Our Curious Amalgam

The American Bar Association's Antitrust Law Section produces Our Curious Amalgam, and it has quietly become one of the most important legal podcasts for anyone working on the regulatory side of M&A transactions. With 367 episodes and a 4.7-star rating from 42 reviewers, this show has serious institutional weight behind it. The focus is on antitrust, competition law, consumer protection, data protection, and privacy -- all of which can make or break a merger. Rotating hosts from firms like Arnold & Porter and Proskauer Rose interview leading practitioners, regulators, and academics about the legal frameworks that determine whether deals get approved, modified, or blocked entirely. Recent episodes have explored the role of economists in Chinese competition law enforcement, AI regulation implications for corporate combinations, and blockchain market structure. The show has a genuinely global outlook, covering EU merger control, UK competition authority decisions, and cross-border enforcement cooperation alongside US developments. The production quality is solid, and episodes run about 30 minutes -- tight enough to stay focused but long enough to actually cover substance. Listeners have noted that the show manages to be both sophisticated and accessible, which is hard to pull off in a field as technical as merger control law. For M&A attorneys who need to understand the regulatory gauntlet their deals will face, this is essential background listening.