Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America and author of "Dare to Speak," joins historian Charlotte Lydia Riley to explore the complexities of free speech today. They debate the perceived crisis surrounding cancel culture and its impact on public discourse. The conversation highlights the tension between holding elites accountable and the fear of silencing marginalized voices. With insights into book bans, societal repercussions of criticism, and the influence of social media, they delve into the challenges of maintaining open dialogue in a polarized world.
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insights INSIGHT
Free Speech's Legal Scope
Free speech, as legally defined, restricts government censorship, not private consequences.
It protects those challenging authority, historically benefiting dissidents and protestors.
insights INSIGHT
Cancellation vs. Censorship
Current free speech debates often concern social, not legal, consequences.
Those claiming "cancellation" often seek freedom from criticism, not government censorship.
question_answer ANECDOTE
NYT Op-Ed Editor Firing
The New York Times op-ed editor's firing exemplifies cancel culture's impact.
It creates a chilling effect, making others hesitant to platform potentially controversial viewpoints.
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This book tells the story of Britain's journey from an imperial power to a nation deeply influenced by its former imperial subjects. After World War II, as independence movements gained momentum, former imperial subjects began migrating to Britain, leading to significant social, cultural, and racial transformations. The book uses personal testimonies, oral histories, and popular culture sources to illustrate how empire continues to shape modern Britain, including its civil society campaigns against racism and the political role of the anti-war left. It examines key moments in modern British history, such as the Blitz, Live Aid, Britpop, and Brexit, highlighting the complex and contested attitudes towards empire and its legacy in Britain today.
The Free Speech Wars
How Did We Get Here and Why Does it Matter?
Charlotte Lydia Riley
This book assembles a diverse group of commentators, activists, and academics to understand the contemporary free speech wars. It delves into how the spaces and structures of 'speech' – including mass media, lecture theatres, public events, political rallies, and the internet – shape this debate. The contributors analyze historical developments of censorship, boycotts, and protests around free speech and how these histories inform the present. The book explores both the defence of speech freedoms and the ways in which free speech has been weaponised and used as a bad faith argument. It focuses on key battlefields such as university campuses and the internet, encouraging readers to be critical of how this topic is framed in the media.
Is Free Speech under Threat?
Charlotte Lydia Riley
Intelligence Squared
Suzanne Nossel
This book, part of the THINK AGAIN series, presents contrasting views from Suzanne Nossel and Charlotte Lydia Riley on the state of free speech. Nossel argues that the elevation of minority voices has led to an uncompromising intolerance that wrongly equates offensive speech with violence, resulting in an escalating free speech arms race. Riley counters that accusations of cancel culture and defenses of free speech are often disingenuous attempts to fuel a culture war, inhibiting a necessary realignment where hateful speech is called out and the right to free expression is extended to more people.
Many liberals believe that in recent years we have seen an erosion of the right to air unpopular opinions without the risk of being cancelled. We are in an ever-intensifying shutting down of conversation, they maintain, with constituencies on both the left and the right demanding that opinions they don’t like be declared out of bounds, socially, morally or legally. But some argue otherwise: that the so-called free speech crisis is completely a fiction. What we’re really seeing is a rebalance of power in elite institutions where privileged groups are being held to account for their words by others who have been historically excluded and marginalised. Intelligence Squared’s new book series THINK AGAIN, published in partnership with The Bodley Head invites two authors to debate the way forward. For the release of the first book, Is Free Speech Under Threat? Our authors are CEO of PEN America Suzanne Nossel and historian Charlotte Lydia Riley. The two recently joined Intelligence Squared live onstage in London to debate the issue. Chairing the discussion was BBC News presenter and Royal Correspondent, Jonny Dymond.
If you'd like to read our panelists' thoughts in the new Intelligence Squared book, Is Free Speech Under Threat? Head to one of the following retailers to pick up your copy.
Intelligence Squared 
