Free Speech Unmuted: Equal Time, Stephen Colbert, and the Future of Political Broadcasting, with Stuart Benjamin

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Free Speech

Free Speech Unmuted: Equal Time, Stephen Colbert, and the Future of Political Broadcasting, with Stuart Benjamin

Eugene Volokh | 3.11.2026 8:01 AM

Is the FCC about to revive a broad reading of the Equal Time Rule—and should broadcast TV still get "special" First Amendment treatment in 2026? Jane and I discuss the matter with Prof. Stuart Benjamin, a leading scholar of federal communications law at Duke Law School.

And check out our past episodes:

Student Speech, Threats, and the First Amendment Can Journalists Be Charged for Involvement in Protests? The Don Lemon Dilemma 2025: The Year In Free Speech Does the First Amendment Protect Supposedly "Addictive" Algorithms? Defamation Law in the Age of AI with Lyrissa Lidsky Free Speech and the Future of Legal Education From Brandenburg to Britain: Rethinking Free Speech in the Digital Era with Eric Heinze Kimmel, the FCC, and the Government's Power Over Broadcast Speech A Conversation with FIRE's Greg Lukianoff A Burning First Amendment Issue: President Trump's Executive Order on Flag Desecration Free Speech and Doxing The Supreme Court Rules on Protecting Kids from Sexually Themed Speech Online Free Speech, Public School Students, and "There Are Only Two Genders" Can AI Companies Be Sued for What AI Says? Harvard v. Trump: Free Speech and Government Grants Trump's War on Big Law Can Non-Citizens Be Deported For Their Speech? Freedom of the Press, with Floyd Abrams Free Speech, Private Power, and Private Employees Court Upholds TikTok Divestiture Law Free Speech in European (and Other) Democracies, with Prof. Jacob Mchangama Protests, Public Pressure Campaigns, Tort Law, and the First Amendment Misinformation: Past, Present, and Future I Know It When I See It: Free Speech and Obscenity Laws Speech and Violence Emergency Podcast: The Supreme Court's Social Media Cases Internet Policy and Free Speech: A Conversation with Rep. Ro Khanna Free Speech, TikTok (and Bills of Attainder!), with Prof. Alan Rozenshtein The 1st Amendment on Campus with Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky Free Speech On Campus AI and Free Speech Free Speech, Government Persuasion, and Government Coercion Deplatformed: The Supreme Court Hears Social Media Oral Arguments Book Bans – or Are They?

 

Thank you.

 

All the best,

Vy

 

--

Vy (Vee) Nguyen

Product Marketing Manager

(650) 736-9633 | pvnguyen@stanford.edu

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Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any institution. He is also the co-host of the Free Speech Unmuted podcast.

Free Speech

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