So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
FIRE - sotospeakpodcast.com
Latest episode: Wed Oct 15 2025
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast takes an uncensored look at the world of free expression through the law, philosophy, and stories that define your right to free speech. Hosted by FIRE's Nico Perrino. New episodes post every other Thursday.
259 total episodes
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Oct15Ep. 255: Authoritarians in the Academy40mins
Sep30Ep. 254: What is going on with the FCC?48mins
Sep16Ep. 253: Pam Bondi says hate speech is not free speech — is she right?65mins
Sep15Ep. 252: America’s first free speech crisis — the Sedition Act of 179868mins
Sep4Ep. 251: Free speech and ‘the executive power’ with Advisory Opinions72mins
Aug28Ep. 250: Civil rights, hate speech, and the First Amendment57mins
Aug12Ep. 249: FIRE Reacts — Where does Harvard go from here? With Larry Summers68mins
Aug6Ep. 248: Commercial speech and the First Amendment50mins
Jul24Ep. 247: Justin Amash69mins
Jul10Ep. 246: Tech check — AI moratorium, Character AI lawsuit, FTC, Digital Services Act, and FSC v. Paxton71mins
Jun27Ep. 245: The Supreme Court's decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton46mins
Jun5Ep. 244: Censoring lawmakers, T-shirts, and seashells66mins
May22Ep. 243: Heather Mac Donald on Trump and free speech59mins
May8Ep. 242: Is cancel culture dead?55mins
Apr23Ep. 241: The government’s money, the government’s rules?54mins
Apr9Ep. 240: Is there a global free speech recession?65mins
Mar27Ep. 239: Columbia University, Mahmoud Khalil, DEI, law firms, and more64mins
Mar18Ep. 238: On Mahmoud Khalil39mins
Mar12Ep. 237: A tech policy bonanza! The FCC, FTC, AI regulations, and more64mins
Feb19Ep. 236: JD Vance, 60 Minutes, the Associated Press, the FCC, and more66mins
Feb6Ep. 235: Cancel culture, legal education, and the Supreme Court with Ilya Shapiro79mins
Jan23Ep. 234: The Chicago Canon67mins
Jan9Ep. 233: Rethinking free speech with Peter Ives81mins
Dec18Ep. 232: We answer your free speech questions66mins
Dec12Ep. 231: What is academic freedom? With Keith Whittington67mins
Nov25Ep. 230: Wilson vs. FDR: Who was worse for free speech?69mins
Nov14Ep. 229: Ayaan Hirsi Ali will not submit45mins
Nov1Ep. 228: Does artificial intelligence have free speech rights?70mins
Oct22Ep. 227: Should there be categories of unprotected speech?63mins
Oct10Ep. 226: ‘Shouting fire,’ deepfake laws, tenured professors, and mask bans65mins
Sep26Ep. 225: Debating social media content moderation72mins
Sep12Ep. 224: Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and free speech70mins
Aug29Ep. 223: Teaching conservatism on a liberal college campus47mins
Aug15Ep. 222: John Stuart Mill’s lasting impact on the Supreme Court64mins
Aug1Ep. 221: Section 230 co-author, Rep. Christopher Cox58mins
Jul18Ep. 220: Political violence and speech65mins
Jul3Ep. 219: The First Amendment at the Supreme Court99mins
Jun25Ep. 218: A warning label on social media?86mins
Jun20Ep. 217: ‘Defending pornography’73mins
Jun6Ep. 216: Section 230 and online content moderation81mins
May21Ep. 215: ‘Private Censorship’ with J.P. Messina77mins
May7Ep. 214: The Antisemitism Awareness Act62mins
Apr30Ep. 213: Campus unrest - live webinar66mins
Apr25Ep. 212: Should the First Amendment protect hate speech?66mins
Apr11Ep. 211: Generational differences and civil liberties with Neil Howe81mins
Mar29Ep. 210: The First Amendment at the Supreme Court83mins
Mar25Ep. 209: ‘Is money speech?’ with Robert Breedlove127mins
Mar14Ep. 208: Dodging censorship in Russia60mins
Feb29Ep. 207 Free speech news: NetChoice, Taylor Swift, October 7, and Satan83mins
Feb15Ep. 206: CJ Hopkins compared modern Germany to Nazi Germany. Now he’s standing trial.74mins
Feb1Ep. 205: An anarchist’s perspective with Michael Malice77mins
Jan18Ep. 204: “Liar in a Crowded Theater” with Jeff Kosseff62mins
Jan4Ep. 203: ‘Undefeated’ with Coach Bill Courtney63mins
Dec21Ep. 202: The backpage.com saga63mins
Dec12Ep. 201: Crisis on Campus - X Space recording57mins
Nov30Ep. 200: The state of free speech73mins
Nov9Ep. 199: Israel, Hamas, and censorship at home65mins
Oct25Ep. 198: 2023-24 Supreme Court Preview76mins
Oct12Ep. 197 ‘Are cakes speech?’ with Alliance Defending Freedom’s Kristen Waggoner77mins
Sep27Ep. 196 ‘The Identity Trap’ by Yascha Mounk59mins
Sep7Ep. 195 ‘Don’t Tread on Me,’ misgendering, cancel culture, and three strikes for Texas78mins
Aug24Ep. 194 Harvey Silverglate, the beatnik criminal defense attorney52mins
Aug10Ep. 193 Can you still have a debate in high school debate?63mins
Jul27Ep. 192 Free speech at the Supreme Court59mins
Jul13Ep. 191 Civil liberties and Civil War30mins
Jun28Ep. 190 Free speech and Abolitionism32mins
Jun14Ep. 189 Why should we care about punk rock?62mins
Jun1Ep. 188 How to make a winning free speech argument81mins
May15Ep. 187 Dominion vs. Fox lawyers reflect on historic case95mins
Apr27Ep. 186 Killer Mike on free speech, racial justice, and Rap on Trial44mins
Apr20Ep. 185 Sex, drugs, and free speech (Bob Guccione Jr. and Nick Gillespie)80mins
Mar28Ep. 184 What’s going on in Florida?64mins
Mar22Ep. 183 The Stanford shout-down with David Lat57mins
Mar10Ep. 182 Ilya Shapiro on Fox/Dominion and his ‘cancel culture nightmare’59mins
Feb23Ep. 181 New York Times v. Sullivan and its future63mins
Feb9Ep. 180 Super Bowl free speech fumble57mins
Jan26Ep. 179 Artificial intelligence: Is it protected by the First Amendment?64mins
Jan12Ep. 178 The costs of offending religious sensitivities82mins
Dec21Ep. 177 Are Ann Coulter’s words really ‘violence’?52mins
Dec8Ep. 176 Can a graphic designer be compelled to design a website for a same-sex wedding?67mins
Nov22Ep. 175 Jawboning, book banning, and LeBron James thinks hate speech isn’t free speech (also Elon Musk … again)72mins
Nov3Ep. 174 Elon Musk, PayPal, and is New York trying to destroy Twitch?58mins
Oct20Ep. 173 Does your book need a sensitivity reader?78mins
Oct5Ep. 172 What does the First Amendment protect on social media?70mins
Sep29Ep. 171 Nature Human Misbehavior64mins
Sep15Ep. 170 Free speech and the American Founding36mins
Sep1Ep. 169 The Art of Insubordination73mins
Aug17Ep. 168 Assassin’s veto comes for Rushdie62mins
Aug11Ep. 167 That Facebook post about abortion could land you in jail50mins
Jul21Ep. 166 Substack, a platform for free speech?46mins
Jul7Ep. 165 Title IX gets twisted again49mins- Jun23Ep. 164 ‘The First Amendment created gay America’44mins
Jun6Ep. 163 The new FIRE60mins
May26Ep. 162 “Parental Advisory” and music censorship with Eric Nuzum42mins
May9Ep. 161 What did ‘On the Media’ get wrong about free speech … again?75mins
May5Ep. 160 Hugh Hefner, free speech scrapbooker45mins
Apr26Ep. 159 Disney and Elon Musk39mins
Apr21Ep. 158 What is academic freedom?86mins
Apr11Ep. 157 Former BBC bureau chief Konstantin Eggert and what you need to know about censorship in Russia82mins
Mar24Ep. 156 What Russians don’t know about the war in Ukraine 48mins
Mar10Ep. 155 The John Roberts Supreme Court60mins
Feb22Ep. 154 Sarah Palin v. New York Times41mins
Feb4Ep. 153 Elitist vs. egalitarian free speech (live recording, Q&A)68mins
Jan20Ep. 152 Banning critical race theory79mins
Jan13Ep. 151 Fighting words45mins
Dec14Ep. 150 George Orwell63mins
Nov23Ep. 149 Caitlin Flanagan and Greg Lukianoff69mins
Nov9Ep. 148 University of Austin, a new university devoted to free speech46mins
Oct28Ep. 147 ‘The Mind of the Censor’ with Robert Corn-Revere62mins
Oct14Ep. 146 Trigger warnings and DEI statements70mins
Sep30Ep. 145 First Amendment history with Yale Professor Akhil Amar96mins
Sep16Ep. 144 Matt Taibbi, Nadine Strossen, and Amna Khalid respond to ‘On the Media’ free speech critiques76mins
Sep2Ep. 143 Politics and thought reform in K-12 education52mins
Aug12Ep. 142 Alfred Hitchcock and Hollywood’s Production Code45mins
Jul29Ep. 141 Morris Ernst, Free Speech Renegade46mins
Jul15Ep. 140 Free speech, psychology, and madness81mins
Jun24Ep. 139 Mahanoy v. B.L. Supreme Court ruling analysis46mins
Jun17Ep. 138 A history of Western censorship with Eric Berkowitz79mins
Jun3Ep. 137 The Constitution of Knowledge with Jonathan Rauch73mins
May20Ep. 136 Comic book panic!42mins
May6Ep. 135 Are education schools secretly driving campus censorship?60mins
Apr22Ep. 134 A cheerleader’s free speech case lands at the Supreme Court45mins![[FIXED] Ep. 133 University of Wisconsin Professor Donald Downs](https://assets.podcst.app/?p=https%253A%252F%252Fstatic.libsyn.com%252Fp%252Fassets%252F5%252Fb%252Ff%252F3%252F5bf325c0548be7e688c4a68c3ddbc4f2%252FL_SC_Thumbnail.jpg)
Apr12[FIXED] Ep. 133 University of Wisconsin Professor Donald Downs72mins
Mar25Ep. 132 Academic Freedom Alliance with Keith Whittington58mins
Mar8Ep. 131 ‘Incitement’ with David L. Hudson Jr.39mins
Feb25Ep. 130 Stonewalling by the University of California18mins
Feb11Ep. 129 ‘The Fight for Free Speech’ with Ian Rosenberg50mins
Jan28Ep. 128 John McWhorter says academics are really, really worried45mins
Jan14Ep. 127 What happened to American childhood? with Kate Julian and Greg Lukianoff57mins
Jan12Ep. 126 Free speech after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot61mins
Dec10Ep. 125 National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke66mins
Dec1Ep. 124 ‘Burning the Books’ with Richard Ovenden49mins
Nov13Ep. 123 Campus mobs, heckler’s vetoes, racial segregation, and a rogue student government!54mins
Oct29Ep. 122 U.S Constitution masterclass with Judge Douglas Ginsburg44mins
Oct15Ep. 121 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards41mins
Oct12Ep. 120.1 Mighty Ira documentary watch-along102mins
Oct12Ep. 120 ‘Mighty Ira’ Glasser65mins
Oct1Ep. 119 2020 College Free Speech Rankings49mins
Sep17Ep. 118 David Goldberger, lead attorney in “the Skokie case”55mins
Aug14Ep. 117 What a summer …63mins
Aug5Ep. 116 ‘Journal of Controversial Ideas’ with Prof. Peter Singer44mins
Jul21Ep. 115 ‘Dare to Speak’ with PEN America’s Suzanne Nossel65mins
Jul8Ep. 114 Glenn Loury objects55mins
Jun24Rebroadcast: How Daryl Davis, a black man, defeats the Ku Klux Klan with open dialogue40mins
Jun4Ep. 113 Charlottesville reflections with Rodney Smolla61mins
May21Ep. 112 College social media censorship36mins
May8Ep. 111 'Dear Colleague,' due process now required. Title IX rules analysis.60mins
Apr28Ep. 110 The Constitution in the age of coronavirus w/ Prof. Josh Blackman36mins
Apr16Ep. 109 Censorship pandemic49mins
Apr2Ep. 108 A history of (dis)information wars in the Soviet Union and beyond62mins
Mar20Ep. 107.1 "Coronavirus and the failure of the ‘Marketplace of Ideas’"16mins
Mar20Ep. 107 FIRE, the coronavirus, and the failure of the ‘Marketplace of Ideas’51mins
Mar19Ep. 106 ‘Free speech and justified true belief’ w/ prof. Joseph Blocher73mins
Mar5Ep. 105 ‘Rap on Trial’55mins
Feb20Ep. 104 Violent video games with Villanova Professor Patrick M. Markey54mins
Feb6Ep. 103 Guns, addiction, and the press92mins
Jan22Ep. 102 Cultural sites, slurs, antisemitism, and Title IX57mins
Jan2Ep. 101 McCarthyism and The Red Scare68mins
Dec12The 100th episode: The state of free speech in America91mins
Nov26Ep. 99 John Stuart Mill’s ‘On Liberty’87mins
Nov14Ep. 98 ‘The First Amendment in the Trump Era’ w/ Professor Timothy Zick60mins
Oct31Ep. 97 There’s no such thing as free speech, argues Stanley Fish71mins
Oct17Ep. 96 Who was Hayden C. Covington?47mins
Oct3Ep. 95 Twenty years of FIRE with co-founder Harvey Silverglate45mins
Sep16Ep. 94 Kevin Williamson’s ‘The Smallest Minority’49mins
Sep5Ep. 93 ‘Coddling’ one year later46mins
Aug22Ep. 92 Free speech, privacy, and President Trump’s Twitter account w/ Alex Abdo47mins
Aug8Ep. 91 ‘The Grievance Studies Affair’83mins
Jul24Ep. 90 ‘David French-ism’68mins
Jul11Ep. 89 Prof. Samuel Abrams wrote an op-ed encouraging viewpoint diversity. Then came the fallout.52mins
Jun27Ep. 88 Defending libraries with James LaRue47mins
Jun13Ep. 87 Intellectual property 10162mins
May30Ep. 86 Words, Violence, and Censorship at Williams College39mins
May16Ep. 85 Wen Fa of the Pacific Legal Foundation37mins
May2Ep. 84 The fight to publish Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’66mins
Apr18Ep. 83 Mustafa Akyol on jailing journalists in Turkey, ‘re-educating’ Uyghurs in China, and cultural conformity in America58mins
Apr4Ep. 82 ‘Can free speech be progressive?’58mins
Mar21Ep. 81 Techdirt’s Mike Masnick75mins
Mar7Ep. 80 Ten Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 201952mins
Feb21Ep. 79 Former FEC Chairman Bradley Smith74mins
Feb7Ep. 78 LGBT equality and the First Amendment65mins
Jan24Ep. 77 Campus speech roundup: Art censorship, porn filters, speech restrictions abroad, and litigation victories61mins
Jan10Ep. 76 From black armbands to the U.S. Supreme Court28mins
Dec27Ep. 75 Against ‘Free Speech’ with Anthony Leaker83mins
Dec13Ep. 74 ‘The Half-Life of Facts’ with Samuel Arbesman56mins
Nov29Ep. 73 ‘Uncensored’ with Zachary Wood69mins
Nov13Ep. 72 ‘Bodied’ with director Joseph Kahn59mins
Nov1Ep. 71 Thinking about free speech in bets with Annie Duke74mins
Oct18Ep. 70 Free speech in the digital age with Jameel Jaffer50mins
Oct4Ep. 69 Former Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr.86mins
Sep20Ep. 68 'True threats' with David L. Hudson Jr.43mins
Sep4Ep. 67 ‘The Coddling of the American Mind’54mins
Aug23Ep. 66 Outrage mobs in comedy69mins
Aug9Ep. 65 Artificial intelligence & speech rights58mins
Jul25Ep. 64 How censorship crosses borders with Jacob Mchangama93mins
Jul11Ep. 63 Supreme Court review: Kennedy, Kavanaugh, and “weaponizing the First Amendment”87mins
Jun27Ep. 62 Most memorable FIRE cases37mins
Jun13Ep. 61 ‘HATE’ with Nadine Strossen84mins
May30Ep. 60 ‘Speak Freely’ with Professor Keith Whittington60mins
May16Ep. 59 Debating ‘Is there a campus free speech crisis?’ with Sullivan, Haidt, Nossel, Sachs, & Foster109mins
May3Ep. 58 ‘Lust on Trial’ with Amy Werbel69mins
Apr19Ep. 57 Exploring threats to a free press with Laura Handman69mins
Apr5Ep. 56 Have you been defamed?57mins
Mar27Ep. 55 Is there a campus free speech crisis?49mins
Mar22Ep. 54 Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission91mins
Mar8Ep. 53 Bret Weinstein, professor in exile85mins
Feb22Ep. 52 The Great Firewall of China39mins
Feb8Ep. 51 University of Alaska President Emeritus Mark Hamilton58mins
Jan25Ep. 50 Randall Kennedy on ‘The Forgotten Origins of the Constitution on Campus’92mins
Jan11Ep. 49 “The Great Dissent” w/ Professor Thomas Healy63mins
Dec28Ep. 48 ‘Natural Rights and the First Amendment’ w/ Jud Campbell67mins
Dec13Ep. 47 Institute for Justice President and General Counsel Scott Bullock56mins
Nov30Ep. 46 Revisiting Masses v. Patten (1917)117mins
Nov15Ep. 45 Harvard professor Steven Pinker40mins
Nov2Ep. 44 Berkeley then and now54mins
Oct19Ep. 43 LIVE EVENT: Viewpoint diversity on campus85mins
Oct5Ep. 42 ‘Is this the day the Internet dies?’44mins
Sep21Ep. 41 The British free speech invasion48mins
Sep7Ep. 40 “The neurodiversity case for free speech” w/ Geoffrey Miller52mins
Sep5Ep. 39 Judge Richard Posner on the First Amendment64mins
Aug22Ep. 38 “After Charlottesville” w/ former ACLU President Nadine Strossen68mins
Aug10Ep. 37 Fredrik deBoer on the growing distrust of higher ed60mins
Jul27Ep. 36 The life of Louis Brandeis w/ Jeffrey Rosen63mins
Jul13Ep. 35 Et tu, hecklers? Howard Sherman on defending the arts50mins
Jun29Ep. 34 The 100th anniversary of the Espionage Act of 191759mins
Jun20Ep. 33 The Slants win at the U.S. Supreme Court!64mins
Jun15Ep. 32 Tyler Cowen on the complacent campus63mins
Jun1Ep. 31 Campus free speech round table: spring 2017 semester in review63mins
May18Ep. 30 Eugene Volokh and new frontiers in the First Amendment72mins
May4Ep. 29 Former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser133mins
Apr20Ep. 28 ‘Sex and the Constitution’ with professor Geoffrey R. Stone51mins
Apr17Ep. 27 The ‘heckler’s veto’ strikes Heather Mac Donald35mins
Apr6Ep. 26 Putting money where your mouth is: campaign finance and free speech46mins
Mar23Ep. 25 Bob Corn-Revere on censorship: the ‘bastard child of technology’54mins
Mar9Ep. 24 How Daryl Davis, a black man, defeats the KKK w/ dialogue39mins
Feb23Ep. 23 Rob Corry, ‘speech code slayer’51mins
Feb9Ep. 22 Flemming Rose, Editor of ‘the Muhammad Cartoons’58mins
Jan27Ep. 21 The ‘Turkey Purge’ w/ Prof. Beth Baron34mins
Jan26Ep. 20 The ‘Turkey Purge’ w/ Mahir Zeynalov58mins
Jan12Ep. 19 Ken White of ‘Popehat’ Talks Nat Hentoff, Worst Censors of 201649mins
Dec29Ep. 18 Campus Free Speech Round Table: Fall 2016 Semester in Review58mins
Dec15Ep. 17 ACLU National Legal Director David Cole72mins
Dec1Ep. 16 Free Speech Profiles: Attorney Martin Garbus48mins
Nov17Ep. 15 Denying the Holocaust38mins
Nov3Ep. 14 NYU Professor Stephen Solomon’s ‘Revolutionary Dissent’43mins
Oct20Ep. 13 spiked’s Brendan O’Neill on the Fight for Free Speech Overseas45mins
Oct6Ep. 12 Flying Dog Brewery: ‘Good Beer, No Censorship’30mins
Sep22Ep. 11 Robert Shibley’s ‘Twisting Title IX’55mins
Sep8Ep. 10 Jason Riley on Being ‘Disinvited’ from Campus43mins
Aug25Ep. 9 Alice Dreger on Academic Freedom38mins
Aug11Ep. 8 ‘The Trials of Lenny Bruce’69mins
Jul28Ep. 7 The Daughters: Carlin, Pryor, and Bruce Speak Out65mins
Jul14Ep. 6 The Summer Interns Take Over20mins
Jun30Ep. 5 Aryeh Neier on “Defending My Enemy”57mins
Jun16Ep. 4 2015–16 Campus Free Speech Year in Review52mins
Jun2Ep. 3 David Baugh on ‘Defending My Enemy’37mins
May19Ep. 2 Glenn Greenwald On “Defending My Enemy”35mins
May5Ep. 1 Jonathan Rauch’s “Kindly Inquisitors”48mins
Apr19Welcome!1min