What does the Constitution mean in a divided America?
That’s the question behind The Blessings of Liberty, a new podcast presented by FIRE and hosted by our newest senior fellow, @RosenJeffrey.
We’re kicking things off with none other than Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
A political blogger was reportedly arrested for sending a few texts to a state senator, including an image of Shrek in the buff. Here’s my First Amendment analysis.
Viewpoint diversity is essential to higher education—but what does the data say? Join FIRE for our Faculty Academic Freedom Series where we'll discuss our just-released analysis of faculty political viewpoints.
This free interactive webinar on Jun 9, 2026 12:00 PM EST will include a live Q&A so attendees can ask questions and probe deeper into the political viewpoints of faculty members.
Register here:
The idea of America was never inevitable. 🇺🇸
Justice Neil Gorsuch joins FIRE Senior Fellow @RosenJeffrey on The Blessings of Liberty podcast to discuss the radicalism of the American Revolution, how to sustain a constitutional republic, and more.
🎧: https://t.co/wNaVv6YAQS
For generations, critics of elite and flagship universities have accused faculty members of being too liberal, and now we’ve got the numbers behind the claims.
Join our experts for a free webinar as they discuss the latest research on faculty political viewpoints.
A new study finds that donations from faculty at top universities have become increasingly one-sided, with the range of opinion concentrated on the left.
In fact, the average faculty donor is only slightly less left-leaning than Senator Bernie Sanders.
What is the original meaning of the First Amendment's free speech protection?
I explored the question in a recent webinar . . .
When you look at the First Amendment—“Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech”—I think many of us see “Congress shall make no law” and say, “Oh, it’s obvious: It can make no law affecting freedom of speech.”
But on the other hand, some people look at that and ask, “What does 'The Freedom of Speech' mean?” They look at "The Freedom of Speech" as a noun, as something that has boundaries around it. Throughout the first 150 years of American history, and up until today, we’re trying to negotiate what those boundaries are.
The point I always come back to, having studied this history, is that I don’t even think the founders knew what it meant. For that reason, it’s more important to look at how the founding era actually practiced free speech. You have people criticizing John Adams, calling him bald, crippled, and toothless. They’re criticizing politicians in ways that you could never have criticized the Crown in Great Britain.
So I happen to think that you need to have a more expansive view of free speech, because that’s how the colonists and early Americans actually practiced it. Indeed, there was a famous First Amendment scholar named Leonard Levy who wrote a book called Legacy of Suppression, which argued that the founders only had this Blackstonian view, this no-prior-restraints view of free speech.
But he later changed his mind. He said, in effect, “Looking at how these colonial-era and Revolutionary-era Americans practiced it, they had a much more expansive view of freedom of speech than anyone in Great Britain would have thought they had.”
Turns out, you actually CAN yell "fire" in a crowded theater.
And we’ll be here to defend your right to do so.
Join the Free Speech Movement!
🔥 https://t.co/80gZP98Jyi
As an accomplished author with a distinguished career spanning private practice and public service, Bob is someone you’ll not want to miss
Secure your ticket now!
📅 November 4–6, 2026
📍 Philadelphia, PA
https://t.co/kOOidHCUFa
Bob Corn-Revere is one of the nation’s leading First Amendment litigators and a longtime advocate for free expression.
With over four decades of experience, he has argued landmark cases, advised FCC leadership, and now is joining us at Soapbox, our free speech conference.
Free speech has been one of America’s most revolutionary ideas. Now, we invite you to a celebration 250 years in the making.
This is Soapbox, FIRE’s free speech conference.
Tickets are now on sale.
He was interrogated, fired, and blacklisted from federal employment under Cold War security rules.
Rejected everywhere he applied and pushed into poverty, Kameny chose to fight the system responsible for his exclusion. ⬇️
https://t.co/qi9f1yaLOv
In 1957, the federal government fired Frank Kameny for being gay.
He spent the rest of his life peacefully protesting, which he called “the best American tradition,” for the rights of gay Americans.
In doing so, he found his voice and helped a movement find its own.
The Constitution wasn’t inevitable.
It nearly failed in 1787, but heated debates and steady persuasion helped pull the states toward consensus and ultimately toward a shared framework we still live by today.
That’s free speech at work.
Thrilled to launch my new podcast, The Blessings of Liberty: Conversations on the Constitution, History, and the American Idea @RosenJeffrey presented by @TheFIREorg. Thanks to Justice Gorsuch for a wonderful conversation!
Each week, leading liberal and conservative thinkers come together for a conversation about the principles behind the American Idea.
Listen now! 🎧
https://t.co/H7ah9Gt7FT
What does the Constitution mean in a divided America?
That’s the question behind The Blessings of Liberty, a new podcast presented by FIRE and hosted by our newest senior fellow, @RosenJeffrey.
We’re kicking things off with none other than Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Also notable: a federal official claimed that words on a protest sign — calling Trump a rapist — were “unprotected obscenity”
Not even close. Obscenity has to, in some sense, be erotic.
Government officials just assume that if they don’t like the speech, it’s unprotected.
"Defendants... are hereby RESTRAINED, for 14 days from the date of this Order, from revoking Plaintiff’s demonstration permit as a result of Plaintiff’s display of its '8647' flag, or otherwise ordering the removal of or seizing Plaintiff’s '8647' flag."
https://t.co/PAfIDv7FsS