5-4 ⚖️
It's a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks what more do you want
Hi, welcome to Podcast Promise, the newsletter dedicated to only podcasts that truly inspire me to write something about them for real. They might be new releases, they might not. In this case, it’s a show that’s been going for a while now, thank god: 5-4.
Before I start, I just want to give a quick shout-out to anyone reading this who isn’t in the United States. I care a lot about fighting against American Exceptionalism and US-Centric thinking and discussion. I know right now must be especially annoying for you all. I wish you did not have to know a single thing about this stupid country. And I am sorry to be focusing this newsletter specifically on American audiences. I love you.
5-4 is an American history and current events podcast about the Supreme Court. Each episode discusses a Supreme Court case, and while the original conceit was that this show would cover cases that were a 5-4 decision, they’ve left that concept behind to focus on whichever cases they want — opening them up to some cases very worth breaking down in full. If that sounds dry, stay with me here. Here’s the show’s description:
5-4 is a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks. It's a progressive and occasionally profane take on the ideological battles at the heart of the Court's most important landmark cases; an irreverent tour of all the ways in which the law is shaped by politics.
👨🏻⚖️The Supreme Court sucks
Let’s just be real about this. There is a difference between a thing being good or normal and just being told your entire life that that thing is good or normal. I thought I was pretty astute with interrogating this before I listened to 5-4: I already thought originalism was stupid and embarrassing, and I already thought that the only “good ones” in the Court at the time were RBG and Sotomayor. I thought I was so head of the game when it came to being Supreme Court Critical.
And then early on in my listening, the hosts (Rhiannon Hamam, Michael Liroff, and Peter Shamshiri, all former lawyers) pointed out something I had literally never considered: it’s truly so fucking weird that Supreme Court justices wear their little outfits to every event. They don’t need to do that. We don’t expect other officials with uniforms to wear their uniforms everywhere. They even wear them when police officers and high-ranking army officials don’t wear their uniforms, and it’s so weird. It adds this air of importance to every single moment they are in the public eye — which adds to this illusion that they’re not just normal literal human people. I had never considered this before listening.
But they are normal literal human people. They are, in fact, very, very, very human. (Derogatory.)
😈Don’t you wanna just go apeshit?
I’m a big believer in empathy, having a deep knowledge and understanding of how my political opponents got to their philosophies and politics. I am not a big believer in sympathy for my political opponents.
In fact, I think we should be calling them out and telling them to shut up.
Remember when we were talking about how dudes should call out their dude friends when they say sexist shit? Or how white people should call out their white friends when they say racist shit? What happened to that? What happened to not humoring blatant dogwhistles or regressive mindsets, trying to logic people into being less hateful, and instead telling them that everyone sees they’re being hateful and think it’s gross or cringe or unacceptable?
Big shoutout to Sarah Williamson Ellis Henican for calling out former Trump aide John Ullyot for saying Kamala Harris was a “DEI hire.” The euphoria, the serenity I felt hearing Henican say, “You shouldn’t talk like that, John. It makes you sound like a racist. Don’t talk like that.”
Girl, same. And overall reminder that trying to logic or debate these people into being less hateful does not even work so why are we wasting our time oh my god this is what they want you to do oh my god do i have to tap the sign again
5-4 is deeply, deeply uninterested in humoring the regressive, repulsive politics of the Supreme Court. I mentioned up above that 5-4 sounds dry conceptually, but the execution is anything but. Despite the bleak, nightmarish content of the cases, 5-4 is easily one of the funniest podcasts I’ve ever listened to.
The three hosts of 5-4 each bring something so important to the table, and they play off of each other perfectly for this beautiful balance of acerbic, irreverent takedowns of the people helping this stupid country fall further and faster into fascism:
Rhiannon brings a sense of 😂🙄. When she says, “Stephen Breyer retire BITCH” I feel that every single time. She’s here to do hot girl shit and laugh at the justices for being dumbass weirdos.
Michael brings an air of 😒🫠. He is tired, he is exhausted, he is over it. A favorite moment from a recent episode was him saying, with the last of his energy, “Can you just shut the fuck up? Just shut the fuck up.” He’s pleading, and he’s going to bed.
Peter, meanwhile, is fully 😈. Peter is bitchy bitchy. He’s the devil on everyone’s shoulders saying, “Be meaner.” Fans of If Books Could Kill (another Podcast Promise contender here, bigtime) will be delighted to know he’s even more cutting here.
Every episode, no matter the subject matter, gives me at least one moment that has me laughing out loud. This isn’t to say they don’t take anything seriously. They do. They take the rights of the American people, especially those of us who are left the most vulnerable by the State, very seriously. They take the liberation of oppressed people across the world very seriously, to the point where Rhiannon was recently arrested for attending a pro-Palestine protest. But what they don’t take seriously is the intentionally cultivated “necessary” reverence for the Justices, who again, are normal human people who make heinous decisions that jeopardize all of us every day.
I am now so pissed that RBG didn’t retire long before her death and Sotomayor still has not.
There’s no need to the “gotta hand it to ‘em” sentimentality of liberals and leftists who want to pat any person on the back for, I don’t know, the sake of civility. 5-4 is here to remind us that we do not need to keep being so niceys to these awful people who have some of the most formidable power and wealth — y’know, because bribes? — in the country.
🗞️Knowledge is power
Before I listened to 5-4, I thought I knew anything about the Supreme Court. I knew so much less than I realized. I knew about some landmark historical cases from history classes, and I knew about some modern decisions through the news. I was very plugged into the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as so many of us were. (Reminder that The Competition is a very good podcast that you should listen to.)
I didn’t know nearly enough about the Supreme Court to have had real opinions on it. I think for many Americans, we have a tendency of taking State institutions for granted, thinking we know how they operate based on what we get in history classes or in the news. But of course, like any other asset of the State, there’s so much more untangling to be done. Hundreds of years worth of untangling.
And that’s just too much for most people, especially people who aren’t versed in legalese. It’s too confusing, too dense, too referential, too specific, and too dry. It’s impossible for many of us to keep up the attention and comprehension it takes to decipher legal transcripts. But this isn’t just the hosts’ jobs and educations; it’s very obviously something that both comes naturally and seems fun for them, at least for the purposes of ripping them to shreds.
Needless to say, The Deposition would not exist without 5-4.
I owe so much of my knowledge and understanding — and motivation — to 5-4. Is it going to be a by-the-books breakdown of case by case in order, analyzing all sides with the same level of deference and seriousness? No. But by now, I hope you understand why you shouldn’t even want that in the first place.
🎙️Go subscribe!
5-4 is not only a great listen — it’s also something I think will be vital during this stupid upcoming election season. I understand that many folks will read this and think, “I’m already too nihilistic! I’m already doomscrolling!” and I just want to implore you to please give it a shot. Some recommended first episodes:
Go subscribe and listen RIGHT NOW — and then please please please please please talk to me about it when you’ve listened!
Other recs
⚙️What I’ve been making
The Deposition is here! The Deposition is an audio drama meets dramatic reading using Elon Musk’s deposition from the Ben Brody lawsuit as the script. Every single page of this document is unhinged and hilarious, and actually hearing it performed made me notice even more about it.
How to Act Fereldan is here now too!!! 🎉🐲🎉 HTAF is a fancast about all things Dragon Age, as we gear up for the potential hypothetical release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard maybe, potentially, hypothetically. In this podcast, Anne Baird and I explain Dragon Age to the wonderful Giancarlo Herrera, who’s playing the games for the first time as we go. It’s got grief over the gaming industry, ruminations on colonization, and the best segment in the universe: What’s That Dragon Age?
Nevermorphed is my podcast in which in which I read the Animorphs books for the first time ever. These books are so fucked up. It’s honestly insane. And they’re so good??? Come join me as I read this series that puts its contemporaries to shame in like 500 ways. And if you’re an Animorphs person, come be a guest!
🎞️What I’ve been watching
Man, MaXXXine was so disappointing. I’m a huge fan of X and Pearl, and this one looked good and had some good performances, sure, but what a mess. This piece on Polygon really sums it up for me — except the discussion about that specific gore moment (🔴🔴). Live a little!
Meanwhile, Longlegs was a good time! I’ve been a fan of Oz Perkins since The Blackcoat’s Daughter, which is still my favorite work of his, but Longlegs was really engrossing, and Nic Cage delivers a truly haunting performance. I do think if you go in expecting to be SCARED scared, you might wind up a little let down, but imo the film doesn’t need that to work.
And I got to discuss this film on an episode of Piecing It Together! Host David Rosen asked me to come join him for an episode in a response to an edition of Podcast Marketing Magic I wrote. Reminder that I’m always down to come guest on your show!
📰What I’ve been reading
Started Bury Your Gays after loving Camp Damascus and yeah, it rules.
I also started Black Sheep. It rules less. I’m gonna stick with it, but idk man, we’ll see for how long. It’s not bad, it’s just, like, mid.
👆🏻As always, not affiliate codes, I just owe Changing Hands my life.