{"product_id":"free-speech-a-history-from-socrates-to-social-media-9781541600492","title":"Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"The best history of free speech ever written and the best defense of free speech ever made.\" --\u003ci\u003eP.J. O'Rourke\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHailed as the \"first freedom,\" free speech is the bedrock of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states around the world, it is on the retreat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eFree Speech\u003c\/i\u003e, Jacob Mchangama traces the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of this idea. Through captivating stories of free speech's many defenders--from the ancient Athenian orator Demosthenes and the ninth-century freethinker al-Rāzī, to the anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells and modern-day digital activists--Mchangama reveals how the free exchange of ideas underlies all intellectual achievement and has enabled the advancement of both freedom and equality worldwide. Yet the desire to restrict speech, too, is a constant, and he explores how even its champions can be led down this path when the rise of new and contrarian voices challenge power and privilege of all stripes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeticulously researched and deeply humane, \u003ci\u003eFree Speech\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates how much we have gained from this principle--and how much we stand to lose without it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJacob Mchangama\u003c\/b\u003e is the founder and executive director of the Future of Free Speech, research professor at Vanderbilt University, and the host of the podcast \u003ci\u003eClear and Present Danger: A History of Free Speech\u003c\/i\u003e. His writing on free speech has appeared in the \u003ci\u003eEconomist\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Foreign Policy\u003c\/i\u003e, and other outlets. Born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark, he lives in Franklin, Tennessee.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50615182721298,"sku":"9781541600492","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7824eac9-f65b-4d11-8dc8-7c39bf318326.jpg?v=1744221821","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/free-speech-a-history-from-socrates-to-social-media-9781541600492","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}