The Future of Free Speech

In this episode, I spoke with Dane Jacob Mchangama, founder of The Future of Free Speech, research professor at Vanderbilt, and Senior Fellow at FIRE. While we’re both staunch free speech advocates, we debated its best “branding.” I argued for framing free speech less as a moral absolute—how I once described it as cognitive liberty—and more as a practical tool for error correction, challenging bad ideas and refining truth. Jacob countered, emphasizing its moral weight as a cornerstone of human dignity. I don’t disagree, but I believe the moral framing is too abstract for broad appeal.

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Jacob Mchangama is the founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech. He is also a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

Jacob has written and commented extensively on free speech and human rights in international media outlets including the Economist, L.A. Times, Washington Post, BBC, CBS News, NPR, CNN, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, Politico as well as top-tier academic and peer-reviewed journals.

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