Episode 5: Freedom

How do you future-proof freedom of speech? In this episode, Karlin Lillington helps us to navigate the changing digital environment shaping freedom of expression since the early days of the internet. We find out more about the origins, evolution, and practices of cancel culture with Eve Ng and we discuss the dangers of selective application of the principle of Free Speech with Jacob Mchangama.

Karlin Lillington is a columnist with the Irish Times focusing on technology, with a special interest in its political, social, business and cultural aspects. She has also written for The Guardian, New Scientist, Wired.com, and Salon.com, served on the board of RTÉ, and is the chairperson of New Music Dublin. She holds a PhD in Anglo-Irish Literature from Trinity College Dublin.

Eve Ng is Associate Professor at Ohio University where she teaches courses on media representations, gender and globalisation, feminist studies, and queer theory. Her research examines questions of media, culture, and power. She is the author of Cancel Culture: A Critical Analysis (2022).

Jacob Mchangama is a lawyer and CEO of Justitia, a think tank focusing on human rights, where he directs the Future of Free Speech Project. He is the author of Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media (2022) and the producer and presenter of the Clear and Present Danger: A History of Free Speech podcast.

Clips from the show 

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaLJ10v4xUA

John Perry Barlow, The Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace (1996)   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WS9DhSIWR0&t=210s

Apple Mac: 1984 (1984) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIE-5hg7FoA

Jacob Mchangama, A Global History of Free Speech (2022) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc3tP2yFJ2E

Jack Dorsey interview with WIRED's Nicholas Thompson (2018) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9z8924QJl0&t=11s

The History of the Future podcast is co-created and co-hosted by Mark Little and Ellie Payne and produced by Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand. The Schuler Democracy Forum is an initiative of the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute, Trinity College Dublin. The Forum is generously supported by Dr Beate Schuler. For more information, see:https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/Schuler-Democracy-Forum.php