Sidebar: Across the pond

Grab your passport, doughty listener. We’re headed across the Atlantic to see how justice works in England and France, and why it looks so different from the U.S.

While a judge in France takes an active role seeking the absolute truth, the U.S. system functions more like a high-stakes sporting event, where the judge serves as a referee between two competing sides.

In our fifth episode this season, we trace the evolution of trials from the Middle Ages, when “trials of ordeal” involved boiling water and “cursed morsels,” to the Salem witch trials and how lawyers came to dominate U.S. courts.

Which system comes out on top? The answer may depend on what you think justice is supposed to do.

Special guests:

• Benjamin Legendre, journalist for Agence France-Presse
• Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and founder of Overlawyered
• Carlton Larson, professor of constitutional law at UC Davis
• Lissa Griffin, professor of comparative law at Pace University

Sidebar tackles the top stories you need to know from the legal world. Join reporters Hillel Aron, Kirk McDaniel, Amanda Pampuro, Kelsey Reichmann and Josh Russell as they take you in and out of courtrooms in the U.S. and beyond and break down developments to help you understand how they affect your day-to-day life.

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens. A transcript is available.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Proceedings here and there:

• Penis costume protester prevails in court
• Amy Winehouse’s dad loses court fight over auctioned belongings
• Paris court convicts Élysée’s former silverware keeper-turned-porcelain thief