137. Harvey Weinstein, Interrupted

Married journalists Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer are the forces behind “The Harvey Weinstein Trial: Unfiltered” podcast, in which actors read daily excerpts of the courthouse testimony verbatim. Released during the trial in 2020, it’s an extraordinary document of a cultural flashpoint, providing a far deeper and more troubling portrait than most media coverage did at the time. Nobody was shocked when Weinstein was slapped with a 23-year sentence, but it seems many people were when that conviction was overturned on Thursday, April 25.

Not Ann and Phelim. “This is of course not any surprise at all us, and to any of you who’ve been listening,” McElhinney said during the “special news breaking episode” recorded yesterday, “We Were Right - Weinstein Case Collapses.”

Catherine A. Christian, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s office, was also unsurprised. “A number of us were expecting that it probably would be reversed if there was some sort of intellectual honesty,” she told Politico Magazine.”You don’t want to make bad law for bad defendants.”

Few people followed this case as closely — or produced the kind of hard-hitting journalism as Ann and Phelim. Listeners may recall Sarah’s beloved holiday tradition for three years running: She listens to all 23 episodes of the podcast, which is very weird, although Ann called it “the most precious compliment I’ve ever had.”

McElhinney and McAleer join Nancy and an awestruck Sarah to discuss “the silence of the laptops” in the courtroom, why actress Annabella Sciorra should never have been on the witness stand, the transactional nature of Hollywood relationships, and whether Weinstein will be tried again in New York. Strap in!

Support Ann & Phelim at The Unreported Story Society.

Anyone in or around New York City is invited to McElhinney and McAleer’s latest project, October 7: In Their Own Words. Tickets at www.october7theplay.com

And don’t forget to send your letters to smokeempodcast@gmail.com. We’ll read them on-air in an upcoming episode.

The media has snoozed through some of the day’s most important stories. Meanwhile, we’re not sleeping (literally), so please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Episode Notes:

“Harvey Weinstein Conviction Overturned by N.Y. Court of Appeals” (New York Times)

The Molineux Rule, explained

“What Harvey Weinstein’s Overturned Conviction Means for Donald Trump’s Trial,” by Ronan Farrow (New Yorker)

“‘Hindsight Is 20/20’: Why Harvey Weinstein’s Conviction Was Overturned,” Nick Reisman (Politico)

“Harvey Weinstein’s Rape Conviction Overturned by New York Appeals Court—What’s Next?” by Savannah Walsh (Vanity Fair)

“Why Harvey Weinstein Might Walk,” by Joann Wypijewski (The Nation, 2020)

“The New Truth: When the moral imperative trumps the rational evidence, there’s no arguing,” by Jacob Siegel (Tablet)

“Asia Argento’s Time Is Up,” by Nancy Rommelmann (Reason)

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