Free To Speak

More than any other one thing, COVID-19 has defined our past 3 years. But are we starting to thinking about it, or talk about it in fresh ways?  Our lives have been impacted in unprecedented ways by COVID-19; but this virus has also been weaponised by our would-be-censors to corral us into one position on this issue, and a host of others.  In this episode, Jonathan Ayling sits down with the direct...

Speaking to the recently published  Addressing the Challenges to Social Cohesion , Sir Peter Gluckman (former Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister and Director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures) sits down with Jonathan Ayling to discuss what's happening to fraying public discourse, and what we can do to address it.   Support the show https://www.fsu.nz/ https://x.com/NZFreeSpe...

Free speech across our universities is under fire- but many academics are also working to address this. After 3 years, a working group established at the University of Auckland to consider how to preserve academic freedom and free speech has reported back, making a bold stand in a hostile environment. Free Speech Union member and UoA Professor, Kendall Clements, sits down with Jonathan to give an...

"Most important thinking I've written", this is how Prof. Grimes describes his recent research on who benefits from free speech. Spoiler alert- it's not who you might think.  We're often told that the marginalised, oppressed and poor need protection from free speech, probably provided by the State, to ensure that free speech doesn't oppress them. But in reality, free...

Academic freedom and free speech can appear to be nebulous subjects at times, which wonky intellectuals pontificate on. Yet the real world implications for a university that fails to preserve academic freedom are far-reaching. In this episode, Jonathan Ayling sits down with Dr. James Kierstead and Dr. Michael Johnston to discuss the opposition we’ve faced to our academic freedom research, why cert...

With the Free Speech Unions Academic Survey for 2023 now released and raising concerns Jonathan Ayling sat down with Prof Elizabeth Rata (a co-author of the "Listener 7" letter) and Dr. David Bromell (formerly of Canterbury University) to discuss the state of academic freedom in today's New Zealand. The trio explores the increasingly doctrinaire approach turning up in fields where t...

Jonatha sits does with Paul Brennan on Reality Check Radio to discuss the FSU announcement that we are supporting a tender-bid for a DPMC contract to research disinformation.   Support the show https://www.fsu.nz/ https://x.com/NZFreeSpeech https://www.instagram.com/freespeechnz/ https://www.tiktok.com/@freespeechunionnz

Free Speech Union Chief Executive Jonathan Ayling sat down with Prof. Grant Schofield who recently authored a  'A falling out of love letter to the university'- which reflects on his over 30 years in academia. Prof. Schofield questions whether the contemporary New Zealand university can any longer claim to be the 'conscious and critic of society' and in an in-depth discussion,...

Join Free Speech Union Chief Executive Jonathan Ayling, FSU council member Stephen Franks and Left-wing commentator Josie Pagani and Connor Molloy for a debrief on former ACLU president Nadine Strossen's recent tour of Aotearoa. The team discuss some of the high-profile members Strossen attended, why rationalism wins the argument, and what lessons we should take from her into our ongoing free...

"For me this is the recognition of the linking of free speech with the right for civil disobedience because the public square is never cool and rational and only ‘discursive’ – except when constrained and imposed to be so by the privileging and power of ‘the rational’." This provocative paragraph was written by Canterbury-based sociologist and former Free Speech Union podcast guest Mike...

Free Speech Union council member Dane Giraud speaks with journalist and now filmmaker Samantha Blanchard about her new documentary "Silenced" which was released online over Easter weekend. "Silenced" looks at censorship during the pandemic and features the story of Peter Williams who walked away from a job at Magic Talk after being given directives not to challenge the governme...

Gender-critical speaker Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull's 'Let Woman Speak' tour of New Zealand ended before it began: due to violence. A feral mob assaulted her and women were viciously assaulted including a 72-year-old woman who was left with a fractured skull. This followed failed attempts by fringe LGBTQI+ voices to deny KJK entry to New Zealand. Will Albert Park be the new normal? Fre...

Free Speech Union council member Dane Giraud speaks to Corina Shields (@AuntyHeihei on Twitter), a wahine Maori who took her opinions and concerns with government policy to TikTok after being denied the ear of MPs.  Dane and Corina discuss distrust and why governments need to work much harder to win back the poor - the failure of the media to cover lower-socio-economic issues, and why the Maori Pa...

Free Speech Union council members Ani O'Brien and Dane Giraud discuss the union's defending of Drag Queen story time along with Tusiata Avia's controversial poem. Enjoy!  https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131393894/the-free-speech-door-swings-both-ways Support the show https://www.fsu.nz/ https://x.com/NZFreeSpeech https://www.instagram.com/freespeechnz/ https://www.tiktok.com/@freesp...

Josephine Varghese is a political analyst and researcher with the Democracy Project at Victoria University of Wellington. In today's episode, Josephine and Free Speech Union council member Dane Giraud discuss Left-wing perspectives on free speech, whether a Leftist should view free speech as a central right, and anti-colonisation thought both as expressed in the controversial poem by Tuisata...

Free Speech Union spokesperson Dane Giraud speaks to James Kierstead, a Senior Lecturer in Classics at Victoria University of Wellington and Research Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. James (who should be no stranger to Free Speech Union supporters) gives his summary of the failed hate speech laws before the boys discuss the need for generosity towards your ideological opponents, the woke re-e...

In a fascinating discussion that covers an amazing amount of ground, Free Speech Union spokesperson Dane Giraud speaks to Sociologist Mike Grimshaw of the University of Canterbury. Mike discusses the open society that relies on free speech to function versus the retreat into identity groups censorship encourages. The boys talk through tagging and street art as a means of expression for the undercl...

Free Speech Union council member Dane Giraud speaks with Ashley Church  - a prominent media commentator on politics and property - about the religious impulse driving the "woke doctrine" and the challenges it poses for traditional text-based Christians like Ashley.  The boys also touch on the pros and cons of progressive congregations in a wide-ranging discussion on today's competin...

Climate change dominates tense debate around the world. Some aren't satisfied with just words however and are taking dramatic protest actions like blocking motorways and gluing their hands to roads to demand the attention they believe this crisis demands. In this podcast, Jonathan Ayling sits with Simeon Brown MP to discuss his proposed Bill to increase the penalty for those who protest by di...

In today's special episode, Free Speech Union board members Dane Giraud and Ani O'Brien discuss the emerging narrative that now-former Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern resigned due to online abuse.  Were the levels of abuse she faced unprecedented and have they been contributive to increased polarisation? Or is this a cynical attempt to limit criticism through censorship? fsu.nz/join  Suppor...

We kick off the year with a very special episode: New Zealand Free Speech Union Chief Executive Jonathan Ayling in discussion with his UK and South African counterparts Toby Young and Sara Gon respectively.  This inaugural meeting offers a chance to reflect on the global fight for free speech and to learn about the unique cultural challenges each union faces in 2023 and beyond.  You can look forwa...

Tune in for this special end-of-year discussion with guests Karl du Fresne, Prof Natasha Hamilton-Hart, and Alex Penk for a 'stock take' of the work the Free Speech Union has done in 2022. Will our guests give us a pass mark? Enjoy! fsu.nz  Support the show https://www.fsu.nz/ https://x.com/NZFreeSpeech https://www.instagram.com/freespeechnz/ https://www.tiktok.com/@freespeechunionnz

The Free Speech Union's Chief Executive Jonathan Ayling sat down with Paul Goldsmith MP, National's Justice Spokesperson, Prof. Paul Moon, a prominent historian from AUT, Dr. Michael Johnson from the New Zealand Initiative, and Prof. Ananish Chaudhuri, an economist from Auckland University at the recent Free Speech Union AGM to discuss the importance of fostering a culture of free speech...

The Free Speech Union celebrated a victory with Justice Minister Kiri Allen announcing the government would be dropping proposed hate speech laws. But the single inclusion of religion means we still have a fight on our hands. Could it really soon become harder to criticise religion? In a thoughtful and far-ranging discussion, Dr. Michael Johnson (NZ Initiative) and Marcus Roberts (Maxim Institute)...

Free Speech Chief Executive Jonathan Ayling sat down with respected journalists Janet Wilson and Yvonne van Dongen to discuss the health of the New Zealand media in regard to fostering free and open debate. Are we seeing a new bias? Is ideology polluting journalism and undermining public trust? What role or responsibility does a journalist have in combatting mis or disinformation? And are the majo...