Freedom of Speech: Censors working overtime

“We surely live in the stupidest possible era of debate about free speech,” says Ian Dunt. When a key arbiter of free expression is the smirking tech bro who owns Twitter, he might be right. How did the right to express yourself freely get hijacked by reactionaries? Are progressives really a threat to freedom of speech? Dorian Lynskey and Ian delve back in time from the printing press and its early “paper bullets” via the surprisingly racy life of John Stuart Mill right up to the First Amendment of the US Constitution and our current panics over woke, hate speech and cancel culture. How did shouting “free speech” become an instant way to shut down debate? Support Origin Story to get extra episodes and more at https://www.patreon.com/originstorypod “If somebody tries to make their point about freedom of speech by using a cartoon on the internet, they’ve probably simplified it a bit.” – Dorian Lynskey “There is a choice not between order and liberty, it is between liberty with order and anarchy without either.” – Justice Robert H Jackson “The whole story of free speech is the story of doubt.” – Ian Dunt Reading List From Ian Jacob Mchangama – Free Speech: A Global History From Socrates To Social Media John Rees – The Leveller Revolution John Stuart Milll – On Liberty The Complete Works Of Harriet Taylor Mill – Editor Jo Ellen Jacobs Richard Reeve – John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand From Dorian Anthony Lewis — Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment Suzanne Nossel — Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All Nat Hentoff – Free Speech for Me But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other Stanley Fish — There’s No Such Thing as Free Speech Samuel P Nelson — Beyond the First Amendment: The Politics of Free Speech and Pluralism Karl Popper — The Open Society and Its Enemies Flemming Rose — Tyranny of Silence PE Moskowitz — The Case Against Free Speech Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic — Must We Defend Nazis?: Why the First Amendment Should Not Protect Hate Speech and White Supremacy Henry Louis Gates Jr — Let Them Talk George Orwell — Freedom of the Park Herbert Marcuse — Repressive Tolerance Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production and music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices