Next Witness...Please

About Next Witness...Please

Ever found yourself lost in legal jargon? Fear not! Our mission is to decode complex legal concepts into everyday language, making them accessible to all. Meet your hosts, the dynamic duo known as the Judicial Twins! Retired judge Tom Hodson brings over 50 years of legal expertise as a trial judge, defense attorney, and former Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States. Retired judge Gayle William-Byers, with more than two decades of public service as a prosecutor and judge, is now sharing her knowledge as a Judicial Fellow for The National Judicial College and a legal analyst. Join us as we embark on a quest to demystify the legal system and increase your understanding of its complexities. Tune in to "Next Witness... Please" for enlightening discussions, insightful perspectives, and a deeper understanding of the law. Don't miss out – subscribe now and let's unravel the mysteries of the legal world together!

Publisher

WOUB Public Media

Category

government · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 May 2024

Latest episode

7 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

50 of 59 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   7 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Before Today’s Political Retribution, There Was Jane Fonda

   Award-winning biographer Marilyn Greenwald discusses her new book on Jane Fonda's activism and government targeting with hosts retired judges Thomas Hodson and Gayle Williams-Byers.

2. 

   14 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   America’s True Crime Fix: Why We Can’t Look Away from Real-Life Tragedy

   Executive Producer Jack Cole discusses with host [Host Name] why audiences remain captivated by true crime and reality television's portrayal of real-life tragedy.

3. 

   10 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Trump’s Civil Service Shakeup Reaches a Breaking Point

   President Donald Trump’s attack on federal civil service workers continues and is about to hit a new crescendo. For two terms Trump has been targeting some federal civil service workers trying to take them out of civil service protections and make them employees “at will.” This allows for political appointees, patronage, and quick hiring and firing of top-ranking federal workers without civil service procedures. It also makes the federal workforce totally loyal to one person, Trump, its leader. Trump did this by Executive Order in 2020, but that order was repealed by President Joseph Biden in 2021. On Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2025, Trump reissued his original order from 2020. Trump’s federal Office of Personnel Management, then in Feb. 2026, issued a final order titled “Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service” which formerly reclassifies nearly 50,000 workers out of the civil service on March 8. Dr. Stephen Goldman, psychiatrist, author, and historian along with being a person who spent years as a product safety and risk management expert and regulator for the Food and Drug Administration, joins Next Witness…Please to critique this new development. Dr. Goldman argues that the federal government has relied on a robust civil service since the 19th century. He fears that true federal experts, who are not politically aligned, will now be stripped of civil service protections and replaced by less qualified political appointees. Dr. Goldman also joins retired judges Gayle Williams Byers and Thomas Hodson to discuss the numerous federal lawsuits that have been filed to stop this transition. They also examine the parallel case of Trump v. Cook that awaits a Supreme Court decision this spring. That case, although not directly on point, will give politicians and legal experts a precedent for how much authority the President has to fire “inferior officers without traditional civil service protections.”

Inside a recent episode

Before Today’s Political Retribution, There Was Jane Fonda

Published 7 Jul 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] She wrote her memoir. I mean, she had editors, as we all do. So, you know, but she did not use a ghostwriter. She did not use a writer. And what she did was when she I found her notes. She, when she was writing about something, she would email or write a letter to the person involved and say, hey, this is the way I remember this in 1978 or whatever. Is this how you remember it? She fact-checked herself. Yes. That's amazing. It's amazing that she did it. And the second thing is it helped me because, you know, it's funny because there was a no... She wrote to Tom Hayden because she was checking some things with Hayden, of course, because they were together for so long. […]

Who has been a guest on Next Witness...Please

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Jack Cole
• Dr Stephen A Goldman
• John R Mitchell
• unknown

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

12,339,217

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 78 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

84

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

85

Contact Next Witness...Please

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Next Witness...Please