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The PEN Pod episodes
- Tough Questions About 2021; Plus, That's a Wrap
On this very final episode of The PEN Pod, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel talks about free speech in 2021, from the Capitol Hill insurrection to calls to ban books and entire topics from America's classrooms. Then we reflect on The PEN Pod and PEN America's impact.
10 min - Artistic Freedom in Myanmar; Plus, Tough Questions on Disinformation, Trump Texts, and Free Speech Battles Ahead
On this edition of The PEN Pod, we speak to two experts on the situation for free expression in Myanmar nearly one year since the coup. Then, Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, joins for our latest installment of TOUGH QUESTIONS. This week, we discuss disinformation consumers, texts to Trump amid the insurrection, and what lies ahead for free speech in 2022.
30 min - The Perils of Self-Censorship; Plus, Tough Questions on Fighting Book Bans and What Democracy Really Means
On this week's episode of The PEN Pod, we bring you a conversation about self-censorship among PEN America's own Ayad Akhtar, Suzanne Nossel, and Jennifer Finney Boylan, alongside Wajahat Ali, John McWhorter, and Carmen Maria Machado. Then, Suzanne wades through the tough questions of free speech from the past week, including what it means to be a democracy in 2021 and how best to fight back against book bans,
1 hr 48 min - Tough Questions: Peng Shuai, 'Simpsons' and Censorship, and Critical Race Theory Taboos
On this edition of The PEN Pod, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel answers tough questions about a silenced Chinese tennis star; how Disney self-censored in the face of cross-border censorship; and how the utterance of two words -- critical and race -- can draw a crackdown on free speech.
10 min - The Perishing with Natashia Deón; Plus, Tough Questions on Biden and China, Myanmar, and a Free Speech University
On this episode of The PEN Pod, author, attorney, and activist Natashia Deón on her new book THE PERISHING, as well as themes of redemption and immortality in her work and writing. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel fields tough questions about President Biden's approach to China's government; the freedom of a U.S. journalist detained in Myanmar; and the prospects of establishing a free speech university.
23 min - Book Banning and Educational Gag Orders; Plus, Anthony Doerr and Cloud Cuckoo Land
On today's episode of The PEN Pod, award-winning author Anthony Doerr talks to PEN America's Jane Marchant about his latest work CLOUD CUCKOO LAND. George M. Johnson reflects on efforts to ban the author's book ALL BOYS AREN'T BLUE, as well as the broader effort to impose educational gag orders in classrooms. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel on legislative threats to the freedom to learn, plus efforts to get at the truth about Jan. 6.
54 min - Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed with Saraciea J. Fennell; Plus, Tough Questions on Facial Recognition, NSO Group, and Local News
On this edition of The PEN Pod, PEN America's Jared Jackson interviews The Bronx Is Reading founder Saraciea J. Fennell on her debut anthology Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel tackles tough questions about facial recognition, tech surveillance, and local news.
30 min - Dreaming of You with Melissa Lozada-Oliva
On this week's episode of The PEN Pod, our own Jared Jackson speaks to poet and podcaster Melissa Lozada-Oliva about her work in verse, Dreaming of You.
12 min - When High School Students Defeat a Book Ban
On this special edition of The PEN Pod, we hear the voices of three students and a teacher who helped overturn a pernicious book ban in their home town of York, Pennsylvania.
13 min - Subway Book Review with Uli Beutter Cohen; Plus, Tough Questions on Dave Chapelle, Protecting Journalists, and Facebook Revelations
On this episode of The PEN Pod Jared Jackson, PEN America’s manager of literary programs, speaks with Uli Beutter Cohen, creator of Subway Book Review, about her book Between the Lines: Stories from the Underground, which collects over 170 interviews from the acclaimed social media movement that highlights books and the people who cherish them. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel answers our latest round of tough questions about free speech from the past week.
22 min
About The PEN Pod
From the publisher's feed
As an organization that's all about the literary community, PEN America knows that the ongoing health crisis is hitting our Members and friends particularly hard. The PEN Pod is meant to provide regular updates and conversations about literature and free expression, and provide an outlet for literary celebration as in-person events remain few and far between.
Join the conversation online at pen.org and on our social channels @PENAmerica. Thanks for tuning in.