{"podcast":{"title":"So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast","slug":"so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607","podcast_index_feed_id":705607,"rss_url":"https://sotospeak.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://www.sotospeakpodcast.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/3/d/c/f/3dcf57f0d4d3244d27a2322813b393ee/STS_Libsyn_Graphic-20240726-s0w7i4wl32.jpg","author":"So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast","episode_count":279,"summary":"So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast takes an uncensored look at the world of free expression through the law, philosophy, and stories that define your right to free speech. Hosted by FIRE's Nico Perrino. New episodes post every other Thursday.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-11T04:22:08.710490+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607"},"episode":{"title":"Ep. 252: America's first free speech crisis — the Sedition Act of 1798","slug":"ep-252-america-s-first-free-speech-crisis-the-sedition-act-of-1798","published_at":"2025-09-15T19:58:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607/ep-252-america-s-first-free-speech-crisis-the-sedition-act-of-1798","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607","url":"https://sotospeak.libsyn.com/ep-252-americas-first-free-speech-crisis-the-sedition-act-of-1798","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/sotospeak/STS_252_FC_01.mp3?dest-id=601059","summary":"We're joined by award-winning author, Charles (Charlie) Slack , to discuss his book, Liberty's First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech . Slack focuses on the infamous Sedition Act of 1798 , which sparked the first major controversy over freedom of speech in America. Timestamps : 00:00 Intro (including note about Charlie Kirk) 03:59 Book origins 12:05 What were the Alien and Sedition Acts? 16:00 Prosecutions under the Act and their free speech implications 25:35 Free speech during the Revolutionary era 28:14 Adams' perspective on the Sedition Act 46:02 Was Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase a partisan hack? 53:57 Sedition Act fallout 01:01:02 Outro Read the transcript here. Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@thefire.org .","meta_description":"We're joined by award-winning author, Charles (Charlie) Slack , to discuss his book, Liberty's First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson and the Misfits Who Saved Fr…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4091,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607/episodes/ep-252-america-s-first-free-speech-crisis-the-sedition-act-of-1798/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607/ep-252-america-s-first-free-speech-crisis-the-sedition-act-of-1798.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}