From the beginning of history, our ancestors have practiced the art of storytelling, wrapped in blackness as they huddled around the flickering fire, telling the legends of their people in the warm, crackling glow, passing on the best of themselves. This has always been the way, for we are storytellers. Is it any wonder then that we would seek to protect the very instrument of our being, or that throughout history societies have celebrated and defended our freedom of speech? In the 5th century BC, the practice of speaking freely or parrhesia was a necessary aspect of Athenian democracy, practiced in both the assembly and the agora, where citizens spoke openly—provided they were not women or slaves. Or think of the Roman Republic, which could not have existed had its senators been unable to voice critical concerns. And of course, the Enlightenment itself was nothing if not a flowering of ideas the sum total of which was not worth a single breath had it not been shared. Freedom of speech is the most precious of all liberties, the one by which we defend all others, the horn we sound when another freedom is in peril, the shield we raise against the arrows of deception, and the spear we send into the ranks of oppression. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit volodzko.substack.com/subscribe