Is there a real free speech crisis in universities or is it just another confected Culture War squabble? With people like Amber Rudd banned from speaking simply for having been in government, is No Platform overreaching itself? And how did a bunch of defrocked Marxists end up the main advocates of a very conservative vision of free speech? British-Australian academic EVAN SMITH, author of No Platform, talks to Dorian Lynskey about the tangled roots and “mission creep” inherent in the practice of shutting people up.

“Nigel Farage was exposed to the sunlight of debate pretty regularly. How well did that work out?”

Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Censors Working Overtime: How NO PLATFORM became culture war catnip