Shows
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsLeah Watson: ACLU Senior Staff Attorney, Racial Justice ProgramIn this powerful multigenerational conversation, we are honored to welcome our dear friend and civil rights attorney Leah Watson, whose work at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) places her at the forefront of defending constitutional rights and advancing racial justice across the United States. Leah’s advocacy focuses on protecting freedom in education, challenging classroom censorship, and confronting systemic inequities embedded within our legal and social systems.
Leah’s path to this work reflects both excellence and intention. After studying at Vanderbilt University and earning her law degree from Harvard Law School, she began her career in c...
2026-02-211h 24
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsBill Schabas: Genocide, International Justice, and the Fight Against ImpunityToday, we welcome Professor Bill Schabas, one of the world's foremost scholars of international criminal law and genocide, joining us from his farmhouse in France. Bill has devoted his career to defining, investigating, and prosecuting mass atrocity crimes. He served with the tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, advised the International Criminal Court, and chaired the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict.
He is the author of Genocide in International Law, now in its third edition, a foundational text that has shaped how the international community understands and responds to genocide. His work...
2026-02-141h 00
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsJewher Ilham: Uyghur Rights and Her Father, Professor Ilham TohtiJewher Ilham joins us for a powerful conversation about family, justice, and the cost of repression. She is a Uyghur human rights advocate and the daughter of Ilham Tohti, an economist and professor who dedicated his life to peaceful dialogue and advocacy for the Uyghur community and was later unjustly sentenced to life in prison by the Chinese government. As a father-daughter podcast, this conversation carries particular meaning, centering the enduring bond between parent and child in the face of forced separation.
In this episode, Jewher reflects on her relationship with her father, the moment her life...
2026-02-071h 13
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsRoger Clark: International Criminal Law and Human Rights AccountabilityIn this first episode of 2026, Human Rights: Conversations Across Generations, we welcome Professor Roger Clark, one of the world’s leading figures in international criminal law and human rights.
Over a distinguished career that included more than four decades teaching at Rutgers University Law School, Professor Clark educated generations of lawyers while contributing directly to the development of international legal institutions. His work has shaped how the global community understands crimes against humanity, accountability, and the role of mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court in pursuing justice.
Recorded about a year ago, this conversation re...
2026-01-2356 min
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsCees Flinterman: Friendship, Diplomacy, and the Practice of Human RightsIn this episode of Human Rights: Conversations Across Generations, we are honored to welcome Professor Cees Flinterman, one of the most respected figures in international human rights law and one of Professor Bert Lockwood’s oldest friends and collaborators. Their friendship began in 1970 while studying in the graduate law program at the University of Virginia, an experience that helped shape parallel careers devoted to building human rights institutions, education, and global norms.
Cees reflects on a career that spans academia, diplomacy, and international human rights bodies. He shares formative experiences teaching and working in Ghana during a pe...
2025-12-191h 14
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsProfessor Rebecca J. Cook: Advancing Women’s Rights and Reproductive HealthWe are honored to welcome Professor Rebecca J. Cook, a pioneering scholar whose work has transformed women’s human rights and reproductive justice around the world. Rebecca has also been a close friend of our family for more than thirty years, first connecting with my father, Professor Bert B. Lockwood, through her contributions to Human Rights Quarterly and the University of Pennsylvania Press human rights book series.
Rebecca’s early work in the 1970s at International Planned Parenthood exposed her to profound injustices faced by women who were denied access to contraception and abortion. Having survived polio the...
2025-12-121h 02
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsHonoring Sir Nigel Rodley with Lyn RodleyToday’s episode is a very special tribute to the life and legacy of our dear friend, and a true leader in international law, the late Sir Nigel Rodley. It is our privilege to be joined by his wife, and our close friend, Lyn Rodley.
Nigel’s remarkable journey began at New York University in the International Studies Department, where he studied alongside both of my parents. He went on to become a foundational figure at Amnesty International, leading the legal office for nearly two decades and shaping the organization’s campaign against torture during a pivotal era of...
2025-12-0256 min
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsA Conversation with Sister Helen PrejeanThis week, we sit down with Sister Helen Prejean, one of the most influential moral leaders of our time and a guiding force in the movement to end the death penalty. For more than three decades, she has accompanied people on death row with dignity, supported families affected by violence, and challenged the nation to confront the human cost of state killing with honesty and compassion.
She joins us to celebrate the release of Dead Man Walking: Graphic Edition, a powerful new retelling created to reach younger readers, visual storytellers, and classrooms. This edition renews the impact...
2025-11-211h 06
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsChampioning Rights: The Honorable Unity DowIn this episode of Human Rights: Conversations Across Generations, we are honored to welcome The Honorable Unity Dow, a trailblazing jurist, author, and human rights advocate from Botswana. Unity is also a cherished friend of the Institute and a long-standing partner of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights. The Institute’s inaugural founder and director, Professor Bert Lockwood, supports the placement of UMI's law fellows in Mochudi, where they work directly with Unity and her community, continuing a collaboration that spans decades.
Our conversation reflects on Unity’s landmark citizenship case, now studied across the Commonwealth, and...
2025-11-141h 13
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsEric Stover: A Pioneer in Forensic Human RightsThis week, we welcome Eric Stover, an esteemed colleague and pioneer in human rights investigations. As a Research Professor and Co-Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Eric has spent decades at the forefront of applying science to pursue justice. He is a recipient of the 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science Award.
This conversation across generations traces his groundbreaking career, from launching the first forensic investigations of the disappeared in Central and South America to his critical work using forensic science in historic atrocity cases. We...
2025-11-071h 03
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsOur Father-Daughter Duo: Harold & Emily Koh (Part 2)Welcome back for Part 2 of our special series with the father-daughter duo, Professor Harold Koh and Emily Koh!
Having explored the foundations of Harold’s legal career and family legacy in Part 1, this episode focuses on the critical challenges facing human rights and democracy today. We start with a powerful reflection on Harold's father and his unwavering commitment to the Rule of Law, made at great personal cost.
Professor Koh then discusses his recent work, including his book, The National Security Constitution in the 21st Century, where he analyzes the existential dangers of executive unilateralism an...
2025-10-3148 min
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsOur Father-Daughter Duo: Harold & Emily Koh (Part 1)We are honored to welcome our first father-daughter duo to the show for a special two-part series: the esteemed Professor Harold Koh and his daughter, Emily Koh. This conversation represents a true multi-generational dialogue on human rights and the shared passion for justice that connects us.
Professor Koh, the Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, has shaped the human rights landscape over five decades, serving four U.S. Presidents. Emily has dedicated her career to social impact, gender equality, and women's rights, including her former role on the White House’s Gender Policy Council un...
2025-10-241h 05
Human Rights: Conversations Across GenerationsPaul Hoffman: A Life on the Frontlines of International JusticeWe welcome legendary litigator Professor Paul Hoffman to discuss his decades-long career pioneering international human rights law and battling abuses by global corporations. This intergenerational conversation bridges the past and future of the movement, revealing the core struggles and enduring hope required for justice.
2025-10-141h 10