WSJ Opinion: Free Expression

After over 140 people were killed at a concert venue in Moscow, Islamic State in Khorasan Province, or ISKP, an Afghanistan-based offshoot of ISIS, quickly claimed responsibility. Who are ISKP and what wider threat do they pose to the West and the U.S. in particular? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Afghan Armed Forces Lieutenant General Sami Sadat tells Gerry Baker why he thinks ISKP will strike again and soon - - perhaps even in the U.S. He also explains how the chaotic and hurried U.S. departure from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Doha Accord of 2020 helped set the conditions for the resurgence of the terrorist menace. According to Sadat, the Biden administration's plans to fight the enemy from "over the horizon" are doomed to fail.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Obama White House chief economist Jason Furman discusses continuing inflation risks, rising mortgage rates causing pessimism, and the potential impact on Joe Biden's re-election prospects due to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions.

Four years ago this week, the U.S. shut down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. While officials were adamant that lockdowns, masks, and later vaccines were essential for all Americans to limit the damage from the spread, it's become increasingly clear that the science behind so many of the mandates was decidedly shaky. Yet those who warned at the time of the risks of draconian actions were widely denounced and even silenced. On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Professor Martin Kulldorff, one of the most prominent skeptics tells Gerry Baker why he says he was fired as professor of medicine at Harvard University for his views, why the research on vaccines is not so 'black and white,' and why the media and society were so hostile to alternative views on masks, school closures and natural immunity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Super Tuesday put the seal on the 2024 primary season and the rematch of Joe Biden and Donald Trump is set for November. Biden starts out in a weaker position than any incumbent in decades. But, while polling suggests Trump currently has the edge, many voters seem reluctant to endorse either candidate. On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, Gerry Baker speaks with former Trump pollster and co-executor of the WSJ’s own regular polling Tony Fabrizio to talk about what we can expect in November and whether Biden can turn the race around? Will Trump overcome the Scott’s about his character? With Robert F. Kennedy running as an Independent and pulling votes from both sides, how sure can either party be about winning the 2024 election? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Hungary finally agreed to the accession of Sweden to NATO. With characteristic defiance of allies and the U.S., Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who alone in the alliance mainstains strong relations with Vladimir Putin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, had held out for almost two years against the NATO expansion. It's not the only issue on which Hungary has been an outlier. With his opposition to open borders and a strong believer in traditional Christian values, Orbán's government has been despised by establishment elites and progressives and lauded by many on the right in Europe and the U.S. as a model of conservative populism. What's the reality - Are Orbán's "strong man" government and its admirers here a threat to democracy or its salvation? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast Balázs Orbán, political director to the Hungarian prime minister, discusses the future of the west with Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The last few months have been a tumultuous time on the campuses of American universities. Shocking instances of anti-Semitic rhetoric on top of a culture of repression of views that challenge the progressive orthodoxies - as well as evidence of plagiarism - led to the departure of the presidents of two high profile institutions. The University of Chicago has long prided itself as a defender of free speech in academia. On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, UChicago President Paul Alivisatos tells Gerry Baker what makes his school special and offers highlights of some of the groundbreaking research his institution is pursuing in science, medicine, and artificial intelligence.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After special counsel Robert Hur's report described Joe Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” many fears Democrats may have had in private were now out in the open. But with the party’s primary already almost over, is it too late to consider an alternative? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Democratic commentator and scholar Marie Harf tells Gerry Baker why Joe Biden and Donald Trump together will make age a non-issue, which Democrats could be potential successors to Joe Biden and if Kamala Harris is among them, and how both candidates can win voters over on Israel, the border, and the economy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. is enjoying one of its best stretches of economic performance in years. Growth is strong, unemployment is low, and, though it remains elevated, inflation has fallen sharply. As the rest of the world stagnates, America seems to be booming.  But how good are things really and can they last? And will the Fed’s continuing struggle to get inflation down eventually push the economy under? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, economist and former presidential adviser Glenn Hubbard tells Wall Street Journal editor at large Gerry Baker how the Fed is facing a tough challenge to get inflation under 3%, and why he thinks policy will remain tight for some time. But he also says the U.S. is undergoing structural changes such as the rise of generative artificial intelligence that could be improving productivity performance in the long run.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From deepfakes to advances in medicine and science, artificial intelligence is becoming one of the most feared and misunderstood innovations of the 21st century. So why are so many people afraid of the future of AI? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang tells Gerry Baker how he went from MIT dropout to powering the AI industry, the effect the technology can have on the military, economics and education, and how AI can be used to distort information during crucial elections across the globe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After solid victories in Iowa and New Hampshire by Donald Trump, we look set already for a rematch between the former president and Joe Biden. So where does that leave the Republican party? And what should Nikki Haley do next? Should she stay on and fight or accede to the inevitable? What have we learned from this short and apparently moribund primary season about Trump's and Biden's strengths and weaknesses for the general election? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, veteran pollster and consultant Doug Shoen tells Gerry Baker why now is the time for Haley to drop out of the race, why it might be too late for a third-party candidate to come in as an alternative, and who could be on the list to be Trump's running mate and in his potential administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices