Is Free Speech Over in America?

The Find Out Podcast

Find Out Media & Studio71

News, News Commentary, Government, Politics

4.9 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We recorded this episode before Disney announced Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night — but the bigger issue hasn’t gone away. Is free speech under fire in America? Media lawyer and author Ian Rosenberg joins us to break down what Kimmel’s suspension reveals about the First Amendment, government pressure, media corporations, and censorship in America.Even though Jimmy Kimmel is coming back on air, the chilling effect of political interference and corporate caution is real. Free expression is at risk, and what happened here could set a precedent for future cases. 📌 In this episode, we cover: Why Kimmel’s suspension matters for the future of the First AmendmentHow political pressure influences corporate media decisionsThe difference between legal free speech protections and cultural censorshipWhat comes next for comedians, journalists, and creators 👕 **Merch** made in the USA & union-made: https://findoutpodcast.com 📬 Subscribe to bonus content: https://findoutpodcast.substack.com 📱 Follow us everywhere: @FindOutPodcast 📣 Share this episode & tag us #FindOutPodcast 📥 Send us feedback and tips: hello@findoutpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Find Out podcast. We have a great show for you today. We have a great guest who is joining us. Ian Rosenberg, who is a First Amendment attorney, also an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College. Also formally of ABC News is joining us today. And he's also written a book called The Free Speech Handbook,
0:38.8	which you should definitely check out as well. So, Ian, thank you for joining us.
0:42.1	Thanks for having me, guys. Great. Well, we were sort of joking before we got on that, like,
0:47.7	we try to keep this show light, but unfortunately, there have been some disturbing attacks
0:53.4	on the First Amendment over the past
0:55.1	couple of weeks.
0:56.5	So, you know, we want to start with the biggest topic of the day, which is the ABC's firing
1:03.7	slash suspension, I guess suspension, we have to say, of Jimmy Kimmel over some comments that
1:09.1	I would argue were not particularly inflammatory,
1:13.3	and, you know, there's some rumblings that the FCC got involved.
1:17.1	Can you, from your outside perspective, give us a little insight into how disturbing this is?
1:23.2	And then we'll go from there.
1:25.6	Sure.
1:26.4	Well, thanks again for having me, guys.
1:28.3	And, you know, the headline, of course, is that this is tremendously disturbing, not only from a political perspective, but from a First Amendment perspective, which is my area.
1:38.2	I thought I'd start by just cutting through some of the misinformation that's out there, because we have to remember that
1:45.0	the First Amendment only applies to government action.
1:48.5	Now, this is something you guys, I'm sure know, but is not commonly understood.
1:53.9	Of course, the First Amendment begins.
1:56.8	Congress shall make no law, to paraphrase, abridging the freedom of speech or of the press,
2:02.4	cutting out some of those other important parts of the First Amendment.
2:05.2	But Congress, which means both Congress now applied to the 14th Amendment and states,
	...

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