Former ABC Radio broadcaster Jon Faine is hosting a new podcast series spotlighting current legal issues in interviews with researchers at Melbourne Law School.
The series, JUSTICE with Jon Faine, unpacks legal complexity, analyses cases and often prompts calls for law reform. It scrutinises the way laws do, or don't, produce just outcomes, and examines their effects on the lives of everyday Australians.
The podcast involves discussions on a wide range of topics with legal experts in each field, including an international challenge to the right to strike, AI discrimination in job recruitment, and patients' right to record their doctors.
Mr Faine says, "Podcasts are the ideal vehicle for animated discussions ranging from the dangers of AI 'companions' to the sudden rise in cases of sexual strangulation. We will explore the law of ceasefires, wage theft from young people, and the trouble the law has always had in defending women against deepfake porn.
"The series will expand over time to include timely commentary on hot news topics such as controversial legal judgements and changes to legislation. It will also cover news specific to the legal profession, such as a new survey that found many lawyers are deeply unhappy with their workplaces."
Jon Faine left the ABC airwaves after 30 years in 2019 and is now a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Melbourne, based in the Melbourne Law School.
He worked as a commercial litigation lawyer and at Fitzroy Legal service before joining the ABC in 1989, initially to host The Law Report on Radio National and then as host of the Mornings program.
"Unlocking the secrets of the law has long been a passion of mine, and the range of specialists in the Melbourne Law School is astonishing. For example, we talk to a constitutional lawyer who wrote a book accurately predicting that Trump would use Putin's strongman playbook if he was elected to the US presidency.
"Being able to tap into that deep reserve of expertise is invigorating, as there is an endless supply of ideas, insight and advice."
The first episode, on how a teenage boy lost his life to the urgings of an AI 'companion' he created, is available on Apple and Spotify podcasts. Subscribe to the show here.
