Sept. 13, 2019 — Briefcase radio, a partnership between the University of Houston Law Center and Houston Public Media, returned with new broadcast episodes on 88.7FM this week. New episodes will air at 7:19 a.m. on Tuesdays.
Since its start in 2016, Briefcase has been informing Houstonians on a variety of historical and contemporary legal issues. Hosted by Dean Leonard M. Baynes, each one-minute segment typically features a Law Center faculty member discussing a topic in their area of expertise. More than 50 law faculty members have participated in the radio program.
“It is hard to believe that we are starting the fourth season of Briefcase,” Baynes said. It has been a joy to do them. The episodes provide me an opportunity to work with my faculty and to educate the public on the law. I look forward to another terrific year of interesting Briefcase episodes.”
The first episode of the Fall 2019 semester featured adjunct professor D.C. Toedt, who provided an overview of how many online shoppers give up their day in court. Future segments include recent changes in U.S. immigration policy with Associate Professor Daniel Morales, the George A. Butler Research Professor, preventing homelessness with Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson, Newell H. Blakely Chair and director of the Criminal Justice Institute, and an episode tackling the age-old question of whether tomatoes are a fruit or vegetable.
In 2018, UH Law Center won Gold in the Webcast/Podcasts category in the Collegiate Advertising Award competition for the nation’s graduate school programs. The episode featured Professor Michael A. Olivas, who discussed entertainers like Aretha Franklin dying without wills. The Briefcase radio program also earned a gold medal at the 2017 Collegiate Advertising Awards competition for its segment titled, “Spotting Fake News.” The featured guest, Amanda Watson, director of the O’Quinn Library and an assistant professor, provided tips on how to distinguish between truthful or false information disguised as news.
More than 120 previous segments are available in the Briefcase Radio archives at https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/topics/briefcase/.
