Free Speech
A History from Socrates to Social Media
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Narrated by:
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Fajer Al-Kaisi
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By:
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Jacob Mchangama
About this listen
A global history of free speech, from the ancient world to today
Hailed as the “first freedom”, free speech is the bedrock of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states around the world, it is on the retreat.
In Free Speech, Jacob Mchangama traces the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of this idea. Through captivating stories of free speech’s many defenders - from the ancient Athenian orator Demosthenes and the ninth-century freethinker al-Rāzī, to the anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells and modern-day digital activists - Mchangama reveals how the free exchange of ideas underlies all intellectual achievement and has enabled the advancement of both freedom and equality worldwide. Yet the desire to restrict speech, too, is a constant, and he explores how even its champions can be led down this path when the rise of new and contrarian voices challenge power and privilege of all stripes.
Meticulously researched and deeply humane, Free Speech demonstrates how much we have gained from this principle - and how much we stand to lose without it.
©2022 Jacob Mchangama (P)2022 Basic BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“The best history of free speech ever written and the best defense of free speech ever made. Jacob Mchangama never loses sight of the trouble freedom causes but always keeps in mind that lack of freedom creates horrors.” (P.J. O’Rourke)
“Freedom of speech has emerged as a major issue of this decade, but most of the discussion consists of outrages over speech or the repression of speech. Missing is the intellectual background: What does free speech really mean? What is its history? How has it played out in world events? Why should we defend it? Jacob Mchangama lays out this context with deep erudition, strong writing, and a light touch.” (Steven Pinker, Johnstone professor of psychology, Harvard University, and the author of Enlightenment Now and Rationality)
“Jacob Mchangama’s history of the world's strangest, best idea is the definitive account we have been waiting for. It teems with valuable insights, lively characters, and the author's passion for the cause he has done so much to advance. Mchangama brings to life the ancient struggles which established free speech and also the modern dangers which embattle it. Free Speech is that rare book which will impress scholars as much as it entertains readers, all while telling the world's most improbable success story.” (Jonathan Rauch, author of The Constitution of Knowledge)
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Story
More than any other people on earth, Americans are free to say and write what they think. The reason for this extraordinary freedom is not a superior culture of tolerance, but just 14 words in our most fundamental legal document: the free expression clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Anthony Lewis tells us how these rights were created, revealing a story of hard choices, heroic (and some less heroic) judges, and fascinating and eccentric defendants who forced the legal system to come face-to-face with one of America's great founding ideas.
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Freedom of Expression: 163 years of Solitude
- By Dudley H. Williams on 12-21-11
By: Anthony Lewis
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The Coming of the Third Reich
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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There is no story in 20th-century history more important to understand than Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one of the world’s most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account for our time.
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Compelling and depressing
- By Tad Davis on 06-30-10
By: Richard J. Evans
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Hitler's American Model
- The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law
- By: James Q. Whitman
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Nazism triumphed in Germany during the high era of Jim Crow laws in the United States. Did the American regime of racial oppression in any way inspire the Nazis? The unsettling answer is yes. James Whitman presents a detailed investigation of the American impact on the notorious Nuremberg Laws, the centerpiece anti-Jewish legislation of the Nazi regime.
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Did not we suspect this?
- By dessa on 11-04-18
By: James Q. Whitman
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The Anatomy of Fascism
- By: Robert O. Paxton
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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What is fascism? By focusing on the concrete, what the fascists did rather than what they said, the esteemed historian Robert O. Paxton answers this question for the first time. From the first violent uniformed bands beating up "enemies of the state", through Mussolini's rise to power, to Germany's fascist radicalization in World War II, Paxton shows clearly why fascists came to power in some countries and not others.
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Great book for getting a clearer idea of fascism
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-17
By: Robert O. Paxton
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The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
- By: Bernard Bailyn
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment", as a postscript. Here he discusses the intense nationwide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution.
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Bernard Bailyn is a genius!
- By John M. Crean on 04-21-19
By: Bernard Bailyn
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Bully of Asia
- By: Steven W. Mosher
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The signs are everywhere. China unilaterally claims the entire South China Sea as sovereign territory, then builds artificial islands to bolster its claim. It suddenly activates an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea, and threatens to down any aircraft that does not report its position. It builds roads into Indian territory, then redraws the maps to show that it is actually Chinese territory. The People's Republic under President Xi Jinping is quickly becoming The Bully of Asia.
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Eye opening, up to date
- By Silomi on 01-01-19
By: Steven W. Mosher
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The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
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Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
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Embracing Defeat
- By: John W. Dower
- Narrated by: Edward Lewis
- Length: 21 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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This illuminating study explores the ways in which the shattering defeat of the Japanese in World War II, followed by over six years of American military occupation, affected every level of Japanese society. The author describes the countless ways in which the Japanese met the challenge of "starting over", from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes, fears, and activities of ordinary men and women in every walk of life.
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Pulitzer Prize Winner!
- By KF on 10-09-07
By: John W. Dower
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Still the Best Hope
- Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph
- By: Dennis Prager
- Narrated by: Erik Bergman
- Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In this visionary book, Dennis Prager, one of America's most original thinkers, contends that humanity confronts a monumental choice. The world must decide between American values and its two oppositional alternatives: Islamism and European-style democratic socialism. Prager makes the case for the American value system as the most viable program ever devised to produce a good society. Those values are explained here more clearly and persuasively than ever before.
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An Important Book, should be required reading
- By Beth on 07-18-12
By: Dennis Prager
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Lost Kingdom
- The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe and the prizewinning author of Chernobyl, the essential history of Russian imperialism. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine - only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can only understand the confluence of Russian imperialism and nationalism today by delving into the nation's history.
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More like a history of Languages spoke in Russia.
- By kucherv on 10-24-17
By: Serhii Plokhy
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The Mighty and the Almighty
- Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs
- By: Madeleine Albright
- Narrated by: Madeleine Albright
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Does America have a special mission, derived from God, to bring liberty and democracy to the world? How much influence does the Christian right have over U.S. foreign policy? And how should America deal with violent Islamist extremists? Madeleine Albright, the former Secretary of State and best-selling author of Madam Secretary, offers a thoughtful and often surprising look at the role of religion in shaping America's approach to the world.
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The point??
- By Thomas on 11-04-06
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The Slave's Cause
- A History of Abolition
- By: Manisha Sinha
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 30 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Received historical wisdom casts abolitionists as bourgeois, mostly white reformers burdened by racial paternalism and economic conservatism. Manisha Sinha overturns this image, broadening her scope beyond the antebellum period usually associated with abolitionism and recasting it as a radical social movement in which men and women, black and white, free and enslaved, found common ground in causes ranging from feminism and utopian socialism to anti-imperialism and efforts to defend the rights of labor.
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Thorough, convincing and haunting
- By Roger on 07-23-17
By: Manisha Sinha
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Reconciliation
- Islam, Democracy, and the West
- By: Benazir Bhutto
- Narrated by: Rita Wolf
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In Reconciliation, Bhutto recounts in gripping detail her final months in Pakistan and offers a bold new agenda for how to stem the tide of Islamic radicalism and to rediscover the values of tolerance and justice that lie at the heart of her religion.
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Female Muslim insight
- By Craig Bell on 03-07-08
By: Benazir Bhutto
What listeners say about Free Speech
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tiago Flora
- 02-15-22
A reaffirmation of a key fundamental right
The author does a fantastic job at documenting the conception and application of a right to free speech from Athenian democracy to the 21st century.
The first two thirds of the book are an informative history of the philosophical, legal, and practical contexts for speech in Ancient Greece, Rome, medieval and modern Europe and the Middle East, and the American colonies/United States. It brings detail to the evolution of free speech and the press in the West in particular.
If you follow international news on democratic backsliding, most of the last few chapters of the book won't give you that much new information. Those are nonetheless a vivid and chilling reminder of the threats free speech faces today in the developed and developing world alike, and why we should not let barriers to speech be raised.
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3 people found this helpful
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- John Mayo
- 05-08-23
Great historical perspective.
It is amazing to understand the ebb and flow of free speech from the Athenians to today. THE fundamental principle of freedom is explained historically.
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- John Wayne Mortimer II
- 03-12-22
Great book - boring narration
Loved the book, but I really wish Jacob had narrated it for us. The narrator is clear and understandable. My only issue was that his narration as a bit monotone and slow. I listened at 1.4x just to stay awake.
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1 person found this helpful
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- baroquenspirit
- 09-16-22
Timely and Vital
This book is a well researched and fairly comprehensive account of the history and value of free-speech. It warns us that this right can and often is eroded in the name of both authoritarianism and tolerance. If you are thin skinned in your ideology on either the left or right, this book will tweak you. I highly recommend it.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-22-22
Great review of free speech and history
Enjoyed the overall look at free speech, free press, and how these freedoms were viewed over time in different cultures. I felt it was a little left leaning, and the details were difficult to remember for an audiobook. I had to rewind and re-listen a few times. Maybe that’s just me.
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3 people found this helpful
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- N. Martin
- 07-15-23
Sensational book, problematic reading
Mchangama’s book is everything I had hoped for and more. It lays out the history of free speech elegantly and in fascinating detail. The narrator, while having a fine voice, serves up some excruciating mispronunciations. I run into this problem too often, and the blame lies with the publishers. They seem to have little concern for the excellence of their products. Don’t let that discourage you from buying this fine book.
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- Sadanand Evans
- 02-28-22
very informative
This was a good review of free speech. I enjoyed listening to the history of free speech. it wasn't as dry as one might think
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- Louis Macareo
- 03-06-22
Reminds you why free speech is the core freedom
The details in this book are many, but the core point that repeatedly hit me was how oftrn people suffer from Milton's Curse, that is, how often people rise to prominence and power via free speech and then very often, almost instinctually, begin to limit free spech in their wake. It is remarkable and never a good thing, as are all efforts to limit speech, even when there is a downside to allowing it, it is the greatest and most important vehicle that exists. Am excellent work chroniclally several thousand years of thought on the subject. Well worth the read.
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- Sarah
- 10-26-22
An overwhelming amount of information
This is a scholarly tome containing a great deal of detail on freedom of speech down through the ages. But given such an overwhelming amount of detail, the book loses track of the big picture. I didn't feel his conclusion pulled it all together well and was not convinced by the book's basic thesis that Every effort to limit the freedom of speech backfires. Today, freedom of speech includes pervasive LIES that are destroying civil society. If we cannot restrict politicians from spewing nothing but lies, and if we have television stations and internet sites echoing the same, we will end up in a totalitarian state. Once the thugs take over, the same people who tout their right to say ANYTHING today will be throwing people in jail for speaking the truth.
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