So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

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/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

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 about the founding of Techdirt, the culture for free speech in Silicon Valley, the fear surrounding new technologies, and, of course, the story behind the Streisand Effect. www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

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.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

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 School in Columbus, Ohio. From 2000 until 2005, he served as a FEC commissioner. He was FEC chairman in 2004 and vice chairman in 2003. In 2005, Smith founded the Center for Competitive Politics, now known as the Institute for Free Speech. Show notes: Podcast transcript Cases: Buckley v. Valeo (1976), Randall v. Sorrell (2006) Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), Speechnow.org v. FEC (2010), McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (2014) Timeline: The history of campaign finance regulation Faulty Assumptions and the Undemocratic Consequences of Campaign Finance Reform by Bradley A. Smith (1996) Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform by Bradley A. Smith (2009) Stormy weather for campaign-finance laws National Enquirer didn’t commit a crime by killing Trump affair stories www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

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 conversations about LGBT rights today. Show notes: Podcast transcript The First Amendment and LGBT Equality: A Contentious History Cases: Roth v. United States (1957), One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958), Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day, Postmaster General (1962), Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), Romer v. Evans (1996), Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000), CLS v. Martinez (2010), Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018) Relevant past podcasts: Debating Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Jonathan Rauch’s “Kindly Inquisitors” www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://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 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 Program Marieke Tuthill Beck-Coon, director of litigation Sarah McLaughlin, senior program officer for legal and public advocacy Show notes: YouTube video link: https://www.youtu.be/AKkL7nICtG8 Chicago State to rewrite policies, pay $650,000 to settle professors’ First Amendment lawsuit Whistleblowers on campus: The fight for free speech and academic freedom (VIDEO) Nine years later, UCLA complains — again — about online critic Speech rights of 150,000 students to be restored as Los Angeles Community College District settles lawsuit Fencing in free speech at Los Angeles Pierce College (VIDEO) FIRE launches initiative to defend campus free expression across borders REPORT: Artists clash with campus censors Indiana University Kokomo confirms that once-removed sculptures will remain on display through end of semester The problem with porn filters Wisconsin system president reprimands UW La Crosse Chancellor for Free Speech Week talk by porn star EFF sues Texas A&M University for violating PETA's free speech rights by blocking group from its Facebook page Rutgers reverses finding against professor who posted about resigning from the white race on Facebook www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

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 light on her case and the state of student speech rights nearly 50 years later. Show notes: Podcast transcript Abridged video of the conversation Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969) The picture of a young Mary Beth Tinker with her mother and father, as described in the episode Past podcasts with Robert Corn-Revere: Free speech at the U.S. Supreme Court, Censorship: the ‘bastard child of technology’, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission debate www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

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 critical theory at the University of Brighton in England. Show notes: Podcast transcript Against “Free Speech” by Anthony Leaker Cato Unbound, June 2018: Free Speech in International Perspective www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

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 — the right to openly question the world and all we believe about it — become even more critical? We explore what, if any, implications Arbesman’s argument has for those who care about free speech and open inquiry. Show notes: Podcast transcript http://www.Arbesman.net “World citation and collaboration networks: uncovering the role of geography in science” “Non-compete Agreements: Barriers to Entry … and Exit?” “How a Copyright Mistake Created the Modern Zombie” “Undiscovered Public Knowledge” by Don R. Swanson www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

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’s most important and controversial issues. Unfortunately, he was quick to learn not everyone was up for the challenge — including his college president. On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we talk with Wood about his new memoir, Uncensored: My Life and Uncomfortable Conversations at the Intersection of Black and White America. Show notes: Podcast transcript Randall Kennedy So to Speak podcast “Williams College Bars ‘Uncomfortable Learning’ Speaker from Campus, Declares ‘Hate Speech’ Too Uncomfortable” “The Condescending Paternalism of Williams President Adam Falk” The Chicago Statement “In Response to the ‘Chicago Statement’ Petition” (Williams College student petition) www.sotospeakpodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org