So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

Debates over religious freedom have shaped American life for centuries. From Quakers facing persecution in colonial America to The Crucible to South Park, fights over religious expression have repeatedly tested the country's commitment to free speech and religious liberty.
At the heart of these debates are a few difficult questions: Does the Constitution protect only popular beliefs, or all of them? If the government opens the door for one form of religious expression, does it have to allow every form? And if not, where does the Constitution draw the line?
Few people have tested those questions more directly than Chaz Stevens.
Stevens is the founder of the Church of Satanology and a longtime activist who uses satire, publicity stunts, and litigation to challenge what he sees as hypocrisy in how governments apply First Amendment protections.
In this episode, Chaz joins us to talk about those battles, the philosophy behind his activism, and what he's learned from years of pushing the boundaries of the First Amendment.
Follow Chaz on Substack here.
 
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:26 What is Satanology?
04:15 Using malicious compliance to defend viewpoint neutrality
07:14 Pushing the boundaries of religious freedom protections
10:12 The First Amendment right to petition the government
11:20 Fighting state-mandated religious displays
15:37 Why Chaz puts Festivus poles in state capitols
19:59 Ron DeSantis, school libraries, and book ban controversies
23:44 Suing the government without a lawyer (pro se litigation)
30:18 Chaz's lawsuit against Rep. Chip LaMarca and Lindke v. Freed
34:48 How Chaz's activism started
35:54 The Consentivius tour and the Epstein files
38:55 What is Chaz's endgame?
41:27 Outro
 
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 fire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@fire.org.

What is financial censorship?
Rainey Reitman joins the show to discuss what happens when people are denied access to financial services because of their lawful speech and conduct.
Reitman is the author of Transaction Denied: Big Finance's Power to Punish Speech, which examines the role financial companies like Visa, Chase, and PayPal play in policing speech and silencing speakers.
 
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:29 Ben Reitman: Rainey's great-grandfather and free speech activist
05:42 How Rainey joined the fight for internet freedom
08:19 Chelsea Manning, whistleblowers, and the WikiLeaks banking blockade
16:11 The National Committee for Religious Freedom's fight with Chase Bank
19:10 NRA v. Vullo: The Supreme Court case on indirect government censorship
21:24 The Wolfsberg Group and global banking institutions
23:51 What is a "politically exposed person"?
25:52 Reputational risk management
27:40 Trump's 2025 executive order on debanking
29:45 Sanctions, terrorism screening, and the impact on Muslim communities
33:04 Why banks are so afraid of sanctions violations
34:10 Can you fight back after being debanked?
35:32 Can the private sector censor?
37:50 Operation Choke Point, cannabis, and crypto
47:25 Why are banks policing porn and adult content?
54:11 Solutions to debanking: incentives, crypto, and cash
59:15 Outro
 
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 fire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@fire.org.

In 2010, two landmark decisions transformed American campaign finance law. The first was Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The second was SpeechNow.org v. FEC.
Together, these cases cleared the way for corporations and so-called Super PACs to raise and spend unlimited sums of money in elections.
What followed was a new era in American politics where individuals, corporations, and industries increasingly spent more and more money to influence campaigns and public opinion.
To debate the constitutional, political, and historical questions surrounding money in politics, we are joined by Larry Lessig and Paul Sherman. Lessig is a Harvard Law professor and the founder of Equal Citizens, one of the country's leading advocates for campaign finance reform. Sherman is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice who served as co-counsel in SpeechNow.org.
Read Larry's paper "If Roe, then Buckley" here.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:43 How Larry and Paul became interested in political speech and campaign finance
05:33 Citizens United, political speech, and quid pro quo corruption
18:34 What was the SpeechNow case?
32:31 Elon Musk and billionaire influence in the 2024 election
49:06 History of campaign finance regulation
51:26 First Amendment originalism, Federalist 52, and Federalist 57
01:07:07 Does money actually influence election outcomes?
01:14:20 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 fire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@fire.org.

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

 
Read the transcript here.
Become a paid subscriber today to receive invitations to future live webinars.
If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at fire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@fire.org.
If you already are a paid subscriber and would like to listen to this episode via Apple Podcasts, click on the "Apple Podcasts" icon at the top right of this page!

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
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 sotospeak@fire.org.