Honest Offense with Eric Cervone

Robert Corn-Revere is an attorney and partner in the Washington, DC office of Davis Wright Tremaine. Bob is one of the country's preeminent First Amendment lawyers, having argued on behalf of Playboy in front of the Supreme Court,  defended CBS Television and Viacom in an FCC proceeding resulting from the Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction," and successfully petitioned for a pardon of comedian Lenny Bruce. (If you're interested in hearing more about Bob's illustrious career,  check out on conversation on Episode 57.) Bob's new book, "The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Censor's Dilemma," is a masterful look at the mindset of censors and why censors never occupy the moral high ground.

Michelle Drouin is a professor of psychology at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne. She has served as a forensic consultant, expert witness, and she is an internationally-recognized researcher and speaker. Dr. Drouin focuses her work on issues related to technology, relationships, couples, and sexuality. Dr. Drouin is also the author of the upcoming book Out of Touch: How to Survive an Intimacy Famine, which will be out February 1. The book is a scientific and personal look at how technology and the COVID pandemic are shaping the way we interact with each other at all levels.

Dorian Abbot is an associate professor of geophysical science at the University of Chicago. Dorian first made national news when he challenged the university's diversity hiring practices. (To hear that story, check out our conversation on episode 43.) In August, Dorian published a widely discussed op-ed in Newsweek titled “The Diversity Problem on Campus,” which caused MIT to cancel a lecture he was scheduled to give at a prestigious event. Dorian's been all over the media since then to talk about what’s happening to academic freedom on campuses across the country.

Ryan MacDonald is an MMA fighter and UFC veteran with a professional record of 11-2. He is also the owner and coach of 6910N1 MMA & Fitness in his hometown of North Platte, Nebraska. Ryan is coming off an impressive finish last week at Art of Scrap 3 against fellow UFC veteran Willie Gates.

Maj Toure is an activist, entrepreneur, rapper, former political candidate—maybe future candidate—he does it all. He is the founder of Black Guns Matter and the Solutionary Lifestyle, and most importantly he’s a north Philly kid. Maj works to bring the ideas of responsible gun ownership and individual liberty to inner cities.

Shannon Falkenstein is a co-founder and Executive Director of Acton Academy in El Salvador. Acton Academy is an innovative form of education that aims to move students from receivers of knowledge to self-seekers of knowledge. Acton blends state of the art software, projects with real world application, Socratic discussions, and what they call the Hero’s Journey in a student-centered, multi-age classroom. I learned about Acton Academy after seeing that Tim Kennedy is opening his own affiliate in Austin, and I’m just so excited by the idea of it. Acton Academy affiliates are now open around the country and the world. The founder of Acton Academy, Laura Sandefur, has a book out on Acton Academy’s philosophy called Courage to Grow.

Lyn Ulbricht is the mother of Ross Ulbricht, who created the marketplace website Silk Road in 2011. In 2015, Ross—a first-time, nonviolent offender— was sentenced to a double life sentence plus 40 years without the possibility of parole for offenses related to his operation of Silk Road. Since Ross’ arrest, Lyn has worked to bring to light the corruption and injustice surrounding Ross’ trial and conviction.

Carla Gericke is an author, activist, and attorney. She was born and raised in South Africa during apartheid and began practicing law in her home country. Carla then won the "green card lottery" and immigrated to the United States, where she practiced law in Silicon Valley. Carla eventually left the corporate world and moved to New Hampshire to become part of the Free State Project, becoming the president of FSP in 2011. We had a fascinating talk about Carla's life and her book, "The Ecstatic Pessimist."

Jason Kilborn is a professor the at University of Illinois, Chicago School of Law. He is a leading authority on the comparative law and policy of individual insolvency. Professor Kilborn teaches bankruptcy and civil procedure, among other courses. Professor Kilborn used a redacted reference to a slur on a final exam and subsequently faced an investigation from the university and petitions calling for his removal. Thanks to help from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Professor Kilborn reached a resolution with the university. However, he continues to fight back against academic intolerance on his campus.

Dez Jones is the founder of Dez Fit Club LLC. He is a fitness trainer, macro-nutrition coach, and motivational speaker. We talked about Dez’s childhood growing up with a single mom and three brothers, surviving and thriving through faith and discipline, sculpting the body of a Greek god, entrepreneurship, using fitness and tough love to help kids in rough situations, and much more.

Chrissie Mayr is a stand-up comic and podcast host. She hosts the Chrissie Mayr Podcast and Wet Spot on Compound Media. We talk about Chrissie's life growing up on Long Island, how she got into both comedy and politics, mixing the two, and much more.

Carol Roth has over 25 years of business advisory experience. She is a recovering investment banker, entrepreneur, TV pundit and host, and New York Times bestselling author of The Entrepreneur Equation. She also hosts the podcast, “The Roth Effect.” Carol's latest book is “The War on Small Business: How the Government Used the Pandemic to Crush the Backbone of America.”

I think this might be the most important book to come out of this insane time we’re in. We discuss the effect that government policy during the pandemic has had on small business, the role of the Federal Reserve, our acquiescence to China, cronyism, and much more.

Brandon Glova, AKA DJ Bonics, is best known as the DJ for Wiz Khalifa. He can also be heard DJing for Q102 in Philadelphia and serves as a host on the CW in the Twin Cities. Bonics has been a longtime DJ for 96.1 KISS-FM in Pittsburgh and previously DJed for Go Radio 95.3 in Minneapolis. We talk about all aspects of Bonics' unbelievable career, including learning to DJ at Pitt, meeting and working with Wiz Khalifa, suffering a heart attack just as his career was taking off, and so much more.

Rebecca Trent is the owner and operator of The Creek and The Cave comedy club, which recently moved from its longtime home in New York City to Austin, Texas. The Creek has helped launch the careers of a number of successful comedians, include Mark Normand, Donald Glover, Tim Dillon, and the Legion of Skanks. Rebecca is also a comedy producer, director, booker, talent coordinator, and festival coordinator. She directed Unconstitutional with Colin Quinn off Broadway, co-created What’s Your Effing Deal with Big Jay Oakerson at the Village Underground, and is the co-creator of Skankfest. 

We talk about how Rebecca got into comedy, some of the controversy that has surrounded The Creek, the importance of protecting comedy as an art form, and much more.

Brandon Weichert is a geopolitical analyst who manages The Weichert Report: World News Done Right. He is also a contributor to The Asia Times and The American Spectator and a contributing editor at American Greatness. Brandon’s national security writings have appeared in a number of major publications. His new book is "Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower." In this episode, we discuss how countries like China and Russia are winning the space race, how the US can fix its space policy, what is going on with UFOs, and more.

Matt Balaker is a comic, writer, and author of "Greg Giraldo: A Comedian's Story."

Greg Giraldo was one of the great standup comics of the early 2000s. He was a regular on Comedy Central's Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and the network's annual roasts. Before getting into comedy, Greg graduated from Columbia and Harvard Law School and briefly practiced corporate law in New York. Greg died of an overdose in 2010 at age 44.

Pamela Zembiec is the author of “Selfless Beyond Service: A Story about the Husband, Son and Father Behind the Lion of Fallujah.” The book beautifully details her relationship and marriage with Marine Major Doug Zembiec. Doug was nicked-named the "Lion of Fallujah" for his heroic leadership during Operation Vigilant Resolve in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004.

In 2007, Doug was in Baghdad leading a unit of Iraqi forces he had helped train when he was killed by enemy fire.

According to Doug's Silver Star citation: “Under withering enemy fire, Major Zembiec remained in an exposed, but tactically critical, position in order to provide leadership and direct effective suppressive fire on the enemy combatant positions with his assault team's machine gun. In doing so, he received the brunt of the enemy's fire, was struck and succumbed to his wounds.”

Doug left behind his wife, Pam, and their young daughter. In addition to sharing Doug's legacy, Pam now works with other military spouses who have suffered loss.

Jonathan Rauch is a Senior Fellow in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution. He is a contributing editor of The Atlantic and author of numerous books and articles on public policy, culture, and government. In 1993, he published “Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought,” which remains one of the best philosophical defenses of free speech. Jonathan’s new book is the Constitution of Knowledge, a 21st-century follow-up to Kindly Inquisitors.

In this conversation, we discuss the psychology of why we think the way we do, the historical context for the development of our views on speech, the effect of current events on speech, and much more.

Jonathan Zimmerman is the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor in Education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is one of the foremost education historians working today. He is also the author of "Free Speech: And Why You Should Give a Damn," which features drawings by the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson. We discuss the importance of free speech in giving a voice to the powerless, Judge Learned Hand and the Spirit of Liberty, listening to people you disagree with, censorship under Abraham Lincoln, and much more.

Joseph F. Johnston is a graduate of Harvard Law School. He practiced law in New York City and Washington, D.C., was a visiting lecturer at the University of Virginia Law School and is a member of the American Law Institute. He is also the author of the book, “The Decline of Nations, Lessons for Strengthening America at Home and In the World.”

We discuss the the state of formal education, the cowardice of today's elites, the rise and fall of past empires, Joe's relationship with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and much more.

Ian Rosenberg has over twenty years of experience as a media lawyer, and has worked as legal counsel for ABC News since 2003. Ian is also an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, and teaches media law at Brooklyn College. His new book is "The Fight for Free Speech: Ten Cases That Define Our First Amendment Freedoms." In this conversation, we discuss the Supreme Court cases Ian highlights, the colorful free-speech champions throughout American history, looking at issues objectively, the current state of free speech, social media's role in advancing/restricting speech, and much more. 00:00 Introduction

04:30 The beginnings of free speech law

07:55 Early free speech cases – Abrams and Schenck

14:14 Objectivity and universally applied rules

29:20 Falsely shouting fire in a crowded theory

32:15 The Pentagon Papers, Stormy Daniels, and WikiLeaks

43:22 Trump vs. Obama on free speech

47:27 Cohen v. California – the "Fuck the Draft" case

51:45 FCC v. Pacifica – George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words

57:38 Social media and the First Amendment

Robert Corn-Revere is considered by many people to be the preeminent First Amendment lawyer in America. He is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Davis Wright Tremaine and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. He has argued and been involved with some of the most significant and controversial First Amendment cases of the past 30 years. We discuss how Bob was able to get a pardon for Lenny Bruce, the importance of defending speech especially when it's unpopular, and some of the Supreme Court cases he has worked on.

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Matthew Bradford enlisted in the Marine Corps out of high school. In September 2006, his unit was deployed to Haditha, Iraq. In January 2007, Matt was severely wounded after stepping on an Improvised Explosive Device in Haditha. Matt lost his vision and both of his legs. After a long rehab, Matt was able to realize his dream of reenlisting in the Marines. Matt continues to service as an inspiration through his message of #NoLegsNoVisionNoProblem.

Alfred Regnery spent nearly 20 years as president and publisher of Regnery Publishing, which was founded by his father in 1947. Regnery Publishing is responsible for some of the most significant books in conservative thought, including William F. Buckley, Jr.’s “God and Man at Yale,” and Russel Kirk’s “The Conservative Mind.” During Alfred's tenure, Regnery published 23 New York Times bestsellers. Alfred currently serves as President of Republic Book Publishers. We talk about the history of Regnery publishing and Alfred’s career, publishing books in communist Romania, the state of publishing today, Republic Book’s experience with online censorship, and more.

Lou Perez was the Head Writer and Producer of the comedy channel We the Internet TV. He now hosts The Lou Perez Podcast in addition to producing sketch comedy, stand-up, and opinion writing. We talk about some of Lou’s sketch work, including the great "Wolverine's Claws Suck"; the personality of comedians; comedy being dangerous again; the value of intellectual curiosity; the link between libertarianism and comedy; and tech censorship.

Reed Kuhn is a Silicon Valley executive who moonlights as an MMA analytics expert. He has been known as the Fight Scientist, writes a weekly MMA analysis column for ESPN, and authored the book "Fightnomics: the Hidden Numbers in Mixed Martial Arts and Why There's No Such Thing as a Fair Fight."

In this episode, we talk about Reed's experience with MMA analytics and gambling, the growth of MMA, and the upcoming UFC 260 and 261 cards. We also tried to figure out why I’m so bad at MMA gambling. 

Charles Kesler is a professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Claremont Institute, Editor of the Claremont Review of Books, and host of Claremont’s "The American Mind" video series. His new book is “Crisis of the Two Constitutions: The Rise, Decline, and Recovery of American Greatness.”

R. James Woolsey is a lawyer and diplomat who has served as the former director of the CIA, former undersecretary of the Navy, and former ambassador to the Negotiations on Conventional Armed forces in Europe. His recent book is "Operation Dragon: Inside the Kremlin’s Secret War on America," which he co-wrote with Ion Mihai Pacepa, a Former two-star general in communist Romania and the highest-ranking defector from the Eastern Bloc. In the book, Woolsey and Pacepa detail how it was the Soviet government, specifically Nikita Khrushchev, who were behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The book also highlights other covert Soviet activity, including their use of Robert Oppenheimer to gain vital information on the atomic bomb.

John Lindsey is the co-founder and president of the Lindsey Self Storage Group. He is also the author of the upcoming book, "The Sexy Side of Self-Storage: An Insider's Guide to a Necessary Commodity."

Dorian Abbot is an associate professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago. He recorded a series of videos explaining his concerns about how his department was implementing diversity initiatives. In response, students submitted a letter asking for him to be sanctioned.

Paul Matzko is a historian and the editor for technology and innovation at Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org. He's also the host of the podcast Building Tomorrow. His first book, "The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement," was published by Oxford University Press in 2020. He has written articles for the New York Times, Washington Post, New York Daily News, Christianity Today, and the Knight First Amendment Institute. He holds a PhD in history from Pennsylvania State University.

For 15 years, Wil Willis served as an Army Ranger and Air Force Pararescueman. He has appeared in TV and movies since 2005, including the all-time classic Beerfest. From 2015 to 2020, he hosted the hit History Channel competition reality show Forged in Fire. He is also a writer and producer and a graduate of the New York Filmmaking Academy.

Avery Dellinger is the General Manger of Helium Comedy Club in Indianapolis and has been a part of the comedy industry for over 20 years.

Casey Mulligan is an economist and author. Currently, he is a Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. From July 2018 to June 2019, he served as chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump Administration. In 2020, Casey published his most recent book, “You’re Hired!: Untold Successes and Failures of a Populist President.”

John Cribb is a bestselling author who has written about subjects ranging from history to education. His previous work includes coauthoring "The American Patriot’s Almanac" and "The Educated Child," both New York Times bestsellers; co-editing The Human Odyssey, a 3-volume world history text, and developing on-line history courses. John also worked as former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett’s collaborator on the New York Times #1 bestseller "The Book of Virtues." His writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, and National Review Online, among other publications. During the Reagan administration, he worked at the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. John's latest book is "Old Abe," a novel about Abraham Lincoln's last five years.

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, is a board certified internist and nationally known expert in the fields of chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, sleep and pain. He has authored numerous books including the best-selling "From Fatigued to Fantastic!"