By Abhishek Saha . . . Over the Christmas break, I read Free Speech: A Global History from Socrates to Social Media, Jacob Mchangama’s magnificent chronicle of free speech through the ages. What struck me most was how the debates we face today—about academic freedom, censorship, and the limits of expression—are far from new. The same […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 18, 2025—NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media, the critically acclaimed book by Jacob Mchangama, has returned in a new paperback edition. Originally released in 2022, this celebrated work is hailed as “the best history of free speech ever written” by P.J. O’Rourke and called “smart, insightful, and […]
By Alejo Schapire In 2022, Danish lawyer Jacob Mchangama (Copenhagen, 1978) published Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media (not yet translated into Spanish), an essay that traces the erratic and bloody struggle for freedom of expression in the East and West, from ancient Greece to social media. In both the book and his podcast , Mchangama […]
Mother Jones staff highlight their favorite books they read in 2024. Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media (2022) By Jacob Mchangama Nonfiction The latest battle in the 2,500-year war over free speech came to a head during the vice presidential debate. “We actually do have a threat to democracy,” said JD Vance, as […]
By Jeremy Schulman In December, Trump adviser Kash Patel set off alarm bells when he said that if the former president returns to the Oval Office, his new administration might prosecute media figures and others “who lied about American citizens.” “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media,” Patel told Steve […]
At WGCU Radio in Southwest Florida, Mike Kiniry recently interviewed Jacob Mchangama about current threats to free speech and his book Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media. ___ After the United States Constitution was ratified, Congress adopted ten amendments which were then ratified by three-fourths of the states, and these ten amendments […]
Exciting news! Jacob Mchangama’s Free Speech book has been translated into Arabic by Ideas Beyond Borders and is now available online. This is a great opportunity for Arabic speakers to learn more about free speech and its history. This comprehensive history of free speech from ancient to modern times traces the history of free speech […]
Jacob gave a talk about the deeper conclusions of his book at the Czech book launch in September.
Here’s a brutal irony about regulating hate speech: Such laws often end up hurting the very people they are supposed to protect. That’s one of the central lessons in Jacob Mchangama’s important new book, Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media. Mchangama heads up the Danish think tank Justitia. He’s worried about a […]
America was built on the premise of free speech, but today’s news is filled with examples of limiting people’s expression – from prohibitions against misinformation, to book bans and state laws restricting how teachers can discuss such topics as racial injustice, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Correspondent David Pogue talks with writers and academics about […]