ADAMS AND JEFFERSON MANAGED TO RECONCILE, SO MAYBE AMERICA IS NOT ENTIRELY DOOMED. FIRE’s new Blessings of Liberty podcast with Jeffrey Rosen launches with Justice Neil Gorsuch and a reminder that disagreement is not disloyalty, even when the disagreement is bitter enough to end a friendship for a decade.

FREE SPEECH IS A REALITY-TESTING MACHINE: I’ve argued that defending speech has always been about more than politics. It is how we discover what is false. Used well, AI could extend that project by challenging human knowledge at scale.

FREE SPEECH IS HOW WE CREATE KNOWLEDGE: Not because every idea is true, but because claims have to be challenged, criticized, tested, and forced to survive contact with reality. That is why I’m interested in AI: used well, it could help us test assumptions and discover when we are wrong.

NEW PODCAST FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THE CONSTITUTION IS MORE THAN WALL ART. FIRE launched Blessings of Liberty, hosted by Jeffrey Rosen, to argue over, defend, and actually understand the Constitution, with Justice Neil Gorsuch as the first guest.

THE CAMPUS LEFT BUILT A CONFORMITY MACHINE. Higher ed is supposed to test assumptions, not run students and faculty through DEI statements, cancellation campaigns, self-censorship, and ideological pressure until they learn to stay quiet.

THE MORALITY POLICE ALWAYS COME FOR SPEECH FIRST. Anthony Comstock thought the federal government should help him decide what Americans were allowed to read, say, and believe.

STATE-APPROVED NEWS BOOSTS: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? This week’s roundup starts with Germany weighing algorithmic favoritism for approved outlets, then turns to Americans distrusting government social media regulation and faculty politics drifting left.

AMERICANS RIGHTFULLY DON’T TRUST THE GOVERNMENT TO REGULATE SOCIAL MEDIA. This week’s roundup starts with FIRE’s latest National Speech Index, then turns to Germany weighing state-approved algorithm boosts, and what faculty politics drifting left means.

THE FOUNDERS DID NOT JUST FIGHT A REVOLUTION. THEY ARGUED ONE INTO EXISTENCE. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense helped make independence imaginable, defensible, and finally unavoidable.

NEW DATA SHOW POLITICALLY ACTIVE FACULTY DONORS ARE ALMOST AS PROGRESSIVE AS BERNIE SANDERS AND ELIZABETH WARREN. There’s a serious problem of ideological clustering inside institutions whose job is to test assumptions, not protect them.

WELL, THIS IS ON THE NOSE: Narcissist’s Playbook, a documentary about malignant narcissism and manipulation, is reportedly facing legal takedown attempts from someone featured in the film.

TRYING TO SUPPRESS A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MANIPULATION IS NOT A GREAT STRATEGY: It is, however, a remarkable case of accidentally writing the marketing copy for the Narcissist’s Playbook documentary.

APPARENTLY, THE FASTEST WAY TO BECOME AN ‘EXPERT’ ON CODDLING IS TO NOT READ IT. Coddling argues students are not spoiled snowflakes, but capable, resilient people being taught to confuse discomfort with danger.

A STUDENT ALLEGEDLY GOT EXPELLED FOR PRO-ICE STICKERS. This week’s roundup starts with campus censorship in Nevada, then turns to foreign free speech fights from Canada to London, including MPs tracking online posts and police using live facial recognition at a protest.

THE THERAPY CULTURE ISN’T WORKING: Instead of helping kids build resilience, too many adults doubled down on alleviating discomfort, which is how you teach fragility while calling it compassion.

THE CENSOR’S FAVORITE CLICHÉ HAS A BAD ALIBI: “Fire in a crowded theater” was born in a case upholding the punishment of anti-draft leaflets — which makes it a strange hero quote for anyone claiming to defend liberty.

EDUCATION IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SELF-ADMIRATION: The complaint that Jonathan Haidt didn’t “reflect” graduates’ values says more about campus expectations than about Haidt.

STUDENTS HAD A LOT TO SAY ABOUT A BOOK THEY DON’T SEEM TO HAVE READ: My friend and co-author Jonathan Haidt spoke at NYU commencement last week, and some students objected, which is fine because protest is speech. But denouncing a book works better when you know what’s in it.

ELITE CAMPUSES KEEP TEACHING STUDENTS TO MISTAKE DISCOMFORT FOR DANGER. This week’s roundup starts at NYU, where students objected to Jonathan Haidt, then turns to AI chatbot regulation, international censorship, and the latest from FIRE.

NYU STUDENTS OUT TO PROVE BOTH ‘CODDLING’ & ‘CANCELING OF THE AMERICAN MIND’ RIGHT: The objection to Jonathan Haidt speaking at NYU is a useful reminder of why The Coddling of the American Mind was worth writing.

FREE SPEECH EMERGENCY: What UCLA doesn’t want you to know

THE FIFTH COLUMN IS COMING TO FIRE’S FREE SPEECH CONFERENCE, WHICH SEEMS ALMOST SUSPICIOUSLY ON-BRAND. We the Fifth has spent years saying the unsayable, asking the impolite question, and making bad arguments uncomfortable. I can’t wait to have them at Soapbox for a live recording.

HATE SPEECH LAWS SOUND OBVIOUS UNTIL YOU ASK WHO DEFINES “HATE.” In The War on Words, Nadine Strossen and I argue that censorship rarely kills bad ideas, but rather drives them underground or turns their speakers into martyrs.

CALIFORNIA WANTS TO EXPORT CAMPUS SPEECH CODES TO THE WORKPLACE. Mandatory “anti-hate speech training” sounds harmless until you remember that “hate speech” has no clear legal meaning, and much of what activists call hate speech is protected by the First Amendment.

IF YOU THINK “WORDS ARE VIOLENCE” SOUNDS LESS LIKE MORAL CLARITY AND MORE LIKE A PERMISSION SLIP FOR MOBS, THIS TED TALK IS FOR YOU. A free society depends on a bright line between speech and violence.