Opening Arguments - OA137: How to (Almost) Defame Someone and Get Away With It — The SciBabe Story (w/guest Yvette d’Entremont)

Today's episode is all about the First Amendment and features a full-length interview with the one and only SciBabe, Yvette Guinevere d'Entremont! First, though, we answer a listener question from Secular Saint about the free press clause that was  raised during our most recent patron-only Q&A show. Next, we talk to Yvette, who shares some amazing stories about her life taking down rich and powerful celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Vani Hari (the "Food Babe"), and David Avocado Wolfe. After that, we tackle Trump's cease-and-desist letters sent to Steve Bannon and the publishers of the new book Fire and Fury:  Inside the Trump White House .  Special thanks to Niall O'Donnell and Deborah Smith of the Opening Arguments Facebook Community for finding the texts of these letters! Finally, we end with the answer to Thomas and Yvette Take the Bar Exam Question #57 about a  frostbitten drifter wandering through what might be a libertarian paradise.  (Seriously!) Don't forget to follow our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and like our Facebook Page so that you too can play along with #TTTBE! Recent Appearances None!  Have us on your show! Show Notes & Links
  1. In answering Secular Saint's question, Andrew discussed Sonja West's UCLA Law Review article, "Awakening the Press Clause" as well as this op-ed by Eugene Volokh.
  2. We discuss the New York Times v. Sullivan standard for libel in numerous episodes, but in particular in Episode 84 about John Oliver's lawsuit.
  3. Yvette has some great articles that we talked about, including "The Unbearable Wrongness of Gwyneth Paltrow" and "David Avocado Wolfe is the Biggest Asshole in the Multiverse."
  4. Trump's cease-and-desist to Steve Bannon is here (Twitter screencap), and the one to Steve Rubin and Michael Wolff is here.  You can compare it to the laughable Roy Moore litigation hold letter we discussed in Episode 122.
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The Gist - What to Make of Fire and Fury

On The Gist, Sen. Lindsey Graham is defending the president extra hard on television … because he knows Trump’s watching.

In the interview, NPR’s media correspondent David Folkenflik tells us what to make of Fire and Fury, the book that claims to reveal how dysfunctional the Trump administration really is.   

In the Spiel, Mike gives props to Oprah for her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes. But that doesn’t mean she should run for president.

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The Nod - Don Lemon is… Magneto

Some funny things happened in the past year: a reality TV star became president, tiki torches had to renounce white nationalism, and CNN's Don Lemon seemingly went through a reinvention. In our latest edition of Good For The Blacks, culture writer Ira Madison III joins us to debate Don Lemon’s 'transformation’ from respectability politician in chief to beacon of wokeness.

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World Book Club - Agatha Christie

This month World Book Club comes from the Belgium capital Brussels for an Agatha Christie special.

The programme visits the Bibliotheca Wittockiana to discuss one of the bestselling crime novels of all time: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie in which that shrewdest of detectives Hercule Poirot hunts for a killer aboard one of the world’s most luxurious passenger trains.

To help untangle this fiendish puzzleknot and discuss the enduring popularity of the Queen of Crime are acclaimed crime novelist Sophie Hannah who has brought the renowned sleuth back to life again with her sequels, and James Prichard, great grandson of Agatha herself.

(Picture: Agatha Christie at an event in 1967. Photo credit: BBC.)

Start the Week - Votes for Women

British women first got the vote a century ago this year. The social historian Jane Robinson tells Andrew Marr the suffrage movement is known for the actions of its militant wing and their call for 'deeds not words'. But thousands of ordinary women, known as suffragists, campaigned successfully to have their voices heard too. Political theorist Christopher Finlay asks whether violent political protest is ever justified, while the artist Peter Kennard explains how he was inspired by the protest movements in Europe in 1968 to infuse his works with politics. The writer Mary Shelley was born into a politically radical family, with an anarchist father and her mother the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. On the 200th anniversary of her novel Frankenstein, the poet Fiona Sampson looks back at Shelley's radical life.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

The NewsWorthy - Golden Globes, JFK Airport & CES – Monday, January 8th, 2018

All the news you need to know for Monday, January 8th, 2018! 

Today: what to know about the Golden Globes, from Time's Up to the biggest winners.

Plus: JFK airport problems, Fire and Fury and CES.

All that and much more in less than 10 minutes!

Award-winning broadcast journalist and former TV news reporter Erica Mandy breaks it all down for you. 

For links to all the stories referenced in today's episode, visit https://www.theNewsWorthy.com and click Episodes.

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Serious Inquiries Only - SIO109: A Carefully Curated Tom Curry

Is Twitter real life? Tom from Cognitive Dissonance is here with me to talk about his philosophy on dealing with criticism and unpleasant people online. It's very zen and interesting, but is it something you and I would be able to adopt? Then we move on to the broader topic of the morphing of analog and digital lives and how the world is changing. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com