Free speech is not particularly fashionable these days. Indeed, this summer NPR’s On the Media dedicated an entire episode to the topic without interviewing a single defender of free speech. With free speech skepticism on the rise, the new book Free Speech And Why It Matters could not be more timely, or more important. British comic Andrew Doyle initially found fame with his hilarious social justice warrior Twitter parody, Titania McGrath. But he’s since become known as a crusader for free speech and the host of Free Speech Nation. In this conversation, Andrew Doyle walks through key arguments in favour of free speech and makes the case that the erosion of speech rights we’ve witnessed in recent years is destructive for democracy and human rights — and awful for art.
You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com