Summer Reading List

If you find yourself on this page, you must be wondering how did we get here? How did we end up in a place where our constitutional right to speak freely and openly is being threatened? You may be asking yourself, why am I being silenced on my school’s campus? Why am I being attacked when I’m simply trying to engage in civil discourse?

However, the more important question you are probably asking yourself is how do I fight back? How do I reclaim my right to free speech and resist these entities working tirelessly to silence me, my differing opinion, and my unique perspective?

To achieve this, you must be equipped with the proper knowledge to defend your rights and your side. Below is a list of book recommendations that will prepare you to win every argument that “woke” anti-free-speech activists try to throw your way.

If they say “it’s not that bad” for free speech on campus today, read…

• Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate by Greg Lukianoff — You’re not alone. Hear stories from other college students who feel silenced with chilling anti-free-speech examples drawn from real cases. Greg is an experienced attorney and the president of FIRE, a campus legal defense organization.
• Free Speech on Campus by Erwin Chemerinsky and Howard Gillman — Let two prominent law professors and university leaders explain the history of campus free speech issues, complete with the Supreme Court cases that defend students’ free expression. They make the case for how schools can do the right thing and provide relevant examples to help YOU strengthen your argument.
• Campus Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know by Jonathan Zimmerman — The language that campus bureaucrats hide behind to justify their anti-free-speech policies has its roots in politics. This handy “guidebook” to campus politics will help you understand what’s driving the free speech fight today and how Universities are enacting anti-free-speech policies.

If they say you’re exaggerating the seriousness of America’s free speech crisis, read…

• Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds by Michael Knowles — This book will explain to you the rise of “woke” culture and its frightening turn to censorship culture, mob “justice” in political debates, and enforcing a toxic, brainwashing culture on campus. In essence, it describes how these entities are trying to force everyone to conform to the approved, far-left narrative and why anything else is deemed unacceptable.
• The Intimidation Game: How the Left is Silencing Free Speech by Kimberly Strassel — In what now seems like an early warning of political “cancel culture” (even though it only dates from 2016), this book documents how the left has wrongly used political and government power to silence their conservative opposition.
• I’m Your Emotional Support Animal: Navigating Our All Woke, No Joke Culture by Adam Carolla — This book is written by a comedian who will make you laugh even on a topic such as this one. Adam Carolla will tell the story of how the progressive “woke” revolution has changed American culture in a disturbing way.

If they say that you’re misunderstanding America’s educational system, read…

• Hard America, Soft America: Competition vs. Coddling and the Battle for the Nation’s Future by Michael Barone — America’s educational system, which focuses more on progressive political activists’ goals than actual learning, continues to fail students and new graduates. Let political analyst Michael Barone show you how the coddling of each generation hurts our nation’s future and what we can do to counteract it.

If they say this is a made-up issue just to score points in modern politics, read…

• 1984 by George Orwell and Animal Farm by George Orwell — If you haven’t read these novels since high school, now is the time to crack them open again. You’ll see chilling parallels to the anti-free-speech campaigns on college campuses — and many reminders that the defense of free thinking and free expression is a long-running one.
• Inside American Education: The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas by Thomas Sowell — One of the greatest challenges in defending free thought on campus is that many administrators (and, increasingly, misled young students) believe schools aren’t really there to teach This book explains how the entire education system has turned into a failure.

If they say this won’t matter when students enter the “real world,” read…

• Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff — This recent bestseller identifies (and then demolishes) the bad ideas that have taken root in our colleges and universities … and, as a result, in the next American generation. (Check out this article for a preview.)

While it can be difficult to speak your mind in a classroom of peers who refuse to engage in civil discourse, stay strong, resilient, and unwavering in your beliefs. Always fight speech with more speech and never bow down to the woke, anti-free-speech activists! Use these books to guide your arguments and always lead with facts. You will win every time. We promise.

Sincerely,

Speech First