Is Free Speech Under Threat? (Intelligence Squared, 2)

One big question. Two great answers. In "Is Free Speech Under Threat?" two leading thinkers tackle the issue at the very heart of the culture wars. Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, argues that while there is an important rebalancing of power taking place in society today, rightly giving minority voices the space and prominence they have long been owed, the uncompromising intolerance of a left-leaning minority crosses the threshold of an important principle on which free speech relies. In the process, they play into the hands of outright censors, further harming free speech. Charlotte Lydia Riley, editor of "The Free Speech Wars," contends that the right to free speech has always been enjoyed by the powerful and denied to the powerless. Accusations of cancel culture and defenses of free speech are attempts to fuel a culture war and inhibit an important progressive realignment in which the right to say hateful, offensive, and harmful things is finally being called out for what it is. The Think Again series presents short books that address the big, divisive questions of our times in a uniquely constructive way: two expert, contrasting, and equally persuasive views in a single volume that can be read from either end. Published in conjunction with Intelligence Squared, the world's leading curator of debate.