Heres a ~300-word summary of the conversation:

Hard Knock Radio host Davey D speaks with media critic and author Jennifer L. Pozner about a surge of state-pressured media censorship and corporate capitulation after the campus-rally killing of Charlie Kirk. Using Jimmy Kimmels indefinite suspension from ABC as a case study, Pozner argues the issue isnt one comedian"its a pattern: FCC chair Brendan Carr publicly urged ABC affiliates to preempt Kimmel and warned Disney to do the right thing, implying licensing remedies if they didnt. For Pozner, thats state pressure on speech, not audience feedback.

She connects a series of recent moves: Trump-aligned lawsuits against ABC/Disney and CBS/Paramount that were, in her view, easily defensible on First Amendment grounds but were settled because billion-dollar mergers and regulatory favors were pending. She points to Colberts abrupt firing and the cancellation of *The Late Show* near a Paramount settlement and approval of a Skydance merger, and to Nexstars pursuit of Tegna alongside Carrs deregulatory signals. In that climate, small legal payouts are pocket change compared to merger windfalls.

Davey D raises the hypocrisy around offense, noting offensive speech tolerated elsewhere and recalling post-9/11 firings (Bill Maher; his own Clear Channel exit). Pozner distinguishes community pushback against hate speech from the government using regulators to punish critics. She warns that revisionist media hagiography of Kirk ignores Turning Point USAs Professor Watchlist and its targeting of academics, often Black women, as part of a broader climate of intimidation"what she frames as stochastic terrorism.

Beyond TV, Pozner flags the White Houses takeover of the press pool selection"historically handled by the Correspondents Association"as another red line. The pair close on action: flood executives with letters and calls, press Congress for hearings on FCC overreach, and defend journalists, educators, and comedians. Pozners forthcoming graphic nonfiction with First Second Books will document these dynamics; title TBD.