Nico Perrino

Nico Perrino is FIRE's Executive Vice President and the creator and host of FIRE’s So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast. Prior to his current role, he led FIRE's Communications department for nearly a decade, most recently as its Senior Vice President of Communications.

Nico's writing has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Politico, The Boston Globe, and The Guardian, and he regularly appears on radio and TV to speak about free speech and other civil liberties issues. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Triumph of the Civil Libertarians: How a Generation of Lawyers, Writers, and Activists Created America’s Free Speech Century (BenBella).

As a documentarian, Nico was Co-Director and Senior Producer of “Mighty Ira” (2020), a feature-length film about the life and career of former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser. He also worked as a consultant on “Can We Take a Joke?” (2015) and "The Coddling of the American Mind" (2024).

Nico graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington (IU) with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and history. While at IU, he was a member of the track & field team and served as editor-in-chief for the Indiana Standard and as a reporter and columnist for the Indiana Daily Student.

Originally from Chicago, Nico now lives and works in the Washington, D.C., area. 
 

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