Areo - Free Speech

Generalisations, Complicity and Jeff Goldblum

Image by Gage Skidmore Yesterday, Jeff Goldblum sparked controversy by asking Jackie Cox, a hijab-wearing contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race, whether there was something about Islam that was anti-woman and…

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5 min

Politics

Is France Charlie?

France has been a crucible of radical philosophy since the eighteenth century, and was the pre-eminent centre for the arts in the nineteenth and twentieth. It was France to which…

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13 min

Politics

Some Thoughts on Christopher Hitchens

“Ladies and gentlemen. Brothers and sisters. Comrades. Friends. Thanks for coming out.” Thus began Christopher Hitchens, as was his custom, speaking from behind a lectern facing a standing-room-only audience. They…

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23 min

Threats to Free Speech at University, and How to Deal with Them—Part 1

Free speech is arguably the most important value for universities to uphold. As Steven Pinker points out in an essay aptly tilted Why Free Speech is Fundamental, “the very thing…

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6 min

Politics

Enforcing Patriotism, Suppressing Dissent: America’s Neglected Free Speech Crisis

Picture this. Students in schools paid for with tax dollars are ordered to stand as a sign of respect for the federal government. If they sit or kneel, they face…

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8 min

The Grain of Truth Behind Calls to Restrict Debate

Statements about the oppressive nature of academic debate or the need to balance free speech with a consideration of people’s feelings are often seen as outrageous enough to be instantly…

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9 min

Politics

The Internet Is Making You Less Free

Our current age is defined by the internet. The internet—a technology that allows the decentralized, globalized dissemination of information—has become so thoroughly entrenched in human life that access is now…

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9 min

The Student Snowflake Stereotype is Counterproductive to the Cause of Free Speech

Are students intolerant, overly sensitive snowflakes? Yes, according to broadcasters like Tucker Carlson in America and right-wing commentators James Delingpole, Brendan O’Neill, Toby Young and Julia Hartley-Brewer in the UK.…

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9 min

Politics

In Defense of Hate Speech

On 23 February, Oluwole Ilesanmi, a Christian street preacher, was approached by two uniformed police officers outside an underground station in north London. Donned with an earpiece microphone and a…

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5 min

Culture & Media

Is Battle Rap the Last True Bastion of Free Speech?

In a packed basement in the heart of Sheffield, northern England, two burly men—one wearing a hoodie, the other sporting a fitted New York Mets baseball cap at a jaunty…

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7 min

Politics

How Did Free Speech Get Here?

It was a good day for our public discourse when, on the popular public talk show Firing Line, conservative intellectual William F. Buckley had a conversation with avant-guard Beat poet…

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Free Speech

Generalisations, Complicity and Jeff Goldblum

Is France Charlie?

Some Thoughts on Christopher Hitchens

Threats to Free Speech at University, and How to Deal with Them—Part 1

Enforcing Patriotism, Suppressing Dissent: America’s Neglected Free Speech Crisis

The Grain of Truth Behind Calls to Restrict Debate

The Internet Is Making You Less Free

The Student Snowflake Stereotype is Counterproductive to the Cause of Free Speech

In Defense of Hate Speech

Is Battle Rap the Last True Bastion of Free Speech?

How Did Free Speech Get Here?

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