I'm thrilled to announce "Make No Law," a First Amendment podcast on Legal Talk Network [edited to add link to post-launch page]. You can see the announcement page on LTN here. The podcast will be available on iTunes and Google Play, and you'll be able to stream it at LTN and here.

Make No Law explores the legal, social, and historical background of important First Amendment cases, with interviews with participants and experts. Each episode looks at a particular case, both lawsplaining it and putting it in its context. In future episodes, I hope to answer listener questions about free speech issues and take suggestions for topics. My goal is a podcast that's interesting, informative, and accessible to non-lawyers and lawyers alike.

We'll be launching with two episodes:

Episode One, "Fighting Words": What made Warren Chaplinsky so angry on that April day in 1940 that he called a cop a fascist and racketeer? Why was he prosecuted for such a trifling thing, and what did he have in common with a boy writing a letter to a school district in another state five years earlier?

Episode Two, "The Schoolhouse Gates": I interview Mary Beth Tinker, free speech activist and the victorious plaintiff from the crucial student free speech case Tinker v. Des Moines.

And we'll be aiming at releasing episodes monthly. Coming soon: Episode Three, "On The Job": How do the courts balance the free speech rights of government employees with the need to maintain discipline in government workplaces? I interview Richard Ceballos, a Deputy District Attorney who faced retaliation for questioning a search warrant, and whose case articulated a troubling rule for government employees.

Episode Four, "Disparagement, Contempt, and Disrepute": I interview Simon Tam of the band The Slants about his recent Supreme Court victory and the trademark process that, despite what he and his fans thought, told him his band's name was racist and unacceptable.

We're launching, barring disaster, on January 31, 2018.

I'm deeply indebted to the superlative team at Legal Talk Network, who are responsible for the podcast sounding like something more than me shouting into a soup can. Executive producer Laurence Colletti, producer Kate Nutting, and particularly redoubtable sound engineer and composer Adam Lockwood turned this from an idea into a show. It's been a privilege to work with them.

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