The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has launched a new bi-weekly podcast So to Speak dedicated to tackling and talking candidly about the subject of free speech.
Since its founding in 1999 by University of Pennsylvania professor Alan Charles Kors and Boston civil liberties attorney Harvey Silvergate, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has dedicated itself to protecting individual’s rights on America’s college campuses. From free speech to freedom of conscience, FIRE’s mission has been “to protect the unprotected and to educate the public and communities of concerned Americans about the threats to these rights on our campuses and about the means to preserve them.”
The podcast So to Speak is an extension of the organization’s educational effort, and in bi-weekly episodes Director of Communications, Nico Perrino, investigates the topic of free speech through interviews with experts on the subject. According to Perrino, So to Speak is “a brand-new podcast devoted to taking an uncensored look at the world of free expression through personal stories and candid conversations.”
The series launches with an interview with Brookings Institute Senior Fellow and author of Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought, Jonathan Raush. “In this inaugural episode, Rauch talks about his book and its impassioned moral (not legal!) defense of liberal inquiry and criticism,” notes FIRE.
Future episodes, will include interviews with journalist Glenn Greenwald who talks his book and the topic of Defending My Enemy as well as discussions about the challenges of free speech and academic freedom on college campuses.
As part of FIRE’s mission, the on-going So to Speak—“the free speech podcast”—is designed to educate audiences on free speech principles and protect and preserve individuals’ rights in academic settings.
Listen to the first episodes of So to Speak here, and don’t forget to check out CBDLF’s own podcast which presents interviews and conversations about comic books, graphic novels, censorship, and the First Amendment. Radio Free Comix!
Help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work in 2015 by visiting the Rewards Zone, making a donation, or becoming a member of CBLDF!
Contributing Editor Caitlin McCabe is an independent comics scholar who loves a good pre-code horror comic and the opportunity to spread her knowledge of the industry to those looking for a great story!