SpeechMatters Podcast
SpeechMatters is the official podcast of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. The podcast features thought leaders tackling the most pressing issues impacting free expression and democracy on campus and beyond. Hosted by the Center’s Executive Director, Michelle Deutchman.
Episode 6: Looking at the Law: The First Amendment & LGBTQ Rights
In this episode, Michelle Deutchman discusses the legal fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community with Jenny Pizer, Acting Chief Legal Officer at Lambda Legal. Lambda is the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV. Michelle and Jenny discuss the role of litigation, education and public policy work in the LGBTQ movement including the release of the updated Title IX regulations and an expressive conduct case that is headed to the Supreme Court. Full transcript available here.
Jenny Pizer, Acting Chief Legal Officer at Lambda Legal
Resources
- Article in The Hill by Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings: “President Biden: Don’t forget LGBTQ students while honoring Title IX“
- Statement by President Joe Biden on the 50th Anniversary of Title IX
- FACT SHEET: U.S. Department of Education’s 2022 Proposed Amendments to its Title IX Regulations
- Lambda Legal Applauds Biden Administration for Proposed Regulations Protecting LGBTQI+ Students
- Brief for Amici Curiae Lambda Legal (in the case of 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis)
- 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis Opinion (United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit, July 16, 2021)
Episode 5: What Does the Data Tell Us? Exploring Self-Censorship on College Campuses
In this episode, two experts – both of whom have conducted research on the issue of self-censorship – help us look behind the click-bait headlines to examine why college students may be reticent to share their viewpoints. Dig into the data with Elizabeth Niehaus, associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and Senior Fellow at the Center, and Sean Stevens, senior research fellow in polling and analytics at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. (Note: Since the time of recording, FIRE’s name has been changed. Learn more here). Full transcript available here.
Elizabeth Niehaus, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and Senior Fellow at the Center
Sean Stevens, Senior Research Fellow, Polling and Analytics at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
Resources
- 2021 College Free Speech Rankings
- Annual Campus Expression Survey – Heterodox Academy
- The Spiral of Silence: A Theory of Public Opinion (Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, June 1974)
- Article in Inside Higher Ed by John K. Wilson: “The Inevitable Problem of Self-Censorship “
- “Self-Censorship or Just Being Nice? Understanding College Students’ Moral Reasoning around Free Speech in the Classroom” (Research by Elizabeth Niehaus)
- Article in Inside Higher Ed by David Steele: “Afraid to Speak Up or Out“
Episode 4: Hope in Higher Education―How We Move Forward
In this episode, former Secretary of Education and Maryland gubernatorial candidate John B. King, Jr. discusses some of the challenges facing higher education (high costs, opportunity gaps that disproportionately affect minority students, state legislatures’ threats to academic and individual freedoms) and why his outlook remains hopeful for its future. Full transcript available here.
John B. King, Jr., Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education and President of The Education Trust
Resources
- Beyond the Ban – The Education Trust
- Segregation Forever? The Continued Underrepresentation of Black and Latino Undergraduates at the Nation’s 101 Most Selective Public Colleges and Universities
- Broken Mirrors: Black Student Representation at Public State Colleges and Universities
- Broken Mirrors II: Latino Student Representation at Public State Colleges and Universities
- National & State Trends in Degree Attainment for Latino Adults – The Education Trust
- National & State Trends in Degree Attainment for Black Adults – The Education Trust
- Article in The Washington Post by John B. King, Jr.: “No matter how hard you try, you cannot erase my family’s history“
Episode 3: Book Banning: Local Fights, Dangerous Implications
In this episode, special guest Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, discusses the alarming rise in book bans across the United States, and what this dangerous trend means for the future of education, politics, and our essential freedoms. Full transcript available here.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and Executive Director of the Freedom to Read Foundation
Resources
- American Library Association (ALA): Intellectual Freedom: Issues and Resources
- ALA: State Legislative Toolkit
- ALA State of America’s Libraries Special Report: Pandemic Year Two (2022)
- Board of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 85
- PEN America: “Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights“
- Unite Against Book Bans
- Article in The Washington Post by Annie Gowen: “Censorship battles’ new frontier: Your public library“
- Article in CNN by Ronald Brownstein: “Book bans move to center stage in the red-state education wars“
Episode 2: Leading with love in the face of targeted harassment
In this episode, Michelle Deutchman sits down with Dania Matos, the Vice Chancellor for the Division of Equity & Inclusion at the University of California, Berkeley. The pair discusses Dania’s commitment to “leading with love” in her equity and inclusion work in the private, nonprofit and government sectors, and her experience with targeted harassment because of this important work. Full transcript available here.
Dania Matos, Vice Chancellor for the Division of Equity & Inclusion, UC Berkeley
Resources
- UCI Resources to Support Academics Targeted by Online Harassment
- Research by 2020-2021 Fellow Nina M. Flores: “Tweets, Threats and Censorship: Campus Resources To Support Faculty Through Incidents of Targeted Harassment“
- Fellows in the Field Interactive Workshop: “Tweets, Threats and Censorship: Campus Resources To Support Faculty Through Incidents of Targeted Harassment“
- Article in The Chronicle of Higher Education by Sarah Brown: “Many Student-Affairs Officials Are Considering Leaving the Field“
- Ask the Experts: Diversity and Expression
Episode 1: “Cheap Speech” and its toll on our democracy
During the inaugural episode of SpeechMatters, Center Executive Director Michelle Deutchman sits down with Professor Rick Hasen, a national authority on elections and author of the recently published Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics—and How to Cure It, to discuss the state of democracy and the persistent threat of disinformation. Full transcript available here.
Richard L. Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science, UC Irvine
Resources
- Article in The Washington Post by Richard L. Hasen: “Facebook and Twitter could let Trump back online. But he’s still a danger.“
- Article in Slate by Richard L. Hasen: “How Supreme Court Radicalism Could Threaten Democracy Itself“
- Article in The New York Times by Richard L. Hasen: “How to Keep the Rising Tide of Fake News From Drowning Our Democracy“
- Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics—and How to Cure It by Richard L. Hasen
