How America Became a Nation of "Free Speech Hypocrites"

How America Became a Nation of "Free Speech Hypocrites"

The past few weeks have marked a low point for free speech principles in America. The head of the FCC openly threatened ABC for the language of a comedian. The president told a reporter that networks that are "against" him should have their licenses revoked. The vice president went on TV and told Americans to turn in their colleagues if they spoke ill of Charlie Kirk. And many have. After Kirk was killed, Suzanne Swierc, an employee at Ball State University, posted that “if you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can’t be friends.” Within hours, Libs of TikTok, a social media account, posted her message publicly, Elon Musk retweeted it, and, with the approval of the White House, she was fired. Conservatives claim that Democrats fired first. They say it was the campus left that got "cancel culture" rolling. It was Joe Biden who pressured—or jawboned—the social media companies to take down misinformation, in violation of free expression. It was Democrats who suppressed information on the Hunter Biden laptop. So what can we say fairly and honestly about the state of the First Amendment? Is the Trump administration uniquely perverse? Are we all hypocrites? And why does it seem like so many members of each party can’t wait to use the machinery of the state to limit the speech of their political opponent? Greg Lukianoff, the president of FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, joins the show to discuss. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Greg Lukianoff Producer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(361)

The Mysterious Rise of Major Injuries in Professional Sports

The Mysterious Rise of Major Injuries in Professional Sports

Sign up for the Derek Thompson newsletter. In Game 7 of this year's NBA Finals, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in the first quarter while attempting to drive to the basket o...

9 Jul 202554min

How Abundance Won in California

How Abundance Won in California

The California housing crisis is a disaster and an emergency. Housing construction per capita has steadily fallen in the last few decades, while home prices, rent, and homeless rates have all soared. ...

3 Jul 202559min

What's Next for the Middle East: War, Peace, or Revolution?

What's Next for the Middle East: War, Peace, or Revolution?

Sign up for Derek Thompson's Substack here! Donald Trump rose to power in the Republican Party as a critic of the neoconservative tradition and was opposed to war in the Middle East. But after weeks ...

25 Jun 202547min

NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani on Abundance, Socialism, and How to Change a Mind

NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani on Abundance, Socialism, and How to Change a Mind

Before today’s show, a personal announcement. After almost 17 years at The Atlantic, I have just officially moved my writing full time to Substack, the newsletter platform. If you like this show, if y...

23 Jun 202541min

A Grand, Unified Theory of Why Americans Are So Unhealthy

A Grand, Unified Theory of Why Americans Are So Unhealthy

Americans are unusually overweight and chronically ill compared to similarly rich countries. This episode presents a grand, unified theory for why that's the case. Our food environment has become sign...

18 Jun 202538min

Why Are Americans So Unhealthy? Part I: Is Ultra-Processed Food Killing Us?

Why Are Americans So Unhealthy? Part I: Is Ultra-Processed Food Killing Us?

Americans die younger and faster than the residents of almost every other rich country. Why? There's gun violence, drug overdoses, and car crashes. Young people are much more likely to die from these ...

11 Jun 202551min

What Experts Really Think About Smartphones and Mental Health

What Experts Really Think About Smartphones and Mental Health

I'm very concerned about the relationship between smartphone use and America's mental health crisis. But many researchers don't see things my way. They insist that there is little to no empirical data...

4 Jun 20251h 6min

Plain History: How Adolf Hitler Destroyed German Democracy in Six Months

Plain History: How Adolf Hitler Destroyed German Democracy in Six Months

In November 1932, Germany was a republic. By the spring of 1933, it was a dictatorship. How did it all happen so quickly? Fascination with Adolf Hitler requires no news peg, but I’ve been particularl...

30 Mai 20251h 2min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
forklart
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
stopp-verden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
i-retten
rss-gukild-johaug
fotballpodden-2
det-store-bildet
dine-penger-pengeradet
nokon-ma-ga
rss-ness
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
bt-dokumentar-2
e24-podden
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano