Historian Fara Dabhoiwala talks to American Prestige about his new book.
A protester at the No Kings rally in Venice, Florida, on October 18, 2025.(Erik McGregor / LightRocket via Getty Images)
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Danny and Derek speak with historian Fara Dabhoiwala, author of What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea, about the complex history of one of liberalism’s proudest ideals, and how it largely emerged from hypocrisy and self-interest. They trace its 18th-century birth in the polemics of corrupt British journalists, its exclusion of women and colonized peoples, the U.S. founders’ rejection of France’s more balanced model, and the later reappropriation of the slogan by abolitionists and reformers. The group also traces free speech’s evolution through the Cold War and into the age of Big Tech, revealing how a principle meant to liberate became a tool of power and a license for unaccountable media.
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Danny and Derek speak with historian Fara Dabhoiwala, author of What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea, about the complex history of one of liberalism’s proudest ideals, and how it largely emerged from hypocrisy and self-interest. They trace its 18th-century birth in the polemics of corrupt British journalists, its exclusion of women and colonized peoples, the US founders’ rejection of France’s more balanced model, and the later reappropriation of the slogan by abolitionists and reformers. The group also traces free speech’s evolution through the Cold War and into the age of Big Tech, revealing how a principle meant to liberate became a tool of power and a license for unaccountable media.
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Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
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Despite sitting on a large surplus of Labubus, Danny and Derek work hard to bring you the news. This week: in Russia-Ukraine, new US diplomacy goes nowhere (1:08), Ukraine is now attacking Russian commercial ships (5:55), and the EU moves to phase out Russian natural gas (8:35); in the DRC-Rwanda conflict, Trump hosts a peace deal signing as fighting resumes with M23 in the eastern DRC (11:17); new fighting erupts in southern Yemen (14:19); Lebanon and Israel hold ceasefire talks as the IDF resumes strikes (17:08); in Gaza, new clashes leave a gang leader dead (19:45), the ceasefire implementation sees minimal progress (23:48), and Israel reopens the the Rafah checkpoint (26:24); Sudan’s RSF claims a new advance in the Kordofan region (28:40); a bizarre coup unfolds in Guinea-Bissau (30:40); Trump moves closer to military action against Venezuela (36:55); Honduras heads toward a contentious election (40:17); the US pauses entry from 19 countries after the DC National Guard shooting (43:46); and a double-tap strike on a boat in the Caribbean raises new legal questions (45:43).
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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.
Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.