We travel from America to Europe, Russia, China, and more places to answer the question: Is there a global free speech recession? 

Guests:

- Sarah McLaughlin: FIRE senior scholar, global expression

- James Kirchick: FIRE senior fellow

- Jacob Mchangama: FIRE senior fellow

Timestamps: 

00:00 Intro

03:52 Free speech global surveys

07:49 Freedom of expression deteriorating

11:43 Misinformation and disinformation

18:05 Russian state-sponsored media

24:55 Europe’s Digital Services Act

29:26 Chinese censorship

34:33 Radio Free Europe

54:57 Mohammad cartoons

01:04:14 Outro

Read the transcript here.

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Show notes:

- Authoritarians in the academy: How the internationalization of higher education and borderless censorship threaten free speech Sarah McLaughlin (2025) 

- “The First Amendment created gay America” So to Speak (2022)

- “Secret city: The hidden history of gay Washington” James Kirchick (2022)

- “Who in the world supports free speech?” The Future of Free Speech (2025)

- “V-DEM democracy report 2025: 25 years of autocratization — democracy trumped?” V-Dem Institute (2025)

- Global risks report 2024 World Economic Forum (2025)

- “Gay reporter kicked off Kremlin network after protesting anti-gay law” Washington Free Beacon (2013)

- Free speech: A history from Socrates to social media (paperback) Jacob Mchangama (2025)

- Europe's Digital Services Act (DSA) (2022)

- Careless people: A cautionary tale of power, greed, and lost idealism Sarah Wynn-Williams (2025)

- “The Voice of America falls silent” The New York Times (2025)

- Text of Havel’s speech to Congress The Washington Post (1990)

- Voice of America wins in court, for now, as judge blocks Trump administration from firing staff AP News (2025)