So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

Shouting down speakers, UCLA free speech, heckling, AI, doxxing, cancel culture, and more!
 
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:40 Get your tickets to Soapbox now!
06:30 Congratulations to Will on 20 years at FIRE
07:31 How is FIRE responding to shouting down speakers?
11:33 Will FIRE include viewpoint diversity in our College Free Speech Rankings?
13:48 What is FIRE's response to UCLA Law students protesting a DHS speaker?
17:07 NYU's commencement speaker Jonathan Haidt 
21:20 Is walking out on a controversial speaker protected free speech?
23:28 Is FIRE involved in Texas State University professor Tom Alter's case?
25:50 What is the scholar to attorney ratio at FIRE?
27:47 Has cancel culture on college campuses changed since Trump 2.0?
32:00 What is FIRE's stance on doxxing?
37:02 FIRE volunteer opportunities
37:33 Can the government regulate AI?
42:01 Is talk therapy speech or medical treatment? (Chiles v. Salazar)
46:02 What are the most pressing threats to online expression?
51:30 Special thanks to the Middlebury College Democrats and Republicans
53:45 What are the most challenging aspects of FIRE's work with technology and free speech?
57:10 Does accepting government money protect or restrict speech?
01:00:25 Is FIRE a reactive organization and what solutions do we offer?
01:01:41 Outro
 
Joining us:
Nico Perrino, executive vice president

Alisha Glennon, chief operating officer

Greg Lukianoff, president & chief executive officer

Will Creeley, legal director

 
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Editorial note: This conversation was recorded on Friday, April 24, the day before the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Both Nico and Clayton attended the event, where a gunman breached security and opened fire before being apprehended.
No one was seriously injured, but the incident serves as a reminder of the threats reporters can face in the course of their work. Since we recorded the conversation before the shooting, Nico and Clayton do not address it, but the incident underscores the stakes of their discussion.
—
In 2020, Reporters Without Borders launched the Uncensored Library, a virtual archive housed inside Minecraft, the world's most popular computer game.
It preserves the work of journalists who have faced censorship, imprisonment, exile, or even death. In countries where their reporting is banned, Minecraft itself is not, making the library a digital sanctuary for suppressed journalism that millions can still access.
In March 2026, the project added a United States wing, reminding Americans that subtler, less direct threats to a free press happen everywhere – even at home.
With today's release of the 2026 World Press Freedom Index and World Press Freedom Day approaching on May 3, we're unpacking the state of press freedom with Clayton Weimers, the executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA.
Download The Uncensored Library here.
 
Timestamps: 
00:00 Intro  
04:41 The state of press freedom in the United States
10:51 Trump administration's threats to press freedom
14:16 Patel v. The Atlantic and actual malice
22:55 Who is to blame for distrust in media?
27:58 Viewpoint diversity in the newsroom
32:15 The modern media ecosystem
40:27 What is RSF?
47:00 Freelance and independent journalism
49:11 Clayton's background and more on Reporters Without Borders
51:25 Inside the Uncensored Library 
01:01:59 Outro
 
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If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].

We break down the legal case against James Comey over an alleged "true threat" and how far the government can go in prosecuting speech. Plus, we examine renewed FCC pressure on ABC and Jimmy Kimmel.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:57 Does the DOJ have a viable case against James Comey?
04:51 "True threats" and Comey's case
06:36 Threats against U.S. presidents and Watts v. United States
09:55 Was it a mistake for Comey to take down the "8647" seashell image?
11:18 Can the case be dismissed before it goes to trial?
12:38 Can Comey's case be considered a selective prosecution?
13:23 Is the process itself a punishment?
15:29 Could prosecutors face consequences for bringing this case?
18:07 Examples of true threats
20:35 "True threat" versus "incitement to imminent lawless action"
22:53 Is it still a "true threat" if charges come a year later?
24:32 Can Comey recover his legal fees?
25:34 Do threats become more real in the wake of other active threats?
26:32 Does the First Amendment differ for speech about the president?
30:06 What's going on with the FCC and ABC?
34:20 What do NRA v. Vullo and the FCC's calls to fire Jimmy Kimmel have in common?
35:17 Why does broadcast licensing exist in the internet age?
36:51 Have past presidents historically influenced broadcast licensing?
38:33 Is the Fairness Doctrine still in effect?
40:30 What can ABC do if the FCC takes away their licenses?
42:40 Will ABC fight back?
46:01 Has broadcast media regulation always been a frustration for 1A advocates?
49:20 Humphrey's Executor & content-based regulation
50:58 Is the FCC independent from the executive branch?
51:45 The past 18 months of FCC action
52:15 Outro
Joining us:
Conor Fitzpatrick, supervising senior attorney

Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy

Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel

The early internet opened unprecedented avenues for speech, creativity, and connection without traditional gatekeepers.
But it also raised civil liberties questions: Do our offline freedoms exist online? And if so, how far do they extend?
Today, those questions are more urgent than ever. Advances in AI have given governments powerful new tools to track, monitor, and analyze our behavior, raising fundamental concerns about the future of free expression in the digital age.
Today we are joined by Cindy Cohn, the executive director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She has spent thirty years as a civil liberties attorney specializing in digital rights, which she documents in her newly published memoir Privacy's Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance.
 
Timestamps: 
00:00 Intro  
05:17 Why write this book now?
09:11 Does privacy make free speech possible?
14:52 Code as speech: Bernstein v. United States 
33:34 The Patriot Act and government spying
51:09 National security letters and Section 702
57:57 Who is Tony Coppolino?
01:06:06 Why EFF left X
01:11:05 What's next for Cindy
01:13:56 Outro
Read the transcript here.
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. 
If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].

Free speech has long been a cornerstone of democratic society. But today, its principles face increasing pressure.
Around the world, governments are expanding speech restrictions in the name of combating misinformation, hate speech, and extremism, while new technologies make it easier to monitor and control public discourse.
Many free speech advocates warn that these efforts risk eroding democracy itself.
Joining the show to discuss this "global free speech recession" is Jacob Mchangama, a senior fellow at FIRE and the founder and executive director of The Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University, and Jeff Kosseff, a senior fellow at The Future of Free Speech. Their new book is "The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom."
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:07 Why write this book?
04:40 Where free speech stands in America today
05:53 What is a "global free speech recession"?
11:22 Free speech's high point and what changed
18:56 Election misinformation, disinformation, and the role of AI
34:40 The EU's Digital Services Act and the UK's Online Safety Act
40:00 Are democracies starting to adopt more restrictive speech laws?
43:52 Solutions to reversing the free speech recession
52:25 Outro
Read the transcript here.
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more.
If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].