In this episode, we take a closer look at how governments use various tactics to craft agreements in ways that keep the average person in line. One of the key tools in this process is legalese—a dense, technical form of language filled with jargon, old-fashioned terms, and complex sentence structures.
Legalese is often intentionally confusing. It’s written in a way that makes it difficult for everyday people to fully understand what they’re agreeing to, unless they have legal training. This creates a power imbalance—those who write and interpret these documents (like lawyers, judges, and officials) have the upper hand, while everyone else is left trying to make sense of something that sounds like it was written in another language.
We’ll explore how this language is used to create a surface-level agreement between parties, while often hiding deeper implications in plain sight. Understanding how legalese works is the first step toward seeing through the illusion of fairness in many legal agreements.
RIng The Bell
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!