5-4
Prologue Projects
<p>5-4 is a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks. Hosted by Peter Shamshiri, Rhiannon Hamam, and Michael Liroff, it's a progressive and occasionally profane take on the ideological battles at the heart of the Court's most important landmark cases and an irreverent tour of all the ways in which the law is shaped by politics.</p><p>Subscribe to our premium episodes & much more at fivefourpod.com/support</p><p>5-4 is a production of Prologue Projects.</p>
Recent Episodes
20 episodesThe 2025 5-4 Giving Guide: Don’t Let the Fascists Keep You Down
https://immigrationequality.org/bit.ly/donatepym2025https://www.palestinianyouthmovement.com/https://brigidalliance.org/donate-in-2025/https://trees.org/https://chuffed.org/project/158294-for-those-who-have-no-one-to-campaign-for-themhttps://1804books.com/products/witness-to-the-hellfire-of-genocidehttps://www.iwrising.org/donatehttps://give.foodbanknyc.org/tinyurl.com/freeleqaafundhttps://wandaalstonfoundation.org/If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive 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 Andrew Parsons. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On Twitter, find Peter @The_Law_Boy and Rhiannon @AywaRhiannon. Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Portrait of a John Roberts on Fire [TEASER]
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 Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition
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 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 designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic
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 presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Rhiannon Interviews Mahmoud Khalil
On this episode of Popular Cradle, (Rhiannon’s other podcast!), she interviews Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by ICE for more than 100 days earlier this year. You can find Popular Cradle wherever you listen to podcasts.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Pulsifer v. United States
What does “and” REALLY mean? 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 Alli Rodgers. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Trump v. CASA, Inc.
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/support.5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Fire at Will: Trump’s Illegal War in the Caribbean [TEASER]
These days, three degrees of separation from a drug dealer is all it takes to get you drone struck by the U.S. government in Venezuela. And look, maybe these extrajudicial killings aren’t exactly legal, but the bigger problem for all you sissy justice lovers out there is that this administration doesn’t care about the law. 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 designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza
I think we can all agree that the Constitution guarantees every individual certain unalienable rights–oh wait, sorry, getting a call. Right. Sorry. Okay. Yea. Got it. Hey, so I think we can all agree that immigration law is different from other laws, and the Constitution doesn’t really apply there.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 designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo
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.com/support.5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Trump Brings the War Home [UNLOCKED]
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 by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
2026 Mailbag: Is Any Of This Legal? [TEASER]
5-4 answers your questions about whether ICE agents can be prosecuted, why it’s worth knowing your rights, if the president can cancel the midterms and…whether there’s revolutionary potential in tax evasion. As always, this is not legal advice™. 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 Alli Rodgers. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Movie Review: Average Joe [TEASER]
A movie about a dipshit who prays his way to the Supreme Court. It’s worse than you imagine.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 www.patreon.com/fivefourpod.5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Andrew Parsons. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Your Trump 2.0 Questions, Answered [TEASER]
What do you do if ICE comes to your door? How will Trump enforce his anti-trans orders? Are there risks to podcasting in the age of Trump? You asked some really dark questions, and we have answers.If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode, including this one with helpful tips on how to survive Trump 2.0! 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 and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations.Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Trump’s Opening Salvo
Trump’s blitzkrieg of executive orders has left many of us scrambling. The policies are cruel and reactionary, but do they amount to a constitutional crisis?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 and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations.Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Your Trump 2.0 Questions, Answered [UNLOCKED]
This episode was available early to Premium members. If you'd like that kind of perk, consider joining at fivefourpod.com/support.What do you do if ICE comes to your door? How will Trump enforce his anti-trans orders? Are there risks to podcasting in the age of Trump? You asked some really dark questions, and we have answers.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 and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations.Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
NIFLA v. Becerra
Crisis pregnancy centers can provide misinformation about healthcare and perform medical procedures without requiring a licensed doctor. Yes, all of that is legal, thanks to the Supreme Court. 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 Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations.Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
McCutcheon v. FEC
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 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 Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations.Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
The Powell Memo [TEASER]
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 provides editorial support. Our researcher is Jonathan DeBruin, and our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations.Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Welcome to Law School 2025
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 editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com Follow the show at @fivefourpod on most platforms. On BlueSky, find Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social, Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social, and Rhiannon @aywarhiannon.bsky.social.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/FIVEFOURAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands