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Opening Arguments - Podcast

Opening Arguments

Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith brings on legal analysts to help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas!
The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!

News Politics Law
Update frequency
every 2 days
Average duration
65 minutes
Episodes
1133
Years Active
2016 - 2025
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What Now?

What Now?

RBG has died. This is terrible. Absolutely, unambiguously terrible. We were already recording something else when the news broke, so we decided to stop that recording, and give you our live, unfilte…

01:03:50  |   Sat 19 Sep 2020
OA422: Road to Sedition aka Bill Barr, Evil POS

OA422: Road to Sedition aka Bill Barr, Evil POS

Certified supervillain Bill Barr has a new plan to arrest protestors for sedition and subversion. How worried should we be about this? What's the legal basis? As always, we've got the full breakdown…

01:06:39  |   Fri 18 Sep 2020
OA421: Trump Evades Justice on Emoluments in 1st Term

OA421: Trump Evades Justice on Emoluments in 1st Term

There's no sugar coating it: the wheel of justice was so f***ing slow it couldn't do anything to Trump in 4 damn years. Come on in and hear the breakdown of the breakdown of justice.

In our second…

01:12:13  |   Tue 15 Sep 2020
OA420: DoJ Defending Trump in Carroll Case?

OA420: DoJ Defending Trump in Carroll Case?

You've likely seen the headlines saying the DoJ wants to take over defending Trump against E. Jean Carroll, but you haven't heard it properly explained by our esteemed P. Andrew Torrez! So what's ha…

01:09:34  |   Fri 11 Sep 2020
OA419: What Happened in McGirt v. Oklahoma

OA419: What Happened in McGirt v. Oklahoma

Did Neil Gorsuch and his 4 flaming liberal friends in the Supreme Court just give away half of Oklahoma? Ted Cruz thinks so, so that should tell you. But if you want to really know what happened, ch…

01:22:09  |   Tue 08 Sep 2020
OA418: D.C. Circuit Panel's Multiple Bad Court Thingies

OA418: D.C. Circuit Panel's Multiple Bad Court Thingies

Our main story today is how the DC Circuit Court has helped Trump successfully avoid accountability until after the election. You may remember Don McGahn from such investigations as Robert Mueller's…

01:09:47  |   Fri 04 Sep 2020
OA417: WTH, What the Hatch Act! with Allison Gill

OA417: WTH, What the Hatch Act! with Allison Gill

Be warned, this episode contains explicit language and Trumpian hypocrisy. Given that the RNC was basically a 4-night Hatch Act Violation Spectacular, Andrew is delivering us the Hatch Act deep-dive…

01:15:20  |   Tue 01 Sep 2020
OA416: The Kenosha Terrorist

OA416: The Kenosha Terrorist

17 year old murderer Kyle Rittenhouse was treated as a friend by the police even after he killed two people. Jacob Blake was shot in the back 7 times despite being unarmed. The difference? You alrea…

01:01:22  |   Fri 28 Aug 2020
OA415: DeJoy's Illegal Dismantling of the USPS

OA415: DeJoy's Illegal Dismantling of the USPS

We're finally getting the deep-dive we've always wanted on the *drum roll* Unites States Postal Service! Questions answered by our esteemed Andrew include: Who is DeJoy? How is he even there? Why is…

01:14:03  |   Tue 25 Aug 2020
OA414: Steve Bannon Arrested!

OA414: Steve Bannon Arrested!

So much to discuss on today's show! Bannon busted on billionaire's boat by the boys in blue! Leaders Of ‘We Build The Wall’ Online Fundraising Campaign Charged With Defrauding Hundreds Of Thousands…

01:16:57  |   Fri 21 Aug 2020
OA413: Birthers are Back and Roberts' Stealth Attack on Abortion Rights

OA413: Birthers are Back and Roberts' Stealth Attack on Abortion Rights

This is not a happy episode, really, unless you enjoy Andrew completely demolishing racist birtherism crap published in Newsweek about Kamala Harris. The author is the same racist asshole who, curio…

01:04:43  |   Tue 18 Aug 2020
OA412: Examining Kamala Harris's Record

OA412: Examining Kamala Harris's Record

Joe has made his pick and it's (predictably) Senator Kamala Harris! Andrew is bringing us an extensive, balanced deep-dive into Harris's record in the Senate, as California AG, and as a prosecutor f…

01:14:24  |   Fri 14 Aug 2020
OA411: Trump Guilty of Bribery? with Randall Eliason

OA411: Trump Guilty of Bribery? with Randall Eliason

Returning to the show is Randall D. Eliason, a law professor, writer and commentator on corporate and white collar criminal law! We discuss the Flynn case in more depth, as well as a bribery angle o…

01:15:37  |   Tue 11 Aug 2020
OA410: NY AG Files to Dissolve the NRA!

OA410: NY AG Files to Dissolve the NRA!

In a HUGE breaking news story, the New York Attorney General has sought to dissolve the NRA over rampant corruption! The complaint is nearly a couple hundred pages, but our esteemed Andrew has alre…

01:08:54  |   Fri 07 Aug 2020
OA409: Jed Shugerman on Trump's

OA409: Jed Shugerman on Trump's "Unfaithful Execution" of the Oath

Jed Shugerman is a Professor of Law at Fordham University. He and his colleague Ethan Leib filed a motion before Judge Amy Berman Jackson regarding Roger Stone's commutation. They argue "that the Co…

01:12:38  |   Tue 04 Aug 2020
OA408: What Happens When The CARES Act Expires Tomorrow?

OA408: What Happens When The CARES Act Expires Tomorrow?

Today's episode takes a deep dive into the Republican proposal to extend the CARES Act, which is (of course) called the HEALS Act. It's a Republican proposal, so you know it's probably terrible, but…

00:58:32  |   Fri 31 Jul 2020
OA407: Trump's Illegal DHS Secretary

OA407: Trump's Illegal DHS Secretary

The very person in charge of Homeland Security is essentially "here illegally." The upside is, though, there is a one weird trick to undo everything he has done while overstaying his tenure! And by …

01:04:38  |   Tue 28 Jul 2020
OA406: Fascism in Portland

OA406: Fascism in Portland

Listeners and co-hosts alike have been wanting Andrew to do a breakdown of the situation in Portland. There are big questions like, for example, how? and WTF? and what can anyone do? Andrew answers …

01:14:56  |   Fri 24 Jul 2020
OA405: SCOTUS OKs Execution of Prisoner with Alzheimer's

OA405: SCOTUS OKs Execution of Prisoner with Alzheimer's

You'll never guess which 5 justices were in the affirmative in this case and which 4 dissented... unless you've ever listened to our show, in which case you'll easily guess. Andrew discusses this de…

01:07:35  |   Tue 21 Jul 2020
OA404: Rule of Law Not Found

OA404: Rule of Law Not Found

AKA the Roger Stone scandal. Trump has overloaded our ability to be angry and made us swallow outrage after outrage like Joey Chestnut eating hot dogs. But don't worry because Andrew is our Upton Si…

01:04:33  |   Fri 17 Jul 2020
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