I’m Darren Samuelsohn, and welcome to Episode 5 of The love, journalism Show. You can listen to Episode 3, featuring the first part of my interview with former US attorney Joyce Vance, and Episode 4, a short bonus track about her chicken coop. Thanks for being here!
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I’ve got a little bit more from my Joyce Vance interview to share today.
On this special edition of The love, journalism Show, former US attorney and author of Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance talks about her Substack’s aim to engage regular Americans who genuinely want help understanding how justice and the legal system works.
“The silver lining of the Trump era is this increased interest in how stuff works,” she told me on Friday. “I promise you that in 25 years as a prosecutor, no one ever stopped me on the street and said, ‘Tell me how the grand jury works.’ And you know, that actually happens these days.”
She loves the notion I used to blast out emails to former federal prosecutors seeking comment and insights and help understanding the legal system.
“We all thought it was an honor to get to do that,” she said, referring to stories like these.
On Substack, Vance enjoys a wide variety of styles. Pressed to name some, she says she loves the “rollicking good read” of Ask E. Jean, anything Letters from an American and specifically a recent column about Reconstruction and Ron DeSantis that she printed out to share with her husband and also Today’s Edition Newsletter by Robert B. Hubbell.
Vance and I capped off our conversation by sharing the heartwarming backstory of how her kids inspired the chicken coop on her property where she frequently goes for mental health breaks. You can listen just to that story here.
Episode 5: Who gets your Bat Signal?