So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

Nico and FIRE President & CEO Greg Lukianoff appeared on an X Space to discuss the fallout from the recent congressional hearing on anti-Semitism involving Harvard President Claudine Gay, MIT President Sally Kornbluth, and former Penn President Liz Magill, who resigned last week following backlash over her testimony. Timestamps 0:00- Introduction  1:53 - History of FIRE 5:40 - MIT/Harvard/Penn presidents’ testimony  11:35 - How speech codes are abused and conflict over the definition of genocide  14:05 - Penn “water buffalo” incident  16:20 - Will universities take the wrong lesson from these hearings? 21:25 - Double standards on campus  23:41 - Standards for hostile environment harassment, Title VI 26:43 - Is there a university that is currently handling the situation well? 31:19 - Institutional neutrality  38:29 - Guidance for donors   41:51 - The mission of the university 47:35 - College admissions and political litmus tests  51:20 - Faculty viewpoint diversity  57:17 - The path forward    Show notes Show Transcript The Canceling of the American Mind Congressional hearing FIRE’s College Free Speech Rankings Kalven Report “Mighty Ira” Richard Berthold (“anyone who can blow up the pentagon has my vote”) Student arrested for true threats at Cornell Skokie case (neo Nazi protest in Illinois)  The Eternally Radical Idea (Greg’s Substack)  Penn “water buffalo” case  

We’re joined by First Amendment attorney Marc Randazza and British journalist Brendan O’Neill to discuss the state of free speech in the United States and Europe.  Randazza is a First Amendment attorney and the managing partner at Randazza Legal Group. He has represented controversial figures throughout his career, including Alex Jones, Mike Cernovich, Chuck Johnson, and founder of the neo-nazi website the Daily Stormer, Andrew Anglin. O’Neill is a British author and journalist who served as editor of Spiked from 2007 to September 2021 and is currently its chief political writer. His book, “Heretic’s Manifesto,” was released in June. He last appeared on the podcast on October 20, 2016. Timestamps 0:00 Introduction 6:35 Do lawyers want to defend their enemies any more? 13:00 The oldest form of intolerance  17:19 Israel/Hamas and double standards  32:28 Hate speech laws in Ireland  51:35 Censorship from internet intermediaries 52:33 Debanking and corporate censorship 55:36 PruneYard case  1:01:44 Social media and the internet  1:05:18 The Digital Services Act Show Notes Show Transcript Brendan O’Neill at Oxford Union  EU Digital Services Act Proposed Irish hate speech bill PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980)   

The podcast features Greg Lukianoff, Alex Morey, and Ronnie London from FIRE discussing the Israel-Hamas conflict's impact on free speech on college campuses. They address the importance of distinguishing between protected and unprotected speech, the challenges of institutional neutrality, and the use of double standards in speech codes and censorship. They also talk about accusations, free speech, and incidents of censorship and destruction of pro-Israel posters.

Discussion on upcoming First Amendment cases in the Supreme Court's 2023-24 session, including government jawboning, social media regulation, trademark registration, and First Amendment retaliation. Exploring the implications of government actions towards social media companies and the importance of defining boundaries. Analyzing the Murthy v. Missouri case and the Court's understanding of technology and Section 230. Delving into the case of Gonzalez v. Trevino and the need for a clarification on First Amendment retaliation.

President, CEO, and general counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, Kristen Waggoner, joins us for a discussion on freedom of speech and religious liberty. ADF has played various roles in 74 U.S. Supreme Court victories and since 2011, has won cases before the Court 15 times.  According to its website, “ADF is the world's largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.” ADF has litigated many high profile and controversial free speech cases, including the recent Supreme Court case involving a web designer who didn’t want to be compelled to design websites for same-sex weddings. Before that, ADF litigated the 2018 Masterpiece Cakeshop case, which involved a cake designer who similarly didn’t want to provide his services for same-sex weddings on religious grounds. After the initial conversation was recorded, The Washington Post and The New Yorker released articles critical of ADF. Nico and Kristen recorded an additional, brief conversation to address these articles. That is included at the end of the podcast.  Transcript: https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/so-speak-podcast-transcript-are-cakes-speech-alliance-defending-freedoms-kristen Timestamps: 0:43 - Introduction 6:16 - Kristen’s path to ADF 12:54 - ADF’s international team 14:20 - Pavi Rasanen controversy 19:24 - What does it mean to be a ministry?/blasphemy laws 22:56 - ADF’s Supreme Court cases  26:58 - 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis  28:56 - Public accommodation laws/Masterpiece Cakeshop 40:40 - Pre-enforcement challenges 42:50 - Facial challenges 47:32 - Test cases or fake cases? 49:44 - Yale incident 57:50 - Other campus shoutdowns 1:00:08 - L.M. v. Town of Middleborough  1:14:27 - Kristen addresses WaPo article 1:15:38 - Kristen addresses New Yorker article    Related Articles/Podcasts: “Inside the tactics that won Christian vendors the right to reject gay weddings,” Jon Swaine and Beth Reinhard (The Washington Post) “Are ADF’s Cases ‘Made Up’?” Lathan Watts (ADF, response to The Washington Post) “The next targets for the group that overturned Roe,” David D. Kirkpatrick (The New Yorker) FIRE’s response to Kristen Waggoner Yale incident  FIRE’s response to Anne Coulter Cornell incident FIRE’s response to Ilya Shapiro Georgetown incident FIRE’s response to Ian Haworth UAlbany incident “The Imperfect Plaintiffs” (“More Perfect” podcast with Julia Longoria)   Cases Discussed: Dubash v. City of Houston (Animal rights activists lawsuit, 2023) Paivi Rasanen (Finnish lawmaker charged with incitement against gay people) 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (2022)  Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2017)  Uzuebgunam v. Preczewski (2021)  West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)  Wooley v. Maynard (1997)  Plessy v. Ferguson (1986)  L.M. v. Town of Middleborough (2023)   www.sotospeakpodcast.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@freespeechtalk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechtalk/ Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org  

Writer and academic Yascha Mounk discusses his new book on the rise of identity in our national debate. He explores the origins of the 'identity trap' and its impact on freedom of speech. Topics include cultural Marxism, critical race theory, free speech culture, and the erosion of free speech acceptance.

FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff and FIRE General Counsel Ronnie London join the show to preview Greg’s new co-authored book on cancel culture and to discuss recent free speech cases and headlines: Transcript: https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/so-speak-podcast-transcript-dont-tread-me-misgendering-cancel-culture-and-three  “The Canceling of the American Mind,” by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott (out Oct. 17)  Colorado public school to allow student to display Gadsden flag patch — as long as nobody complains  California library violates First Amendment, boots speakers for referring to transgender women as ‘biological men’  Police stage ‘chilling’ raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing computers, records and cellphones Federal judge: Texas Law Mandating Age Verification for Sexually Themed Sites Violates First Amendment (Court Also Strikes Down "Public Health Warning" for Porn Sites)  Judge blocks Arkansas law requiring parental OK for minors to create social media accounts Federal judge bars Texas from enforcing book rating law   www.sotospeakpodcast.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@freespeechtalk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechtalk/ Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

Harvey Silverglate is a criminal defense and civil liberties attorney. He is also the co-founder of FIRE. On today’s show, Harvey defends the work of criminal defense attorneys, explaining why even guilty people must have the right to a robust legal defense. He also shares stories from his life, from growing up in Brooklyn to defending Vietnam War protesters to co-founding FIRE. Transcript www.sotospeakpodcast.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@freespeechtalk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechtalk/ Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org  

High school debate is considered an ideal extracurricular activity for aspiring lawyers, politicians, or anyone seeking to learn the tools of effective communication and persuasion. But a slew of recent reports argue that high school debate is being captured by political ideology, rendering certain arguments off-limits, some debate topics undebatable, and ad hominem attacks fair game. Debate judges disclose their judging paradigms by saying things like, “I will listen to conservative-leaning arguments, but be careful,” or, “Before anything else, including being a debate judge, I am a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist. . . . I cannot check the revolutionary proletarian science at the door when I’m judging.” Some debates even devolve into personal attacks, spurred on by judges who say they “will consider indictments of an opponent on the basis that they have done [or] said something racist, gendered, [or] -phobic in their personal behavior.” On today’s show, we’re joined by two former high school debaters who are dismayed by these trends. James Fishback is the founder of Incubate Debate, which hosts free debate tournaments for students in Florida. Matthew Adelstein is a rising sophomore studying philosophy at the University of Michigan and publishes Bentham's Newsletter, a newsletter about utilitarianism. Show notes: Transcript of episode “Part I: At high school debates, debate is no longer allowed” by James Fishback “Part II: At high school debates, watch what you say” by James Fishback “How critical theory is radicalizing high school debate” by Maya Bodnick Nico’s current reading list on critical theory: “Grand Hotel Abyss” by Stuart Jeffries and “America’s Cultural Revolution” by Christopher F. Rufo www.sotospeakpodcast.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@freespeechtalk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechtalk/ Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

We review the Supreme Court’s free speech cases during the 2022-23 term and speculate on what’s in store for the next term. FIRE Vice President of Litigation Darpana Sheth guest hosts and is joined by FIRE Chief Counsel Robert Corn-Revere and FIRE General Counsel Ronnie London. This episode was recorded before a virtual live audience on July 20. Watch a video of the conversation. Transcript Cases discussed: 303 Creative v Elenis  Counterman v. Colorado United States v. Hansen Twitter v. Taamneh Gonzales v. Google The Netchoice cases www.sotospeakpodcast.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@freespeechtalk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechtalk/ Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org