Muzzled: Stories of Free Speech and Censorship in America

2016 is nearly over! In a short (but sweet) retrospective, Keeva and James talk about the cases that the Thomas Jefferson Center dealt with in 2016 as well as the ones we'll be involved in during the new year. 

Thank you to everyone who have supported this podcast and the center this year, make sure to come back for a ton of new content in 2017!

In this fascinating episode of Muzzled, Keeva talks with the Thomas Jefferson Center's Kennedy Fellow, James West, about flag burning. Using two Supreme Court cases (Texas v. Johnson 1989 and US v. Eichman 1990) as a springboard for their discussion, James and Keeva explore the waters of symbolic speech, expressive conduct, and the struggle that dissenting Justices had with flag burning in both cases. 

In the last episode of our Symposium Series, our esteemed panel discuss "Free Speech v. Hostile Environment". Our panelists include Anne Coughlin, the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, Susan Kruth (Legal and Program Officer for FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), and Eugene Volokh, who is a Board Member here at the Thomas Jefferson Center as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Professor at the UCLA School of Law.

The full video recording of this panel and the rest of the 2016 Jefferson Symposium can be found at our Youtube Channel. 

This episode is brought to you by the Scripps Howard Foundation. Since 1962, the Foundation has been empowering communities by supporting a free press, outstanding journalism, and educational programs.

In part 3 of the Symposium Series, our panelists discuss issues of free speech and academic freedom from the perspective of the front office. Panelists include UVa. President Teresa Sullivan, Jeffrey Herbst (President and CEO of the Newseum and former President of Colgate University), and Vikram Amar (Dean and Iwan Foundation Professor – University of Illinois School of Law).

Full video recording of the Symposium can be found at our YouTube channel. 

In the second episode of our four-part series titled "Free Speech on Campuses", we hear from three esteemed panelists. The first is Susan Brison, Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth College, who explores the philosophical perspectives surrounding the importance (and perceived importance) of the right to free expression. Secondly, UVa. History Professor Claudrena Harold brings the Free Speech issue home with a short and fascinating history of political resistance at the University of Virginia. Finally, UVa Law Professor Leslie Kendrick outlines the basic misconceptions that may lead the debate surrounding free expression astray. 

This episode is brought to you by the Scripps Howard Foundation. Since 1962, the Foundation has been empowering communities by supporting a free press, outstanding journalism, and educational programs.

This episode marks the beginning of a 4-part series covering our 3rd Jefferson Symposium, hosted at the University of Virginia Law School. Titled "Free Speech on Campuses", this series will call on expert panelists to discuss the growing trend of a censorship culture on American university campuses. Part 1 welcomes Prof. John Jeffries of UVa Law, Dean Blake Morant of GWU Law, comedian and radio host Kelly Carlin, and senior editor at Slate Dahlia Lithwick. 

This episode is brought to you by the Scripps Howard Foundation. Since 1962, the Foundation has been empowering communities by supporting a free press, outstanding journalism, and educational programs.

After a month long break, we're back! In this episode, Assistant Director Clay Hansen sits down with Susan Kruth to talk about the current state of Free Speech on college campuses. As the Senior Program Officer for Legal and Public Advocacy for FIRE, Susan shares her expert opinion on the role students and administrators have played in creating and fighting censorship in academia. 

For this episode, Keeva sits down with his cousin Jeff to get a "Man on the Street" perspective of free speech issues. They touch on free speech in the workplace, differences between a celebrity's power to wield speech and everyone else's, and a lot more. 

Illma Gore is a controversial "Gender Fluid Futurist". Living as a performance and visual artist in LA, Illma received national attention with her piece "Make America Great Again", featuring a nude portrait of Donald Trump. She's also known for her daring "Human Canvas" piece, in which "3,000 strangers worldwide inspire a piece of artwork permanently tattooed on the artist's body". 

Keeva and Illma sit down to talk about her experience with censorship on Facebook, her new piece that involved a drive down to Arizona and the Border Patrol, and her perspective on the true social value and beauty of free speech. 

 Check out her work here  and connect with Illma on twitter @illmagore!

Waco O'Guin is the co-creator and executive producer of Comedy Central's Brickleberry. Throughout his career, he has pushed to boundaries of offensive comedy, working around censorship along the way. Starting with his recent run-in with censorship in Instagram, Waco and Keeva dive in to his childhood, comedy career, and how he deals with censorship. 

This episode is brought to you by the Scripps Howard Foundation. Since 1962, the Foundation has been empowering communities by supporting a free press, outstanding journalism, and educational programs.