading list that includes articles and books penned by podcast guests.

The first two episodes of the podcast feature a conversation with lawyer and author David Pepper who, in his recent book, “Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-up Call from Behind the Lines,” argues that an attack on democracy is happening institutionally at the statehouse level. Over the last few years, Pepper has been disturbed by what he sees as antidemocratic steps taken by Republican legislators in his native state of Ohio to gain an unfair advantage over Democrats.

In her opening to the first episode of Sidebar, Gardina explains that Pepper’s book sounds an alarm about important trends, especially during the 2022 election season, which is why she chose this topic to kick off the podcast. Particularly troubling, Pepper points out, is that the actions of Ohio lawmakers are occurring largely out of the public eye. Most people are unaware of the proceedings of their state legislatures (partly because of reduced local news providers), and even Ohioans who are aware of the developments in their state might not know what’s going on elsewhere. Yet, actions taken in one state could change the outcome of a close presidential election.

Upcoming episodes of SideBar will spotlight other areas of conflict between states and the federal government. Rutgers law professor David Noll discusses how some states are seeking to forestall federal regulation, and California Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks outlines the California Legislature’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case. Other guests will include prominent national legal voices such as Dahlia Lithwick, author of “Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America,” and Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, a leading advocate for human rights and freedom of expression.

Throughout her career as a legal scholar and as dean of The Colleges of Law, Gardina has sought ways to make a legal education more affordable and legal services more accessible. Toward this goal she has supported the development of the Hybrid J.D. program and the Master of Arts in Law program at The Colleges of Law. SideBar, which is cosponsored by The Colleges of Law, offers an opportunity for an audience outside the legal profession to learn more about trends in the law that will affect them.

Listen to the SideBar podcast using the player below.

To learn more about the Master of Arts in Law program at The Colleges of Law, fill out the form below.