Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.
Within probably 10 days, I put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
On the Look Back At It podcast. 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.
Listen to Look Back at It on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
My mother-in-law spent years sabotaging our relationship until karma made her pay for it.
All right, Sophia, tell me about how we started this story.
She moved in for two weeks, lasted five days, left a mess, and then pressed her ear against their bedroom door and burst in screaming. When kicked out to a hotel, she called her son-in-law's workplace, pretending his partner had been rushed to the hospital by ambulance. She...
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Chapter 2: What legal troubles is Laura facing in this episode?
Laura said she would try her best to be in San Francisco the following day. After that, the judge moved on to another case. There were so many people there to see what would happen. So much anticipation and buildup. All to be told, come back tomorrow. After the hearing, I caught up with Mike Maricini and his wife, Danielle. And how are you guys feeling? Anxious.
Yeah, anxious. She just creates chaos. It's always chaotic. There's nothing that's ever just smooth sailing.
Did you expect the judge to be that hard on her?
Yes.
No, I didn't.
I did because she told Laura she had to be here in person. So I'm not surprised by the judge playing hardball.
Are you ready for tomorrow now?
Yeah, I'm ready.
I personally don't think she's going to show up, but I'm ready. I asked Mike what it was like to have Clayton there. It was great to see Clayton. I told him he did not need to come. Like, don't waste money on a plane ticket. And he said, Mike, you supported me for the June 10th hearing. Like, this is the least I could do. I want to be there to support you.
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Chapter 3: How did Clayton's court case against Laura unfold?
This was my first time finally sitting down with Mike and Danielle face-to-face, and spirits were surprisingly high. Here's Mike. Going into day two, I was like, okay, this is going to condense the entire trial into one day, but we can knock this out. My team still felt very confident, which was one day instead of two days, so I still felt good going into day two.
I returned to the San Francisco Superior Courthouse the next morning. Yes, I just did this the day before. What I didn't know at the time is that we'd all be doing it again. When I arrived, I found Megan Fox already at work, live streaming, joined virtually by Dave Neal. The question of the day, would Laura show up?
Because of her seven felony indictments, she needs to ask the courts for permission to leave the state of Arizona. As far as anyone knew, she hadn't done that. That's what Dave and Megan were talking about on that live stream outside the courthouse.
So you're waiting for the trial to start. What are the odds that Laura shows up?
She's not coming.
Zero. She did not file for permission from the prosecutor in Maricopa County to come. And she has to do that. She can't leave the state without permission from the prosecutor.
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Chapter 4: What were the implications of Laura's felony charges?
Court was going forward whether or not Laura was here.
And I did want her to know that we're covering this case, whether she shows up or not. We're all going to be here. And I think it's important. We've been following this case for how long, Dave? Two years now?
Two years. Two years. And I actually wanted Laura to be there because I wanted Mike to be able to face her and come out victorious.
But what's your feeling? Assuming she isn't there, she's going to, what, just have to drop it?
Will she then make an excuse that she didn't want to drop it, but she did?
If she doesn't show up today, I have a feeling that the judge will dismiss it.
With regards to the sort of vibes with Mike and Clayton, who was there yesterday, is Mike's family there?
How are they feeling? What's the update with that? Mike's wife is here. She is feeling very frustrated. She said to me yesterday, we have children. real babies at home that need us. And she would just rather not be here.
And Laura's wasting everyone's time. Laura's the one who brought this. She needs to show up and fight her case. You can't file something and then decide at the last minute you don't want it. This is where the fight is, Laura. You should have shown up. You wanted it. Where's your evidence? She says she has evidence. So come and make your case in front of Judge Gold.
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Chapter 5: Will Laura show up for her domestic violence restraining order hearing?
They were strangers to Mike, but told me they'd been following Justice for Clayton online and came to support Mike in person. And the demographic of supporters was surprisingly diverse. Young people, older people, men and women... The hearing was supposed to start at 9 a.m., but 9 a.m. came and went, and the doors didn't open. The group started to become tense. No one knew what was going on.
At around 9.30 a.m., the bailiff finally opened the doors, but only allowed Mike and Omar to enter the courtroom. Everyone looked confused. Ten minutes later, Mike and Omar came back out. Mike was in tears. He went over to Danielle, and they left the building. I didn't have a chance to speak with them. Later, Mike explained what happened in his closed-door meeting with the judge.
We walk in, and Laura's up on the screen, and she was in a car, and she's got just like a laughing spark on her face, like, oh, I got you guys again. So I immediately sat down, knowing something was wrong. Because the judge told her to be there in person the day before, and she's up on the screen, confident as can be with her smirk. And the judge says, we received some information about an ADA.
We are going to be continuing the court date. And they use a lot of other legal jargon in between. An ADA. Laura filed a formal request for accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It's a federal civil rights law that all courts are obliged to comply with.
We asked if we could essentially argue this ADA accommodation.
And the judge is like, no, it's already been processed. We're going to be pushing court to November 5th. In other words, they all thought it would be over. But by filing for an ADA accommodation request, the deadline was pushed back by another two weeks.
I walk out of the courtroom. I'm emotional. I'm crying. And I talked with my wife immediately, and I talked with Clayton, I think, right after that. And Clayton was like the first line of defense. He said, she's just delaying the inevitable. She knows she's going to lose this. You have to stay strong. You cannot give up now. You've come too far.
And my attorney said the same thing, and I was just upset with the court system that day and the justice system. I said, I just want to go home and spend time with my family because that's what's going to make me happy right now.
Later, I asked Danielle Maricini about this moment. Like Mike, she'd been expecting this day to finally be the end of Laura's domestic violence restraining order.
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Chapter 6: What happened during the courtroom hearing in San Francisco?
Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.
Within probably 10 days, I put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Lil' Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people? I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Lil' Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back At It podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English.
Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack.
Yeah.
I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.
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Chapter 7: How did Laura's actions affect her family's financial situation?
We also have eggs on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to Look Back at It on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
My mother-in-law spent years sabotaging our relationship until karma made her pay for it.
Wait a minute, Dakota.
How bad did it get? Well, it got bad enough that her son-in-law had to eventually arrest her himself. She moved in for two weeks, lasted for five. She left nail clippings in the bathtub, candy stuck to the furniture. And then she pressed her ear against the bedroom door and burst in screaming.
She did not burst in while they were... She did. They kicked her out and paid for her hotel. And they thought, it's finally over.
Days later, she called her son-in-law at work, claiming that his partner had been in some kind of freak accident and had been rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. He called every hospital in the city, and his partner was making coffee the entire time.
She faked a medical emergency just to test whether or not he loved her son?
Yeah, and she sat in the hospital parking lot, waiting for him to see if he would show up. When that didn't work, she walked into the son-in-law's police station and filed a kidnapping report against him.
She filed a kidnapping report against him in his own police station. And spoilers, karma's going to show up in the best way possible.
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Chapter 8: What new developments occurred after Laura's bankruptcy filing?
Somebody somewhere knows something.
I'm Jordan Sillars. Season 2 is out now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In October 2025, Mike Maricini and his legal team prepared for an evidentiary hearing on Laura's domestic violence restraining order renewal. This had nothing to do with her criminal case in Arizona. She'd been charged with multiple felonies five months prior, but the DVRO renewal was an entirely separate legal matter in another state.
After a dramatic back and forth in their first scheduled hearing, Laura filed a disability accommodation request with the San Francisco Superior Court, citing the Americans with Disabilities Act. It's the kind of filing the courts are obligated to take seriously. Here's Mike's attorney, Omar Serrato. Nobody was expecting an ADA request to supersede everything, but it does.
In California, you don't fuck with ADA law.
Mike needs to win this on the merits. He cannot have this lost on an ADA violation.
And it pushed the DVRO hearing date back by two weeks. You might be wondering what disability Laura claimed to have. We weren't privy to what she said in the closed-door meeting with the judge. But Laura submitted a filing to the court explaining her medical situation. I've had a voice actor read from it.
Attached as Exhibit A is a letter dated October 17, 2025, from Dr. Colleen Green, a medical provider I have been seeing since September 2024. Dr. Green states that participating in a hearing next week, quote, would be life-threatening for her, end quote, because of the combined psychiatric and physical decline.
This new evidence, unavailable when the court previously ruled, directly rebuts any assumption that I am capable of safely participating in a contested proceeding at this time. In addition to Dr. Green's findings, my other treating medical providers have diagnosed extreme anorexia following a 50-pound weight loss accompanied by gastrointestinal bleeding.
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