Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer tackle one of the strangest First Amendment controversies imaginable: whether sending a sexually explicit image of Shrek to a politician can constitute criminal harassment. Using an Ohio case involving a blogger and a state senator as their starting point, they explore the constitutional boundaries between protected offensive speech and criminally punishable harassment, the rights of unwilling listeners, the special status of public officials under the First Amendment, and how courts have struggled to adapt decades-old free speech principles to an era of texts, emails, and smartphones.

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Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer unpack the complicated and often uncomfortable relationship between free speech and privacy, exploring everything from anonymous political pamphlets and government surveillance to revenge porn, hidden cameras, autobiographies, celebrity likeness rights, wiretap laws, and the constitutional limits of “the right to be left alone.” Along the way, they dive into landmark Supreme Court cases, the origins of American privacy law, Hulk Hogan’s takedown of Gawker, the legality of recording police, and why seemingly simple questions like “Who owns your life story?” turn into some of the thorniest conflicts in First Amendment law.

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Can you be sued for repeating a rumor—even if you don’t believe it? Is calling someone a “racist” protected speech? In this episode, Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer unpack the hidden rules of defamation law, from libel and slander to viral tweets and billion-dollar verdicts. It’s a deep dive into what you can say, what you can’t, and why the biggest legal battles often turn on the smallest details.

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