Schweizer Monat: Europe Is Making Censorship Easier for Autocrats
Jacob Mchangama talks about why freedom of speech is in crisis – and how countries like Switzerland could show a way out of it.
The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie: The Global War on Free Speech
Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff are co-authors of The Future of Free Speech, a new book examining what they describe as a global “free speech recession.” In this episode, Mchangama and Kosseff talk with Nick Gillespie about why democracies are increasingly embracing speech restrictions once associated with authoritarian regimes, how fears about misinformation and child […]
Skeptic: The New War on Free Speech: Why Power Turns Everyone Into A Censor
About this episode: Free speech was supposed to be the great settled achievement of liberal democracy. Then came social media, cancel culture, campus speech battles, hate-speech laws, authoritarian tech control, and a new era of governments pressuring platforms from every direction. Michael Shermer speaks with free speech scholar Jacob Mchangama about why speech protections are […]
C-SPAN: Authors Discuss Free Speech and Censorship
Jacob Mchangama (“The Future of Free Speech”) and Nadine Strossen (“The War on Words”) argued for the importance of free speech. This event was part of the 2026 Annapolis Book Festival held at the Key School.
The Good Fight: Jacob Mchangama on the Global Free Speech Recession
Jacob Mchangama on the Global Free Speech Recession by Yascha Mounk Yascha Mounk and Jacob Mchangama discuss how democracies and dictatorships alike have turned against online speech freedom. Read on Substack Jacob Mchangama is the Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech and a research professor at Vanderbilt University, as well as a Senior […]
Keen on America: Can I Say It?
“Once you start clamping down on speech, it will have serious collateral damage. And we’re starting to see that now.” — Jacob Mchangama The Jyllands-Posten editor who published those Mohammed cartoons in 2005 spent a decade under round-the-clock protection from Danish intelligence services. He’d commissioned artists to say it with their pens, but the mob […]
Life Elsewhere: Is Free Speech Under Siege? Secrets Of A Classic Pastime
The Future of Free Speech confronts a stark truth: the right to speak freely is under siege. Once celebrated as a cornerstone of democratic societies, free expression is now met with growing suspicion and retaliation across the globe. Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff present a panoramic view of how we arrived at this pivotal moment. […]
Law and Disorder Radio: The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy’s Most Essential Freedom
The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy’s Most Essential Freedom Today, anyone who cares about freedom of expression needs to face a stark truth: the right to speak freely is under siege. Once celebrated as a cornerstone of democratic societies, free expression is now met with growing suspicion and retaliation across […]
So To Speak: Anonymity from The Founding to The Digital Age
In the years leading up to the American Revolution, newspapers and pamphlets overflowed with essays signed “Publius,” “Brutus,” and “A Farmer.” Those arguments helped shape a nation, but the authors’ real names were nowhere to be found. Americans have long relied on anonymous speech to challenge the powerful, protect dissenters, and keep the focus on […]
Atlas Network Podcast: Reversing The Global Free Speech Recession
In this episode of Atlas Network with Michael Carnuccio, Jacob Mchangama, founder of The Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University, discusses the current global recession of protections for free speech. Despite the United States’ historic role as a bastion of free speech, increasing censorship and political polarization now threaten its robustness. Mchangama highlights how […]