The PEN Pod: On The University of Austin, Myanmar, and China
“We’re extremely happy for Danny Fenster. . . but I think the real question is, do we see any loosening vis-à-vis the free expression of Myanmar’s own reporters and… More
The PEN Pod: Navigating the Debacle in Afghanistan with Ayad Akhtar and George Packer
“Everyone who essentially used the opportunity of the last two decades to try to build a decent, better society for themselves and for Afghanistan are now under threat.” More
Letter: White House Must Establish Disinformation Defense and Free Expression Task Force
A coalition of groups led by PEN America is asking the Biden-Harris administration to establish a federal interagency Disinformation Defense and Free Expression Task Force. More
The PEN Pod: The Right to Protest and Vaccine Hesitancy with Suzanne Nossel
“The introduction of this sweeping anti-protest legislation that restricts where you can protest. . . really runs counter to freedom of assembly rights.” More
The PEN Pod: Reckoning and Reconciliation after the Trump Era with Suzanne Nossel
“What we’re confronting on, for example, issues of race is the lingering pain and trauma that persists when there isn’t a full reckoning.” More
The PEN Pod: On Leaving Trump Behind and Free Speech Among the Young with Suzanne Nossel
“Whatever [Trump’s] latest antics are, they’re outrageous. His legal claims, his protestations, his tweets—that seems to suck up all the air from a new administration.” More
The PEN Pod: On the Virtual Gala and the Beauty of Human Rights Work with Suzanne Nossel
“There’s something about individual cases of dissidents—these are human stories, faces, and individuals with families and life trajectories. When you can help them, it’s so concrete.” More
The PEN Pod: On Trump’s Continuing Fraud Claims and COVID Vaccine with Suzanne Nossel
“I think the question of the media’s role in helping usher Trump offstage is a really important one. . . it’s important that the media begin to shift focus… More
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PEN America On 
Nadine Farid Johnson testified before a congressional subcommittee... PEN America and its partners hosted a #LetFloridaRead event... CEO @SuzanneNossel and Ted Mitchell, CEO of the @ACEducation wrote an op-ed in defense of academic freedom... and more: https://pen.org/pen-america-news/
As @JoyVBehar points out, Americans' knowledge of the Holocaust is declining even as the movement to ban books—including #Holocaust-themed works such as @jodipicoult's The Storyteller—is accelerating.
Behar also gives a shoutout to 100-year-old Grace Linn! #JoysBannedBookClub https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1639315584860192772
Outstanding piece by @andreacgore, Vacek Chair in pharmacology/professor of psychology at UT-Austin, defending faculty tenure against SB 18. She argues that immunotherapy would not exist if UT-Austin had not given tenure to its discoverer. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/university-texas-andrea-gore-professor-tenure-17816783.php