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October 20, 2025 58 mins

Join Kosta and his guest: Dr. Troy Smith, Author, Historian and Professor of History at Tennessee Tech University.

In this episode: In 2021 you started writing an opinion column in the Sparta Expositor called “A Liberal Dose”. This column began at the request of the Expositor’s Editor looking to add more progressive commentary after the events of January 6th and the insurrection on our nation’s capital. After writing your column for more than 4 years you’ve been asked to take a step back from the publication citing security concerns and threatening messages directed at you specifically. My first question starts here: who do you think is actually being protected by this column getting ending? Freedom of speech in America is a hot topic. Not to make light of the situation, but it has been for about 250 years. When you think about the moment we’re in: the tragic assination of Charlie Kirk, the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, the cancellation of Stephen Colbert and contributors like you across the country, what does this mean for the freedom of speech and what can we do to protect it? As Mark Twain famously said, “History doesn't repeat itself but it often rhymes.” You know a lot more about history than me, and I want to take this opportunity to ask you, what comes next? What comes next in the United States? What comes next in Cookeville?


Read Dr. Troy Smith's Blog:  
https://tnwordsmith.blogspot.com
 
Shop Dr. Troy Smith's Published Works on Amazon:
https://us.amazon.com/stores/author/B004G7QU7A?ccs_id=b910bd69-aade-430a-b2a9-220a051d438e

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a product of Morgan Franklin Media and recorded in Cookeville, TN.

Join us with Plenty Downtown Bookshop at A Novel Affair: A Jane Austen Gala for Literacy on November 8, 2025 at Putnam County Convention Center.

Find out more about A Novel Affair: A Jane Austen Gala for Literacy and buy tickets here:
https://plentybookshop.com/gala

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