Ad Absurdum

Latest Episodes:

#12 -- Bucky Deserved Better (Captain America trilogy) Jul 04, 2019

Happy Fourth of July! Your pop culture legal team are back to look into the films of Steve Rogers aka Captain America. His role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is usually as the moral center but how does he fair as a law-abiding citizen? Sarah and Meredith dive into how much medical information Cap should have received before taking the super soldier serum; if Bucky Barnes' brainwashing works towards an insanity defense; and the necessary types of superhero classification that would be needed for the Sokovia Accords. Also is one of our hosts a secret mutant?!?

They are joined by attorney Mike Godwin, who works at the R Street Institute and is famous for "Godwin's Law" which states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

--Leave any questions you have for the duo in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

Edited by Austin Lugar

Sarah and Meredith will be back to discuss the legality of Home Alone.

#11 -- Vote Dave 2020! (Dave) Feb 11, 2019

Take a break from the news to go back to the joyful days of the 90s when a constitutional crisis was a delightful comedy concept. Kevin Kline starred in an Ivan Reitman movie about an impersonator to the President ends up secretly being the President for a few months. The Pop Culture Legal Team look into how much of this is illegal. Beyond just saying, "ALL OF IT," they break down the legality of the AutoPen, how the 25th Amendment was almost evoked, and the real life first female President. There's also a lot of interesting information about how crazy a motorcade is. Also that Donald Trump guy may be mentioned a few times...

--Leave any questions you have for the duo in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

Edited by Austin Lugar

Sarah and Meredith will be back to discuss the legality of more pop culture in March!

#10 -- Spirit of Christmas, LLC (The Santa Clause) Dec 25, 2018

It's a Christmas miracle! A man fell off your roof and died! Also Ad Absurdum is BACK. Sarah and Meredith are joined by Calli, a privacy lawyer, to answer all the big questions about The Santa Clause. Is the fine print on the card similar to iTunes user agreements? Can you treat a belief of Santa like a religious allowance? Is the North Pole illegally spying on you during the year? How much of a bummer is it to deal with child custody issues in a silly Tim Allen movie? You'll find out all of this and more!

--Leave any questions you have for the duo in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

Edited by Austin Lugar

Sarah and Meredith will be back to discuss the legality of more pop culture in 2019!

#9 -- Escape from the Law (Escape from New York) Mar 28, 2018

If you were wondering where the Pop Culture Legal Team has been for the past few months, it's because they were trapped on Manhattan but now....they ESCAPED. Join Sarah and Meredith as they discuss the legal possibilities of the John Carpenter film, Escape from New York. They talk about how the government would take control of an island, the reach of prison capabilities and how prisoners can legally be treated. Also they decide if Snake Plissken is a great name or the best name.

--Leave any questions you have for the duo in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

Edited by Sara Rust

#8 -- We Dreamed a Dream (Inception) Nov 13, 2017

The Pop Culture Legal Team is back as they discuss the strangest form of insider trading and corporate espionage: the kind that takes place in your dreams. Join Sarah and Meredith and their guest Sherwin Siy as they look at the legal ramifications of Christopher Nolan's hit 2010 thriller Inception.

--UPDATE: The audio issue with the ending has been fixed.

--Leave any questions you have for the trio in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Join Ad Absurdum next month on December 3rd as they welcome THE PURGE.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

#7 -- Murder Law for Murder Bots! (Westworld) Sep 02, 2017

First, Sorry to everyone for the delay in posting! Unfortunately, the increased violence in Chicago has made my criminal defense job pretty stressful this summer, and I've been low on editing time. We will do our best to return to one episode a month this fall.

This month, we review Westworld, a show that offers up really important questions like...Are robots capable of the mens rea for murder? Can Dr. Ford use the technicalities of software end user license agreements to avoid all liability for his murder bots? What can selfie monkey teach us about whether Dolores can claim copyright for those pretty paintings she makes? Can Sarah and Meredith geek out about AI capabilities so much that half this episode is weird tangents? Find out on this month's Ad Absurdum!

--Leave any questions you have for the trio in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Join Ad Absurdum next month on October 3rd as they will dream about Inception.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

#6 -- Tic Tac D'Oh - I Blew Up the Planet (War Games) Jun 07, 2017

Apologies for our 1-month hiatus: we're back! This month, Meredith and Sarah talk the 1983 nerd MASTERPIECE War Games. We think the trailer to this movie might be the sum total of what Donald Trump knows about cyber security, so we talk about how scary that is and how to stop him from blowing up the earth. We also talk about the process by which America plays the game of thermonuclear war, and calculate exactly how many months of federal prison time Matthew Broderick's character owes Uncle Sam.

--Leave any questions you have for the trio in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Join Ad Absurdum next month on July 3rd as they will take a trip to Westworld.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

#5 -- Monk is the Gene Genie (Gattaca) Apr 11, 2017

This month, Meredith, Sarah, and special guest privacy lawyer Carolina discuss Gattaca, everyone's favorite movie about genetic discrimination! Join us as we explain how GINA is not just the name of a pretty lady, how much Ron Paul friggin' loves this movie, ways Trump could do more to mess up American Immigration, and the general fact that neither lawyers nor ethicists have any idea what the heck we're really talking about when we start looking too closely at people's DNA.

--Leave any questions you have for the trio in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Join Ad Absurdum next month on May 3rd as they will like to play a War Game.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

#4 -- I Have a Bat Feeling About This (The Dark Knight/Rises) Mar 03, 2017

In this episode, Meredith, Sarah, and special guest Pranks Paul discuss Batman, with a focus on the recent Christopher Nolan movies. Is Batman an agent of the state? How the hell does Lucius Fox get his hands on fighter jets and refined uranium? Is federal regulation the secret to destroying Bane? Find out all this and more in this month's Ad Absurdum!

--Leave any questions you have for the trio in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Join Ad Absurdum next month on April 3rd as they copyrighting your DNA in Gattaca.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

#3 -- What Did You THINK Would Happen?!?!?! (Jurassic Park/World) Feb 03, 2017

At first you don't succeed, build an even bigger and more dangerous theme park! If only they had lawyers around to tell the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World crew that all of this is a terrible idea. From simple negligence to BEAR LAW, from the endangered species act to the patenting of living creatures, Sarah, Meredith and guest Matt Fink discuss the myriad of tort claims raised by the Jurassic Park series.

--Leave any questions you have for the trio in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Join Ad Absurdum next month on March 3rd as they discuss the downfall of Gotham civilization in The Dark Knight Rises.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

#2 -- Legally, You Can Only Be So Traumatized (The Truman Show) Jan 03, 2017

The pop culture legal team returns to discuss the 1998 Jim Carey drama, The Truman Show. In this movie, a man lives his entire life unaware that he is on an elaborate reality show documenting his every move. Sarah, Meredith and their special guest John question such things as "Can a corporation adopt a baby?" or "How much can Truman sue for them killing his fictional father in front of him?" The answers may surprise you!

--There is a slight clicking noise at the beginning of the episode, but it stops after six minutes. We can only assume it's Christof listening in.

--Leave any questions you have for the trio in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Join Ad Absurdum next month on February 3rd as they discuss safety expectations in a theme park filled with dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord

#1 -- The Spiders Can't Have Tasers (Minority Report) Dec 02, 2016

Real bone fide lawyers Meredith, Sarah and Charlie discuss Minority Report, Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's 2002 assault on the very concept of the 4th Amendment. We pose questions such as: If creepy eye-scanning spiders can come into your home, can they tase you if you don't comply? What would Antonin Scalia think of mutant humans who can see the future? If prisoners are submerged in a lifetime of dreamless sleep, how do they exercise their habeas rights? Is the best way to avoid jurisdictional issues just to deputize the DC Metro police to arrest murderers? Hear all this and more on our very first episode!

--Leave any questions you have for the trio in the comment section at TheArtImmortal.com

--Leave a review on iTunes so more people can find the show and learn their fictional rights.

Join Ad Absurdum next month on January 3rd as they discuss how it may be problematic for a network to own a baby in The Truman Show.

Artwork by Meredith Rose

Opening music by Adam Lord