In 1999, criminal defense attorney Harvey Silverglate joined with University of Pennsylvania Professor Alan Charles Kors to found the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we connect with Silverglate at his office in Cambridge, Mass. to discuss FIRE’s founding, the origins of his interest in campus civil liberties, and what he sees for his creation’s future. Join FIRE in celebrating our 20th anniversary in New York City on Oct...
Oct 03, 2019•46 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , journalist Kevin Williamson joins us to discuss his new book, “ The Smallest Minority: Independent Thinking in the Age of Mob Politics .” Williamson is the roving correspondent for National Review and co-host of the podcast Mad Dogs & Englishmen . Show notes: Podcast transcript “ When the Twitter Mob Came for Me ” by Kevin Williamson FIRE’s High School Curriculum FIRE’s Free Speech Essay Contest www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Tw...
Sep 16, 2019•50 min
One year ago this week, “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure” was published. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we sit down with FIRE President & CEO Greg Lukianoff, who co-authored the book with Jonathan Haidt, to reflect on what’s changed — or hasn’t changed — in the intervening year. Show notes: TheCoddling.com “College suggests students respond to ‘offensive’ language with ‘ouch!’” Media covera...
Sep 05, 2019•46 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we are joined by Knight First Amendment Institute Litigation Director Alex Abdo to discuss free speech, privacy, and President Donald Trump’s Twitter account. Show notes: Podcast transcript “ Why Rely on the Fourth Amendment To Do the Work of the First? ” “ Knight Institute v. Trump — lawsuit challenging President Trump’s blocking of critics on Twitter ” www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeecht...
Aug 22, 2019•48 min
Last fall, three writers and scholars announced they had submitted 20 fake papers to academic journals to test whether — as they suspected — certain fields of study lacked scientific and academic rigor. Of the 20 papers they submitted before revealing their hoax, seven were accepted, four published, seven were “still in play,” and six were retired. The result is what’s become known as the “Grievance Studies Affair.” But what does their experiment prove, exactly? On today’s episode of So to Speak...
Aug 08, 2019•1 hr 23 min
National Review senior writer and former FIRE President David French has become an “-ism.” On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , French joins us to discuss “David French-ism” and “ the battle dividing conservatives ” over civil liberties. Also joining us is FIRE’s current President & CEO Greg Lukianoff, author of The New York Times bestseller “The Coddling of the American Mind,” due out in paperback on Aug. 20 . Show notes: Podcast transcript Podcast video “Against David F...
Jul 24, 2019•1 hr 9 min
His office door was vandalized. He was accused of causing “harm” to his “college community.” There was even a demand — supported by dozens of his faculty peers — to review his tenure. Why? Because he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing for more viewpoint diversity at his campus. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , Sarah Lawrence College professor Samuel Abrams joins us to discuss the response to his op-ed and the future of academic freedom, viewpoint diversity, ...
Jul 11, 2019•53 min
Community libraries have always been a target for would-be censors — and the past few months are no exception. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we explore past and present challenges to library content, and the unique role libraries play historically as bastions for free inquiry. We are joined by James LaRue , an award-winning librarian and the former director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and the Freedom to Read Foundation . Sh...
Jun 27, 2019•48 min
The Constitution grants Congress the power “[t]o promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” However, figuring out how Congress actually does this can be confusing. Copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, fair use? What do they all mean? Today’s episode of So to Speak is all about simplifying intellectual property law for you — and explaining why free speech advo...
Jun 13, 2019•1 hr 2 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak , we are joined by Williams College Professor of Biology Luana Maroja . Professor Maroja’s experience growing up under a dictatorship in Brazil led her to become an outspoken advocate for free speech at Williams College and a skeptic of the idea that words are violence. Show notes: Podcast transcript Relevant writings from Professor Maroja: “ Freedom of speech at Williams College: Are the walls closing in? ” “ Standing with the free exchange of ideas: Understand...
May 30, 2019•40 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we are joined by Wen Fa , an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation who regularly litigates free speech cases. One of his most high-profile cases was the 2018 Supreme Court case Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky, dealing with a polling-place dress code in Minnesota. Show notes: Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky Ostrewich v. Trautman Kotler v. Webb www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeech...
May 16, 2019•37 min
“ I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.” So begins Allen Ginsberg’s famous poem “ Howl .” You might be familiar with Allen Ginsberg. You might be familiar with the poem. But chances are you don’t know about the efforts in San Francisco in 1957 to censor the poem. On today’s episode of So to Speak , we discuss those efforts with distinguished First Amendment scholar and recurring So to Speak guest Ronald K.L. Collins. He is the co-author, with David M. Skover, of the new boo...
May 02, 2019•1 hr 7 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak , we sit down with Cato Institute Senior Fellow Mustafa Akyol to discuss threats to freedom of thought and expression around the world, with a particular focus on situations in Turkey and China. Akyol has been described by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria as “Turkey’s finest political analyst.” Prior to joining Cato, he was a senior fellow at The Freedom Project at Wellesley College , where he learned a thing or two about illiberalism in America. He is also a regular contri...
Apr 18, 2019•59 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak , we ask the question, “can free speech be progressive?” Our guest is Louis Michael Seidman . He is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown Law and the author of the much-discussed 2018 Columbia Law Review article “ Can Free Speech Be Progressive? ” Click here for a transcript of the podcast. www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodc...
Apr 04, 2019•59 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we speak with Techdirt.com founder and editor Mike Masnick. Since founding Techdirt in 1997, Masnick has written nearly 50,000 blog posts for the publication and covered many of tech’s hottest free speech controversies. He even coined the phrase “ Streisand Effect .” In this conversation, we discuss some of the issues Masnick has recently written about for Techdirt, including defamation lawsuits and content moderation. We also ask Mike...
Mar 21, 2019•1 hr 15 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , FIRE staffers discuss our 2019 list of the 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech . Participants in this show are: Nico Perrino, host of So to Speak, director of communications Will Creeley, senior vice president of legal and public advocacy Adam Steinbaugh, director of FIRE’s Individual Rights Defense Program Sarah McLaughlin, senior program officer for legal and public advocacy www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twi...
Mar 07, 2019•53 min
Former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley A. Smith is perhaps best known for opposing many campaign finance regulations on First Amendment grounds. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we talk with the former chairman about how political campaign activity is regulated in America and how this regulation implicates the First Amendment. We also explore some of today’s hot-button campaign finance controversies. Smith is a professor of law at Capital University Law S...
Feb 21, 2019•1 hr 15 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we speak with Rutgers Law School Professor Carlos Ball about his book, “ The First Amendment and LGBT Equality: A Contentious History .” During this conversation, we explore the history of how LGBT activists utilized the First Amendment to secure their rights, why Professor Ball considers that history “contentious,” and how debates surrounding liberty and equality have roiled America for over a century and continue to drive conversatio...
Feb 07, 2019•1 hr 5 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we are joined by four members of FIRE’s staff to discuss the latest campus free speech news, including two new FIRE initiatives to tackle art censorship and restrictions on free speech and academic freedom abroad. Participants in this show are: Nico Perrino, host of So to Speak, director of communications Will Creeley, senior vice president of legal and public advocacy Adam Steinbaugh, director of FIRE’s Individual Rights Defense Progr...
Jan 24, 2019•1 hr 1 min
Her journey started with wearing a black armband to school and proceeded to the landmark United States Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969). But it by no means stopped there: Mary Beth Tinker, namesake of the “Tinker” decision, continues to be a free speech icon. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we share with you an unabridged version of a 2016 conversation between Tinker and attorney Robert Corn-Revere, in which Tinker sheds ligh...
Jan 10, 2019•28 min
Against ‘Free Speech’ with Anthony Leaker What does it mean to be “against ‘free speech?’” On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we speak with Anthony Leaker . Earlier this year he wrote an essay for Cato Unbound called “Against ‘Free Speech’,” in which he professes skepticism of the prevailing free speech narrative in the West and argues that it is often used as a Trojan Horse for far-right wing and fascist propaganda. Leaker is a principal lecturer in cultural and critic...
Dec 27, 2018•1 hr 24 min
Has every fact we’ve ever known undergone revision or reversal? It’s a provocative and consequential idea, and one that complexity scientist Samuel Arbesman argues has some truth to it — even if he wouldn’t state it that strongly. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we talk with Arbesman about his 2012 book, The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date . If facts about our world are constantly shifting, shouldn’t the protection of free speech — t...
Dec 13, 2018•57 min
Zachary Wood has become comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. He’s engaged in them his entire life — with his mom who suffers from schizoaffective disorder, with his neighbors in Washington, D.C.’s impoverished Ward 8 community, and with his friends at the elite private high school he commuted four hours round trip to each day. So when Wood arrived at Williams College in 2014, he was prepared for the uncomfortable learning that comes along with uncomfortable conversations about the world...
Nov 29, 2018•1 hr 9 min
“Words are weapons in the world’s most lyrical sport.” That’s how competitive battle rap is described by the makers of “ Bodied ,” a new satirical film produced by Eminem about a college student who decides to write a thesis paper on battle rap and through a twist of fate finds himself becoming a prodigy in the sport. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we speak with“Bodied” director Joseph Kahn . Kahn is a filmmaker and Grammy-award winning music video director, who has...
Nov 13, 2018•1 hr
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we discuss how decision-making, “information liquidity,” and luck fit into our daily lives — and how a solid understanding of these concepts can point to an underappreciated benefit of free expression. Our guest is Annie Duke . She is a decision strategist, renowned poker player, and author of Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts . Duke won more than $4 million in tournament poker during her care...
Nov 01, 2018•1 hr 14 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we speak with Jameel Jaffer , executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Jaffer and the Knight Institute seek to defend “the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital era through strategic litigation, research, and public education.” Show notes: Podcast transcript Knight First Amendment Institute website Clapper v. Amnesty International , the U.S. Supreme Court case Jaffer argued challengin...
Oct 18, 2018•50 min
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we partner with the First Amendment Salon to present a conversation between former Solicitor General of the United States Donald B. Verrilli Jr. and University of Washington School of Law scholar Ronald Collins . Verrilli was solicitor general of the United States from June 2011 to June 2016 and during that time he argued dozens of cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, including many First Amendment cases. He is now a partner with ...
Oct 04, 2018•1 hr 26 min
There are very few exceptions to the First Amendment, and a “true threat” is one of them. But defining a true threat isn’t easy. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court first examined true threats in the 1969 case Watts v. United States , it’s been a messy doctrine. The court didn’t provide a definition of a true threat until many years after Watts, and even then questions still remained. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we discuss the true threats doctrine with First Amend...
Sep 20, 2018•43 min
Tribalism and group polarization are on the rise. So too are rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide. On campuses, professors and students are afraid to speak out. And on social media, outrage mobs rule the day. How did we get here? On today’s episode of So to Speak , we are joined by FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff to discuss his new co-authored book with New York University professor Jonathan Haidt, “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a ...
Sep 04, 2018•54 min
Much has been written in recent months about online campaigns to get certain journalists , movie directors , and professors fired from their jobs because of things they said or wrote. Some campaigns have been successful. Some have not. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast , we talk about how these outrage mobs affect the world of comedy — in particular, one comedy club in Long Island City, New York. How should free speech advocates think about outrage mobs? Do they represen...
Aug 23, 2018•1 hr 9 min
