
In a packed courtroom that doubles as a global broadcast, veteran litigator Jake Emspak steps onto the stand with his trademark cane and a voice that can command a nation. Before the trial even begins, he poses a simple, unsettling question—“What is a man?”—to a hesitant juror, setting the tone for a case that will probe the very definition of humanity before millions of viewers.
Emspak’s latest client is Tony Corfino, a small‑time hoodlum caught after a botched robbery that left two bystanders dead. Though the public defender would normally handle the matter, Emspak’s curiosity and his own mysterious motives draw him into the defense, promising a courtroom battle where legal strategy intertwines with existential inquiry. As the trial unfolds, listeners will be pulled into a tense, philosophical duel that challenges both the characters and the audience to reconsider what truly makes a person who they are.
Language
en
Duration
~57 minutes (54K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2019-10-10
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1915–1996
Best known for co-writing the Hugo Award-winning novel They'd Rather Be Right, this American science fiction writer also worked as an editor and later became a respected newspaper editor. His career stretched from pulp-era storytelling into mainstream journalism, giving his work an unusual range.
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