The Battle For Free Speech

This is a particularly important episode, coming just two weeks ahead of the 1st round of high stakes presidential elections in Brazil.Host Michael Fox speaks with Artur Romeu. He’s a Brazilian journalist and the Latin American Director for Latin America of the international NGO Reporters Without Borders. They spoke ahead of Episode 6 of The Battle for Free Speech, about Brazil’s fight against disinformation. He has an important analysis, which helps to deconstruct how Trump, Silicon Valley and the far-right in the United States, and around the world is "instrumentalizing the idea of free speech for their own political purpose and abandoning key dimension of freedom of expression, which is this more social and collective dimension to receive plural, reliable, diverse, and free information from others.”This is the third bonus episode of The Battle for Free Speech. The Battle for Free Speech Podcast is a production of The Real News Network hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. Guests: Artur RomeuResources: You can check out the full Battle for Free Speech podcast series here.Many thanks to everyone who has supported this show.Follow The Battle for Free Speech on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Support Michael Fox's reporting at patreon.com/mfox. Never miss an episode — sign up for The Real News newsletter at therealnews.com. Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletter and never miss an episodeFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetwork

Today, host Michael Fox speaks with Mary Anne Franks.She is a professor of Intellectual Property, Technology, and Civil Rights Law at George Washington University and the President of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. She is also the author of the book Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment,which was published in 2024, by Bold Type Books.She has an incredible analysis about free speech historically and today — the challenges and how we need to try to understand free speech beyond the 1st amendment.Michael and Mary Anne spoke last year — 2025.This is the second bonus episode of The Battle for Free Speech. The Battle for Free Speech Podcast is a production of The Real News Network. Hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. Guests :Mary Anne FranksResources: You can check out the full Battle for Free Speech podcast series, here.Many thanks to everyone who has supported this show.Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Support Michael Fox's reporting at patreon.com/mfox. Never miss an episode — sign up for The Real News newsletter at therealnews.com. Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletter and never miss an episodeFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetwork

This is the first bonus episode of The Battle for Free Speech. Today, host Michael Fox speaks with Fara Dabhoiwala. He is a professor of History at Princeton University. And he’s the author of the book, What is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea. That book was published in 2025 by Penguin Random House and Harvard University Press. His book, in many ways, challenges the status quo about our understanding of free speech.Professor Dabhoiwala has a wealth of knowledge on the subject of free speech and he appeared throughout this podcast series. But there were many questions we weren’t able to fit into the series, in particular about the beginnings of what we understand as free speech in the United States, and the difference between free speech in the US and abroad. So today, we’re bringing you Michael’s conversation with him in its entirety. They spoke last fall. The Battle for Free Speech Podcast is a production of The Real News Network. Hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. GuestFara DabhoiwalaResources You can check out the full Battle for Free Speech podcast series, here.Many thanks to everyone who has supported this show.Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.Support Michael Fox's reporting at patreon.com/mfox.Never miss an episode — sign up for The Real News newsletter at therealnews.com. Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletter and never miss an episodeFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetwork

Today, we are pleased to share with you an episode from the podcast Scene on Radio. It’s hosted by longtime journalist John Biewen, with co-host journalism professor Chenjerai Kumanyika. It’s a series from the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University and distributed by PRX.This episode is Season 8, Episode 6, of Scene on Radio: What Could Have Been? Ever thought about whether America's overwhelmingly corporate, for-profit news system is working as it should? It didn't have to be this way. In the 20th century, reformers fought for a more democratic and more accountable news media in the United States. They won victories, including the creation of the nation's public broadcasting system. What happened next?By John Biewen, with co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with John Lowery, Dan Schiller, Victor Pickard, and Mark Lloyd.Story editor: Diane Hodson. Assistant Producer, Arlene Arevalo. Fact-checking by Anna Pujol Mazzini. Music by Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band, Michelle Osis, Lili Haydn, Alex Weston, James Nathan Jones, and Jason Hill. Music consulting by Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.LinksTheir website - https://sceneonradio.org/Latest season - https://sceneonradio.org/the-news/Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletter and never miss an episodeFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetwork

“Existence is struggle,” says Marc Steiner. “It always has been, and always will be.”In this podcast series, we’ve looked at the attacks on free speech rights today in the United States. We looked at the history and how movements and organizations have stood up for and exercised free speech in their work. We looked at how social media, AI, and disinformation are undermining our free speech, and at how people are responding in the United States and abroad.In the final episode of this series, we’re focusing on what free speech means within the context of the life of one person who has been through it all — co-host Marc Steiner. He turned 80 earlier this year.  In this episode, Michael Fox sits down with Marc to discuss all of these incredible layers of his life,  from fighting civil rights and community organizing to underground newspapers, street theater, education, and journalism. What do they all mean for him, how do they all add up to nearly seven decades standing up and fighting for free speech, and how they fit into the battle for free speech today?“You have to step back and really listen to what people are saying so you can bring out their truth so others can wrestle with it,” says Marc. “And if they need confronting in their process, you confront it and push back. Which is why when I think about what we do, how important it is — We have a critical role to play in bringing understanding to the world. The truth lives in every corner. And you have to listen. No one has a hold on it.”In our conversation, Marc says right now the battle for free speech is more important than ever. “I think we’re politically facing the most dangerous moment in my lifetime,” says Marc, “where the right is seizing power across the country — the racist right is seizing power. And that now the battle for free speech is more critical than ever. We cannot let them take it away. We have to stand up to that.”The Battle for Free Speech Podcast is a production of The Real News Network.Hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. Theme music by Michael Fox, Jordan Klein and Daniel Nuñez. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound. Production and Sound Design by Michael Fox and Stephen Frank. Editorial support by Kayla Rivara. Research by Ben Schweiger.  Guests Marc SteinerResources You can hear more from Marc on the Marc Steiner Show on The Real News Network.You can see Marc’s archives at the Center for Emerging Media.Marc Steiner’s Peabody-award winning documentary series, Just Words.Marc Steiner’s documentary series Shared Weight, which looks back at the Vietnam War and its legacy.Many thanks to everyone who has supported this show.Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Support Michael Fox's reporting at patreon.com/mfox. Never miss an episode — sign up for The Real News newsletter at therealnews.com. Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletter and never miss an episodeFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetwork