Prairieland - 30 Years for Moving Magazines. These Are Real Human Lives, Ruined.
Release Date: 06/26/2026
Ross Douthat Leaves NYT for Bari Weiss. Here Were Some of His Worst Columns.
Opening Arguments
VR40 - This Vapid Response Wednesday, we note the end of Ross Douthat’s 17-year run as the resident New York Times conservative columnist with a drive-by review of some of his most willfully clueless work--and a closer look at his recent farewell message in which he provides a fitting capstone to a long career of willfully ignoring everything about how and why the American right went full MAGA. Ross Douthat, New York Times (12/6/2009) Ross Douthat, New York Times (1/2/2016) Ross Douthat, New York Times (1/27/2018) Ross Douthat, New York Times (10/10/2020) Ross Douthat, New...
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Melissa Murray Gives the Constitution Some Strict Scrutiny
Opening Arguments
OA1286 - NYU Law professor and Strict Scrutiny co-host Melissa Murray joins to discuss (among many other things) her new book, Sonia Sotomayor’s dance moves, and why actually reading the Constitution matters now more than ever. Professor Murray’s book The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader is this month’s OA Book Club selection, and we’ll be meeting to discuss it via Zoom on August 30, 2026 at 4:30 PM EST. This is a perk available to patrons at ALL tiers! , Melissa Murray (2026) Leah M. Litman, Melissa Murray, Katherine Shaw,...
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Cornyn and Tillis Negotiate Meaningless Concession from Blanche
Opening Arguments
OA1285 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: regulators, mount up! We take a closer look at the actual documents provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche which convinced John Cornyn and Thom Tillis to change their votes, how deregulation caused a national cyclospora outbreak (and the legal response to it), and state efforts to stop the “prediction market” racket which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been all too happy to ignore. And in today’s footnote: three very different cases which prove why prediction markets shouldn’t be a...
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Did Mamdani Wipe Little Italy Off the Map?
Opening Arguments
VR39 - Vapid Response Wednesday returns with a tasteful pairing of stories about alleged anti-Italian discrimination that go together like chianti and red sauce. Today's specials include: Aperitivo: a tasteless morsel from the least deserving recipient in the history of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Primo: a chef’s kiss Washington Examiner oped on how NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani “erased” Little Italy Secondo: a spicy molto grosso meatball of a Boston lawsuit over alleged anti-Italian-American discrimination gives a federal court indigestion Dolce: our patrons! Listen...
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How a Bank Robbery Became a Fourth Amendment Landmark
Opening Arguments
OA1284 - Can a modern court implement modern solutions? It really depends on your perspective. Despite some baffling misconceptions about how… anything works, the Justices seem to be doing a pretty good job of ultimately deciding that yes, police do in fact need a warrant to deeply invade your digital privacy. While Kavanaugh appears to have the entire concept of data storage and search queries upside down and backwards, Gorsuch asks complex questions about metadata versus true content, how data is stored in individual accounts, and what other types of data would be exposed if police were...
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The Most Brazen and Corrupt Heist in American History (GG Crossover!)
Opening Arguments
Apologies for being a little late on this one!Donald Trump sued the IRS, an agency he currently runs, for leaking his own tax returns, and asked for a cool $10 billion. Thomas, Lydia, and Matt dig through the actual complaint and a judge's increasingly suspicious rulings, all timed suspiciously close to Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing. It is dumber, and more corrupt, than it sounds. Cases discussed: Patrons at can listen to Part 2 right now!
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LAM1015: Outlaw
Opening Arguments
LAM1015 - Jimmy Smits stars as a gambling, sports-shooting Supreme Court Justice with a law clerk paid to fend off his advances, in NBC's forgotten 2010 flop Outlaw. Thomas, Matt, and Lydia can barely get through a single scene without stopping to ask what this show thinks a Justice actually does. This free 45-minute preview only scratches the surface of how bad it gets. $2+ Patrons already have this full episode, plus an early part 2 of Jenessa's 4th Amendment privacy deep dive, at . Friday brings a Gavel Gavel crossover on the ruling that blew up Trump and Todd Blanche's corrupt IRS...
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How SCOTUS Paved the Way for Flock Cameras
Opening Arguments
OA1282 - Is anything private any more? Depends which Supreme Court Justice you ask. To kick off a series of episodes around data privacy and the law, first Jenessa walks us through a string of Supreme Court cases addressing 4th Amendment rights and technology. In part 1, we cover landmark cases with wiretapping, beepers, GPS trackers, thermal imaging, and more. Stick around for part 2 to hear how the modern composition of the court is responding to the proliferation of new technologies. Cases discussed: Part 2 of this breakdown drops early for patrons at . Check...
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Todd Blanche Can Also Lie and Dodge Questions in Writing Too!
Opening Arguments
OA1281 - As we wait on the final vote tally for Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche, we take a look at written responses which he recently provided into the record to answer a wide range of Senate questions the day after his hearing concluded. We also take a closer look at how the 5th Circuit is trying to make a recent Clarence Thomas concurrence into law, and how Thomas’s retrograde reading of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause could end federal firearms charges and potentially take one of the pillars of the entire federal criminal punishment system along with them. Finally in...
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Law on the Spectrum, with Peter O'Neil
Opening Arguments
OA1280 - Peter O’Neil was preparing for retirement after decades of practicing law when he learned that he was autistic at the age of 65. This realization inspired his memoir My So-Called Disorder: Autism, Exploding Trucks, and the Big Daddy of Rock and Roll, in which he looks back at his life and legal career to better understand how his neurodiversity played a role in both his most significant personal challenges and the unique professional talents which helped him to take on some of the largest corporations in the US as a products liability attorney. In this unusual...
info_outlineOA1273 - On June 23, 2026, eight people were sentenced in DOJ’s first so-called “Antifa” terrorism prosecution by federal judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas to a combined 450 years in federal prison for their participation in a protest held at the Prarieland ICE detention facility on July 4th, 2025. Six of these defendants were charged with what amounted to being present at (or in the vicinity of) the protest, and one who wasn’t even there received 30 years for moving a box of First Amendment-protected publications. In this continuing coverage of one of the most unjust criminal prosecutions of the second Trump administration, Matt goes deep on the government’s case to show just how shoddy the “material support for terrorism” charges really were, and how DOJ used a few text messages, some consumer fireworks shot off on the 4th of July far from any people or property, and $4805.95 in property damage to engineer sentencing enhancements which virtually guaranteed that these protesters would receive harsher punishments than many defendants in the federal system charged with far more serious offenses. What does all of this mean for the future of dissent in the U.S., especially given the national security memo which promised heightened investigation and prosecution of “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, [ ]anti-Christianity… and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality” after the assassination of Charlie Kirk? Then in today’s footnote: An Arizona appeals court takes on one man’s truly contemptible email address.
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OA 1252: “Peaceful Protestors Are Facing Decades in Prison - Inside the Prairieland Trial” (OA interview with Defense Committee member and attorney Xavier de Janon)
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Meet the Defendants (Prairieland Support Committee website)
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Benjamin “Champagne” Song’s statement at sentencing (6/23/2026)
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Commans v. Dunbar, Arizona Court of Appeals #CA-CV 25-0256 (2/6/2026)
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