The Finger

Criminal

Vox Media Podcast Network

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.7 • 38.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2016

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

People have been giving each other "the finger" since Ancient Greece. The first documented use is said to be a photograph from 1886 in which the pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters extends his middle finger to the camera (ostensibly to the rival New York Giants). Even though it's been around for so long, many still find the gesture offensive enough to try to bring criminal charges. Courts have ruled that "flipping the bird" is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. It's not a crime to be obnoxious. But there's a man in Oregon named Robert Ekas who tests the limits of free speech by giving the finger to every police officer that he sees. To learn more about the legalities of the middle finger, you might enjoy: "Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law" from the UC Davis Law Review. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this show comes from Krakan.
0:03.0	Krypto is like the financial system, but different.
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0:18.4	Krakhan, see what crypto can be.
0:21.3	Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest.
0:25.0	This is a high risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. At Barclays, we're here for the land of football.
0:35.0	We're here for the Premier League.
0:38.0	And the Barclays Women's Super League.
0:41.0	We're here for the football chance for giving more girls a chance. We're
0:48.1	here for the grassroots and all the muddy booths. From schools to stadiums we're here for it all.
0:57.6	Barclays here for the land of football.
1:02.0	So I was I was driving with my son and there was a police officer who was traveling the opposite direction as us on the clock of his highway, but he was stopped in the left turn
1:13.3	signal and he was going to be turning left and so as I saw his patrol car I
1:18.6	rolled down the window of my my vehicle and I just stuck my hand out there and gave him the finger and sped off down the on-ram.
1:27.0	Why did you give it? Why did you give him the finger? Did he was doing anything?
1:30.0	He was driving a cop car.
1:32.0	Who's it?
1:33.0	Yeah, how's it.
1:35.0	Yeah.
1:36.0	This is Robert Echis.
	...

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