About Susan Liebell

Susan Liebell is a political theorist working at the intersection of public law. Currently, she is researching and publishing on originalism, Stand Your Ground, reproductive rights, and the Second Amendment. Recently, her work has appeared in the Monkey Cage, The Journal of Politics, and Polity. Her teaching during COVID was featured in the Washington Post. She provides political commentary for many outlets including KYW in Philly, PHL 17's In Focus, and Wisconsin Public Radio's Central Time.

Susan Liebell is a Professor of Political Science at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Susan's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Susan:

James L. Gibson and Michael J. Nelson, "Judging Inequality: State Supreme Courts and the Inequality Crisis" (Russell Sage, 2021)

February 12, 2024

Judging Inequality

James L. Gibson and Michael J. Nelson
Hosted by Susan Liebell

Soaring levels of political, legal, economic, and social inequality have been documented by social scientists – but the public conversation and schola…

Caitlin Killian, "Failing Moms: Social Condemnation and Criminalization of Mothers" (Polity Press, 2023)

January 29, 2024

Failing Moms

Caitlin Killian
Hosted by Susan Liebell

The role of mother is often celebrated in the United States as the most important job in the world but Dr. Caitlin Killian argues that American mother…

Alexandra Filindra, "Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

January 15, 2024

Race, Rights, and Rifles

Alexandra Filindra
Hosted by Susan Liebell

The United States has more guns than people and more gun violence than any Western democracy. Scholars in diverse fields interrogate why 21st century…

Sara Chatfield, "In Her Own Name: The Politics of Women’s Rights Before Suffrage" (Columbia UP, 2023)

December 18, 2023

In Her Own Name

Sara Chatfield
Hosted by Susan Liebell

We often narrate the history of women’s rights in the United States by focusing on the fight for suffrage. Yet starting as early as 1835, states expan…

Andrew C. McKevitt, "Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America" (UNC Press, 2023)

December 4, 2023

Gun Country

Andrew C. McKevitt
Hosted by Susan Liebell

The United States has more guns than people – a condition that is “unprecedented in world history.” Scholars often focus on gun culture, the Second Am…

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, "Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2023)

November 6, 2023

Wrong

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Over the past 40 years, lawmakers in America's two major political parties have taken increasingly extreme positions on ideological issues. Voters fro…

Claire Jean Kim, "Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

October 30, 2023

Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World

Claire Jean Kim
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Where do Asian Americans fit into the U.S. racial order? How do we understand anti-Asian racism in relation to structural anti-Blackness? Are Asian Am…

Aaron Tang, "Supreme Hubris: How Overconfidence Is Destroying the Court--And How We Can Fix It" (Yale UP, 2023)

October 23, 2023

Supreme Hubris

Aaron Tang
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

The American public’s confidence in the United States Supreme Court is a historic low – in part based on a belief that the Supreme Court is increasing…

Laura F. Edwards, "The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South" (UNC Press, 2009)

September 25, 2023

The People and Their Peace

Laura F. Edwards
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Do individuals have the right to “keep and bear” arms? Do “the people” have any collective rights to public safety? Now that the United States Supreme…

Postscript: How Firearms Fuel Domestic Violence in the US

September 18, 2023

How Firearms Fuel Domestic Violence in the US

Shannon Frattoroli, Kelly Roskam, and April M. Zeoli
Hosted by Susan Liebell

In 2019, nearly two-thirds of domestic violence homicides in the United States were committed with a gun. On average, three women are killed by a curr…

David Waldstreicher, "The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence" (FSG, 2023)

August 28, 2023

The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley

David Waldstreicher
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Thy Power, O Liberty, make strong the weak, And (wond’rous instinct) Ethiopians speak. At the age of 19, Phillis Wheatley published the first book i…

Postscript: Guns, Violence, and the Law: How Federal Courts are Trying to Figure Out the Second Amendment

August 22, 2023

Guns, Violence, and the Law

Jacob D. Charles and Dru Stevenson
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Two blockbuster cases came down in June of 2022. The Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen subs…

Morgan L. W. Hazelton et al., "The Elevator Effect: Contact and Collegiality in the American Judiciary" (Oxford UP, 2023)

August 21, 2023

The Elevator Effect

Morgan L. W. Hazelton, Rachael K. Hinkle, and Michael J. Nelson
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Does it matter if judges are nice to each other? The Elevator Effect: Contact and Collegiality in the American Judiciary (Oxford UP, 2023) argues that…

Postscript: Protecting the Public? Guns, Intimate Partner Violence, and the US Supreme Court

August 7, 2023

Protecting the Public?

Kelly Roskam
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Postscript invites scholars to react to contemporary political events and today’s podcast welcomes an expert on domestic violence and firearms law to …

Blair Kelley, "Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class" (LIveright, 2023)

July 31, 2023

Black Folk

Blair Kelley
Hosted by Susan Liebell
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In the United States, the stoicism and importance of the “working class” is part of the national myth. The term is often used to conjure the contribut…

Postscript: Is it Unconstitutional to Take Guns Away from Domestic Abusers?

July 24, 2023

Is it Unconstitutional to Take Guns Away from Domestic Abusers?

Joseph Blocher and Andrew Willinger
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

The Supreme Court recently wrapped up their term – and announced that they will hear a very controversial case about domestic abuse, the power of Cong…

Morgan L. W. Hazelton and Rachael K. Hinkle, "Persuading the Supreme Court: The Significance of Briefs in Judicial Decision-Making" (UP Kansas, 2022)

July 10, 2023

Persuading the Supreme Court

Morgan L. W. Hazelton and Rachael K. Hinkle
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Each June in the United States, scholars, journalists, law makers, law enforcers, lawyers, and members of the public wait for the announcement of majo…

Stephen Vladeck, "The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic" (Basic Books, 2023)

June 26, 2023

The Shadow Docket

Stephen Vladeck
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Many people are familiar with the United States Supreme Court’s merit docket. Each case follows detailed and professional proceedings that include for…

Postscript: Politics, Identity, and the US Supreme Court

June 23, 2023

Politics, Identity, and the US Supreme Court

Christine C. Bird, Paul Collins, Zachary McGee, and Lori Ringhand
Hosted by Susan Liebell

Postscript invites authors to react to contemporary political events that engage their scholarship. Since the Supreme Court is wrapping up their term,…

Rachel E. Walker, "Beauty and the Brain: The Science of Human Nature in Early America" (U Chicago Press, 2022)

June 19, 2023

Beauty and the Brain

Rachel E. Walker
Hosted by Susan Liebell
Listen:

Between the 1770s and 1860s, people across the globe relied on physiognomy and phrenology to evaluate human worth. Physiognomy refers to using facial …

Rebecca Brückmann, "Massive Resistance and Southern Womanhood: White Women, Class, and Segregation" (U Georgia Press, 2021)

May 22, 2023

Massive Resistance and Southern Womanhood

Rebecca Brückmann
Hosted by Susan Liebell

Massive Resistance and Southern Womanhood: White Women, Class, and Segregation (U Georgia Press, 2021) offers a comparative sociocultural and spatial …

Matthew Rhodes-Purdy et al., "The Age of Discontent: Populism, Extremism, and Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Democracies" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

May 15, 2023

The Age of Discontent

Matthew Rhodes-Purdy, Rachel Navarre, and Stephen Utych
Hosted by Susan Liebell

How do we explain the rise of populism, extremism, and conspiracy theory in the Americas and Europe? Why do members of a society come to feel this str…

Stéfanie von Hlatky, "Deploying Feminism: The Role of Gender in NATO Military Operations" (Oxford UP, 2022)

May 1, 2023

Deploying Feminism

Stéfanie von Hlatky
Hosted by Susan Liebell

In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing launched the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. Successive UN Security Council resoluti…

Paul A. Lombardo, "Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court, and Buck v. Bell" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2022)

April 24, 2023

Three Generations, No Imbeciles

Paul A. Lombardo
Hosted by Susan Liebell

“Three generations of imbeciles are enough” were the infamous words U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote in 1927. In Buck v. Bel…