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Knowing Ius Podcast

Michael Foran

Writing and podcasting about law for a public audience. Quite a bit about discrimination law, sex, and gender identity. Sometimes about other areas of law.

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  • 17 episodes
  • Avg 41 min
  • English

Episodes 17

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  • September 28 · 1 hr 30 min

    Examining the Legal Context of Sex and Gender in Higher Education

    I’m grateful to the Open University for inviting me to speak about the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers, and its impact on Higher Education. Here is a recording of the lecture and the Q&A session afterwards. PS Those of you following Peggie v RCN, I managed to catch some of the proceedings and will give a run down of this on my next live, probably tomorrow or Wednesday. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • June 7 · 1 hr 9 min

    Lecture 2: Single-Sex Spaces

    This is the second lecture in the series I had planned discussing the themes of my new book, Sex, Gender Identity and the Law (CUP 2026). Before this lecture, protesters disrupted the event for about 10 minutes. I’ve chosen not to include the recording of this disruption because it is my view that it distracts from the academic nature of the lecture series. I have made the decision to cancel the remaining lectures in the series as I cannot guarantee for attendees, including students, that further disruption won’t occur.. Knowing Ius is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading Knowing Ius! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • June 1 · 51 min

    Lecture 1: How Sex Changed

    This is the first in a series of lectures I am giving at Keble College, Oxford to coincide with the publication of my new book, Sex, Gender Identity and the Law (CUP 2026). This lecture traces the history of the law relating to sex status, up to and including the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16. The next lecture will be at 17.00 on Friday 5 June 2026 at Crisp Hollamby Lecture Theatre, H B Allen Centre, Keble College. The topic of Lecture 2 will be Single-Sex Spaces. All welcome! Knowing Ius is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading Knowing Ius! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • May 24 · 23 min

    EHRC Guidance on Single-Sex Services

    The UK Government has laid the EHRC Code of Practice before Parliament this week. In this short video, I hope to give a bit of an overview of the Code and its relationship to the underlying law as it relates to sex and gender identity. Forgive the hoarse voice! I’ve been recovering from the flu. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • May 11 · 37 min

    Interview with Kathleen Stock

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit knowingius.org Knowing Ius is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Do we have a right to suicide? Is it good for us? Is it merciful? What happens when being alive itself becomes a choice?Kathleen Stock needs no introduction. Her book, Do Not Go Gentle is an absolutely essential read for a…

  • May 7 · 2 min

    Publication Day!

    Today is the publication day of Sex, Gender Identity and the Law. To coincide with this, the Faculty of Law and Keble College, Oxford, have put together videos exploring themes from the book. This is the final video on the law relating to gender-critical belief. If you’re in Oxford next Thursday, 14 May, come along to the book launch event. I’m delighted to be joined by Akua Reindorf KC, Sarah Vine KC, Margaret Gribbon, and Dr Julius Grower for what promises to be a great conversation about the book. Knowing Ius is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading Knowing Ius! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • April 3 · 8 min

    Has the gay revolution come to an end? Interview with Ronan McCrea, Part 2

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit knowingius.org Ronan McCrea is a professor of constitutional law at UCL. He’s also a perceptive thinker with an electrifying thesis: Some radical elements of the LGBTQ+ movement have rendered gay rights so dislikable to Western society’s straight majority that the entire project is in peril. Today we look at external threats to gay rights and the complicated relations…

  • April 2 · 1 hr 1 min

    Has the gay revolution come to an end? Interview with Ronan McCrea, Part 1

    Ronan McCrea is a professor of constitutional law at UCL. He’s also a perceptive thinker with an electrifying thesis: Some radical elements of the LGBTQ+ movement have rendered gay rights so dislikable to Western society’s straight majority that the entire project is in peril. I strongly encourage you all to read his new book, The End of the Gay Rights Revolution: How Hubris and Overreach Threaten Gay Freedom.Please enjoy the first part of our conversation. The second part will be made available tomorrow to paid subscribers only. Knowing Ius is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • Sep 27, 2024 · 13 min

    Keeping Sex Private (Bonus)

    This is a teaser of a bonus episode for paid subscribers. If you’d like to listen to the full episode, please consider subscribing. One of the central issues that has arisen in terms of the relationship between trans rights and women’s rights is whether trans people have a legal entitlement to keep information about their biological sex at birth private. In this episode, I’m joined by Tim Pitt-Payne KC, one of the UK’s leading privacy and information law barristers to discuss the law in this area. This is a bonus episode that discusses the privacy issues that arose in the case of Adams v Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre where a member of staff who identified as non-binary claimed a right to keep facts about their biological sex private and that Roz Adams had engaged in misconduct when she emailed her manager asking how to respond to a request from a rape victim to know whether her counsellor was female. Music: The Cobblestone by Hans Johnson Special thanks to Oscar Kinross for excellent editing work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • Sep 20, 2024 · 1 hr 6 min

    Keeping Sex Private (Part 2)

    One of the central issues that has arisen in terms of the relationship between trans rights and women’s rights is whether trans people have a legal entitlement to keep information about their biological sex at birth private. In this episode, I’m joined by Tim Pitt-Payne KC, one of the UK’s leading privacy and information law barristers to discuss the law in this area. This is the second of three episodes on this topic. This episode applies the general legal principles discussed in Part 1 to the case of Goodwin v United Kingdom. It then explores whether there is a legal right for trans people to keep their biological sex or information around their gender history private and, if so, in what contexts. There is a bonus episode for paid subscribers where Tim and I speak about Adams v Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre and the privacy claims that arose there. If you’d like to listen to that, please consider subscribing. Music: The Cobblestone by Hans Johnson Special thanks to Oscar Kinross for excellent editing work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • Sep 13, 2024 · 53 min

    Keeping Sex Private (Part 1)

    One of the central issues that has arisen in terms of the relationship between trans rights and women’s rights is whether trans people have a legal entitlement to keep information about their biological sex at birth private. In this episode, I’m joined by Tim Pitt-Payne KC, one of the UK’s leading privacy and information law barristers to discuss the law in this area. This is the first of three episodes on this topic. This episode discusses the general legal rules around the right to privacy and applies that cases involving the request for same-sex intimate care. Music: The Cobblestone by Hans Johnson Special thanks to Oscar Kinross for excellent editing work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • Jul 13, 2024 · 56 min

    Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Human Flourishing

    Timothy Pitt-Payne KC is a barrister practising from 11KBW chambers in London. He is one of the UK’s leading privacy and information lawyers. He was a pioneer of the emerging law of data protection in the early 2000’s and has since built up an impressive practice at the cutting-edge of the law relating to Freedom of Information and GDPR. Recently we both presented at a conference organised at the University of Edinburgh on Democracy, Rights, and the Rule of Law in a Data-Driven Society. In this podcast we begin by discussing the law relating to data protection and some of the cases Tim was involved in, including disclosure of information relating to the Iraq war and correspondence between the then Prince Charles and government ministers. We then discuss the rise of Artificial Intelligence and its relationship to democracy and what we might describe is good governance, particularly the right to a human decision and why that’s important. Music: The Cobblestone by Hans Johnson This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • Jul 4, 2024 · 52 min

    Sex by Deception

    Sarah Vine KC is a barrister specialising in criminal law at Doughty Street Chambers. Her practice includes economic and business crime, homicide, serious organised crime, sexual offences, and cases involving vulnerable defendants and witnesses. In this episode we discuss the law relating to sex by deception - where consent to sex is considered to be vitiated by one party deceiving the other. In the extended episode, Sarah and I also talk about how this law applies to cases where someone is induced into sexual activity by a deception as to biological sex. If you’d like to listen to that, head over to knowingius.substack.com and subscribe. Music: The Cobblestone by Hans Johnson This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • Jun 30, 2024 · 40 min

    Criminal Law and Sexual Crime

    Sarah Vine KC is a barrister specialising in criminal law at Doughty Street Chambers. Her practice includes economic and business crime, homicide, serious organised crime, sexual offences, and cases involving vulnerable defendants and witnesses. In this episode we discuss what its like to be a criminal defence barrister; the nature of criminal law; its relationship with sexual crime; and the difficult balance that must be struck between the rights of victims of sexual crime and the presumption of innocence that is central to the criminal law. A part of this discussion involves the topic of rape and the legal tests that must be met in order for a conviction to be secured. One question that stems for this is whether there should be a requirement that the defendant in a rape case knew that there was no consent or did not reasonably believed that there was consent. Music: The Cobblestone by Hans Johnson Knowing Ius is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • Jun 21, 2024 · 10 min

    A proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim?

    One of the sticking points that I see regularly in the debate around single-sex services centres on the requirement in the Equality Act 2010 that the provision of single- or separate- sex services must be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Some argue that this requirement means that it is unlawful to operate with a blanket rule excluding all men from women-only services. In this episode, I explain why that is incorrect in law. Music: The Cobblestone by Hans Johnson This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit knowingius.org/subscribe

  • Jun 20, 2024 · 20 min

    Gender Critical and Gender Identity Belief

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit knowingius.org Naomi Cunningham is a discrimination law barrister, writer and campaigner. She is most know for her work as chair of the human rights charity Sex Matters and her role in several important Employment Tribunal cases on gender critical belief discrimination. In this episode, we talk about how she came to be the chair of a human rights charity; philosophical belief discrimination; whether gender critical views are best categorised as a belief or a mere statement of fact; whether gender identity belief is protected under the Equality Act; her role in Meade v Social Work England; Single-Sex services and whether there needs to be a case-by-case assessment when operating a single-sex service. Music: The Cobblestone by Hans Johnson

Showing 1–17 of 17 episodes