The PEN Pod: A Reflection on Free Speech in 2021 with Suzanne Nossel
“Perhaps never before in our public discourse. . . has there been a moment where issues of free expression. . . have been more salient to our politics.” More
The PEN Pod: On Disinformation Consumers, Trump Texts, and Free Speech Battles Ahead
“It’s really striking to see the degree to which writing is at the heart of what we are debating about. . . . we are seeing just… More
The PEN Pod: On Self-Censorship, Book Bans, and Biden’s Virtual Democracy Summit
“Students are really crucial allies. They have, I think, an instinctive sense of not wanting to be told what they can and can’t read.” More
The PEN Pod: On Peng Shuai, Critical Race Theory Taboos, and Simpsons Censorship
“It’s just this very palpable way in which the pressure is being felt at every level. . . from top administrators to individual professors who are being put under… More
The PEN Pod: On Educational Gag Orders and the January 6 Insurrection Subpoena
“We should be encouraging young people to look at our history through a variety of lenses—through the lens of race, through the lens of socioeconomics, gender.” More
The PEN Pod: On NSO Group Accountability, Payroll Credit for Compensation of Local News Journalists, and Eliminating Facial Recognition Technology from Facebook
“People are unmoored in terms of where to get credible information, and local news really used to fill that void and be a kind of informational anchor for people.” More
The PEN Pod: On Dave Chappelle, Protecting Journalists, and More Facebook Revelations
“My goal was to document voices that were not heard the same way that others were, and I wanted to make sure to hand a mic to my local… More
The PEN Pod: On Our Gala, Free Speech in Higher Ed, and Facebook Algorithms with Suzanne Nossel
“Nurturing the community in that way, creating these opportunities to get together, we see as part of our role at PEN America, and we were glad to be able… More
The PEN Pod: On Writer-to-Writer Solidarity and the Rise of Book Bans with Suzanne Nossel
“For us, at PEN, doing a lot of work on press freedom issues. . . it’s a reminder of what we’re fighting for.” More
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⚡️This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to jailed Belarus human rights activist, member of PEN Belarus Ales Bialiatski https://twitter.com/NobelPrize/status/1578309539870318603
Human rights lawyer & #FreedomToWrite honoree Nasrin Sotoudeh’s daughter was just banned from leaving #Iran. Writing on Facebook, Sotoudeh reflects on the murders of #MahsaAmini & #NikaShakrami, widespread violence against protestors, and speaking against injustice at every step.
Watch PEN America Washington director Nadine Farid Johnson talk about book bans tonight at 8 PM ET on @wbgutv #BannedBooks #BannedInTheUSA https://youtu.be/ovOHi1yO84g