This is exactly right.

The courtroom isn't just about justice. It's about power and money and some truly bizarre loopholes.

I'm Michael Foote. And I'm Melissa Malbranche, and we've got a brand new show called Brief Recess, Illegal Podcast.

Every week, we talk about wild tales from court, trials gone wrong, and cases and rulings that shape our world.

Today we're going to be talking about stolen antiquities, all the weird things Melissa found at in a state sale, the crazy conversations I had with the bouncer and J.K. Rowling. We make the complicated clear and the serious, surprisingly fun. From the exactly right network, new episodes of Brief Recess drop every Thursday. Watch Brief Recess on YouTube. Listen to Brief Recess on the IHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Of the Law and Order franchises, SVU is considered especially watchable. We are the amateur detectives who kind of investigate the vicious felonies these episodes are based on. These are our stories. Dun, done.

Yay, that's messed up in SVU podcast.

Another episode.

Here we are.

I'm Lisa Trager.

And I'm Kara Clank. We talk SVU episodes, true crimes, talk to guests from the show, and we chat.

And we've got stuff to talk about.

Yeah, I haven't seen you in weeks. I have a huge name-dropping moment that I'd like to discuss. Okay. So, you know, I've been raving about Natalie Palamedis's show. She's here in New York. I don't know why she thought of me, but I'm glad she did. She messages me. She goes, I have tickets to a Broadway show. do you want to come with me on Friday? I go, you have Friday night off. You're like, you're always performing.

She goes, I have tickets to a Broadway show. Do you want to come with me on Friday? I go, you have Friday night off. You're like, you're always performing. She goes, and my shows are at one in the morning, so I was free. So she's like, they have a private event. I have free. Do you want to go to this Broadway show? I go, great. We get there. It's called art. We have like four- seats. And I know those play from high school, so I feel really like educated and cool. But it's James Corden. Yes. It's Bobby Cone of Ali and it's Neil Patrick Harris. And basically James Cordon and Neil Patrick Harris went to her show. We're obsessed with it. Gave her these tickets. We're backstage. James Corden's making me a cocktail. Neil Patrick Harris is on the floor so I could sit on a chair. And I'm talking to Bobby Cannavalli trying that to say funky tasting spunk directly to his face. I didn't. I didn't. But I'm like fully backstage. Of course this happens after we've done his episode of SVU, haven't we? I didn't even bring up STI. I acted since I was a plus one, you know, I acted normal enough. I brought up Dexter to Neil Patrick Harris. I did. I did. I brought up resurrection. I'll tell you my thing right after this. I have one, too. I have one, too. But it was so cool. Wait, that's crazy. I passed the poster for it on my way to see O'Mary this summer.

And Jared and I were talking about it because my husband used to work for Corden.

And he, my, and Jared knew the play. He's like, oh, yeah, I knew that play when I was like in college. Well, I brought them up.

I go, my high school did it.

They go, you're high school.

And then I got to be like, my high school put up equist.

It was a really progressive cool program, you know.

But Bobby eventually goes, so do you know anyone here? And I go, no, I'm her plus one. I go, that's like, but James really like, I mean, he blew it out of the wall. I mean, he was incredible. He was the best part of that show. Really? Yeah. It's like kind of crazy. I didn't expect it. I didn't expect my... I mean, I'm obsessed with Bobby Kennavalli. That's who I was, like, most excited to see. And fourth row and the lighting, like, it was really cool. And because it's the, like, theater cares week or something like that, they were auctioning off paintings at the end from the show for an AIDS charity. And so that was cool. They broke the fourth wall at the end. And there was like

5,000, 4,000, you know, like people were there yelling out things. But I like love New York. I had the best

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