Suzanne Nossel
Suzanne Nossel currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of PEN America, the leading human rights and free expression organization, and she is author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All. Since joining in 2013, she has doubled the organization’s staff, budget, and membership, spearheaded the unification with PEN Center USA in Los Angeles and the establishment of a Washington, D.C. office, and overseen groundbreaking work on free expression in Hong Kong and China, Myanmar, Eurasia, and the United States. She is a leading voice on free expression issues in the United States and globally, writing and being interviewed frequently for national and international media outlets. Her prior career spanned government service and leadership roles in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. She has served as the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. During the first term of the Obama Administration, Nossel served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, where she led U.S. engagement in the United Nations and multilateral institutions, on human rights and humanitarian issues. During the Clinton Administration, Nossel was Deputy to the U.S. Ambassador for UN Management and Reform at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she was the lead negotiator in settling U.S. arrears to the world body. During her corporate career, Nossel served as Vice President of U.S. Business Development for Bertelsmann and as Vice President for Strategy and Operations for the Wall Street Journal. Nossel coined the term “Smart Power,” which was the title of a 2004 article she published in Foreign Affairs Magazine and later became the theme of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tenure in office. Nossel is a featured columnist for Foreign Policy magazine and has published op-eds in The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and dozens of other outlets, as well as scholarly articles in Foreign Affairs, Dissent, Democracy, and other journals. Nossel served on the Board of Directors of the Tides Foundation until 2021. She is a former senior fellow at the Century Foundation, the Center for American Progress, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Nossel is a magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
In 2021, Nossel was selected as a member of the Oversight Board, an independent body using human rights principles to adjudicate decisions on Facebook and Instagram. Read more about her appointment here.
Dare to Speak
A vital, necessary playbook for navigating and defending free speech today by the CEO of PEN America, Dare To Speak provides a pathway for promoting free expression while also cultivating a more inclusive public culture.
ON SALE: JULY 28, 2020
Recent Publications
“This Is How to Keep Academic Freedom Alive in America”
Newsweek, March 23, 2023
“The drag show bans sweeping the US are a chilling attack on free speech”
The Guardian, March 10, 2023
“There’s No Quick Fix for Social Media”
The Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2023
“Ukrainians Are Defending Their History, Thought, Art, and Culture, Too”
TIME, January 6, 2023
“Parents Should Have a Voice in Their Kids’ Education But We’ve Gone Too Far”
Time, September 20, 2022
“Some Assembly Required: Why the UN’s Broadest Forum Matters More Than Ever”
Foreign Affairs, September 19, 2022
“Salman Rushdie’s entire life has been an act of defiance”
The Guardian, August 13, 2022
“The Old Human Rights Playbook Won’t Work Anymore”
Foreign Policy, August 2, 2022
“Academic Freedom’s Proxy Wars”
Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27, 2022
“How to Help Ukraine Fight Cultural Erasure”
Foreign Policy, May 16, 2022
“Book Bans Threaten Students Nationwide. Here’s How Philanthropy Can Fight Back.”
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, March 20, 2022
“Boycotting Russian Culture Doesn’t Help Ukraine”
The Wall Street Journal, March 10, 2022
“When Diplomacy Fails”
Foreign Policy, February 28, 2022
“Op-Ed: The recent onslaught of book bans is a strategic part of wider attacks on our democracy”
Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2022
“Peng Shuai’s new statements fit a pattern in China. The world mustn’t fall for it.”
The Washington Post, December 22, 2021
“How to Save People From Drowning in a Sea of Misinformation”
Slate, December 15, 2021
“Chinese Censorship Is Going Global”
Foreign Policy, October 26, 2021
“A Nobel for Journalists Is a Direct Challenge to Authoritarians”
Foreign Policy, October 13, 2021
“Biden Needs to Bolster the Power of Exiles”
Foreign Policy, September 13, 2021
“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Censorship”
The New York Times, July 16, 2021
“Authoritarianism Doesn’t Stop at the Water’s Edge”
Foreign Policy, May 27, 2021
“Killing Hong Kong’s Free Press Will Harm Its Economy”
Foreign Policy, May 3, 2021
“Romanticizing Dissidents Plays Into the Hands of Repressive Governments”
Foreign Policy, April 1, 2021
“Banning Trump from Facebook may feel good. Here’s why it might be wrong”
Los Angeles Times, January 27, 2021
“Don’t Let Trump’s Second Trial Change the First Amendment”
The New York Times, January 14, 2021
“Biden Must Restore America’s Reputation as a Beacon of Press Freedom”
Foreign Policy, November 12, 2020
“How to Stop the Export of Authoritarianism”
Foreign Policy, October 5, 2020
“What Is the State of Free Speech Today? ‘It’s Under Profound Threat,’ Says the Head of PEN America”
Time, September 2, 2020
“‘Cancel culture’ censorship can be most dangerous for those who promote social justice”
NBC News THINK, August 4, 2020
“Suzanne Nossel Wants You to ‘Dare to Speak’”
Shondaland, August 3, 2020
“For Speech We Abhor: Talking to Suzanne Nossel”
Los Angeles Review of Books, July 31, 2020
“The American Approach to Free Speech is Flawed — but It’s the Best Option We Have”
Slate, July 28, 2020
“Has Free Speech Become an Even More Partisan Issue Under the Trump Administration?”
LitHub, July 15, 2020
“Five myths about free speech”
The Washington Post, July 2, 2020
“Those who exercise free speech should also defend it — even when it’s offensive”
Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2020
“We need smart solutions to mitigate the coronavirus’s impact. Here are 37.”
The Washington Post, May 14, 2020
“Don’t Let Leaders Use the Coronavirus as an Excuse to Violate Civil Liberties”
Foreign Policy, April 13, 2020
“As We Confront a Pandemic, U.S. State and Federal Government Must Support Local News”
Slate, March 27, 2020
“China Is Fighting the Coronavirus Propaganda War to Win”
Foreign Policy, March 20, 2020
“Fool Us Once, Shame on You. Fool Us in 2020, Shame on Us.”
The New York Times, December 17, 2019
“Kamala Harris wants to boot Trump from Twitter. It wouldn’t work.”
The Washington Post, October 4, 2019
“Joaquin Castro’s Tweet Was Not Doxxing”
The New York Times, August 9, 2019
“The Alarming Assault on the Free Press”
CNN, May 2, 2019
“Why Trump’s Campus Free Speech Order is a Big Risk”
CNN, March 18, 2019
“Bernie Sanders Still Doesn’t Pass the Commander-in-Chief Test”
Foreign Policy, March 1, 2019
“Trump and May Are Discrediting Democracy”
Foreign Policy, January 24, 2019
“Enforced Silence Is Just As Dangerous As Any Offensive Rhetoric”
The Washington Post, November 16, 2018
“Trump’s Divisive Speech Puts the First Amendment at Risk”
Foreign Policy, October 31, 2018
“Trump’s Attacks on the Press Are Illegal. We’re Suing.”
Politico, October 16, 2018
“Journalists are Routinely Murdered Around the World. They Deserve Outrage Just Like Jamal Khashoggi”
Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2018
“Google Is Handing the Future of the Internet to China”
Foreign Policy, September 10, 2018
“The Job of Human Rights Chief Isn’t What You Think”
Foreign Policy, August 9, 2018
“What the Trump Administration Gets Very Wrong About Free Speech”
CNN, August 7, 2018
“Once Upon a Time, Helsinki Meant Human Rights”
Foreign Policy, July 11, 2018
“Sometimes More Speech Isn’t the Solution to Offensive Speech”
The Washington Post, May 29, 2018
“You Can Only Protect Campus Speech if You Acknowledge Racism”
The Washington Post, May 25, 2018
“Rex Tillerson Proved CEOs Are DOA in Washington”
Foreign Policy. March 13, 2018
“We Cannot Continue to Treat All Offensive Speech Acts – Intentional or Not – As Equally Blameworthy”
Pioneer Press, March 11, 2018
“Serving Under Trump Is Not a Crime”
Foreign Policy, February 7, 2018
“Trump’s Every Tweet Shouldn’t Dominate the News Cycle, but His Blather Demands Confrontation”
Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2018
“Not all Campus Speakers are Created Equal (Especially When They’re From the German Far Right)”
The Washington Post, October 31, 2017
“NFL Owners Need to Play Defense to Protect Free Speech”
The Washington Post, October 15, 2017
“The Pro-Free Speech Way to Fight Fake News”
Foreign Policy, October 12, 2017
“The Jemele Hill Controversy Portends a World Stripped of Our Culture of Free Expression”
Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2017
“The Problem with Making Hate Speech Illegal”
Foreign Policy, August 14, 2017
“How We Communicate is Changing. So Should the Way We Think About Free Speech.”
The Washington Post, August 11, 2017
“The Gross Misconduct of Radwan Ziadeh’s Asylum Denial”
Foreign Policy. July 25, 2017
“No, Hateful Speech is Not the Same Thing as Violence.”
The Washington Post, June 22, 2017
“It’s OK that Trump Doesn’t Care About Human Rights”
Foreign Policy, June 19, 2017
“Can Freedom of the Press Survive Trump’s Onslaught?”
Foreign Policy, May 3, 2017
“Beware the Ides of Leaving the Human Rights Council”
Foreign Policy, March 14, 2017
“‘America First’ Puts Freedom and Leadership Last”
CNN, March 5, 2017
“What’s at Stake When Trump Discredits the Press”
Just Security, March 1, 2017
“Milo Yiannopoulos, Hate Speech, and Campus Protest: A Primer”
The Washington Post, February 6, 2017
“Donald Trump Acts Like an Authoritarian Thug Toward the Press”
The Guardian, January 12, 2017
“To Fight ‘Hate Speech,’ Stop Talking About It”
The Washington Post, June 3, 2016
“Pushing Back Against the Tyrants”
Democracy, Summer 2016
“What U.S. Publishers Owe China”
The Washington Post, May 26, 2016
“Europe’s Free-Speech Apocalypse Is Already Here”
Foreign Policy, March 17, 2016
“Who is Entitled to Be Heard?”
The New York Times, November 12, 2015
“Who Will Speak for China’s Dissidents”
Los Angeles Times, September 20, 2015
“The Fight Over Jemele Hills Tweets Won’t Go Away, It’s About Truth and Race in The Trump Era”
The Washington Post, September 19, 2015
“Closing a Vital Window Into China”
Foreign Policy, February 4, 2015
speaking engagements
Threats to Free Expression, with Suzanne Nossel | The President’s Inbox – Council on Foreign Relations
September 27, 2022
#VelshiBannedBookClub and PEN America go deep on Banned Books Week | MSNBC
September 24, 2022
Delete, Ban, Cancel: Public Understanding of Free Speech and Censorship | West Virginia University
September 20, 2022
Reinvigorating and renewing democracy | The Second Century London Conference – Chatham House
June 23, 2022
Book Banning and the First Amendment | Freedom Forum
June 21, 2022
Dare to Speak, Dare to Listen: Protecting Free Speech on the Frontlines | Iowa State University
April 13, 2022
COVID Update; City Council District 13; Debating Cancel Culture; Work Self vs. Home Self | The Brian Lehrer Show
March 30, 2022
Does The United States Have a Free Speech Problem? | MSNBC
March 21, 2022
Is China censoring Hollywood? | Tortoise
March 15, 2022
Banning Books | PBS NewsHour
March 10, 2022
NYC Landmarks50+ Alliance Winter Convening | New-York Historical Society
February 17, 2022
Affirmative Action; Police Surveillance; Book Bans and ‘Divisive Concepts’; EV Experience | The Brian Lehrer Show
February 9, 2022
LPTV: We’re Speaking | The Lincoln Project
February 9, 2022
What’s next? US – Canada relationship to confront digital authoritarianism | MIGS Institute
February 8, 2022
‘Maus’ Among Latest Titles Banned in Some American School Districts | KQED Forum
February 2, 2022
The Year in Misinformation | Start Here by ABC News
December 29, 2021
PEN America Town Hall Meeting: Writers on Self-Censorship | PEN America
December 8, 2021
Whine Line, Suzanne Nossel | The Charlie Brennan Show with Amy Marxkors
November 1, 2021
Facebook Oversight Board member calls for more transparency | CNN’s Reliable Sources
October 24, 2021
You Can’t Say Anything Anymore | The Progress Network
October 20, 2021
Equity, Inclusion, and Uncompromised Free Speech | Wondros Podcast
October 13, 2021
Dismantling Antisemitism: Dare to Speak with author Suzanne Nossel | Jewish Community Center of Greater Dayton
September 19, 2021
Democracy, open societies and human rights: America’s global role since 9/11 | Chatham House
September 15, 2021
To Safeguard Free Speech, We Must Protect Everyone’s Right To Be Heard — Even Those With Views Offensive To Others | Texas Public Radio
August 8, 2021
Dare to Speak Freely | The Weeds
August 6, 2021
Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All | Acton Line
July 7, 2021
Freedom of Speech in France and America | Live at the National Constitution Center Podcast
June 1, 2021
Disinformation vs. Democracy: Soros and the Fight for Open Societies | PEN America and the Brennan Center for Justice
March 22, 2021
Dissent and Disagreement | Johns Hopkins University SNF Agora Institute
March 17, 2021
Dare to Speak: Free Speech Issues in Our Troubled Times | NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute
March 8, 2021
“Speech, the Internet, and Democracy” featuring Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America | Bowdoin College
March 1, 2021
Suzanne Nossel – Directrice générale de PEN America | Cultural Services, French Embassy in the United States
February 28, 2021
Democracy in America: A New Era of Social Media Regulation? | Chatham House
February 25, 2021
Evening with an Author: Suzanne Nossel in conversation with Michelle Kuo | American Library in Paris
February 2, 2021
Reckoning and Reconciliation in Biden’s America | PEN America
January 26, 2021
CQ Future: Free speech | CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
December 11, 2020
Suzanne Nossel, Dare to Speak | Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books with Zibby Owens
December 10, 2020
Recovering from the ‘fake news’ era, at home and abroad | CNN Reliable Sources
November 29, 2020
Dare to Speak. Discourse amid difference | KUOW/NPR
November 6, 2020
CERL Virtual Book Talk – Dare to Speak | University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
November 19, 2020
Amram Scholar Series Presents: Suzanne Nossel | Washington Hebrew Congregation
November 12, 2020
Suzanne Nossel with Mark Sableman and Pacia Elaine Anderson | Left Bank Books Presents
November 11, 2020
The Quarantine Tapes: Suzanne Nossel | The Quarantine Tapes Podcast
November 3, 2020
The First Amendment Salon “Defending Free Speech for All” | Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
October 29, 2020
2020 Annual Meeting | The City Club of Cleveland
October 23, 2020
Gamechanger Ideas Festival: The First Amendment, Cancel Culture, and the Election | Humanities North Dakota
October 15, 2020
Saving Our Democracy Town Hall | The AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute
October 13, 2020
Promoting Free Speech in a More Inclusive Public Culture | The Business of Giving
October 7, 2020
Free to State: The New Free Speech | Washington Post Live
October 7, 2020
Voting Matters: Disinformation | Washington Post Live
October 6, 2020
Beyond Representational Politics in Publishing | Brooklyn Book Festival
October 4, 2020
Dare to Speak Book Talk | National Center for Civil and Human Rights
September 30, 2020
PEN America’s Suzanne Nossel: Defending Free Speech | Commonwealth Club
September 21, 2020
Press Freedom During Turbulent Times | National Constitution Center
September 2, 2020
Suzanne Nossel with Dinaw Mengestu: Defending Free Speech for All | Town Hall Seattle
September 1, 2020
Free Speech, “Call-Out Culture,” and Social Justice | Princeton Policy Podcasts
August 23, 2020
Why we should all agree to disagree | Good Morning America
August 20, 2020
Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All | The German Marshall Fund of the United States
August 20, 2020
Suzanne Nossel presents Dare to Speak in conversation with Jacob Weisberg | Powell’s Books
August 17, 2020
Magic City Books Virtual Event | Magic City Books
August 10, 2020
Defending Your Right to Speak | Unprecedented with Richard Hine
August 6, 2020
Dare to Speak: Suzanne Nossel with Ayad Akhtar | Live from NYPL
August 6, 2020
New book examines free speech in America | CBS News
August 7, 2020
Protecting Free Speech Amid Global Reckoning on Race | The Foreign Correspondent Club Hong Kong
August 4, 2020
Suzanne Nossel | WCIN’s The Public Eye
August 2, 2020
Special Edition, Suzanne Nossel | Clear and Present Danger: A History of Free Speech
July 31, 2020
Zoom Speaker Series: Suzanne Nossel | Charleston Library Society
July 30, 2020
Suzanne Nossel: What’s the Case Against Free Speech? | Keen On
July 30, 2020
Suzanne Nossel, Andrew Marantz, and Sewell Chan in Conversation | Open Book on Location, Altadena Library
July 30, 2020
Freedom of Speech | Deep Background with Noah Feldman
July 29, 2020
Suzanne Nossel, in conversation with Jennifer Egan | Live Talks Los Angeles
July 29, 2020
Dare to Speak with Wajahat Ali | Politics and Prose Live!
July 28, 2020
Hate and the Vilification of the Media | Bard Center for the Study of Hate
July 23, 2020
‘Dare to Speak’ with PEN America’s Suzanne Nossel | So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
July 21, 2020
Free Expression on College Campuses with Dr. Wayne Frederick and Suzanne Nossel | Knight Foundation
July 2, 2020
Redefining Free Speech for the Digital Age | American University
February 23, 2020
The Loss of Local News with Suzanne Nossel | Bob Herbert’s Op-Ed TV
December 3, 2019
A Very American Diplomat: A New Biography of Richard Holbrooke Ι Asia Society
May 7, 2019
Panel on Global Hate Speech | University Indiana Bloomington
March 21, 2019
Who Benefits From Free Speech? | The Atlantic Free Speech (Un)Limited Event
Free Speech and the Free Press | The Atlantic Free Speech (Un)Limited Event
December 5, 2018
Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education: Race, Racial Justice, Civil Discourse, and Free Speech | University of Maryland
October 17, 2018
The Future of Information and the Impact on Democracy | 22nd Forum 2000 Conference
October 8, 2018
The Future of Free Speech | Chatauqua Institution
July 24, 2018
Trigger Warning: Safe Spaces are Dangerous | Intelligence Squared
June 23, 2018
Free to State: The First Amendment and the Law | Washington Post Live
June 19, 2018
TEDxScarsdale
March 10, 2018
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Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
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My latest op-ed on school librarians. @becalzada @technolibrary @MaryWoodard @KPekoll @OIF #Freadom @ashleyhopeperez @halseanderson https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/school-library-book-banning-bill-gop-abbott-lege-17857122.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vb3Bpbmlvbi9vdXRsb29rL2FydGljbGUvc2Nob29sLWxpYnJhcnktYm9vay1iYW5uaW5nLWJpbGwtZ29wLWFiYm90dC1sZWdlLTE3ODU3MTIyLnBocA==&time=MTY3OTcwNDU3Nzg4MQ==&rid=NDBiMmRkY2UtYTdjZC00NWU2LWE0NmQtMDZmMTlkNWE2OGIw&sharecount=MQ==
#ChildrensBooks
“#FirstAmendment rights do not stop at the schoolhouse door,” PEN America’s Nadine Farid Johnson reminds
@JudiciaryGOP, highlighting the need to prepare students for "life in a participatory democracy, one that requires us to debate, to understand & to discuss." #StudentsRights