The Divided Argument Podcast and Oklahoma City’s Dean/Mayor

The last time we mentioned the Divided Argument podcast, we were congratulating them on their funniest bit yet. After that, I chided co-host Will Baude on social media for throwing shade on my adopted home town, Oklahoma City.

To his credit, in their latest episode, Will apologized for his ill-chosen words about Oklahoma City, and rising to the bait, he has indicated a willingness to enhance his knowledge of OKC by giving a guest lecture here. We only have two endowed lectures a year, so it may take us a while to reach out, but I can assure Will that I have very good relations with the chair of the speakers committee, and the Dean/Mayor has expressed willingness to arrange an outing to a Thunder game as an added inducement. 

Unfortunately, I now have to turn my Kendrick Lamar-level Beef energy to Will’s partner, Dan Epps, for two faux pas during the latest episode.

First, the duo announced the launch of their new blog, and I congratulate them on that endeavor. In announcing the launch, however, Dan for some reason felt it necessary to stress that their blog, which is called a blog, is not a blog because “Blogs died and got taken over by Substack.” Their blog is actually a Substack, I guess, except that you don’t have to pay to subscribe, and they explain why that is different from a blog. Well I never. 

Rumors of the death of blogs is exaggerated. They cite to the Volokh Conspiracy as an example of a blog, and it is one on which I think Will, at least, has been known to post. Notwithstanding the Beef, I have subscribed to their Substack, but it will always be a blog to me. I recommend that you subscribe as well. Tell them that the ContractsProf Blog sent you. And tell them that you are subscribing to them because it is a blog, which is like a Substack, except that it is free, and that’s why you are refusing to pay subscription fees. Hah. That’ll show ‘em.

And having now had a look at the blog, I would add that, if anything, they undersold it. In addition to having bonus content from the maddeningly prolific and always surprising and interesting podcast co-hosts, Will and Dan, the blog also includes guest essays from luminaries in the firmament of our legal academy. Will’s sometime co-author Stephen Sachs and Notre Dame’s Samuel Bray are, thus far, he most frequent guest contributors. It is invaluable to be able to read quick takes from these authors who, like Will and Dan, produce more article-length content than the typical blogger can digest given other demands and commitments.

There follows a mention of this blog, for which we are very grateful, and renewed, more positive discussion of Oklahoma City. Will Baude shares that the Dean of our law school (above right) is also the Mayor of Oklahoma City , and here Dan makes his second Beef-worthy gaffe. He opines that it seems like being Dean and being Mayor are both full-time jobs, and he expressed his doubts that anyone could do them both well.

We currently have a co-President who also runs five companies, so I don’t know why Dan thinks Dean Holt cannot wear a couple of hats. In fact, the day-to-day operations of Oklahoma City are run by our City Manager. Dean Holt’s other job is important but decidedly part time. He had a different day job before we chose him as Dean. Oklahoma generally has a tradition of having politicians involved in higher education. David Boren’s stewardship of the University of Oklahoma was the most prominent example, but there are many others. Robert Henry went from Oklahoma Attorney General to Dean of our Law School to Tenth Circuit Judge. He stepped down from the Tenth Circuit to serve as our university president from 2010-2018.

Our last Dean, Jim Roth, was also a politician and practitioner before he stepped into the role as Dean. We like the synergies. For example, when the local NBA team makes the playoffs, the Mayor/Dean can procure a comically-large banner to hang in the Law School’s central atrium to inspire the students as they prepare for their contracts class. Our Mayor/Dean also hosted a Thunder watch party in said atrium, and our Associate Dean showered the students from the balcony with Thunder swag  (T-shirt cannon is on hold due to budgetary constraints). These are the sort of special bonuses a law school can offer its students when you have a Dean who is also the Mayor.