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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.
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack’s paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].
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)
4.6
192192 ratings
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.
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack’s paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].
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)
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