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!
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Sep 28, 2026 · 52:33
OA1300 - The “insanity defense” might sound like a relic of a time when mental illness was viewed through the lens of demons and witches, and it turns out it is… but also maybe…
Sep 25, 2026 · 1:02:14
OA1299 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: what crimes might Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) have been complicit in, and why won't she ever be prosecuted for any of them? We go…
Sep 24, 2026 · 1:04:45
Coyote vs. Acme is such a fun movie. Thomas and Lydia saw it with the kids, Matt tried to borrow some kids to see it with, and has some fun legal observations for us. BUT! Before…
Sep 21, 2026 · 58:41
OA1298 - Voting rights attorney Jenessa is back with a sprawling tour of election chaos, starting with the Supreme Court's unsigned order in USPS v. California : nobody knows the…
Sep 18, 2026 · 51:11
OA1297 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: SCOTUS once again confirms the color of the sky, the latest failures in DOJ’s attempts to prosecute Trump’s political opponents, why…
Sep 16, 2026 · 1:01:05
VR44 - This week on Vapid Response: we survey some of MAGA’s worst takes on the recent mistrial of Lindsay Clancy, all the way from “women are too woke and emotional to be on…
Sep 14, 2026 · 49:30
OA1296 - Dave Wedge is a veteran Boston reporter and New York Times bestselling author who covered (among many other things) hundreds of murder trials as a reporter for the…
Sep 11, 2026 · 46:17
OA1295 - Today on Rapid Response Friday: your questions about the Lindsay Clancy mistrial, actual justice for the Tate brothers, Trump’s mystery meat, and the Fifth Circuit’s…
Sep 9, 2026 · 1:21:28
VR43 - Today on this special edition of Vapid Response: ICE boot enthusiast Milo Yiannopolous is not a particularly interesting person, but his recent unexpected removal to the…
Sep 7, 2026 · 1:06:11
OA1294 - Haley Moss was the first openly autistic woman to practice law in Florida, and she is now an advocate for disability, autism, and neurodiversity in the workplace. She…
Sep 4, 2026 · 1:00:57
OA1293 - In this extra-special Rapid Response Friday, Thomas visits Boston to record live in Matt’s office and talk out two very different legal stories in the news that the…
Sep 2, 2026 · 44:11
Hey folks, no VR this week because Lydia and I are traveling. (We're in Boston, going to record RRF live together with Matt!) But folks NEED to hear this episode of Gavel Gavel…
Aug 31, 2026 · 1:00:34
OA1292 - Jenessa takes us through the Supreme Court's 6-3 shadow docket ruling in Trump v. California , which lifted a preliminary injunction blocking Trump's executive order…
Aug 28, 2026 · 50:38
OA1291 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: the single biggest consumer protection settlement ever reached with any U.S. company puts new guardrails on younger social media…
Aug 26, 2026 · 1:07:57
VR42 - Today on Vapid Response Wednesday: Lydia, Thomas, and Matt check in on the official podcast of Stephen Miller's America First Legal, and Matt brings the receipts to show…
Aug 24, 2026 · 52:09
OA1290 - Jenessa returns with a surveillance grab bag: a New York mayor declares a bizarre "emergency" to keep her city's Flock cameras running after the city council said no,…
Aug 21, 2026 · 58:01
OA1289 - Is Disney/ABC’s bold new legal action against the Trump administration one of the most important First Amendment challenges of our lifetimes, or just another Mickey…
Aug 19, 2026 · 1:20:40
VR41 - What does a “moderate conservative” sound like in August 2026? Thomas and Matt take a closer look at two very different self-proclaimed “moderates” representing the best…
Aug 17, 2026 · 59:30
OA1288 - What happens when a hotheaded cop who isn’t interested in putting in much effort to solve a crime meets up with another cop who thinks computers are infallible? A man…
Aug 14, 2026 · 52:39
OA1287 - Today on Rapid Response Friday: Todd “Two Taints” Blanche flexes his new freedom as two Tates blanch at the loss of theirs, and a lawsuit over a cinematic heist starring…
Aug 12, 2026 · 1:27:29
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…
Aug 10, 2026 · 59:53
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…
Aug 7, 2026 · 1:02:39
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…
Aug 5, 2026 · 1:08:10
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…
Aug 3, 2026 · 54:07
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…
Aug 1, 2026 · 49:04
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,…
Jul 29, 2026 · 49:24
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,…
Jul 27, 2026 · 57:17
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…
Jul 24, 2026 · 47:56
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…
Jul 20, 2026 · 57:52
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…
Jul 17, 2026 · 51:36
OA1279 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: A federal judge rips up the corrupt “settlement” Trump reached with his own IRS at the unprecedented request of a group of 35 former…
Jul 15, 2026 · 1:02:22
VR38 - This week in Vapid Response Thomas, Lydia, and Matt review some truly awful takes from a MAGA economist on the true cause of low crime rates, Rep. Nancy Mace on her…
Jul 13, 2026 · 1:03:42
OA1278 - On its face, the decision in Watson is a pretty narrow ruling. Some states allow ballots postmarked on or before election day, but arriving after election day, to be…
Jul 10, 2026 · 48:22
OA1277 - We continue our coverage of the Trump administration’s criminalization of dissent with a brief update on the sentencing of the last remaining Prairieland defendant and a…
Jul 8, 2026 · 1:10:21
VR37 - Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh both wrote furious, error-riddled columns attacking the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling in Trump v. Barbara. And so Thomas,…
Jul 6, 2026 · 53:26
OA1276 - Who could have predicted this? Us! The Trump administration has made their complete disdain for people with disabilities clear since day one. We’ve called it out before,…
Jul 3, 2026 · 56:54
OA1275 - As June ends and another Supreme Court Season wraps, it is time to look back and survey the damage: significant blows to voting and trans rights, harder times for…
Jul 1, 2026 · 1:21:27
VR36 - In Mullin v Doe, Samuel Alito just proudly stripped Temporary Protected Status from more than one million people who were lawfully living and working in the US as of the…
Jun 29, 2026 · 1:11:45
OA1274 - Can you sue if someone posts something nasty about you online? I mean maybe, but not like this. In today’s episode, Lydia introduces us to the wild world of “Are We…
Jun 26, 2026 · 57:42
OA1273 - 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…
Jun 22, 2026 · 56:58
OA1272 - We are excited to welcome veteran journalist Peter Canellos to discuss his new book Revenge for the Sixties: Sam Alito and the Triumph of the Conservative Legal Movement…
Jun 19, 2026 · 54:04
OA1271 - The single stupidest war of choice the U.S. has ever gotten itself into may finally be coming to an end--or at least the concept of a plan for an end? We go beyond the…
Jun 17, 2026 · 1:08:35
VR35 - In this episode released on the 54th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, the Vapid Response team raids the archives of the New York Times to retrieve one of the single…
Jun 15, 2026 · 56:23
OA1270 - A good court thingie! A famous case from 1986 gave us the “Batson rule” that prevents the use of “peremptory strikes” to remove people from juries on the basis of race.…
Jun 14, 2026 · 47:56
Hoo boy what a bizarre experience! Listen as Matt tries to convince us a really bad movie is good just because it deals with immigration law! If you'd like to hear the rest, go…
Jun 12, 2026 · 53:47
OA1269 - It’s official: Donald Trump has nominated Acting Attorney General “Two Taint” Todd Blanche to run the Department of Justice for real. We review Blanche’s three-year…
Jun 8, 2026 · 1:08:13
OA1268 - Patents, trademarks, and copyrights, ach mein! How did the Fender Stratocaster, a guitar that has been in continuous manufacture since 1954, Suddenly become the subject…
Jun 5, 2026 · 42:04
OA1267 - Is Trump’s 1.8 billion dollar “anti-weaponization” fund really done, or is there something else going on here? Also can a few dozen federal judges really reopen any…
Jun 3, 2026 · 1:09:30
VR34 - This week in Vapid Response: Vanilla Ice provides the platonic ideal of an amuse douche before we order up an excerpt of the worshipful new Alito biography by the…
Jun 1, 2026 · 53:36
OA1266 - Can wearing a corset be considered a “public” use of the product? What makes someone (or some thing) an inventor? What is it exactly that makes the Super Soaker so rad?…
May 29, 2026 · 49:27
OA1265 - THIS IS SUCH A GOOD NEWS SHOW. Seriously. It was so good that Matt invented a new form of entertainment that you need to hear about. We've got Markwayne saying possibly…
May 27, 2026 · 1:05:04
VR33 - Did Trump’s DHS really just “end greencards” for people living in the US? Is everyone here on a visa going to have to return to their home countries--potentially with…
May 25, 2026 · 1:02:23
OA1264 - Sherise Doyley was in the early stages of labor, in a hospital bed, preparing to deliver her baby, when nurses wheeled in a computer. On the screen was a judge,…
May 22, 2026 · 53:13
OA1263 - Two of the most egregiously impeachable things ever to happen in the United States have just occurred on the same day this week: The so-called “settlement” between…
May 20, 2026 · 1:21:17
VR32 - As the economic effects of Trump’s war of choice in the Middle East begin to hit home, his party is playing the one card it has going into the midterms: the promise of…
May 18, 2026 · 58:48
OA1262 - How are a car accident in California, a tax fraud case in Nevada, and two bus accidents in New York and Pennsylvania all connected to the Dobbs abortion case? Find out…
May 15, 2026 · 49:40
OA1261 - Today on Rapid Response Friday: a new fight for reproductive rights reaches SCOTUS, (some) justice on ICE, and two very different kinds of dicks get their day in court.…
May 13, 2026 · 1:05:03
VR31 - Is Justice Clarence Thomas the single most interesting person in American public life right now? Matt is here to argue that case upon the dismal milestone of Thomas…
May 11, 2026 · 1:04:33
OA1260 - The Supreme Court lectures us on the right way to combat racism, which is to close our eyes and pretend it’s not happening. In Louisiana v. Callais… the court guts the…
May 8, 2026 · 59:20
OA1259 - This week in Rapid Response Friday: who is the government protecting but not binding these days--and who are they binding but not protecting? We consider DOJ’s newest…
May 6, 2026 · 48:10
Hey folks! Instead of VR this week we're putting out an episode-length preview of the latest Law'd Awful Movies! It's the TV show Bull. It sucks. And it's supposed to be about…
May 4, 2026 · 43:13
OA1258 - The Social Media Victims Law Center just made history in a Los Angeles courtroom by holding Meta and Google accountable for mental health harms which they successfully…
May 1, 2026 · 1:22:40
In this very special episode, Thomas and Lydia Smith celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary in the most normal and romantic way possible: subjecting themselves to an extended…
Apr 29, 2026 · 1:08:42
The United States Department of Justice has reached a humiliating but undeniably hilarious new low in its defense of Donald Trump's illegal efforts to create a massive new…
Apr 27, 2026 · 1:06:54
OA1256 - Will there ever be a draft again? Who knows. But if there is, what does one have to do to claim "conscientious objector” status? During the Vietnam War, the Supreme…
Apr 24, 2026 · 50:11
OA1255 - Has the Southern Poverty Law Center really just been indicted for helping to provide information to the FBI? Did the Trump administration really just tell a federal…
Apr 22, 2026 · 1:31:03
VR29 - Thomas, Lydia, and Matt go deep on the “Shadow Papers,” the 2016 shadow docket memos recently leaked to The New York Times which reveal the truth about the deliberations…
Apr 20, 2026 · 53:21
OA1254 - An underreported on case called Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment could be a much bigger deal than it seems. Record labels say Cox let repeat…
Apr 17, 2026 · 48:08
OA1253 - It’s spring cleaning time in this week’s news, in which we answer patron questions on everything from DOJ lying to a federal judge about ICE’s policy on arresting…
Apr 15, 2026 · 1:06:34
VR28 - On this week’s Vapid Response, we survey the fallout from California Congressman Eric Swalwell’s recent exposure as a longtime sexual predator and ensuing swift exit from…
Apr 13, 2026 · 1:01:52
OA1252 - Just one month ago, nine people were convicted in a Texas federal court for their participation in a protest outside the Prairieland ICE facility in a first-ever…
Apr 10, 2026 · 57:41
OA1251 - We begin with a rare Friday appearance from OA democracy correspondent Jenessa Seymour, who stops in to provide some unequivocal good news from this week’s elections.…
Apr 8, 2026 · 1:11:26
VR27 - This week on Vapid Response Wednesday we take a look at the liars, losers, frauds, and suckers angling for a federal bench who have worked up, developed, and sold the…
Apr 6, 2026 · 57:58
OA1250 - A fall out of bed during a vacation in Delaware turned into a Supreme Court case, decided this term, that could have big implications for states’ rights to limit tort…
Apr 3, 2026 · 1:10:05
... and they really never should have been laughed in to court in the first place. OA1249 - Solicitor General D. John Sauer got plenty of laughs when he brought his best April…
Apr 1, 2026 · 48:57
This LAM was so much fun I wanted to make sure everyone could hear it! Well, at least a good chunk of it anyway. If you'd like to hear the rest, head to patreon and hit that $2…
Mar 30, 2026 · 1:01:29
Part 2: How Subnautica 2 got its CEO back Welcome back to the strange tale of video game publisher Krafton, the bonus they really didn’t want to pay to developer Unknown Worlds,…
Mar 27, 2026 · 43:49
OA1247 - Should social media companies be held responsible for the addiction and other harms their features and algorithms have caused to users? A California jury thought so this…
Mar 25, 2026 · 1:30:01
VR26 - Matt read not one but TWO of Pete Hegseth's "books." The awful xenophobic, genocidal crap contained therein might help explain the Iran War.
Mar 23, 2026 · 54:11
OA1246 - Part 1: “The AI was nicer about it” and other reasons I ignored my lawyer: the Subnautica 2 story ChatGPT cannot warp space-time to make you un-sign that contract.…
Mar 20, 2026 · 55:16
OA1245 - Federal prosecutors have just secured the first convictions in US history in which the Department of Justice has brought charges relating to associations with “Antifa,”…
Mar 18, 2026 · 52:53
Hey folks, no video this week so instead I wanted to give you another episode of our new trial over on Gavel Gavel , US v. Dunn! This is episode 2 (we have released 4 on the…
Mar 16, 2026 · 52:58
OA1244 - More election news updates. What the heck happened in Dallas? How is hunting for fraud in Georgia still a thing? Why is the DOJ trying to get non-public voter data from…
Mar 13, 2026 · 57:32
OA1243 - The lawsuit that was supposed to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s obvious monopoly over live music throughout the U.S. has just ended in a settlement so…
Mar 11, 2026 · 1:24:30
VR25 - This episode is dedicated to the memory of Cricket, the 14-month-old wirehaired pointer murdered in cold blood by Kristi Noem on an unknown date in a gravel pit in South…
Mar 9, 2026 · 1:11:41
OA1242 - Ever heard of the “major questions doctrine”? Most lawyers sure hadn’t until a few years ago. So how did it get that important-sounding name? Where did it come from?…
Mar 6, 2026 · 58:42
OA1241 - This Rapid Response Friday:* everything you need to know to explain to anyone who will listen exactly why what the US is doing in Iran is illegal. We also review oral…
Mar 4, 2026 · 1:42:39
E24 - Today on Vapid Response Wednesday: the story of a wealthy family that lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to try to defend his sister after she was…
Mar 2, 2026 · 40:54
OA1240 - Shaina Aber, Executive Director with Acacia Center for Justice, joins today to discuss immigration nonprofit work during Trump 2.0. Find all of the tools and programs we…
Feb 27, 2026 · 53:15
OA1239 - Did the Supreme Court just hand Donald Trump the biggest L in US presidential history? We go beyond the headlines to break down the first decision on the merits of any…
Feb 23, 2026 · 59:38
OA1238 - Dive in to an “old” case from the 90’s that secured a critical right for people with disabilities: The right to be free from unnecessary institutionalization. Learn…
Feb 20, 2026 · 52:43
OA1237 - The U.S. Department of Justice is not sending their best these days. From the problematic indictments of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for their coverage of the…
Feb 18, 2026 · 1:16:13
E23 - For today's amuse douche : a savory sample of our favorite Harvard Law professor’s extremely normal 2015 explanation of his appearances in Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs. We…
Feb 16, 2026 · 49:21
OA1236 - Elections grab bag! Election news has been accumulating, so Jenessa helps us get caught up on what’s going on. Who’s winning elections? What’s going on with…
Feb 13, 2026 · 49:30
OA1235 - Today on Rapid Response Friday: Matt’s still on island time, so it’s a good-news-only kind of day as we review (1) the historic termination of deportation proceedings…
Feb 11, 2026 · 56:51
VR22 - Matt reports in just a few miles from--and this is true--Epstein Island to provide a recap of his recent visit to Minnesota days after Alex Pretti’s murder for the first…
Feb 9, 2026 · 59:07
Take a break from the downfall of democracy and instead get outraged at the deep injustice of a year-long feud over a bronze medal in women’s gymnastics. This story’s got…
Feb 6, 2026 · 1:45:08
OA1233 - We are not conspiracy theorist type people. But... yeah man I don't know. But also, so much more in these files to talk about. If you know anything about the federal…
Feb 4, 2026 · 1:27:05
E21 - CONTENT WARNING / TRIGGER WARNING: references to child sex abuse, child sex abuse materials, survivor accounts Watch this episode on YouTube ! The Epstein Files have been…
Feb 2, 2026 · 57:11
OA1232 - Hey OA-ers, this episode was a Gavel Gavel bonus, but we wanted to be sure everyone was updated on what's going on with the Luigi Mangione trials. New York public…
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