Free speech: The history every American should know

What can and can't you say? A brief glimpse of precedent-setting free speech cases in the United States.

  • There's a reason you're free to wear clothing with protest statements on them today. In 1968, 19-year-old Paul Robert Cohen was arrested for disturbing the peace by wearing a jacked that read "F*ck the Draft" in a California courthouse. His case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided that being offended by the jacket did not merit censorship.
  • Jonathan Zimmerman argues that the history of debate in the U.S. – of who gets to say what, and how that has evolved – should be taught to every American.
  • Zimmerman also says it's ahistorical for free speech to be cast as a conservative issue. For much of U.S. history, champions of free speech were those who fought for social justice to help the powerless keep the only power they had: their voices.
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20 states are attempting to pass 'heartbeat laws.' Georgia and Ohio just passed their own.

Roe who?

(Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
  • Four states have now passed "heartbeat laws," which ban abortions at about six weeks.
  • Ohio's new law prohibits rape and incest victims from having an abortion.
  • In Georgia, having a miscarriage could result in an investigation.
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Politics & Current Affairs

Over half of Americans are stressed because of medical bills

Anxiety does not help other medical conditions, adding trouble on top of trouble.

Photo credit: Leonard Ortiz / Digital First Media / Orange County Register via Getty Images
  • More than 137 million people in the United States are struggling to pay their medical bills, according to new research.
  • A recent survey also suggests that employer-based insurance programs are not helping as much as believed.
  • The worst hit group is uninsured Americans, who struggle to keep up with mounting medical expenses.
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Politics & Current Affairs

What socialism is — according to Michael Harrington

America's socialists owe a lot to one man, but what did he think about socialism?

Gretchen Dohart
  • Michael Harrington was a public intellectual who strove to help the poor and inspired a generation of socialists.
  • He was the first chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America, and nearly ran for president in 1980.
  • While he is far from the only influential thinker on the American left, his ideas have had an outsized influence over the last sixty years.
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Politics & Current Affairs

Jordan Peterson on gun control

The Canadian professor calls for personal responsibility over legislation.

Jordan Peterson speaks at ICC Sydney Theatre on February 26, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)
  • Shortly after the Las Vegas shooting, Jordan Peterson replied to a question about gun control in America.
  • Peterson believes only the police and army being armed is dangerous, and that the citizenry should be equally dangerous.
  • He also feels that legislation would do "zero" to stop school shootings in America.
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Culture & Religion