What is free speech? Is it an outdated idea? What about hate speech? The three-part series Free To Speak underscores how free speech is necessary for human survival as it presents thought-provoking, ironic, and often heartbreaking stories. Host Nadine Strossen is joined by journalists, scholars, and activists to examine the power and controversy of free speech historically and today.
© 2023 / 3 episodes @ 1 hr. ea.
Thought Police examines the long history of governments suppressing speech—with
clear echoes of George Orwell’s warning of a world without free speech. The program
explores personal stories from Hong Kong, North Korea, and Peru, whose governments
tried to suppress free speech. One instance resulted in a monumental—and
avoidable—human tragedy.
The One True Faith looks at the once-sacrilegious beliefs of Galileo and shows the
uproar caused by the Scopes Monkey Trial. The program also examines the work of
Nobel Laureate Barry Marshall, who proved that ulcers were caused by bacteria, and
explores the cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo that led to a horrifying massacre.
The Speech We Hate features a Kenyan filmmaker whose love story of two women
garnered a nationwide ban. Viewers also meet a Turkish political artist who was
censored for his provocative work in the U.S., a hip-hop historian who recalls the arrest
of members of 2 Live Crew for obscenity, and a student who took a lawsuit over banned
books in his school all the way to the Supreme Court.