Announcing Our New Podcast: Beyond the Bench

On behalf of the North Carolina Judicial College and the School of Government, I’m pleased to announce the launch of a new podcast about the court system. It’s called Beyond the Bench, and it is intended to be of interest to judges, lawyers, clerks, officers, and others who work in and around the court system. This post provides more detail about the project, but if you are ready to listen, you can get the podcast on the web here, or through the iTunes podcast store or on Stitcher.

What’s a podcast? Podcasts are audio recordings that are released periodically in a series. The word is a mashup of “iPod” and “broadcast.” You may have heard of podcasts like Serial or Radiolab.

What’s this podcast about? It’s about the court system. There are interviews with interesting people who work in the courts, and there are segments about the law itself. For example, the first episode features an interview with a superior court judge and a discussion with a School of Government faculty member about the law of distracted driving. The first season has five episodes, loosely clustered around the theme of crime and punishment. The second season has a different focus but we’re keeping it hush-hush while it is under development!

Is it just for lawyers? No. It has a legal focus but is produced in a way that is intended to be accessible to lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

How often will you have new episodes? A short “teaser” episode and a full-length episode are available now. New episodes will be released every two weeks. Episodes vary in length but our target was about 25 minutes.

How do I listen? You can listen via the web here, but many podcast listeners download their podcasts onto their smartphones through podcast apps. iPhone users have a native app called Podcasts, while Android users have a choice of lots of apps, including Stitcher. Once you’re in the relevant app, type “Beyond the Bench” into the search box and our podcast should pop up.

Does it cost anything? No. It’s free.

Can I get CJE/CLE credit for listening? Not at this time, though we may look into this in the future.

Let us know if you have any other questions. And please give the podcast a listen. We learned a lot doing it and we hope you enjoy it. As always, we welcome your feedback on what worked and what didn’t.