Bruce Ackerman on Trump, Executive Power and AI

Bruce Ackerman on Trump, Executive Power and AI

Bruce Ackerman is one of America’s leading constitutional scholars and Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale Law School. In this episode, Ackerman unpacks the rise of executive power through the Trump era, the structural distortions of the Electoral College, and the constitutional vulnerabilities exposed by modern American politics. Drawing connections between democratic legitimacy, presidential overreach, and emerging technologies, he also explores how AI could reshape political persuasion, governance, and the future balance of power in American democracy.

Lawrence Lessig on The Electoral College, Voting and the National Interstate Compact

Lawrence Lessig is a legal scholar, political reform advocate, and professor at Harvard Law School whose work on democracy, corruption, and constitutional reform has made him one of the most influential public intellectuals in American politics. Best known for his scholarship on institutional power and democratic legitimacy, Lessig has become a leading voice in debates surrounding voting rights, campaign finance, and the future of the Electoral College. In this episode, Lessig examines the origins and consequences of the Electoral College, the structural inequalities embedded within the American voting system, and the growing movement to reform presidential elections through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The conversation explores how constitutional design, partisan incentives, and democratic legitimacy intersect, while considering whether the United States can modernize its electoral system without a constitutional amendment.

Dov Cohen on Southern Violence & Southern Honor Culture

Dov Cohen is a leading social psychologist whose groundbreaking research on Southern honor culture has reshaped how scholars understand aggression, masculinity, and political behavior in the United States. A professor at the University of Illinois, Cohen’s work examines how historical cultures of honor in the American South continue to influence violence, social norms, emotional responses, and public life. His influential studies on “Southern honor culture” have become foundational across psychology, sociology, political science, and legal theory. In this episode, Cohen explores the historical roots of Southern violence, from herding economies and frontier conditions to modern political aggression and executive power. The conversation traces how honor culture shaped ideas of masculinity, retaliation, reputation, and public performance, while also examining how these values continue to echo through American politics, media, and national identity today.

Sanford Levinson on Trump, Executive Power and Voting

Watch the full series http://dis.art/series/tres-mall The Très Mall Podcast features in depth conversations with leading writers, philosophers, critics, and political thinkers. Recorded in Brooklyn, NYC, the show moves beyond headlines to examine democracy, media, culture, technology, and power. Guests include Noam Chomsky, Fugazi, Boris Groys, Michael Hardt, McKenzie Wark, Emily Apter and Priyamvada Gopal. Très Mall blends rigorous analysis with sharp wit, creating space for sustained, serious public dialogue. Sanford Levinson, constitutional scholar and professor at the University of Texas School of Law, joins the podcast to examine Donald Trump, the expansion of executive power, and the structural crises surrounding American democracy. A leading critic of the U.S. Constitution and author of influential works on constitutional reform, Levinson discusses how the presidency has accumulated extraordinary authority through war powers, emergency governance, and institutional gridlock. The conversation also explores the Electoral College, voting rights, and why America’s constitutional system increasingly struggles to reflect democratic majorities. Drawing connections between history, law, and contemporary politics, Levinson offers a sharp analysis of how constitutional design shapes political instability in the United States.

Michael Hardt on Love

Watch the full series http://dis.art/series/tres-mall [http://dis.art/series/tres-mall] Michael Hardt (born 1960) is an American political philosopher [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_philosopher] and literary theorist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_theorist]. Hardt is best known for his 2000 book Empire [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_(Negri_and_Hardt_book)], which was co-written with Antonio Negri [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Negri]. Hardt and Negri suggest that several forces which they see as dominating contemporary life, such as class oppression [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppression], globalization [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization] and the commodification of services [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodification] (or production of affects), have the potential to spark social change of unprecedented dimensions. A sequel, Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitude:_War_and_Democracy_in_the_Age_of_Empire] was published in August 2004. Très Mall Derek G. Larson https://dis.art/series/tres-mall [http://dis.art/series/tres-mall] https://www.tresmall.com/ [https://www.tresmall.com/] Très Mall is an animated series that connects contemporary art and cultural critique through humor and surreal storytelling. Streaming on Dis.art, it features contributors including Michael Hardt, Noam Chomsky, and Priyamvada Gopal. Set in an abandoned shopping mall, four friends build a strange refuge amid the ruins of consumer culture. The series explores philosophy, capitalism, and the search for meaning with wit and absurdity. It is aimed at audiences drawn to intellectually ambitious, experimental animation and sits comfortably alongside shows like BoJack Horseman, The White Lotus, and Black Mirror. The project is designed not just as entertainment, but as a conversation about contemporary life, its contradictions, and its strange possibilities.