Harvey Silverglate: An 80-year-old criminal-defense and civil-liberties lawyer who co-founded FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) in 1999 and co-authored 'The Shadow University.' He was running as a write-in candidate for the Harvard Board of Overseers.
What this episode covers
Silverglate lays out a near-absolutist defense of free speech, arguing that even hate speech is more valuable than 'love speech' because it tells you who not to trust. He attacks the takeover of universities by administrators, proposing to fire 95% of them to cut tuition and restore academic freedom, and explains his write-in campaign for the Harvard Board of Overseers. The conversation ranges across affirmative action (which he opposes and predicts the Supreme Court will abolish), public-sector teachers' unions, the Jeffrey Epstein scandals at MIT and Harvard, and the ethics of taking donor money. He closes with sharp critiques of the FBI (which he wants abolished), federal overcriminalization, and surveillance, plus personal stories about turning down a Harvard Law tenure-track offer and a transformative summer in Paris.
Recommended on this episode
Free Speech for Me But Not for Thee
Nat Hentoff
“he wrote a fabulous book called free speech for me but not for thee and he was an absolutist”— Harvey Silverglate
Casablanca
Michael Curtiz
“we used to see Pastor Blanca every Valentine's Day because it was such an important movie to me”— Harvey Silverglate
The guest's own work
The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses
Harvey Silverglate and Alan Charles Kors
“the theory that I used in the shadow University a book you've written the shadow Universe 1998”— Harvey Silverglate
Three Felonies a Day
Harvey Silverglate
“your book that you gave me today three felonies a day excited so nothing to hide argument”— Lex Fridman
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler
“it's one of the most important books of the 20th century how can an educated person not have at least breezed through Mein Kampf”— Harvey Silverglate
Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law
Alan Dershowitz
“you wrote a review of Alan dershowitz's new book yes on Donald Trump the title of that book is get Trump”— Lex Fridman
Big reveals from this episode
- Declares himself a free-speech absolutist, arguing hate speech is more important than 'love speech.'
- Says he would fire 95% of Harvard's administrators, which he claims would cut tuition by about 40%.
- Criticizes new Harvard president Claudine Gay as a bureaucrat he doesn't believe respects academic freedom.
- Reveals he opposes affirmative action and predicts the Supreme Court will abolish it 6-3.
- Tells how he turned down a tenure-track offer at Harvard Law School, stunning the dean.
- States flatly that the FBI should be abolished because its culture is irredeemably corrupt.
- Advises people to never, ever talk to an FBI agent who comes knocking.
- Argues all drugs should be legalized and that wiretapping in drug cases violates privacy.
Worth remembering
- FIRE's 'E' changed from 'Education' to 'Expression' in 2023 as it expanded beyond campuses.
- His surname was garbled by an immigration officer: 'Silverglate' is a nonsense spelling of the original Russian name.
- He blames bad public schools and the teachers' union (Randi Weingarten) for the need for affirmative action.
- He supports private-sector unions but opposes public-sector unions, citing the lack of real bargaining.
- He opposes a 'morals test' for donors but draws the line at naming rights, citing a hypothetical 'Jeffrey Epstein Biological Laboratory.'
- Dershowitz had a lifelong policy of representing a client only once, to avoid becoming 'house counsel to the mafia.'
- He tape-records FBI interviews of his clients; agents refuse and leave, since their Form 302 reports are never accurate.
- Almost anything can become a federal crime if a phone or letter (interstate communication) is used.
- His father died at 48 from smoking four packs of Camels a day; Harvey expected an early death but reached 80.
- A transformative summer in Paris made him drop pre-med for law and break off an arranged marriage.