Political Theory

The Death Penalty

Cole Rogers — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 23:35:15 +0000

On today’s episode of the show, we’re looking at the death penalty. We’ll look at the history of capital punishment, as well as philosophical arguments for and against it regarding retributive and utilitarian justice. We’ll also talk about whether or not the state has a right to execute its citizens, and also if killing a killer makes the executioner just as immoral. The episode also covers the death penalty in the United States and the constitutionality of it with both the Fifth and Eighth Amendments. Everybody from Plato to Pojman has an opinion about capital punishment, and you’ll find it all here. Thanks so much for listening and please visit our website politicaltheorypodcast.com. You can also email us at politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com with any comments, questions, suggestions, observations or whatever else and find us on Twitter at @colerogerspod. Thanks for listening!

[audio http://ia601502.us.archive.org/19/items/DeathPenalty_201512/Death%20Penalty.m4a]

Who would be Hillary Clinton’s running mate?

Cole Rogers — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 22:35:09 +0000

On today’s episode of the show, we’re looking at who Hillary Clinton could choose to be her running mate on the ticket. Clinton even with the rise of Bernie Sanders, still appears to be far-in-away the most likely nominee for the Democratic party, and will have to make a choice that can compensate for her weaknesses and take advantage of those weaknesses that Republicans have. Today’s show looks at five potential choices and how they meet those criteria. Thanks so much for listening and please visit our website politicaltheorypodcast.com. You can also email us at politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com with any comments, questions, suggestions, observations or whatever else. Thanks for listening!

[audio http://ia801506.us.archive.org/16/items/clbrogers88_gmail_VP/VP.mp3]

The Ninth and Tenth Amendments: Rights

Cole Rogers — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 18:29:16 +0000

On this episode of the podcast, we break down the Ninth and Tenth Amendment, two amendments often seen as working together to ensure that people have rights other than those in the Bill of Rights. We’ll look at rights like privacy, which isn’t explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, but something that few would dispute we have a right to. And then we’ll look at state’s rights and issues like marijuana, minimum wage, The Commerce Clause and more. Feel free to email us your thoughts at politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com, visit our website at politicaltheorypodcast.com, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any one of our other formats and leave a review. Thanks for listening!

[audio http://ia801509.us.archive.org/6/items/9thAnd10thAmendment/9th%20and%2010th%20Amendment.m4a]

The Eighth Amendment: Punishment

Cole Rogers — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 06:52:10 +0000

On this episode of the podcast, we break down the Eighth Amendment and all of its individual clauses, including the the clauses about excessive bail and fines. The majority of the episode focuses on “cruel and unusual punishment” and the various definitions of justice presented by philosophers over the years and how punishments like solitary confinement, the death penalty and more fit into those definitions and whether or not they are cruel or unusual. Feel free to email us your thoughts at politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com, visit our website at politicaltheorypodcast.com, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any one of our other formats and leave a review. Thanks for listening!

http://ia801508.us.archive.org/7/items/8thAmendment/8th%20Amendment.mp3

R.I.P. California Republicans? Not so fast!

Cole Rogers — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 19:55:46 +0000

Today’s episode is a bit of a detour from previous ones. We will be coming back to the Bill of Rights next episode when we talk about the Eighth Amendment, but I wanted more time to work on that episode, so I had this one almost finished and decided to post it. This episode is also not just for people in California. The Republican party is facing all of the issues discussed on a national scale and while this episode focuses on California, much of the analysis is becoming increasingly relevant as we approach the 2016 election. Thanks for listening, and check out our website: http://www.politicaltheorypodcast.com where you can find other episodes and email us.

http://archive.org/download/RepublicanInCalifornia/Republican%20in%20California.mp3

The Seventh Amendment: Juries

Cole Rogers — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 23:42:27 +0000

On this episode of the podcast, we break down the Seventh Amendment and look at the pros and cons of the jury system, as well as reforms and alternatives, including the possibility of professional jurors, Summary Jury Trials, additional verdicts and plenty more. Feel free to email us your thoughts at politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com, visit our website at politicaltheorypodcast.com, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any one of our other formats and leave a review. Thanks for listening!

http://archive.org/download/7thAmendment/7th%20amendment.mp3

The Sixth Amendment: Trials

Cole Rogers — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 19:44:37 +0000

On this episode of the podcast, we break down the Sixth Amendment and all of its individual clauses, including the debates surrounding issues like dying declaration, the Confrontation Clause, the Public Trial clause and the Impartial Jury clause and more. Feel free to email us your thoughts at politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com, visit our website at politicaltheorypodcast.com, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any one of our other formats and leave a review. Thanks for listening!

http://archive.org/download/SixthAmendment/Sixth%20Amendment.mp3

The Fifth Amendment: Criminal Procedure

Cole Rogers — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 15:30:07 +0000

On this episode of the podcast, we break down the Fifth Amendment and all of its individual clauses, including the debates surrounding issues like double jeopardy, due process, the war exemption clause and eminent domain. Feel free to email us your thoughts at politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com, visit our website at politicaltheorypodcast.com, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any one of our other formats and leave a review. Thanks for listening!

http://archive.org/download/FifthFinal/fifth%20final.mp3

The Fourth Amendment: Privacy

Cole Rogers — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 15:29:26 +0000

On this episode of the podcast we look at the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, an amendment that seems to grow more confusing and difficult to interpret as time goes on. With new technologies constantly redefining what words like “privacy” mean, this episode takes a look at the history of privacy and government searches, and then breaks down the debates surrounding it – things like what qualifies as “probable cause”, “reasonable”, the merits and constitutionality of the NSA mass collection program and more. Thanks for listening and feel free to email all thoughts, questions, comments or whatever else to politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com.

http://archive.org/download/fourthfinal/fourthfinal.mp3

The Third Amendment: Quartering

Cole Rogers — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 19:45:29 +0000

On this episode of the podcast we look at the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, an amendment once called “the runt piglet” of the constitution by the American Bar Association. In this particularly brief episode we look at why we have a third amendment and why it has never been (and also why it might soon be) challenged in the Supreme Court. Thanks for listening and feel free to email all thoughts, questions, comments or whatever else to politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com.

http://archive.org/download/3rdAmendment/3rd%20Amendment.mp3

The Second Amendment: Guns

Cole Rogers — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 18:22:40 +0000

In the second episode of the podcast we look at the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, beginning by examining its origins in our society and then looking at the debates that still surround it today on issues like whether or not guns effectively hold the government in check, whether or not they actually stop violence, the mindset they promote and lastly where to place blame when a shooting occurs. Thanks so much for listening and be sure to email your thoughts, questions, comments or whatever else to politicaltheorypodcast@gmail.com.

http://archive.org/download/SecondAmendment_201507/Second%20Amendment.mp3

The First Amendment: Free Speech

Cole Rogers — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 19:28:20 +0000

In the first episode of this podcast we look at the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, beginning by examining its origins in philosophy and its evolution in our society. Then we look at the debates that still surround the first amendment, like hate speech, censorship, school prayer and so on. Lastly, we look at where free speech is going, especially in the context of new technologies and examine how ideas like net neutrality and the right to be forgotten are affecting free speech, for better and worse. Thank you so much for listening!

http://archive.org/download/1stAmendmentFinal2/1st%20Amendment%20Final%202.mp3