Articles on Free Speech and the Left

Holocaust Denialism and the Limits of Free Speech with Norman Finkelstein and Daniel Ben-Ami

Holocaust Denialism and the Limits of Free Speech with Norman Finkelstein and Daniel Ben-Ami

Conference 

Holocaust Denialism and the Limits of Free Speech with Norman Finkelsein and Daniel Ben-Ami

Panelists: Daniel Ben-Ami, Norman Finkelstein

Moderator: Sasha White

Description: Norman Finkelstein and Daniel Ben-Ami exchange opinions about Holocaust denialism, hate speech laws and the boundaries of permissible speech.

Daniel Ben-Ami runs the Radicalism of Fools website, which is about rethinking antisemitism. In over 30 years as a journalist, he has written for many publications, including The Australian, The Economist, Financial Times, The Guardian and Spiked. He has also written two books and contributed to several others.

Norman Finkelstein is a long time scholar and author of numerous books, including the Holocaust Industry, which generated significant controversy when it came out in the year 2000. Norman has written and spoken extensively on the Israel Palestine conflict, and his latest book is called I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom and can be purchased here: https://www.sublationmedia.com/books/i'll-burn-that-bridge-when-i-get-to-it.

Sasha White became a free speech advocate in 2020 after being fired for her personal comments on transgender ideology. She has written for Spiked online, Tablet Magazine, and 4W. She co-founded the Plebity Free Speech Fund and hosts interviews on the Plebity Youtube channel.

Nadine Strossen on the History and Importance of Free Speech

Nadine Strossen on the History and Importance of Free Speech

Conference 

Nadine Strossen on the History and Importance of Free Speech

Panelists: Nadine Strossen

Moderator: Sasha White

Description: Nadine Strossen, former president of the ACLU, responds to a range of questions regarding the historical and enduring importance of the principle of free speech.

Nadine Strossen is past president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1991-2017. She is Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School, Senior Fellow of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) and author of the book HATE: Why We Should Resist it With Free Speech, Not Censorship. Her latest book is: Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press fall 2023).

Sasha White became a free speech advocate in 2020 after being fired for her personal comments on transgender ideology. She has written for Spiked online, Tablet Magazine, and 4W. She co-founded the Plebity Free Speech Fund and hosts interviews on the Plebity Youtube channel.

Left is Not Woke author Susan Neiman in conversation with Freddie deBoer

Left is Not Woke author Susan Neiman in conversation with Freddie deBoer

Conference 

Left is Not Woke author Susan Neiman in conversation with Freddie deBoer

Panelists: Susan Neiman
Moderator: Freddie deBoer

Description: Susan and Freddie discuss issues of racism, identity and U.S. politics and why today’s woke has veered so far from traditional principles that identify the Left.

Susan Neiman is an American philosopher and writer. She has written extensively on the Enlightenment, moral philosophy, metaphysics, and politics. She is director of the Einstein Forum in Potsdam. She is the author of nine books, translated into 15 languages, which have won prizes from, among others, PEN, the Association of American Publishers, and the American Academy of Religion. Her shorter pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and many other publications. Her latest book, the subject of this discussion, is Left is not Woke.

Freddie deBoer is an independent journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He’s the author of The Cult of Smart: How Our Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice, and his newest book is How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement. Freddie is a self-styled old-school Marxist and writes regularly on his Substack about politics, Marxism, education, police reform and other topics.

*Note: Participation by any panelist does not indicate their agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of any other conference participant. The presence of any panelist does not mean Plebity endorses or shares their opinions.

Race, Identity politics, and the Traditional Left with Norman Finkelstein and Sabrina Salvati

Race, Identity politics, and the Traditional Left with Norman Finkelstein and Sabrina Salvati

Conference 

Race, Identity politics, and the Traditional Left with Norman Finkelstein and Sabrina Salvati

Panelists: Sabrina Salvati, Norman Finkelstein

Moderator: Jyotishman Mudiar

Description: Recently on her podcast, Sabrina reacted to comments Norman made, which in her view minimized the relative differences in the lives and experiences of blacks and whites in the United States today. In that podcast, Sabrina expressed strong disagreement and mentioned an interest in talking directly with Norman about these issues. Today we bring them together as part of Plebity’s Conference.

Norman Finkelstein is a longtime author and scholar. His academic career has spanned many decades since his PhD from Princeton University in 1987. He has written numerous books, among them The Holocaust Industry, which generated significant controversy. Norman has written and spoken extensively on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Norman is a lifelong scholar and activist of the left. His latest book, I Will Burn That Bridge When I Get to It, is a critique of current day identity politics and can be purchased here:
https://www.sublationmedia.com/books/i'll-burn-that-bridge-when-i-get-to-it

Sabrina Salvati is the host of Sabby Sab's podcast and the co-host of Revolutionary Blackout Network. She is an activist and former educator. Sabrina writes on her substack https://sabbysabs.substack.com/ and provides leftist commentary and interviews on her youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/sabbysabs.

Jyotishman Mudiar is a co-founder of the YouTube podcast India & Global Left (IGL).

Media ownership, censorship and hate speech laws – with Paul Jay and Freddie deBoer

Media ownership, censorship and hate speech laws – with Paul Jay and Freddie deBoer

Conference 

Media ownership, censorship and hate speech laws - with Paul Jay and Freddie deBoer

Panelists: Paul Jay, Freddie deBoer

Moderator: Jyotishman Mudiar

Description: A discussion about independent media and ownership, censorship, self-censorship in media AND a discussion about hate speech laws.

Paul Jay is an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker. He is the founder, editor-in-chief, and host of theAnalysis.news - a site of political commentary and interviews. He is currently working on a documentary entitled series with Daniel Ellsberg titled “How to Stop a Nuclear War” which is based on Ellsberg’s book, “The Doomsday Machine.”

Freddie deBoer is an independent journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He’s the author of The Cult of Smart: How Our Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice and his newest book is How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement. Freddie is a self-styled old-school Marxist and writes regularly on his Substack about politics, Marxism, education, police reform and other topics.

Jyotishman Mudiar is a co-founder of the YouTube podcast India & Global Left (IGL).