Opening Arguments
Opening Arguments (a.k.a. OA, Open Args) is a legal issue explainer podcast hosted by non-lawyer Thomas Smith.
Stats
- Hosts: Thomas Smith; Matt Cameron
- Social media:
- Website: https://openargs.com/
- Patreon: https://patreon.com/law
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Openargs
Background
Before 2023-02, Smith and lawyer P. Andrew Torrez co-hosted the show until allegations of sexual misconduct and subsequent disagreement between the co-hosts ended the arrangement.[1][2][3] Torrez seized control over the podcast until 2024-02 when Thomas Smith took back control.[4]
Notable episodes
See List of Opening Arguments episodes
- 365: (transcript) “Every Melody Ever, Part 1”: Thomas Smith and Andrew Torrez discuss the work of Damien Riehl and Noah Rubin to algorithmically generate and copyright every possible 12 beat melody so music artists can cite their work when combating frivolous claims of plagiarism.[5]
- 367: (transcript) “Interview with the “All the Music” Creators!”: A follow-up to OA365 in which Thomas Smith and Andrew Torrez interview Damien Riehl and Noah Rubin regarding their work regarding the legal issue of music plagiarism.[6]
- 1013, 1015: The story of Azul Uribe, a woman deported at age 22 from Cedar City, UT for being unknowingly undocumented.
- 1045 (2024-06-28): In a bonus after this episode, Thomas Smith and Matt Cameron read Judge Jacksonʼs dissent against Brett Kavanaugh for corruptly distinguishing gratuities (rewarding an official beforehand to influence their decision) from bribes (rewarding an official afterwards) in Snyder v. United States.
Yodel Mountain
The hosts of the Opening Arguments podcast likened the political career of Donald Trump to “Yodel Mountain”, the hostsʼs name for the “Cliffhangers” mini-game of the television show The Price is Right in which a mountain climber scales the mountain according to the error of a contestantʼs guesses of the price of some consumer product. As the mountain climber puppet scaled the mountain, a yodel song from Swiss Mountain Music would play. If the puppet reached the top of the mountain, it would fall off a cliff, ending the mini-game. Since running for election, Donald Trump publicly committed various crimes without facing consequences as the hiker puppet that climbed the mountain in mini-game without falling. The idea was that once Trump committed enough crimes, he would fall as the puppet falls if the Cliffhangers mini-game is lost.
History
- 2017-02-21: In Opening Arguments episode 45, co-host Thomas Smith used a clip of On the Franches Mountains as introduction music for a regular segment that would become known as "Yodel Mountain"; the segment analogized Donald Trump's accumulation of criminal activity without legal consequences to the climb of a mountain climber puppet in the “Cliffhangers” minigame of the The Price is Right television show.[7]
- 2023-02-06: Andrew Torrez takes over the podcast.[cmt 1]
- 2024-02-07: Thomas Smith retakes control over the podcast.
- 2024-02-11: Episode 1003 had Casey, Matt Cameronʼs partner joined this episode to analyze the Fani Willis case.[8].
See also
External links
References
- ↑ freakierchicken. (2023-02-06). “[1]”. reddit.com, /r/openargs. Accessed 2023-02-07. Archived from the original on 2023-02-07.
- ↑ Bob Smietana. (2023-02-01). “American Atheists board members exit, dogged by misconduct allegations ”. religionnews.com. Accessed 2023-08-02. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01.
- ↑ Thomas Smith. (2023-02-15). “Response to Andrew’s OA Finance Post”. seriouspod.com. Accessed 2023-08-02. Archived from the original on 2023-03-23.
- ↑ Thomas Smith. (2020-02-08). “Thomas Takes the Podcast Back”. patreon.com. Accessed 2024-03-12.
- ↑ Thomas Smith; Andrew Torrez. (2020-03-02). “OA365: Every Melody Ever, Part 1”. openargs.com. Accessed 2024-03-12.
- ↑ Thomas Smith (co-host); Andrew Torrez (co-host); Damien Riehl (guest); Noah Rubin (guest). (2020-03-09). “OA367: Interview with the “All the Music” Creators!”. openargs.com. Accessed 2024-03-12.
- ↑ Smith, Thomas; Torrez, Andrew. (2017-02-21). “OA45: What Could Donald Trump’s Tax Returns Tell Us? (With Guest Tony Di Fatta) – Part 1”. openargs.com. Accessed 2023-03-31. Time: 38m48s (ads), 38m18s (no ads). Archived from the original on 2017-02-22. “THOMAS: This is a new segment that I think we can do every week. It should be pretty easy. And then I think it'll be applicable for roughly 2 years in my best guess, but we'll see. The new segment is “How close is Trump to being impeached?”. How much longer can he possibly go? ... ANDREW: Do you remember the mountain climber on The Price is Right that would yodel and move up the ruler and when he got to, I think, 35, he fell off the mountain? ... I view each one of these [segments] as just another step up the mountain. Eventually [[[Donald Trump]] will] fall off the mountain.”
- ↑ Thomas Smith (host); Matt Cameron (co-host); Casey (guest). (2024-02-11). “The Fani Willis Thing... How Bad Is It?”. patreon.com. Accessed 2024-06-21.
Footnotes
Comments
- ↑ Baltakatei: 2024-06-22: Summary here.
