James Lasdun's road trip to America's courts

About this episode

James Lasdun discusses his road trip across America to attend various trials and the implications of his observations on the justice system.

‘Courtroom encounters present you with only a fragment of a person’s story, from which you may or may not be inclined to infer the rest,’ James Lasdun wrote recently in the LRB. Last October, he set out on a road trip across America, with the aim of attending as many different kinds of criminal and civil trials as possible in one month. His journey took him from immigration hearings in Chicago to jury trials in Deadwood to felony proceedings in Louisiana. On this episode of the LRB podcast, James joins Thomas Jones to discuss the ‘swerving tales’ he witnessed on his trip, and whether the ‘brazenly bad-faith goings-on at the Justice Department’ are showing up in local courts. From the LRB Subscribe to the LRB: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/subslrbpod⁠⁠⁠ Close Readings podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/crlrbpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ LRB Audiobooks: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/audiobookslrbpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/storelrbpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Thomas Jones

Guest: James Lasdun

Topics covered

• courtroom encounters
• criminal trials
• civil trials
• justice system
• road trip
• legal stories

Keywords

• courtroom
• trials
• James Lasdun
• Thomas Jones
• justice
• legal system
• road trip
• America

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Justice Department

Places: America, Chicago, Deadwood, Louisiana

More episodes of The LRB Podcast

• Poetry and the Turning World: Work · June 10, 2026 · 1h 5m
• On Politics: Myths of Populism · June 3, 2026 · 1h 12m
• Jane Austen's ‘Emma’ and the art of misreading · May 30, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Gaza after the Ceasefire · May 27, 2026 · 1h 10m
• A Rough Guide to Money Laundering · May 20, 2026 · 46 min
• When will AI replace us? · May 14, 2026 · 43 min