Criminally Online
- Episodes
- 5
- Released
- weekly
- Latest episode
- Nov 12, 2026
About the podcast
Eliza Orlins (public defender, Survivor star) and Thea Johnson (law professor) dissect the true crime cases the internet can't shut up about and get to the legal reality underneath the headlines. The show demystifies the law through real cases, wild courtroom stories, and shocking pop-culture moments. Eliza & Thea cut to the truth by putting evidence above speculation.
Episodes 5
Rape Culture is Running the Government. Here’s How That Intersects With the Law.
Ten years after the #MeToo movement, has anything really changed? That’s what public defender turned legal commentator Eliza Orlins and criminal law professor Thea Johnson unpack in this episode of Criminally …
Show notes
Ten years after the #MeToo movement, has anything really changed? That’s what public defender turned legal commentator Eliza Orlins and criminal law professor Thea Johnson unpack in this episode of Criminally Online through some of the highest-profile cases of sexual assault, rape, and sex trafficking: Russell Brand, the Cornell 7, the Alexander brothers, Jeffrey Epstein, Diddy... and even President Donald Trump. Tune in to hear about: New York’s rape and incapacity law, voluntary intoxication, and the possibility of loophole reform. Why district attorneys routinely fail sexual assault and rape survivors. And the reason federal prosecutors used sex trafficking charges in the Alexander brothers and Diddy cases. Plus, what it’s actually like to be a woman defense attorney in sexual assault cases.
Content warning: This episode discusses sexual assault, rape, and sex trafficking. Please take care while listening.
🎟️ Come see us live! Monday, November 23 at 7:30 PM at the 92nd Street Y in NYC with Karen Friedman Agnifilo. https://www.92ny.org/event/criminally-online-live
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Will Lindsay Clancy Be Tried Again?
A hung jury. Courtroom drama. Wild online conspiracy theories. We NEED to talk about the Lindsay Clancy case. Should she be tried again for murder, and could she even get a fair retrial when the whole country …
Show notes
A hung jury. Courtroom drama. Wild online conspiracy theories. We NEED to talk about the Lindsay Clancy case. Should she be tried again for murder, and could she even get a fair retrial when the whole country has an opinion? With a long-shot double jeopardy motion on the table, the legal questions are getting buried under the online chatter. Public defender turned legal commentator Eliza Orlins and criminal law professor Thea Johnson break down what’s happening with the holdout juror, whether Kevin Reddington can really talk to Judge Sullivan like that, and why they don’t buy the online theories about Patrick Clancy. Plus: what they’d do in Reddington’s shoes and their legal predictions for what comes next.
Content warning: this episode discusses the deaths of young children.
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Reality TV Gone Wrong? Netflix's Stanford Prison Experiment & Legal Ethics
Power trips. Riot drills. Cast members quitting midway through. It’s all happening on Netflix’s hit reality show, The New Stanford Prison Experiment, based on Philip Zimbardo’s notorious 1971 study. Eliza …
Show notes
Power trips. Riot drills. Cast members quitting midway through. It’s all happening on Netflix’s hit reality show, The New Stanford Prison Experiment, based on Philip Zimbardo’s notorious 1971 study. Eliza Orlins (15 years as a Manhattan public defender) and Thea Johnson (criminal law professor) watched so you don’t have to, and they’re asking: is it really an experiment? What does the power dynamic between guards and incarcerated people look like in a real prison? And what are the ethics of reality TV, from Love is Blind to the Bachelor?
Spoiler Warning: This episode contains spoilers for The New Stanford Prison Experiment.
Got a legal question? Submit it at speakpipe.com/criminallyonline
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What the Elizabeth Holmes Documentary Leaves Out
Why did Elizabeth Holmes invite a documentary crew in 34 days before going to federal prison? In the first episode of Criminally Online, Eliza Orlins (15 years as a Manhattan public defender) and Thea Johnson …
Show notes
Why did Elizabeth Holmes invite a documentary crew in 34 days before going to federal prison? In the first episode of Criminally Online, Eliza Orlins (15 years as a Manhattan public defender) and Thea Johnson (criminal law professor) break down You Can See Everything, the Nathan Fielder documentary everyone’s talking about, and answer the internet’s biggest questions with actual legal expertise. Is Holmes a calculating fraudster or victim of an abusive relationship? Did she have kids to win sympathy? And how much of a conviction can hang on a single word: can?
This episode contains spoilers for You Can See Everything
Got a legal question? Submit it at speakpipe.com/criminallyonline
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Welcome to Criminally Online
Love a true crime rabbit hole? Ever find yourself deep in a celebrity lawsuit at 1 am? The internet has wild theories. But what does the law actually say? Every week, Criminally Online brings you the legal …
Show notes
Love a true crime rabbit hole? Ever find yourself deep in a celebrity lawsuit at 1 am? The internet has wild theories. But what does the law actually say? Every week, Criminally Online brings you the legal truth behind the headlines. Eliza Orlins (public defender, Survivor star) and Thea Johnson (law professor) are best friends and true crime obsessives breaking down viral cases, courtroom drama, and the surprising legal twists hiding inside pop culture. From Lemonada Media, coming October 22.
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