Podcast
Opening Arguments
Hosted by Opening Arguments Media LLC · EN
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!
98episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Did Mamdani Wipe Little Italy Off the Map?
3d ago01:08:10Tap to summarizeVR39 - 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 ad-free and support the show at patreon.com/law “Mayor Mamdani, Why Did You Erase Little Italy?” Anthony Colombo Jr., Mike Crispi, Gerard Marrone, Washington Examiner (7/10/26) Second Amended Complaint in North End Chamber of Commerce et al v. City of Boston, filed 3/7/24 Order on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss in North End Chamber of Commerce et al v. City of Boston(12/20/24) North End Chamber of Commerce et al v. City of Boston, No. 25-1063 (1st Cir., 7/30/26) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →How a Bank Robbery Became a Fourth Amendment Landmark
5d ago00:54:07Tap to summarizeOA1284 - 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 allowed to search your location information without a warrant… and yet they both ultimately vote to protect your privacy. It’s a weird world out there folks. Cases discussed: United States v. Jones Carpenter v. United States Chatrie v. United States Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →The Most Brazen and Corrupt Heist in American History (GG Crossover!)
1w ago00:49:04Tap to summarizeApologies 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: Trump v. IRS Littlejohn leak case Patrons at patreon.com/gavelpod can listen to Part 2 right now!
Transcribe →LAM1015: Outlaw
1w ago00:49:24Tap to summarizeLAM1015 - 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 patreon.com/law. Friday brings a Gavel Gavel crossover on the ruling that blew up Trump and Todd Blanche's corrupt IRS settlement. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →How SCOTUS Paved the Way for Flock Cameras
2w ago00:57:17Tap to summarizeOA1282 - 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: Olmstead v. United States Katz v. United States United States v. Knotts United States v. Karo Kyllo v. United States Riley v. California United States v. Miller Smith v. Maryland United States v. Jones Part 2 of this breakdown drops early for patrons at patreon.com/law. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →Todd Blanche Can Also Lie and Dodge Questions in Writing Too!
2w ago00:47:56Tap to summarizeOA1281 - 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 today’s footnote: AI in the courtroom hits an unbelievable new low. “Questions for the Record” for Todd Blanche issued after his confirmation hearing, with Blanche’s responses (7/17/2026) U.S. v. Hemani (6/18/2026) En banc order from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in USA v. Squire (2026) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →Law on the Spectrum, with Peter O'Neil
3w ago00:57:52Tap to summarizeOA1280 - 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 intergenerational exchange between lawyers on the spectrum, Peter and Matt discuss their experiences and appreciate the ways that these so-called “disorders” have made them who they are. Peter O'Neil is the author of My So-Called Disorder, Autism, Exploding Trucks, and the Big Daddy of Rock and Roll, this month's OA Book Club pick. Join him live for book club on July 26th at 4:30pm Eastern, for patrons at any level at patreon.com/law. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →What Happened to You, Todd Blanche?
3w ago00:51:36Tap to summarizeOA1279 - 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 federal judges just in time time for aspiring Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing, humanizing the latest victims of ICE, and a metafootnote about a DC judge who hates footnotes nearly as much as Matt loves them. The Agenda: Williams' IRS ruling Blanche confirmation hearing Salgado Araujo shooting Duran Guerrero shooting Boasberg's footnote crusade Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →Nancy Mace Thinks Anyone With a Foreign Name Is Disloyal
3w ago01:02:22Tap to summarizeVR38 - 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 extremely real and not-at-all-racist concerns about the dangers of judges with dual citizenship, and a then-20-year-old Rolling Stone columnist in 1969 on his immediate disdain for what would become one of the greatest rock albums of all time. “Trump’s Immigration Enforcement Really is Slashing Violent Crime,” John R. Lott, Jr, The Federalist (July 9, 2026) FBI’s National Crime Victims Survey data “Governing America means loyalty to America,” Rep. Nancy Mace, Newsweek (July 4, 2026) Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s preliminary injunction order in League of Women Voters v DHS Judicial nominee Sparkle Sooknanan’s responses to Sen. Lindsay Graham’s judicial questionnaire (March 20, 2024) “The Top 15 Bullshit Album Reviews That Rolling Stone Magazine Had the Balls to Publish,” Reel Harmonies (July 14, 2014) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →The MAGA Justices Get Torched by... Amy Coney Barrett?!
4w ago01:03:42Tap to summarizeOA1278 - 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 counted. The court decided they can continue to do so. But at stake was so much more. Bubbling under the surface, election deniers were trying to open a door to far more aggressive limitations on voting rights. With this decision, that door is quite firmly shut… by Barrett? Come hear Jenessa try to survive the cognitive dissonance of finding an ACB opinion extremely well-written, thorough, and appropriately critical of out-of-context half-assed attempts at historical analysis in the dissent. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Transcribe →