Free Speech Throughout World History

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2022

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

While the idea of freedom of speech may be closely associated with the American constitutional tradition under the First Amendment today, its origins go back thousands of years, and its ideals have been expressed in civilizations around the world. Joining president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss that storied history—from Martin Luther’s posting his 95 Theses, to state laws regarding social media—and examine defenses of free speech are Jacob Mchangama, author of Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media, and David Cole, National Legal Director of the ACLU. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome
0:09.6	to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate. The National Constitution
0:14.3	Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness and
0:19.6	understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:24.0	Friends, you know that we are doing a deep dive on the First Amendment
0:28.7	to celebrate the unveiling of the First Amendment tablet,
0:31.8	as well as this cornerstone of our freedom and I'm thrilled
0:36.3	and honored to convene this week two of America's greatest free speech thinkers to discuss the history and current debates over free speech.
0:49.0	Jacob Mushingama is founder and executive director of Justicia, a judicial think tank based in Denmark.
0:56.2	He's the author of the path-breaking new book, Free Speech, A History from Socrates to social media.
1:03.0	Jacob, it is an honor to welcome you to We The People.
1:06.0	Jeff, it's an honor to be on.
1:09.0	I was delighted to when the email invitation popped into my inbox and to have this conversation
1:16.1	also with David is a great honor and a privilege so thank you.
1:19.8	It's a privilege for me to convene and David Cole is national legal director for the
1:23.6	ACLU. He's argued landmark First Amendment cases before the Supreme Court
1:28.9	including the masterpiece cake shop case, flag burning cases, and the Mahoney Area School District,
1:37.0	B L case in 2021.
1:40.0	David, it is a great honor to welcome you to We The People.
1:44.0	Great to be here.
1:45.0	Thanks for having me.
1:46.0	Jacob, I learned so much from your book.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from National Constitution Center, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of National Constitution Center and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.