So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

Last fall, three writers and scholars announced they had submitted 20 fake papers to academic journals to test whether  — as they suspected — certain fields of study lacked scientific and academic rigor.

Of the 20 papers they submitted before revealing their hoax, seven were accepted, four published, seven were “still in play,” and six were retired. The result is what’s become known as the “Grievance Studies Affair.” 

But what does their experiment prove, exactly?

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we put this question directly to Jim Lindsay, Helen Pluckrose, and Peter Boghossian, who authored the controversial papers.

Show notes:

• “Academic Grievance Studies and the corruption of scholarship”
• “Academics expose corruption in Grievance Studies” (documentary video)
• “What the ‘Grievance Studies Hoax’ means”
• “Portland State says researcher violated the rights of the editors he duped”

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National Review senior writer and former FIRE President David French has become an “-ism.” 

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, French joins us to discuss “David French-ism” and “the battle dividing conservatives” over civil liberties.

Also joining us is FIRE’s current President & CEO Greg Lukianoff, author of The New York Times bestseller “The Coddling of the American Mind,” due out in paperback on Aug. 20.

Show notes:

• Podcast transcript
• Podcast video
• “Against David French-ism” by Sohrab Ahmari
• “In defense of French-ism” by David French
• “Against conservative cultural defeatism” by David French
• “How free speech died on campus” by Sohrab Ahmari
• Greg’s book recommendations: “The Shadow University” by Alan Kors and Harvey Silverglate, “Mere civility” by Teresa Bejan, “The Hollow Men” by Charles Sykes

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His office door was vandalized. He was accused of causing “harm” to his “college community.” There was even a demand — supported by dozens of his faculty peers — to review his tenure.

Why? Because he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing for more viewpoint diversity at his campus.

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, Sarah Lawrence College professor Samuel Abrams joins us to discuss the response to his op-ed and the future of academic freedom, viewpoint diversity, and the role of faculty in college life.

Also joining us is FIRE President & CEO Greg Lukianoff, author of The New York Times bestseller “The Coddling of the American Mind,” due out in paperback edition on Aug. 20.

Show notes:

• “Think professors are liberal? Try school administrators” by Samuel Abrams
• “When students want to review a tenured professor”
• “DEMANDS: Westlands sit-in 50 years of shame”
• “Faculty members need to reassert themselves as the people who direct discourse on campus (opinion)” by Samuel Abrams
• Viewpoint diversity on campus: A Heterodox Academy & FIRE panel discussion

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Community libraries have always been a target for would-be censors — and the past few months are no exception.

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we explore past and present challenges to library content, and the unique role libraries play historically as bastions for free inquiry.

We are joined by James LaRue, an award-winning librarian and the former director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and the Freedom to Read Foundation. 

Show notes:

• Podcast transcript
• Doane University punishes librarian who displayed historical blackface photo
• University of Central Arkansas administration removes pro-LGBTQ Lady Gaga quote from Library sign

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The Constitution grants Congress the power “[t]o promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

However, figuring out how Congress actually does this can be confusing.

Copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, fair use?

What do they all mean?

Today’s episode of So to Speak is all about simplifying intellectual property law for you — and explaining why free speech advocates should care about it. We are joined by FIRE Program Officer Adam Goldstein, who helps us break it all down.

A video of this interview can be found on FIRE’s YouTube channel.

Podcast transcript.

Adam’s recommended additional reading:

• The Pre-History of Fair Use by Matthew Sag
• ‘The Wind Done Gone’ on Trial (transcript)
• ‘Exploring the Bounds of Fair Use: Graham v. Prince’ by Ayesha Syed

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