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The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State is laced with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste. Joshua Frank dissects the historical crime scene, tracing it back to the colonization of this land while also pointing to the future crimes that may have been unleashed by perpetual radioactive pollution. Laura Weinrib traces the ACLU's journey from defending free speech as a labor tactic to defending it as a neutral principle. This episode of The Dig is brought to you by our listeners who support us at patreon.com and by Haymarket Books which has loads of great left-wing titles perfect for dig listeners like you.

Featuring Laura Weinrib on The Taming of Free Speech: America’s Civil Liberties Compromise. Did you know that the ACLU was founded as a radical labor organization allied with the IWW? Weinrib traces the rise of the modern civil liberties movement, and modern constitutional liberalism more broadly, from World War I through the New Deal. She explains how the ACLU went from defending free speech as a means to revolutionary ends to a liberal position exalting free speech as an end unto itself—including the anti-union speech of bosses and the political speech of corporations. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America by Joshua Frank haymarketbooks.org/books/1940-atomic-days Abolishing State Violence: A World Beyond Bombs, Borders, and Cages by Ray Acheson haymarketbooks.org/books/1883-abolishing-state-violence