I doubt that anyone today is more committed to preserving our right to speak freely than Greg Lukianoff. Greg would probably disagree, because he’s inherently modest and quick to credit others for his impact in this area, but his work to confront the rise of cancel culture in our time is unparalleled. His organization, FIRE, is short for Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. It was formed as an alternative (of sorts) to the ACLU. (Speaking only for myself, I support what the ACLU has stood for historically, but feel they’ve lost their way in recent decades. I’m also uncomfortable with many of the eighteen other programs and causes they currently espouse, that have nothing to do with free speech. In contrast, FIRE’s only objective is the vigorous defense of individual expression.)
Greg has been on the podcast several times, and the response is always massive. Consequently, we’ve given his most recent appearances “The Treatment.” The Treatment refers to the process whereby my modest team at mikeroweWORKS creates a short video that encompasses the genius of my most impressive podcast guests, so that I can share it here, and you can share it far and wide. I hope you will, because, unfortunately, the attempts to silence dissenting views – especially on college campuses – are increasing, and FIRE is perfectly positioned to push back against what can only be called a rising wave of hypocrisy and intolerance. On this short video, Greg and I discuss the idea that “hate speech”, whatever that is, has become the greatest gift to censorship that censors have ever seen. I hope you like it. If you do, (and even if you don’t) please share it. And if you believe that FIRE is making a difference, (spoiler alert, they are!) you can learn more here.
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