At his death, the 96 year-old Albert Sprague Bard had occupied the landmarked Broad Exchange Building for six decades after becoming the structure's very first tenant. Within those hallowed walls, Bard hatched statewide legislation known as the "Bard Act" which gave New York's communities the legal right to regulate aesthetics — and crucially, protect historic buildings and neighborhoods through New York City's Landmarks Law.

In this special episode of Wrecking Ball, author and historian Anthony C. Wood rejoins host Adrian Untermyer to discuss the ever-persistent and oft-eccentric Bard as portrayed in Wood's new biography, Servant of Beauty: Landmarks, Secret Love, and the Unimagined Life of an Unsung New York Hero. Complete with joyful asides about everything from Robert Moses to Cold War spycraft to obscure railroad corporate lore, this episode is a must-listen for anyone who ever wondered how New Yorkers built a modern city that also managed to include its past.

In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican candidate, won the presidential election against Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. The outcome, however, was one of the most controversial in U.S. history because Tilden won the popular vote and the result of declaring Hayes as the winner was only finalized after months of dispute, earning the accolade of “the Fraud of the Century” by Tilden’s supporters and some historians.

In this podcast episode, host Hon. Helen E. Freedman is joined by Author Roy Morris, Jr., Professor Manisha Sinha, and Jerry Goldfeder, Esq., to unpack the facts and drama of the 1876 election, explore the political climate of the era, and draw thought-provoking connections to more recent national elections.

Host Eric van der Vort, Ph.D., speaks with retired judge Richard A. Dollinger about his Judicial Notice Issue 18 article, which explores two strikingly different figures from the early 20th century: a powerful GOP machine boss from Buffalo who became a federal judge and a Russian immigrant from Rochester known as the “high priestess of anarchy.”

Though John R. Hazel and Emma Goldman never met, their lives intersected twice in the wake of President William McKinley’s assassination by Leon Czolgosz. Judge Dollinger unpacks their parallel stories during a pivotal era in America’s rise as a global power—an age of transformation in law, politics, and culture.

Buckle up—this episode is full of unexpected twists and turns! Part of our podcast series Chatting with the Authors of Judicial Notice.