Feels like we should be able to collectively wrestle with the problems of a system by which 14 million people will die in the next five years because one man can decide to withhold a bunch of money that Congress said needed to be spent, but unfortunately, because of the law, and what the law says, no one can sue about it. Good luck with figuring this one out. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack co...
Oct 14, 2025•39 min
Do you ever feel…like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again? That’s understandable because battles over free speech and the First Amendment are raging right now, whether on the internet, on TV, in the workplace, or in the streets. But baby, you’re a firework. And the Trump administration can’t take that from you. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, j...
Oct 07, 2025•5 min
You are getting very sleepy…you are getting very sleepy…HEY! Wake up. It may look like the slate of cases for this Supreme Court term doesn't have many fundamental constitutional rights hanging in the balance, but don’t be lulled into thinking any of this is low stakes. Voting rights, trans people in sports, the death penalty—they’re still on that legal fascism grind, down to every little gear and lever. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other...
Sep 23, 2025•59 min
Papers, please. The hallmark of fascist states of eras past and your favorite movie about authoritarianism is now also the official policy of the United States, with the Supreme Court’s blessing. But don’t worry, you (probably) won’t be stopped, unless you kinda look Hispanic or shop at Home Depot! I feel safer already. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.c...
Sep 16, 2025•57 min
Kudos to everyone who is starting law school in this economy and during an authoritarian regime. In this annual episode, Peter, Rhiannon, and Michael share their wisdom on how to survive law school. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides edito...
Sep 09, 2025•1 hr 11 min
It's okay to be scared. It's hard not to succumb to the nihilism of the second Trump administration. But that is precisely what he and his administration want you to do. Please don't fall for it. Instead, own your power, make them fear you, and for God's sake, STEP YOUR PUSSY UP! If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue...
Sep 02, 2025•5 min
Federal law says that Medicaid recipients have the right to choose their healthcare provider. One problem, though–what if a Medicaid recipient chooses to go to Planned Parenthood to get healthcare? In that case, federal law doesn’t really say what it means. Federal law is silly like that sometimes! If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is pr...
Aug 26, 2025•49 min
Don't be sad, little Johnny, Trump just took the Department of Education to live on a big farm with so much space to run around and play in, and all the treats the Department of Education could ever dream of. The Department of Education will miss you, too, Johnny, but we promise she's so much happier now. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support .] 5...
Aug 12, 2025•51 min
California has become a testing ground for Trump's police state ambitions. In Los Angeles and across the country, he’s merging the military and the police into one entity, with its guns aimed inward. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . “Experts Question the Legality of Deploying National Guard Officers as Immigration Judges” 5-4 is presented b...
Aug 08, 2025•58 min
Please have your driver's license, social security card, or any other highly personal private information ready to share if you wish to rub one out to online porn. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was desig...
Jul 29, 2025•56 min
Because the conservatives on the Supreme Court are lowkey homophobic, they have made it easier for parents of kids in public schools to opt out of topics that make them uncomfortable. LGBTQ books, no thank you— evolution, not for my kids. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Du...
Jul 22, 2025•1 hr 2 min
These “boys” and in some cases “gals” keep proving us right! The 2024-2025 Supreme Court term was a beautiful illustration of this podcast’s entire thesis: this is an institution untethered by law, beholden only to right-wing ideology, and led by a real dipshit Chief Justice. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Pro...
Jul 15, 2025•5 min
CTRL+F for “birthright citizenship” in this majority opinion, and you only get two hits. That’s because Amy Coney Barrett spends thousands of words telling you that the President's evisceration of birthright citizenship from the Constitution isn’t really about birthright citizenship, it’s about nationwide injunctions. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com...
Jul 08, 2025•1 hr 3 min
The Supreme Court has made life more difficult for trans children, who are already among the most marginalized groups in the country. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 9 min
The Supreme Court allowed the 20-somethings at DOGE to access your Social Security information. What's the worst that could happen? If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website w...
Jun 17, 2025•54 min
The Supreme Court just made it easier for Trump to fire heads of independent federal agencies. Unitary executive theory, anyone? If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was ...
Jun 10, 2025•42 min
Crime rates are at historic lows, yet year after year, people say that they feel unsafe and believe crime is rising. You can thank the news media with help from corporations and law enforcement narratives. We speak with civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis about his new book, Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at ...
Jun 03, 2025•5 min
If the Supreme Court can take away constitutional rights from one minority group, it can do it to any of us. Yes, even podcasters. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website wa...
May 27, 2025•43 min
Since taking office, Trump has moved quickly to implement his authoritarian agenda. Now, he is asking the Supreme Court to limit the judicial branch by preventing individual judges from blocking his orders. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . More on Trump's big beautiful plane - https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/19/politics/trump-adminstration-appr...
May 20, 2025•5 min
The Supreme Court has been stripping away students' free speech rights for decades. They don't want you to think for yourself or speak your mind. You might end up making podcasts like this. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode and also lame! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides ...
May 06, 2025•51 min
Following the 9/11 attacks, both liberal and conservative justices contributed to the rise of some authoritarian powers that the Trump administration is now wielding today. ERRATA: Henry Blodget is no longer the CEO of Business Insider. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dust...
Apr 29, 2025•57 min
The Firm, the legal thriller starring Tom Cruise, shows us that big law is sometimes worse than the literal mob. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support. 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was designed by Peter...
Apr 22, 2025•5 min
New from Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries: it's a new edition of Fiasco: Iran-Contra, widely available for the first time ever. New episodes of Fiasco release Mondays, available wherever you get your podcasts. Pushkin+ subscribers can listen to the full season of Iran-Contra, ad-free, now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Our Sponsors: * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmob...
Apr 21, 2025•43 min
The Supreme Court under Trump 2.0 is engaging in their favorite pastime: finding convoluted procedural reasons to rule in his favor. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website ...
Apr 15, 2025•52 min
Finally, the Supreme Court gets to live its dream: being xenophobic and homophobic at the same time. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Ou...
Apr 08, 2025•51 min
The Trump administration has moved at breakneck speed to suppress free speech, mass deport hundreds of individuals without due process, and target judges who dare cross him – moves straight out of an authoritarian playbook. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Le...
Apr 01, 2025•5 min
While a law may have discriminatory or racist effects—such as diluting the Black vote in a city and rendering those votes essentially meaningless—this does not necessarily mean it was created with malicious intentions. The Supreme Court says that we should assume good faith and not presume that some laws are enacted with racist motives... Sure... If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and ...
Mar 25, 2025•50 min
How much poop is in our water? The Supreme Court says “not enough.” If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at C...
Mar 18, 2025•42 min
Before he was ever a Supreme Court justice, Lewis Powell was an enterprising corporate attorney representing tobacco companies and calling on CEO’s to get off their asses and flood American politics with money. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episodes, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support . 5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh pr...
Mar 11, 2025•5 min
Presidential candidates raised more than $1.6 billion in the 2024 election cycle, but if you think flooding politics with money is bad then you don’t understand FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Thanks to this Supreme Court decision, that pesky problem of an individual donor not being able to give more than $117,000 to political campaigns because of stupid campaign finance laws has now been solved. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To hear this and other Premium-only episode...
Feb 25, 2025•57 min
