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Episode 80: The Conspirator, Starring Robin Wright as the Traitor Mary Surratt!

January 13

1h 9m

Episode Description

Have you ever thought to yourself: “You know what my life is missing? A movie that looks sympathetically on the legal rights of the traitorous crew of Confederates who devised and executed the plan to kill Abraham Lincoln because they were butthurt over losing the war they started and thus, their rights to own people.” Look no further: We’ve got the movie for you, 2011’s The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford and starring a veritable cavalcade of great actors who spend the film more or less throwing up their hands and saying, “A lawyer is duty bound to zealously represent their client.”

Maybe it’s just the fun times of 2026, but O.G. Karen, Mary Surratt—played by Robin Wright—and the suspension of her habeas corpus rights at the end of a contentious civil war and immediately following her role in an assassination didn’t hit the right notes for us. THANKS OBAMA.

Nevertheless, we’re joined again by the delightful Stephen Root. Some other questions: Is Sara a member of the Bar because of her participation in high school Mock Trial? Should these alleged murderers be able to have their mothers hand-deliver their meals while they’re in jail? Has our love of humanity been pushed too far by this movie? Where have you been all of our lives, Kevin Kline?

The Conspirator was directed by Robert Redford and stars James McAvoy as Frederick Aiken, Robin Wright as Mary Surratt, Kevin Kline as Edwin Stanton, Evan Rachel Wood as Anna Surratt, Tom Wilkinson as Reverdy Johnson, Justin Long as Nicholas Baker, Danny Huston as Joseph Holt, James Badge Dale as William Hamilton, Colm Meaney as General Hunter, Alexis Bledel as Sarah Weston, Johnny Simmons as John Surratt, Toby Kebbell as John Wilkes Booth, Jonathan Groff as Louis Weichmann, Stephen Root as John Lloyd, John Cullum as Justice Wylie, Norman Reedus as Lewis Payne, John Michael Weatherly as George Atzerodt, Marcus Hester as David Herold, Chris Bauer as Major Smith, and Shea Whigham as Captain Cottingham.

Sources used in the episode include…

American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies

by Michael W. Kauffman

The Assassin's Accomplice : Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln

by Kate Clifford Larson

Hanged! Mary Surratt and the Plot to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln.

by Sarah Miller

Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

by James L Swanson

Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.

Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q

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