Editor's note: A previously published version of this episode featured an incorrect audio file for a different FIRE podcast. The error has been fixed and the correct audio file uploaded. We apologize for the error. Retired University of Wisconsin Professor Donald Downs is a legendary champion of free speech and academic freedom. But before he became one of the country’s preeminent defenders of these values, he wrote a book that challenged prevailing free speech arguments. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we are joined by Professor Downs to discuss his journey from somewhat of a free speech skeptic to one of its most fervent defenders. Transcript Free Speech and Liberal Education: A Plea for Intellectual Diversity and Tolerance (2020) Nazis in Skokie: Freedom, Community, and the First Amendment (1985) Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus (2007) www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we discuss the newly formed Academic Freedom Alliance, which is a union of American college faculty members dedicated to protecting faculty expressive and academic freedom rights. Keith E. Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. Professor Whittington is the chair of AFA’s Academic Committee. He also is a member of FIRE’s Board of Directors. Transcript www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

There are very few exceptions to the First Amendment, and “incitement to imminent lawless action” is one of them. In the wake of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial over his alleged incitement of the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S Capitol, this obscure legal doctrine has captured headlines. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we discuss the incitement doctrine, and whether Trump’s Jan. 6 speech amounted to incitement, with First Amendment scholar and FIRE Legal Fellow David L. Hudson Jr. He is an Assistant Professor of Law at Belmont University and the Justice Robert H. Jackson Legal Fellow at FIRE. Transcript Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) Transcript: Donald Trump speech at the Jan. 6 “Save America” rally www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we explore a multi-year public records odyssey at the University of California, Los Angeles involving former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a campus appearance, administrative stonewalling, and, finally, a successful lawsuit filed by FIRE. And, on the eve of Student Press Freedom Day, we learn about the challenges student journalists face accessing public records in the University of California system and why access to such records is important for democracy and for student journalists to fulfill their watchdog role. Show notes: Transcript www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we are joined by media lawyer Ian Rosenberg to discuss his new book, “The Fight for Free Speech: Ten Cases That Define Our First Amendment Freedoms.” Rosenberg is assistant chief counsel at ABC, Inc., where he has provided pre-broadcast counsel for ABC News clients on libel, newsgathering, intellectual property, and FCC regulatory issues since 2003. Show notes: Transcript www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

Last summer, Columbia University Professor John McWhorter wrote that he was receiving missives almost daily “from professors living in constant fear for their career because their opinions” are incompatible with campus orthodoxies. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we catch up with McWhorter to discuss how the culture has changed (or not) since The Atlantic published his article, “Academics Are Really, Really Worried About Their Freedom.” McWhorter is a member of FIRE’s Board of Directors and the host of the popular Lexicon Valley podcast. Show notes: Transcript www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we are joined by senior editor at The Atlantic Kate Julian and FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff to discuss rising rates of childhood depression, anxiety, and suicide.  How might these trends be connected to the way we parent our kids — and what do they mean for our wider society and for campus free speech? Kate is the author of the 2020 Atlantic cover story, “What Happened To American Childhood?,” and this conversation is part of Greg’s “Catching up with Coddling” blog series, in which he reviews recent developments related to the themes of his co-authored 2018 book “The Coddling of the American Mind.” Show notes: Transcript "Catching up with Coddling part seven: The #MustListen Kate Julian interview, ‘Runaway Homophily,’ and the second ‘Coddling’ Caveat" by Greg Lukianoff, Adam Goldstein, and Ryne Weiss “What Happened To American Childhood” by Kate Julian “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt “Catching up with Coddling” blog series “Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex” by Kate Julian Greg’s book recommendation: “Love, Money, and Parenting: How Economics Explains the Way We Raise Our Kids” by Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we are joined by Reason Magazine Senior Editor Robby Soave and FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff to discuss the Washington, DC Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021 and the effect it has had — and will have — on free speech, particularly speech on the internet. Robby is the author of the forthcoming book “Tech Panic.” www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, host Nico Perrino is joined by the editor of NationalReview.com, Charles C.W. Cooke, to discuss free speech philosophy, Christopher Hitchens, the October murder of a school teacher in France, and recent attacks on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Show notes: Transcript “Hate Speech and the Limits of Free Expression,” a Kenyon College panel (video) “What ‘Snowflakes’ Get Right About Free Speech” by Ulrich Baer Christopher Hitchens - Free Speech (video) “Free Speech Without Apologies” by Charles C.W. Cooke www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, host Nico Perrino is joined by Richard Ovenden to discuss his new book, “Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge.”Ovenden is the Director of the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Balliol College. In 2019, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Show notes: Transcript www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org