I’ve listened to OA for a few years now, but I think it’s time for me to unfollow. Thanks for the many times I enjoyed the content.

Like Matt and Casey, seem like interesting analyses, and definitely a breath of fresh air over Andrew and Liz. Today was my exit point. I fully understand sympathy for Palestinians and pressure in Israel, but Thomas saying that Israel is worse than the leaders of Hamas (not the general Palestinians) is a really gross moral blind spot. I don’t think that there is an inch of depth in this analysis.

This show became a success in spite of self-described comedian Thomas Smith. The lawyer who has replaced the former co-host seems like a great guy, and I’m interested in his expert opinion. Smith, however, has become only more self-absorbed. How someone so awkward and needy makes a living in this medium is beyond me. Whatever the opposite of a parasocial relationship is, that what he has with his listeners. There are legal podcasts out there just as informative and much easier to listen to. For now, I’m keeping this in my feed, but count me no longer a regular listener.

A very good podcast. I like the trial transcripts. I find it to be coverage not available elsewhere. I sure appreciate the info.

The May 3rd episode with your annotated reading of the Trump trial transcript was fantastic. It has a much greater impact to actually hear the testimony and then your insightful discussion. Thank you!!

Update: I’m so glad that Thomas is back! I’m not super familiar with all the details of the last year or so, but I definitely couldn’t continue to support the podcast when everything went down and the podcast was stolen by Andrew. I missed listening to OA so much!! It had always been a staple in my podcast rotation, so having it back has been so enjoyable! I also very much enjoy the real world experience shared by the new cohost, Matt, and his partner Casey. They bring a new depth that is refreshing, and their input is really helpful for me in understanding the procedural nature of so many of the legal topics OA is currently covering. I hope this podcast continues to be run by Thomas, as I feel his leadership has been the best thing to happen to it in the past year and a half. Previous review: Imagine claiming to be an advocate for survivors of SA…..while being a predator yourself (alcoholism isn’t an excuse, as Andrew acknowledged…at the very least)…and then imagine viciously attacking one of your accusers who also was a close friend and cohost for many years….and stealing everything from him….this is why it’s so hard for survivors to trust men, including seemingly innocent, charismatic men. They can claim to be your ally while victimizing people in private. And when it all comes out, instead of stepping back to deal with the personal issues leading to everything, he insists on quickly lashing out and defaming hi former cohost, stealing from him everything he worked so hard on…shameful. I used to love this podcast, it was always in the top ranks in my books. It’s painfully disappointing, the vindictive and abusive behavior on display from Andrew when everything came to light turned my stomach the same way so many other secret predators had before.

It would be nice if this show would finish playing instead of constantly giving “podcast unavailable” error midway through and skipping to the next episode.

Thomas is hiding 2 people who didn’t want to come forward in 2023 that complained about Aaron Rabinowitz’s behavior towards them. Thomas is a coward and Aaron is part of the organization that handles these accusations so he will definitely squash it. Literally nothing has changed. I was protecting Thomas by not mentioning it when I blocked Aaron from the fb discussion in case there were others.

Welcome aboard, Matt, and I’m so glad you’re back. Thomas. Casey, you rule! I had dropped my Patreon support before but I’m happy to say I’m back and will continue to boost you in any way I can, because I still support the core goals of the show, and I really like the new version.

Welcome back Thomas, and thanks for asking Matt to join. The two part show with Azul was absolutely amazing. Her first hand account of her detention and subsequent “self deportation” was so illuminating, and she is the exact right person to tell it. Thank you!

Opening Arguments was more than AT, but Thomas isn’t the answer. He’s an opportunist, at best. If losing your podcast for 1 year is the worst year of your life; you’ve had a life free of any real problems. OA is now just another podcast led by someone with no marketable knowledge or analysis., like almost everything out there.

Sorry, love the content, but the ratio to entertainment is out of balance…guys how much $ do you need? 1-2 30 second commercials is enough per 1/2 hour… you need some management!!!

Good to be able to listen again, and Matt is pretty great so far too.

Say what you want about Andrew: at least he had the class and grace not to trash Thomas during their litigation. I cannot say the same for Thomas. Andrew kept the listeners out of it. Thomas desperately needs approval and validation, and he craps all over Andrew to the audience to get it. The intro clips are so cringey, petty, and gross, down to “the podcast where a comedian takes lawyers to court.” I really thought Thomas would grow up and change the intro after the first week back, but apparently we are stuck with either skipping ahead or listening to a barrage of reminders that Thomas is still a wounded child and cannot get over it. You won, bud. Take the high road. Until you do, I don’t need to follow this show.

The guests and the content of the show are excellent. Unfortunately, the host makes weak jokes, interrupts key points and laughs at annoying times so I no longer listen to it.

Great show, glad to have Thomas back. This belongs in everyone’s daily rotation.

Alright, after a few episodes to check I’m picking the show back up.

Back to check out the rebuilding season.

Left after Thomas was locked out of the show, I’m so glad to be able to return now that he’s back!

So happy you are back. I’m thrilled to listen again. Love this podcast

So nice to have you back. I used to struggle through listening to the show because I always hated Andrew. Matt is great, the show is now one of my favorite podcasts instead of something I feel I have to tolerate because I need the info it contains.

Andrew and Liz were way better than this.

I never subscribed to Original OA (Thomas and Andrew) because, despite the format and content, it never got its hooks in me. OA 2.0 (Andrew and Liz) was no-go because the host. I listened after hearing Thomas was back and am really enjoying it. Matt (and sometimes Casey) brings the knowledgeable and straight delivery that works so well with the higher energy and often silliness of Thomas. I plowed through the new episodes and am subscribed. Thanks.

Thanks for bringing back Thomas!

Where is Andrew ????? Found Liz Dye !!!! I really miss the old Opening Arguments

I forgot how much fun it was to listen to Thomas!! Welcome back!

Everything is better!! Love the Camerons!

I’m replacing my review now that Thomas is back. For those of you that don’t know the history and drama, don’t worry about it, but I do recommend you give this podcast a try (again).

Andrew and her seemed to have great report… shame to hear about them both… I’ll be moving on to… b/c ya’ll boring. ;-)

I always enjoyed Andrew’s and Liz’s informative, funny and interesting perspectives on the legal issues of the day. I didn’t always agree with them, but I always learned something. I find the new version to be boring and not funny, and I don’t come away from it with any new insights. I really don’t care about the Andrew/Thomas back story on who did what. Andrew and Liz - please come up with a new podcast that I can listen to and learn from.

So happy one of my favorite podcasts has a quality host again! Liz was just mean and punched down. And andrew made some bad life choices that made him unlistenable.

I’m glad to have Thomas back. It was sad to see him missing for so long while Andrew did his best to avoid accountability. I’m glad Andrew did not prevail. Welcome back, Thomas.

Now that Thomas is back, I can finally resubscribe. Andrew’s conduct was deplorable; I can’t understand people who took his side when his actions came to light.

OA was my favorite podcast, I just unfollowed because it turns out that without Andrew it isn't interesting.

I cannot for the life of me listen to Thomas. BRING BACK THE LAWYER, the comedian adds zero substance to the show.

Having trouble getting geared up front the new / old show. Thomas is too scripted and contrived. Money grab it seems. If I wanted this I would just hookieness I could listen to his other podcasts.

So glad to drop the other host and have pod energy/content “up to par”. The new team is great: content and coverage is more balanced, honest, and empathetic to our world today. I love the legal breakdowns and thinking about things in a new way/perspective/point of view. So glad that Mr. Smith is in the driver seat- I missed OA pod/NOW it’s a PATREON worthy pod. Thank you TS & Team for returning to this pod.

Thomas is back! Matt’s story is so moving. As an immigrant I am so appreciative for the work he does. I wish I could give them 100 stars! I love Matt’s partner joining. This is wonderful!!!

If you want a law show where a bunch of lawyers talk to each other, you can find that all over this app. If you want an expert interviewer to help keep the lawyers on track, so that you can get today’s legal news broken down in a way anyone can understand, this show is for you. That doesn’t mean the analysis is simplistic by any means, but you don’t need to speak legalese or have a legal background in order to follow along. Perfect balance of explaining the way the law currently works, and how the hosts envision it could work in a better world. Realism meets idealism. Love it!

Longtime listener of OA, even through the drama. I always found Thomas to be annoying. I appreciate the layman perspective and his occasional questions, but I found his loud attempts at humor so irritating. Andrew and Liz made a better combo, once they developed some cohosting chemistry. Thomas is back and immediately reminded me why I didn’t like him to begin with. Matt is fine. If Thomas can restrain from making irrelevant, sometimes petty, distracting jokes, the show can be fine.

I’m updating this review since Thomas is back in control. I’ve resubscribed now that Andrew is gone. It’s back to a must-listen show.

Listened to OA only since Oct ‘23, so I don’t know about the good ol’ days. I did like Liz and Andrew, but it was def awkward. I have really enjoyed this new version, and think Matt and other guests are great. The Part 1 pod about GA hearings is EXACTLY what I was looking for, having watched the two day craziness. Thanks, and best of luck succeeding. (PS: I’ve started listening to Liz on Law & Chaos, which is good so far.)

Time to unfollow.

Loved listening to Andrew and Liz with a nice balance of information and snark. The chemistry between them made the show. This version is just a two guys having a boring conversation. I get you had drama but pretty sure this solution will have all of you come up short.

I don't know or care about the back story here. When some "new guy" (to me) came on and started talking about how he'd won a great victory against the forces of evil I first thought it was some kind of joke. It sounded like a 7th grade cafeteria argument over a girlfriend. But I realized it wasn't a joke. He was serious. Not impressive. Childish. Even if he's right, the way he talked about it disqualified him. Nevertheless, I listened for a few minutes. It became clear that "the forces of evil" were better commentators/podcasters. At least as knowledgeable. More entertaining. Give this one a miss. Go find the forces of evil. You'll be glad you did.

I unfollowed after two episodes of the Andrew-controlled show. It just wasn’t the same w/o Thomas. I was also struck by Matt’s empathy and emotional depth when he talks about working within the legal system. Ready to follow this show again.

When the changeover blurb dropped last week, I was torn as to whether or not to keep listening. Many have claimed that one or the other has the heart of the podcast. The truth is it took both, the caustic one liner guy with the avuncular 80s nerd that this lister identified with. As to any charges of misbehavior, that’s for others to decide. I don’t know enough to pass true judgement, and neither do most of the commenters. For this podcast, I was willing to stick with a discussion of legal issues even if it got a bit dry. When the current host charged back in unironically commenting multiple times about how he was going to make the podcast great again while taking up time unsubtly jabbing at his former partner…it seemed a bit too familiar. There’s plenty of places to get that, so I think I’m done here.

Maybe this is too far down the toad but any platform T gets he will pervert to his ends and drag us further apart. I like the lawyer. Bur does do the majority of talking. Thomas can ask questions.

I was ok with everything different but cannot handle you mispronouncing “Fani Willis”. It’s gross. Her name is FAWN-Y, not Fanny. Do better.

I only started listening to every episode of this show when Liz became a host. A podcast with two substantive contributors rather than just one is unsurprisingly much better. Update the dumb antiquated cover and the cast role descriptions. The fact that this hasn't happened a year ago is so confusing to me. Do you not have the admin account or something? Absolutely the most insane thing, arguably even more insane than some of the former presidents' legal arguments. Where is the petition I can sign to get this fixed? Edit: From the perspective of a listener, Andrew didn't do anything Thomas isn't doing right now. Except Thomas has multiple other podcasts if you're interested in hearing what he has to say which is really nothing you can't get from any other whiny, self-important man.