Figures of Speech | William Bennett Turner | Talks at Google

3,762 views · Published 7 July 2011 · 52:31 · Indexed 20 October 2026

Channel: Talks at Google · 2011 · News & Politics

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Recounting controversial First Amendment cases from the Red Scare era to Citizens United, William Bennett Turner shows how we've arrived at our contemporary understanding of free speech. His strange cast of heroes and villains, some drawn from cases he litigated, includes Communists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Ku Klux Klansmen, the world's leading pornographer, prison wardens, dogged reporters, federal judges, a computer whiz, and a counterculture comedian. Figures of Speech offers a brief and insightful history of speaking up and facing the consequences.

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