We are a podcast community that explores free speech: not just free speech’s applicability under the law, but also its place in our life and culture.
“Fish don't know they're in water,” wrote author David Foster Wallace to illustrate how some of life's most important realities are hard to see. Likewise with free speech: It's not top of mind for most of us.
But, at its core, freedom of speech is what enables us to be who we are and to speak our mind. Its presence — or lack thereof — shapes art, politics, the economy, human progress, our sense of self, and our relationship with others.
“Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom,” wrote the late Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo.
It's only when we lose our right to free speech that we realize how important it is — like a fish out of water.
Nevertheless, when we started “So to Speak” in the spring of 2016, we worried we wouldn’t have enough to discuss on a podcast that promised to publish a new episode every other week.
We were wrong.
We have more episode ideas than we have time to record. Below are some of host Nico Perrino’s personal favorite episodes, which should give you a sense of the podcast’s range:
Political violence and speech (ep. 220): Did overheated political rhetoric lead to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump? What is political violence’s relationship with free speech?
A warning label on social media? (218): Is social media harmful to kids? Should we regulate its access?
Civil liberties and Civil War (191): The complicated history and legacy of civil liberties during the American Civil War.
Artificial intelligence (179): Is it protected by the First Amendment?
George Orwell (150): He died at the age of 46 but his writings — namely “Animal Farm” and “1984” — still shape our understanding of freedom.
The Great Firewall of China (52): It’s just one of the tools the Chinese government uses to monitor, censor, and even manipulate what its approximately 1.4 billion citizens see online.
‘Is this the day the Internet dies?’ (42): Who makes the rules for what people can say — and see — on the web? And who pays the price when “The Delete Squad” gets it wrong?
Former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser (29): A master class in principled free speech advocacy, effective management strategies, and how following your passions can lead you to delightfully unexpected places.
Daryl Davis, a black man, defeats the KKK w/ dialogue (24): “How can you hate me if you don’t even know me?”
Most of our episodes feature a video version of the conversation, which can be found along with clips of each show on our social media channels: YouTube, X, Facebook, and Instagram.
You can join us in the discussion by leaving comments on each episode, engaging with us on social media, taking our listener survey, or emailing your thoughts to sotospeak@thefire.org.
We hope you will also consider becoming a paid subscriber, which gets you:
Access to live, members-only monthly conversations.
Thanks for listening —
New episodes every other Thursday (mostly).
Contact: sotospeak@thefire.org
