00:00 This podcast episode discusses book banning and the importance of intellectual freedom.

04:07 More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982, including The Catcher in the Rye, and the American Library Association is committed to no censorship and maintains a library bill of rights.

08:26 Book banning typically occurs when people are concerned about a book's influence on children, and a formal challenge to ban a book can be issued by going to a library and convincing the librarian to remove it.

12:18 Book banning has a long history, with one of the earliest forms being Henry VIII's censorship through licensing laws, and it is difficult to ban a book once it reaches the Supreme Court.

16:36 The Texas textbook review committee, which has significant power due to Texas being the largest textbook buyer in the country, has been accused of adding a conservative slant to social studies curriculum by emphasizing Christian beliefs and downplaying the contributions of liberal figures.

21:08 The Texas textbook review committee has made amendments to the curriculum, such as cutting Thomas Jefferson from the list of figures who inspired revolutions and replacing him with Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin, as well as adding Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek to the list of economist studies, which has national implications and is seen as rewriting history.

25:46 This section includes advertisements and a discussion about authors whose books have been banned, such as Judy Bloom, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Maya Angelou, and John Steinbeck.

30:07 Obscene literature is specifically excluded from First Amendment protection in the US, and the Supreme Court has established a three-point test called the Miller test to determine what constitutes obscenity.

34:30 This section includes listener mail and an ad, and does not provide any relevant information about book banning.