Brown v. Board v. Science
Opening Arguments
Opening Arguments Media LLC
4.3 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 2 September 2025
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
OA1186 - We continue our series on some of our favorite Warren-era Supreme Court decisions with the one Warren-era decision--and very likely the only Supreme Court decision that is still good law--that most people can name from memory. The desegregation of American schools in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) stands today as one of the greatest moments of justice in American legal history, but did you know that it was also an equally important moment for social science? Matt tees up the legal and historical context and Dr. Jenessa Seymour, Esq. brings her unique background as both a lawyer and a PhD in neuroscience to provide a singular perspective on the science behind Brown and what it has meant for both law and science in the 71 years since then.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. |
| 0:06.6 | In respective civil rights, all its citizens are equal before the law. |
| 0:17.4 | Yeah, maybe I don't care what you could do to the king. |
| 0:21.5 | We don't have a king on purpose. |
| 0:35.0 | Hello and welcome to opening arguments. |
| 0:36.5 | This is episode 1186. I'm Thomas Smith, and we have such a good episode for you today. It's Matt and Janessa talking about one of the most famous cases, obviously, in Supreme Court history, Brown v. Board. But what I love about this Matt and Janessa pairing is it's something I think you're not likely getting or going to get |
| 0:54.7 | anywhere else, which is law and science. Not only is there the legal breakdown of Brown v. Board, |
| 1:00.2 | but also a breakdown of the science of the time and how it was used in this case. So excited |
| 1:04.0 | for you to hear it. Hey, if you are in a listening mood, it's September 1st as I record this. |
| 1:08.9 | That means it's the usual end of the month. Serious Pod universe episode deluge. We've got some really good where there's woke. Oh my gosh, you got to check out the where there's woke. Lydia caught on to this, I think, before, I'm seeing people cover it a lot now, but Lydia took us through the test that Prager You designed to be like an ideology test for teachers in Oklahoma. |
| 1:28.7 | And we went through the whole test on where there's woke. |
| 1:30.7 | It is hysterical. |
| 1:32.1 | You need to go listen to it. It's so fun. Got some really good serious inquiries on these, including with Dr. Janessa Seymour herself. And then, of course, I'm sure everybody who is interested in the Blake lively, Justin Baldoni legal battle, I'm sure, is following along with gavel-gavel, but we got many fresh gavel gavels over there digging into the meat of that case. |
| 1:51.3 | So tons to listen to in the serious pod universe, but most importantly, this great episode of OA. |
| 1:56.5 | So we'll take our usual break, and then Matt and Janessa will be there to break down the law and science of Brown v. Board. |
| 2:06.5 | Janessa, what's up? |
| 2:07.8 | What's going on? |
| 2:08.5 | You know, we finally had some nice cool weather today. |
| 2:11.2 | I had my window open, so I am in a good mood. |
| 2:14.1 | Yeah. |
| 2:14.4 | I am excited about a nice recording and some chill weather. It's actually getting |
| 2:19.2 | to be back to school time. We're just about getting there. Yay. You're a teacher for a while, right? |
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