The University of Chicago is known for its commitment to free speech and academic freedom. Why are these values important to the university? Where do they originate? And how do they help administrators navigate conflicts and controversies?

Tony Banout and Tom Ginsburg direct the University of Chicago’s Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, which received a $100 million gift last year. They are also editors of “The Chicago Canon on Free Inquiry and Expression,” a new book that collects foundational texts that inform the university’s free speech tradition.

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Read the transcript.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:31 Origin of book

07:14 UChicago’s founding principles

12:41 Free speech in a university context

19:17 2015 UChicago committee report

32:03 1967 Kalven report

38:02 Institutional neutrality

57:41 Applying free speech principles beyond the university

01:04:21 Future steps for the Forum

01:06:35 Outro

Show notes:

- The University of Chicago’s Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression (2015)

- Chicago Statement: University and Faculty Body Support (last updated 2024)

- The University of Chicago Kalven Report (1967)

Is the free speech conversation too simplistic?

Peter Ives thinks so. He is the author of “Rethinking Free Speech,” a new book that seeks to provide a more nuanced analysis of the free speech debate within various domains, from government to campus to social media.

Ives is a professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg. He researches and writes on the politics of “global English," bridging the disciplines of language policy, political theory, and the influential ideas of Antonio Gramsci.

Enjoying our podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack’s paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@thefire.org.

Read the transcript.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:25 The Harper’s Letter

05:18 Neil Young vs. Joe Rogan

08:15 Free speech culture

09:53 John Stuart Mill

12:53 Alexander Meiklejohn

17:05 Ives’s critique of Jacob Mchangama’s “History of Free Speech” book

17:53 Ives’s definition of free speech

19:38 First Amendment vs. Canadian Charter of Rights

21:25 Hate speech

25:22 Canadian Charter and Canadian universities

34:19 White supremacy and hate speech

40:14 Speech-action distinction

46:04 Free speech absolutism

48:49 Marketplace of ideas

01:05:40 Solutions for better public discourse

01:13:02 Outro

Show notes:

• The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)

• “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” Harper’s Magazine (2020)

• “On Liberty” John Stuart Mill (1859)

• “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media” Jacob Mchangama (2022)

• Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

• Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021)

• Canadian Criminal Code (1985)

• Bill C-63 - An Act to enact the Online Harms Act (2024)

• McKinney v. University of Guelph (1990)

• “When is speech violence?” The New York Times (2017)

• Section 230 (Communications Decency Act of 1996)