French dentists strip naked to protest lack of protective gear
Dozens of French dentists have taken pictures of themselves naked in their offices and posting the photos online with the hashtag #dentisteapoil — or, dentists in the buff. The dentists aim to show how...
View ArticleBefore coronavirus, young Iraqis held some of the biggest protests in the...
Last October, Iraqis poured to the streets in several major cities and demanded changes in their government — until the arrival of COVID-19 forced them to pause their protests. Now, they're regrouping.
View ArticleCanadian activists say they’re being targeted by China
A human rights coalition is calling on the Canadian government to investigate and consider sanctions against Chinese officials.
View ArticleFixing Liberalism; COVID-19 News Roundup: New York Edition; A History of...
Coming up on today's show:Zerlina Maxwell, MSNBC political analyst, senior director of Progressive Programming for SiriusXM and the co-host of Signal Boost, and the author of The End of White Politics:...
View ArticleThe Puzzling Future of Child Care and School Re-openings; Police Still...
Coming up on today's show:Brigid Schulte, director of the Better Life Lab and author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play when No One has the Time, and New York City Councilmember Brad Lander discuss...
View ArticleSummer Friday: Free Speech Debate; Caste in Ameria; American Christianity and...
On this final "Summer Friday" we've put together some favorite recent interviews:In July, a letter in Harper's Magazine argues that social media public shamings hamper free speech. Claire Potter,...
View ArticleThe Great Deplatforming
If incitement falls in the forest, and almost nobody can hear it, can it trigger insurrection? The whole world of Big Tech this week began seriously, systematically and almost universally answering...
View ArticleIs Fox News Guilty of Incitement?
We know that freedom of speech in the United States, though strong, is not an inviolable right: libel and defamation stand to incur serious penalties. And so does incitement. Since the capitol...
View ArticleMonday Morning Politics: Big Tech, Free Speech And Impeachment
Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged:...
View ArticleBig Tech; Mask-Wearing Best Practices; Design and Prisons; Black History in...
On today's show:Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's Political Gabfest podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and...
View ArticleHow Did a Mob’s Attack on the Capitol Become Part of the Free-Speech Debate?
After the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, several social-media companies banned a host of far-right figures, as well as President Trump. The move provoked an outcry among conservatives,...
View ArticleRethinking the Constitution
The Constitution, first drafted in 1787, stands as the supreme law of the land in the U.S. But Mary Anne Franks — a law professor at the University of Miami who grew up attending a fundamentalist...
View ArticleWhat Up Holmes?
Love it or hate it, the freedom to say obnoxious and subversive things is the quintessence of what makes America America. But our say-almost-anything approach to free speech is actually relatively...
View ArticleA High-School Cheerleader, the Supreme Court, and the First Amendment
In 2017, Brandi Levy, a junior-varsity cheerleader at Mahanoy Area High School, in Pennsylvania, was denied a spot on the school’s varsity squad. That weekend, off campus, Levy posted a furious,...
View ArticleFeeling ‘Canceled’ in Academia
Frequently cited examples of cancel culture cover a broad range of offenses and consequences. Among the hodgepodge of endorsements lost, Substacks made, and egos bruised, is there really any evidence...
View ArticleAlbany Session Ends; The ACLU's Focus; Disturbing History; Chris Quinn on...
On today's show:On the final day of this legislative session, Karen DeWitt, Capitol bureau chief for New York State Public Radio, reports on what bills will make it through both chambers and on to the...
View ArticleThe ACLU's 'Identity Crisis'
Nadine Strossen, professor of law at New York Law School, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, member of the ACLU’s National Advisory Council, and author of HATE: Why We Should...
View ArticleHow Should The ACLU Balance Anti-Racism And Free Speech?
There are internal disputes at the American Civil Liberties Union over its tradition of defending all speech, including neo-Nazi protests and Klan rallies.On Today's Show:Nadine Strossen, professor of...
View ArticleTo Rethink the Constitution
The Constitution, first drafted in 1787, stands as the supreme law of the land in the U.S. But Mary Anne Franks — a law professor at the University of Miami who grew up attending a fundamentalist...
View ArticleNassau County Legislature Passes Bill to Make Police a "Protected Class"
Candice Ferrette, politics reporter at Newsday, talks about the bill passed by the Nassau County legislature and awaiting signature by County Executive Laura Curran that would designate police officers...
View ArticleAgainst Free Speech Absolutism
Back in the 1980s, analytic philosopher Richard Rorty described the concept of "contingency," which argues that there's no predetermined arc to our systems and processes: the arc, Rorty said, is made...
View ArticleAmerican Free Speech: Radical and Radically Inconsistent
Our understanding of "free speech," as UC Berkeley law professor john powell sees it, is akin to our understanding of gravity. "We all think we know what it is," he tells us. "but if you talk to a...
View ArticleSummer Friday: ACLU Debate; Prison Money; Tri-State Pizza Challenge;...
On this Summer Friday, we've put together some of our favorite recent interviews, including:Nadine Strossen, professor of law at New York Law School, former president of the American Civil Liberties...
View Article70 Years After Trump
At the beginning of this hour, guest host Andrew Marantz, author of Antisocial, talked about the late analytic philosopher Richard Rorty, who argued that the future won't be determined by a set of...
View ArticleConstitutionally Speaking
“The right to throw a punch ends at the tip of someone’s nose.” It’s the idea that underlies American liberties — but does it still fit in 2021? We look back at our country’s radical — and radically...
View ArticleBrian Lehrer Weekend: The Freedom to Write; What Does the Label...
Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, on the Freedom to Write (First); Jay Caspian Kang, opinion writer for The...
View ArticleFeeling ‘Canceled’ in Academia
Frequently cited examples of cancel culture cover a broad range of offenses and consequences. Among the hodgepodge of endorsements lost, Substacks made, and egos bruised, is there really any evidence...
View ArticleUnderstanding Free Speech with Professor Ian Rosenberg
A new graphic book explores the protections… and limitations… of free speech in America. Author and Brooklyn College media law professor Ian Rosenberg joins us to discuss Free Speech Handbook: A...
View ArticleThe Return of Book Bans
Suzanne Nossel, PEN America chief executive officer, discusses the renewed efforts to ban books about 'divisive concepts' from schools and libraries.
View ArticleOn Cancel Culture and the State of Free Speech
Every few weeks, it seems, another example of so-called cancel culture is dominating the headlines and trending on social-media platforms. The refrain “you can’t say anything these days” has become a...
View ArticleJay Caspian Kang on the State of Free Speech
Jay Caspian Kang, the author of “The Loneliest Americans” and a columnist for the Times, talks with David Remnick about free speech and the culture wars. Conversations around this issue have become so...
View ArticleOn Cancel Culture and the State of Free Speech
Every few weeks, it seems, another example of so-called cancel culture is dominating the headlines and trending on social-media platforms. The refrain “you can’t say anything these days” has become a...
View ArticleFree Speech in Comedy Clubs and on Campus
The author William Deresiewicz, who formerly taught English at Yale University, describes what he sees as essential threats to free speech—and ultimately to the process of education—on campuses across...
View ArticleAn Open Dialogue About Open Dialogue: Elie Mystal and Suzanne Nossel On How...
The questions of free speech, racial equity and "cancel culture" are multilayered and complex.On Today's Show:Suzanne Nossel, PEN America chief executive officer, and Elie Mystal, justice correspondent...
View ArticleThe Uncertain Future of Speech on Twitter
The world’s wealthiest man is buying Twitter, because Twitter is power. And Twitter is power, in part, because we in the media obsess over it and amplify what we see there. With Elon Musk's pending...
View ArticlePEN in Ukraine
With the PEN World Voices Festival starting, Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, the human rights and free expression organization, and Andrey Kurkov, novelist and PEN Ukraine president, talk about the...
View ArticleElizabeth Alexander; Climate Change and Food; Debating Cancel Culture; Piping...
On this almost-Summer Friday, enjoy some of our favorite recent conversations:Building on her New Yorker essay, Elizabeth Alexander, president of The Mellon Foundation, poet, educator, memoirist and...
View ArticleSummer Friday: Homophobia to Transphobia; Friendship & Race Relations; Book...
On this Summer Friday, we've put together some of our favorite recent interviews, including:William Eskridge, Yale Law School professor and author of many books, including (with Christopher Riano)...
View ArticleCovering Russia
On March 4th, eight days after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government passed a law making it illegal to call the war a "war" or an "invasion," under the pretense that...
View ArticlePEN at 100
As PEN America celebrates its 100th year, Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, the human rights and free expression organization, and Ayad Akhtar, president of PEN America, playwright and novelist and...
View ArticleTwitter's Free Speech Dilemma
Elon Musk considers himself to be a 'free speech absolutist,' but what happens when his ideals conflict with the business model of his latest acquisition, Twitter? Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The...
View ArticleMastodon: The Platform Taking Twitter's Worn and Weary
In the wake of the five alarm fire at Twitter, a small, quiet social media alternative has been quietly attracting the tweeting weary. Mastodon, named for the prehistoric elephant relatives, was...
View ArticleMastodon: The Platform Taking Twitter's Worn and Weary
In the wake of the five alarm fire at Twitter, a small, quiet social media alternative has been quietly attracting the tweeting weary. Mastodon, named for the prehistoric elephant relatives, was...
View ArticleThe Supreme Court Takes on the First Amendment and LGBTQ Rights...Again
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in a First Amendment case with echoes of the Masterpiece Cakeshop case from 2018. Katherine Franke, professor of law at Columbia Law School and the director...
View ArticleBrian Lehrer Weekend: Fair Housing; Football and Health; Drag Story Hour
Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.A Fair Housing Proposal (First) | Football's Injury Crisis (Starts at 26:30) | Drag Story Hour in NYC (Starts at 55:00)If you don't...
View ArticleLegendary First Amendment Lawyer Floyd Abrams On The Fox-Dominion Settlement
After Dominion's settlement over Fox News's false claims in its coverage of the 2020 election and the company's voting machines, we look at the limits of a free press.On Today's Show:Floyd Abrams,...
View ArticleThe Legal Aspects of Jordan Neely's Killing; Debating Free Expression;...
On today's show:Errol Louis, political anchor of Spectrum NY1 News, host of Inside City Hall, New York Magazine columnist and host of the podcast You Decide, offers analysis of the legal aspects of...
View ArticleWhat Did Trump's CNN Town Hall Actually Reveal?
On Wednesday, the day after Donald Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, he held court at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, moderated by anchor Kaitlan...
View ArticleMonday Morning Politics; A 'Clean Slate' for New Yorkers; Michelle Goldberg;...
On today's show:Last week Hunter Biden was indicted on new tax charges. Philip Bump, national columnist for The Washington Post and the author of The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the...
View ArticleThe TikTok Bill Won't Solve Our Social Media Woes
The House has voted to pass a bipartisan bill that could lead to a nationwide ban of TikTok. Congress has cited concerns that the China-owned app is sharing American users' data with the Chinese...
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