#international-law
97 episodes · Page 2 of 5
#4934: Collective Punishment: What the Law Actually Says
The prohibition on collective punishment is absolute in international law. No exceptions, no military necessity loophole. Here's what it actually r...
#4878: Born Into a Legal Void: Understanding Statelessness
Over 10 million people worldwide have no country that recognizes them as citizens. Here's how it happens.
#4875: The Invisible Border: Where Are You Between Flights?
You're on the tarmac but not in the country. Where does the law place you?
#4857: How States Square the Circle on Assassination
From the Hashashin to drone strikes: how states build parallel legal systems for assassination.
#4678: How the Chicago Convention Built the Modern Sky
How 52 nations in 1944 created the firewall between military and civilian aviation that still governs every flight today.
#4628: Living Airside: Can You Make an Airport Your Home?
We explore whether you can actually live in airports, hopping between airside hotels without ever entering a country.
#4558: When Can Soldiers Act as Police?
The line between soldier and cop is legally complex. Explore how democracies like the US, Israel, UK, and France draw that boundary.
#4256: Secret Prisons: What We Actually Know About Black Sites
Court rulings, parliamentary inquiries, and declassified cables reveal what's fact vs. fiction about secret detention.
#4136: How 4 Democracies Decide If Laws Are Valid
Ireland, US, Israel, UK — four countries, four ways courts decide if laws are constitutional.
#4135: The Courthouse Gate: Cause of Action in 3 Legal Systems
Why "someone broke the law" isn't enough to sue — and how three countries build very different gates to the courthouse.
#3889: What the UN Actually Does (And Who Would Fill the Gap)
A stress test on the UN's actual operational footprint — what would break, what wouldn't, and who's already doing it better.
#3669: The Dewey Decimal System for Things That Go Boom
Standardized codes that let investigators, diplomats, and deminers speak the same language about munitions.
#3668: White Phosphorus: The Weapon That Won't Stop Burning
How white phosphorus evades legal bans, which militaries use it, and why its effects devastate civilians.
#3634: When Building Your Own Island Goes Wrong
A real estate mogul tried to build a libertarian utopia on artificial islands. A king showed up with convicts and a brass band.
#3412: What Would the UN’s Architects Think of It Today?
Was the UN designed to work—or just to survive? A look at its original purpose vs. today’s reality.
#3407: How the UN Picks Biased Rapporteurs for Israel
Why does the UN keep appointing human rights rapporteurs with pre-existing biases against Israel? The answer is structural.
#3317: The Invisible Line: Settlements Beyond the Green Line
Why international law says settlements are illegal, and how Israel justifies them.
#3256: The Seasteading Dream That Sank
Silicon Valley tried to build floating nations. The ocean and the law had other plans.
#3208: How Do You Weigh Smoke? Measuring Corruption Across 4,000 Years
From ancient Sumer to modern Israel—how humans have tried to quantify the unquantifiable.
#3206: The Free Speech Fault Line: UK's Ban on Piker & Uygur
Why free speech absolutists defend letting controversial figures into the UK — and what history says about hate speech and violence.
#3181: When Lawyers Speak for Nations: The Fiction of One Voice
How do lawyers claim to speak for millions who disagree? The strange fiction behind international law.
#3159: How Bankruptcy Works Differently in the US vs. Israel
Two countries, two radically different philosophies on debt, failure, and second chances.
#3156: The 2,000-Year Campaign to Ban Brit Milah
Belgium may ban non-medical circumcision for minors. This isn't new — states have tried for two millennia.
#3153: Law as Fallback vs Minimalist Codes
How Japan and the US take opposite approaches to legal codes — and what AI regulation reveals about the tradeoffs.