Books and More with William Cooper

Two constitutional scholars, William Cooper and Edward Larson, explore how the framers’ reliance on virtue collides with modern politics: slow courts, partisan Congresses, standing rules, and executive unilateral actions can let presidents act even when the law says otherwise. Using concrete examples—foreign emoluments, war powers, tariffs, and recent presidential strategies—the hosts examine failures and partial remedies (lawsuits, appropriations, potential amendments) and consider whether courts or Congress can restore constitutional guardrails.

Host William Cooper, co-host Ed Larson, and guest Laurie Levinson discuss how the Department of Justice can be politicized and used as a tool against rivals, whether the Constitution provides sufficient checks, and the practical impacts of presidential immunity, jury roles, and institutional norms. The conversation traces historical examples, explores tensions between democratic legitimacy and prosecutorial independence, and considers gaps in constitutional guardrails that shape modern governance and accountability.

William Cooper and Edward Larson interview New York Times chief legal affairs reporter Adam Liptak about the gaps between the Constitution’s design and how it functions today. They discuss standing and justiciability, the limits of congressional power, and high-profile cases like mail-in voting and New York Times v. Sullivan. The conversation covers broader themes: the rise of partisan polarization, gerrymandering, life tenure for justices, the demise of the filibuster for confirmations, and whether democratic norms and institutions can adapt to modern challenges.

The First Guidebook to International Universities In this guidebook to global higher education – the first of its kind ever published – Dr. Richard Major shows how American students can study in English, earn a degree for less money and in less time at the best universities in the world. https://www.bookgo.pub/books/the-first-guidebook-to-international-universities/9798995574644 Bringing together 101 recommended universities from around the world, this guidebook provides detailed information and recommendations on where and what to study, helping students and parents cast their net wide and navigate the incredibly rich landsacpe of college education outside the US. Covering top universities in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, South America, and beyond, this book opens doors that most students never knew existed.  

We discuss Roger's new book, Nature Spirituality: Embracing a Sacred, Wounded Earth, which was published by Bloomsbury on September 3rd. For millennia nature has provided spiritual experiences of wonder, gratitude, and peace. Now nature is being burned, poisoned, and rendered extinct. This book asks: Can nature still provide spiritual inspiration? Drawing on decades of original work in environmental ethics, religious environmentalism, and contemporary spirituality, Roger S. Gottlieb explores how ecological crisis reshapes spiritual life. What we trusted would nourish us and our descendants forever is diminished and threatened. We seek a refuge from the cruelties and madness of human culture, only to find bird species disappearing and oceans filling with plastic—and our own lungs filling with smoke from forest fires. Gottlieb begins by clarifying what spirituality is and why nature has played a central role in it for religious believers and non-believers alike. He then examines the environmental crisis as a civilizational rupture that transforms hope, grief, meaning, and moral responsibility. Nature spirituality, he suggests, must adapt to ecological loss and vulnerability. Difficult as it may be, we can nourish a spirituality in which grief coexists with gratitude, compassion with moral outrage, and acceptance with active solidarity and love for all of life. ROGER S. GOTTLIEB, William B. Smith Professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, is the author or editor of twenty-three books on religion, environmental ethics, and spirituality, including This Sacred Earth and A Greener Faith. He has received multiple book awards and has written for both scholarly journals and venues such as Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Orion Afield, and Los Angeles Review of Books. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.  DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.  

We discuss Ken's great new bestseller: Every Day Is Sunday: How Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, and Roger Goodell Turned the NFL into a Cultural & Economic Juggernaut. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/ken-belson/every-day-is-sunday/9781538772577/?lens=grand-central-publishing DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.   will-cooper.com

Resnik's new book, “Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy,” was published by the University of Chicago Press this year. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo243487113.html   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.   will-cooper.com

We discuss Robert's incredible body of work. https://americanswhotellthetruth.org/about/about-the-artist/   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY. will-cooper.com

We discuss Bryan's collaboration with Justice Scalia and his wonderful new book: The Etcher: The Life and Art of Oskar Stoessel.  https://www.amazon.com/Etcher-Life-Art-Oskar-Stoessel/dp/1567928404   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY   will-cooper.com

Jonathan R. Macey is an American legal scholar who serves as the Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance and Securities Law at Yale Law School. Macey is one of the most cited legal scholars in the world. https://law.yale.edu/jonathan-r-macey   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY   will-cooper.com    

We discuss the biggest cases of the recent term, covering voting rights, federalism, and presidential power in the Trump era. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.   will-cooper.com

Gil Gillenwater is the founder of the award-winning Rancho Feliz Charitable Foundation, which has reimagined border philanthropy since 1987. He is the author of Hope on the Border. https://ranchofeliz.com/team/gil-gillenwater/   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.

We discuss free speech under the First Amendment. His biography: https://www.hoover.org/profiles/eugene-volokh His recent article: http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/addiction.pdf (“Addiction to Constitutionally Protected Activity: Speech, Press, Addiction to Constitutionally Protected Activity: Speech, Press, and Religion”) DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.   will-cooper.com

A delightful conversation with Eve about her writing, including her new book: Snow Fleas and Chickadees: Everyday Observations in the Sierra. https://www.evequesnel.com/books.html   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY. will-cooper.com

A delightful conversation with Richard about language, literature, and life. https://verbivore.com/   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY. https://will-cooper.com/ 

We discuss Melissa's fantastic new bestselling book, The U.S. Constitution A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader.   Melissa Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU. Her award-winning public law scholarship considers constitutional law, family law, and reproductive rights and justice. Murray has written extensively about the Supreme Court, the legal recognition of marriage and its alternatives, abortion, and the legal regulation of sex and sexuality. Her articles has appeared in the nation’s leading law reviews, including the California Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Harvard Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review, and Yale Law Journal. She has also written widely for lay audiences, including two New York Times bestselling books, The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary (with Andrew Weissman) and The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader. Her writing has been cited by state and federal courts, and she has testified as an expert on constitutional law and reproductive rights. In 2019, she received the law school’s Podell Distinguished Teaching Award. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY   will-cooper.com  

A walk through numerous common tendencies that cause misjudgment.   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY   will-cooper.com

Two of the most important passages in the history of modern political affairs. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.   will-cooper.com

Justin Brooks is a Professor of Practice at University of San Diego School of Law and Co-Founder of the California Innocence Project. We discuss his book, You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You're Innocent. https://www.amazon.com/Might-Prison-Though-Youre-Innocent/dp/0520409604/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.   will-cooper.com

Summer Lopez joined PEN America in 2017, and serves as the chief program officer of Free Expression Programs. Beginning in Nov 2024, she is also serving as interim co-CEO of PEN America. She previously worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for eight years, and was most recently posted to Zimbabwe, where she served as the deputy director of the Office of Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance at the USAID Mission in Harare. Earlier, she was at USAID headquarters in Washington, D.C., focused on the Middle East and Asia in the Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance. In that position, she played a leading role in advocating for effective integration and promotion of democratic and human rights principles in U.S. policy, strategy, and programming in the Middle East and Asia, including during the period of the Arab Spring. She also represented USAID in the development of the first U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, issued in 2011. https://pen.org/profile/summer-lopez/

Everything you need to know.   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.

We cover the waterfront on this episode. Tons going on. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY. will-cooper.com

How Our Constitution Works And Why It Doesn’t: More from Professor Daniel J. Solove, the leading scholar in this space. www.danielsolove.com   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.

We discuss Trump, Musk, and the current world order.  

The outspoken MP gives his take on US and UK politics.    

An in-depth discussion with Dieter on the Warriors and Niners. https://www.mercurynews.com/author/dieter-kurtenbach/

A comprehensive STATE OF THE NINERS with the best reporter covering the team, Cam Inman. More from him here: https://www.instagram.com/49ers.cam https://caminman.com/ https://www.mercurynews.com/author/cam-inman/ https://a.co/d/04K12KKn

How Our Constitution Works And Why It Doesn't: We discuss the essential role of congressional oversight in our constitutional constellation. 

We discuss the legendary legal scholar's new The New York Times opinion piece,  By Week's End, Trump's War Will Be Plainly Illegal. We also hear about his new book, Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times. A wonderful conversation with the Dean of UC Berkeley Law.

We discuss William's many bestsellers and his forthcoming book Money to Burn: The Unvarnished Truth About Leon Black, Apollo, and the Rise of a New Wall Street. The book is already generating tremendous excitement in the business community. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739893/money-to-burn-by-william-d-cohan/

Trump is smashing norms. Yet again. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.   will-cooper.com  

A reasoned debate on a controversial topic.   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.

It's been quite a week. A week of big losses, and some wins, for President Trump.

We discuss her work in free speech and her contribution to Harvard Law's new book, America Unfinished. https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/rebecca-tushnet/ https://hls.harvard.edu/america-unfinished/ 

MATTILDA BERNSTEIN SYCAMORE is the author, most recently, of Terry Dactyl (Coffee House Press 2025; UK edition Cipher Press), described by the New York Times Book Review as “a remarkably grounded look at what it means to be fully alive,” and by a starred review in Publishers Weekly as “a shimmering tale of art, drugs, and friendship spanning from the AIDS crisis to the Covid-19 pandemic.” Terry Dactyl was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist and a Big Other Book Award Finalist. https://www.mattildabernsteinsycamore.com/

We discuss her book The Courtyard. https://www.alexamorris.com/about

We discuss a new book by Harvard's faculty that he contributed to, and his thoughts on American democracy today. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/842833/america-unfinished-by-edited-by-alexandra-natapoff-and-guy-uriel-e-charles/

We discuss an array of ways the constitution isn't working with Texas and Harvard law professor Sandy Levinson. https://law.utexas.edu/faculty/sanford-v-levinson/

Print Day in May is celebrated on the first Saturday in May, every year. The event celebrates the art and community of printmaking. We hear from the founder of this global event, artist Robynn Smith.   https://www.robynnsmith.com/print-day-in-may https://printdayinmay.com/about/ 

We discuss the fascinating world of literary agents--who are often at the center of everything involved with a book. https://www.hgliterary.com/soumeya

We discuss her book, The Friend Machine, an investigative nonfiction exploring artificial companionship. https://www.vmhetherington.com/    

We discuss her new book, Feel the Floor: Restoring the Life and Legacy of Jazz Choreographer Buddy Bradley. “A prodigious feat of research, Feel the Floor is an act of redress that restores Bradley’s life and legacy.… Fresh interviews with still enchanted former students give us a window onto a man who moved so beautifully that it brought people to tears.” The New Yorker https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804547/feel-the-floor-by-maureen-footer/

An easy question to answer: it violates the constitution. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY. will-cooper.com

An in-depth discussion on this essential topic with law professor Ned Foley of Ohio State, the leading scholar in this area. https://moritzlaw.osu.edu/edward-b-foley-ba-jd

Christopher Merrill has published six collections of poetry, including Watch Fire, for which he received the Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets; many edited volumes and translations; and six books of nonfiction, among them, Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars, Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain, The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War, and Self-Portrait with Dogwood. His writings have been translated into nearly forty languages; his journalism appears widely; his honors include a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French government, numerous translation awards, and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial and Ingram Merrill Foundations. As director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa since 2000, Merrill has conducted cultural diplomacy missions to more than fifty countries. He served on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO from 2011-2018, and in April 2012 President Barack Obama appointed him to the National Council on the Humanities. https://www.christophermerrillbooks.com/bio.htm  

There is a pathway in the constitution. Allow us to explain. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY. will-cooper.com

We discuss her storied career at The New Yorker and her bestseller, Lorne The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/532520/lorne-by-susan-morrison/   DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.

You read that right. A substantive debate into one of the most controversial legal decisions in American history. DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY. will-cooper.com

Website: https://defector.com/author/ray-ratto