{"podcast":{"title":"Opening Arguments","slug":"opening-arguments-1055646","podcast_index_feed_id":1055646,"rss_url":"https://openargs.libsyn.com/","website_url":"http://openargs.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/2/6/1/9/261949e1b6a8cd5ae55e3c100dce7605/OA_Podcast_2024_FINAL-20240722-03wker1cxp.jpg","author":"Opening Arguments Media LLC","episode_count":1260,"summary":"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!","last_synced_at":"2026-07-15T20:19:28.616997+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/opening-arguments-1055646"},"episode":{"title":"The National Review’s Defense of Todd Blanche Is So Bad It's Confusing","slug":"the-national-review-s-defense-of-todd-blanche-is-so-bad-it-s-confusing","published_at":"2026-06-17T08:07:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/opening-arguments-1055646/the-national-review-s-defense-of-todd-blanche-is-so-bad-it-s-confusing","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/opening-arguments-1055646","url":"https://sites.libsyn.com/86258/the-national-reviews-defense-of-todd-blanche-is-so-bad-its-confusing","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/35/clrtpod.com/m/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/openargs/VR35.mp3?dest-id=455562","summary":"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 worst (and worst-timed!) contemporary takes on the scandal which would end Richard Nixon’s Presidency. We then return to a time in which a Watergate-style burglary would be a fun diversion to see how at least one conservative legal writer is defending Trump’s nomination of his former defense attorney to serve as Attorney General. “Comeback Time,” William Safire, The New York Times (4/19/1973) “Todd Blanche is Unfit for Office,” The Editorial Board, The New York Times (6/15/2026) “Blanche and the New York Time s,” Michael Fragoso, National Review (6/15/2026) Opening Arguments Linktree (Patreon, socials, and more): https://linktr.ee/openingarguments","meta_description":"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 ret…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4115,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/opening-arguments-1055646/episodes/the-national-review-s-defense-of-todd-blanche-is-so-bad-it-s-confusing/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/opening-arguments-1055646/the-national-review-s-defense-of-todd-blanche-is-so-bad-it-s-confusing.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}