Minnesota Law Review Launches Podcast Series, ‘Experto Crede’

The Minnesota Law Review recently launched "Experto Crede,” a new legal podcast featuring a series of interviews with article authors and other thought leaders. The first three episodes, featuring Minnesota Law Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs William McGeveran, Rutgers Law Professor Rose Cuison-Villazor, and Rutgers Law Professor David Noll, discussing their MLR articles, are now available for streaming or download on your preferred podcast network. 

MLR’s lead online editor, 3L Veena Tripathi, led the effort to establish the podcast and also doubles as its host. She recently agreed to answer some questions about the launch of the podcast and its content strategy.

Why did the Minnesota Law Review decide to launch a podcast series?

Legal podcasts are incredibly popular and most law students have their favorites that they tune into regularly. These podcasts make the field more accessible not only to students, but also to practitioners and even other legal scholars. When we decided that we wanted to launch a podcast, I reached out to Lisa Burtch (administrative coordinator for student journals) who connected me with Randy Barrett (senior communications technician). Randy was able to get all of the technical issues sorted out and made it incredibly easy for us to get the podcast going.

What do you envision the format being for future episodes?

I think the format is flexible. The podcast is a great way for us to dig a little deeper into the pieces that we’re publishing. Because we have a strong reputation in the legal community, our journal is able to publish great articles, essays, and responses. I think that the format can be whatever future MLR editors want it to be, so long as it adheres to our core tenet as a journal, which is to promote excellent legal scholarship.

How many episodes do you plan?

This semester we are launching three recordings. Next year’s lead online editor, Karthik Raman, can definitely take it a step further!

Where did you come up with the name?

It was a two-step process actually. First, our journal has a staffer-led platform where each staffer contributes an original essay about a topic they find interesting. That platform is called De Novo. I wanted to stick with the Latin, but I didn’t know where to go. When I was reading Professor McGeveran’s piece to prepare for our interview, I was caught by the idea that lawmakers and policymakers should trust the experts because they know their own industry and the best way to manage it. Because our podcast is focused on interviewing legal scholars about their own research and contributions, I thought it would be fitting to name the podcast “Experto Crede,” which roughly translates to “trust the experts.”

What do you hope to accomplish with the podcast?

At the end of the day, the Minnesota Law Review is a platform where legal scholars can exchange ideas. Our staffers and editors work incredibly hard to maintain a level of excellence with our publication process. Much effort, thought, research, and time goes into getting a piece published. The scholars that we publish are not only brilliant, but are also incredibly passionate about their area of expertise. A podcast just lets these experts, and our audience, engage with the subject matter in a compelling and dynamic way. We are genuinely excited at the opportunity to contribute something new!