Greenwald’s Endless Enemies List: Media Policy & Critique
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EP15: Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children
In recent years, the left seems to have ceded the issue of free speech — or, rather, flipped on it. For years, it defended against censorship, stood up to global imperialism, decried efforts to silence resisters and renegades, and mocked the right for culture war stodginess and pearl-clutching that whined ‘won’t somebody please think of the children?!’ But much of the left has retreated on speech. That turn may have implications for those who work to hold power to account in a world full of fallible human beings who often get stuff wrong, and powerful actors and institutions who use censorship as a cudgel.Listen now -
EP14: How to Save the News
Journalism is in crisis. Of course, there’s no shortage of rescue ideas. Sometimes it’s billionaires buying newspapers as vanity projects. Other times it’s techno-utopianism. Or plucky startups pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Maybe blockchain will save us? Victor Pickard says the problems are deeper than we think, and they require a more radical solution. He offers a structural critique of the commercial news industry and offers us a utopian vision for a publicly-funded, democratically-controlled news media.Listen now