I Think It's a Great Book Written About Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Every politician in the history of the world has thought any idea they don't like is a clear and present danger to our nation. But oliver wendell holmes was talking about a group of social ists who were protesting the draft in america for the first world war, before America entered the war. It's at least a debatable point, but it wasn't. And that how that really sets america on the path towards a greater first amendment protections.

Hailed as the “first freedom,” free speech is the bedrock of democracy, and it is subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states around the world, it is on the retreat.

In this episode, based on the book Free Speech, Michael Shermer and Jacob Mchangama discuss the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of the principle, how much we have gained from it, and how much we stand to lose without it. Mchangama reveals how the free exchange of ideas underlies all intellectual achievement and has enabled the advancement of both freedom and equality worldwide. Yet the desire to restrict speech, too, is a constant.