Free Speech in Comedy Clubs and on Campus

Free 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 the country. Students, he says, are afraid to speak their minds, in fear of a backlash. Deresiewicz sees the impact of cancel culture extending well beyond newsworthy cancellations of prominent people. “For every high-profile cancellation . . . there are a hundred, say, low-profile cancellations that don’t get picked up,” Deresiewicz tells David Remnick. “And, even more importantly, for every one of those, there are a thousand people . . . who just keep their mouth shut.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, argues that cancel culture isn’t real. It’s largely, she says, an excuse made by those on the political right to lodge their own restrictions on what can be said in the public sphere. Kliph Nesteroff, a historian of comedy, agrees with that assessment. “There used to be this conceit, a few years ago—‘They’re going to take your guns away,’ ” he says; now the refrain is “ ‘They’re going to take your jokes away. They’re going to take your comedians!’ It’s the same sort of element driving the narrative.” Pushback to jokes at the expense of marginalized people is nothing new, Nesteroff explains. He offers the example of Native Americans protesting insulting portrayals in silent films more than a century ago. But social media has brought these criticisms into the public consciousness. “It’s not even cancel culture. It’s just culture,” Nesteroff says. “The history of America is a tug-of-war between opposing forces—powerful forces versus weak forces.”

Jaksot(150)

Trump’s and Biden’s Reversals of Fortune

Trump’s and Biden’s Reversals of Fortune

The Senate’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act this week marks a turning point in the Biden Presidency. After more than a year of negotiations, the Democratic caucus agreed on a sweeping package,...

11 Elo 202236min

Jane Mayer on Ohio’s Lurch to the Right

Jane Mayer on Ohio’s Lurch to the Right

Last month, the story of a 10-year-old rape victim captured national headlines. The young girl was forced to travel out of state because of Ohio’s draconian abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or...

8 Elo 202224min

Can Suing Gun Manufacturers Reduce Gun Violence?

Can Suing Gun Manufacturers Reduce Gun Violence?

Gun manufacturers are the only industry explicitly protected by federal statute from liability lawsuits. Carmakers and cigarette companies can be taken to court if their products or marketing endanger...

4 Elo 202234min

Did the U.S. Miss the Chance to Stop Monkeypox?

Did the U.S. Miss the Chance to Stop Monkeypox?

The World Health Organization has declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency. There have been nearly twenty thousand cases worldwide and nearly thirty-five hundred in the United States,...

28 Heinä 202231min

New Mexico Is a “Safe Haven” for Abortion Between Texas and Arizona

New Mexico Is a “Safe Haven” for Abortion Between Texas and Arizona

In New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared the state a “reproductive safe haven” between Arizona to the west, and Texas to the east. Already, she says, New Mexico’s few abortion clini...

27 Heinä 202213min

Trump’s Hundred and Eighty-seven Minutes of Inaction on January 6th

Trump’s Hundred and Eighty-seven Minutes of Inaction on January 6th

On Thursday evening, the committee charged with investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol presented what it has learned so far about President Trump’s behavior on that eventful day. As membe...

22 Heinä 202232min

How White Christian Nationalists Seek to Transform America

How White Christian Nationalists Seek to Transform America

The past few weeks have been full of unsettling indicators of the fragile state of our democracy. The January 6th committee has assembled a frightening account of how near the 2020 election came to be...

21 Heinä 202229min

The Queer Children’s Books Targeted By the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

The Queer Children’s Books Targeted By the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill took effect this month. Signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis, it limits the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in grade school classrooms,...

14 Heinä 202233min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
politiikan-puskaradio
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
tervo-halme
rss-podme-livebox
rss-asiastudio
otetaan-yhdet
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
rss-sinivalkoinen-islam
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
the-ulkopolitist
rss-polikulaari-pitka-kiekko-ja-muut-ts-podcastit
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset
rss-girls-finish-f1rst
rss-50100-podcast
rss-kuka-mina-olen