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What Ancient Rome and Greece can teach us about comedians and free speech

By Chloe Veltman
Published September 21, 2025 at 9:11 AM EDT

As president Donald Trump celebrates the cancelation of comedians Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert and says he hopes the same fate will befall others who have been similarly critical, a look at the comedians in the ancient world who faced serious penalties for making jokes about the powers that be and what lessons we can learn from their stories about the fate of free speech in this country.

Copyright 2025 NPR
Chloe Veltman
Chloe Veltman is a correspondent on NPR's Culture Desk.
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