The Dissidents

In this week's episode Elizabeth and Matt start by discussing an Op-Ed about the dangers of demonizing Donald Trump. The author (David Scharfenberg) reminds us that when we label a person or group as evil we tend to look away.  We may focus on fighting against an enemy, dehumanize, and become more afraid than proactive.  We also do not learn.  Elizabeth reveals that she chose the article becau...

 “Check your premises, always.” In this episode of the Free Speech Forward podcast, Brent Hamachek joins with Chris and Joia to discuss his journey as an advocate for free speech and individual liberty. He introduces several initiatives he is involved in, including The Common Ground Campus Program, The Free Society Coalition, and The American 250. Brent emphasizes the importance of free speech for...

This week Jennifer Richmond and Angel Eduardo continue their conversation on faith and liberalism. The main question we tackle in this conversation is: do we need religion? Jennifer credits her faith to her “upward aim” and “striving” and doubts that she would approach life with such a conviction without her faith. Angel says that he can accomplish this same quest for moral “goodness” without the...

In 2022 Counterweight, the organization that Helen Pluckrose founded and that was absorbed into the Institute for Liberal Values had a virtual conference on Alternatives to Diversity and Inclusion. Starting in 2025, we will be rolling out one talk a month that was presented at the conference. We sit down with the original presenters throughout 2025 to see what has changed since 2022. With Diversit...

 "Speak up. Your voice is important." In this episode of the Free Speech Forward podcast, Chris and Joia speak with Sangeetha Shankar, who shares her journey as an advocate for free speech, a journey rooted in her upbringing in India and her experiences as a homeschooling mother. Sangeetha discusses the challenges faced by Hindu communities, particularly in light of the SB 403 bill in California,...

This week Jen & Wink speak with Susanna McIntyre about her transformation from Catholicism to Atheism, Antifa to Dissident, and an alignment with Preference Falsification that turned into a Preference Cascade. Susanna claims that her journey towards critical thinking was an “accident” but we find inspiration in Susanna’s very intentional search for truth and the embrace of disagreement. 

Respect for human diversity is inherent in social work education, practice, and is an essential element of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. Yet many social workers and others are unaware that political and religious diversity are referenced several times in the Code. Is social work becoming ideologically intolerant, illiberal, orthodox, and incompatible with the pr...

Welcome to today’s episode of the Free Speech Forward podcast, a conversation between Joia, Chris, and John Suarez, Executive Director at the Center for a Free Cuba. John shares his journey as a human rights advocate, discussing the importance of free speech particularly in the context of Cuba. He describes his early experiences with censorship, the historical repression in Cuba, and the need for...

In introducing this podcast, I first want to acknowledge how darn pleased I am to have advisors in our organization who think differently than me and who aren’t afraid to say as much. This podcast originated when one of our advisors, Pam Hayes-Bohanan, pushed back after an ILV panel discussion on Ethnic Studies. We have had many previous podcasts, labs and panels that question the trends in Ethnic...

Today we are rolling out the third and final series of our book club on Jonathan Rauch’s forthcoming book entitled  Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy . The book, made available to you by Yale University Press in early February, examines American pluralism and the role of religion in historical and modern democracy. Rauch, a self-described atheist, somewhat apologetically...

In 2022 Counterweight, the organization that Helen Pluckrose founded and that was absorbed into the Institute for Liberal Values had a virtual conference on Alternatives to Diversity and Inclusion. Starting in 2025, we will be rolling out one talk a month that was presented at the conference. We sit down with the original presenters throughout 2025 to see what has changed since 2022. With Diversit...

Today we are rolling out the second in a three part book club series on Jonathan Rauch’s forthcoming book entitled  Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy . The book, made available to you by Yale University Press in early February, examines American pluralism and the role of religion in historical and modern democracy. Rauch, a self-described atheist, somewhat apologetically...

This week we speak with Wenyuan Wu, Executive Director of the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation. Wenyuan shares her journey coming to advocate for and defend students (as young as first graders!) and late-stage career professionals alike from the ravages of illiberal cancel culture that have trampled on free speech rights across large swathes of American society in the last decade. Through...

In this week's podcast Mike Burke meets up with Matt Gertken to discuss some of the rumours currently circulating around the Chinese Communist Party. They discuss the economic problems of the CCP, the potential for its collapse, changes in Chinese leadership and the future of the Taiwan Strait.  Matt is the Chief Strategist for both BCA Research Geopolitical Strategy and US Political Strategy...

Today we are launching our second ILV book club with a series of discussions of Jonathan Rauch’s forthcoming book entitled  Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy   by   Brookings Institution senior fellow and best-selling author Jonathan Rauch. The book, made available to you by Yale University Press in early February, examines American pluralism and the role of religion in...

This week as we join Lee Jussim at USC for the conference on  Censorship in the Sciences  we are revisiting our livestream with Lee and Catherine Salmon on the ethics Institutional Review Boards, and the role they play in censorship and the decline of academic freedoms.  Censorship in the Sciences Conference website:  https://dornsife.usc.edu/cesr/censorship-in-the-sciences-interdisciplinary-persp...

n this episode of the Free Speech Forward podcast, co-hosts Chris and Joia engage with Susanna McIntyre, a passionate advocate for free expression and critical thinking. Susanna shares her transformative journey from being involved in Antifa to becoming the Development Associate at Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s AHA Foundation as well as President/CEO of Atheist Republic. Susanna focuses on the importance of f...

In this engaging conversation, Chris and Joia speak with Wink Twyman, who shares his insights on the importance of free speech and the value of diverse opinions. He emphasizes the dangers of conformity and groupthink, advocating for open dialogue as a means to foster wisdom and understanding. Wink also provides practical advice on effective communication, highlighting the significance of authentic...

In this week’s podcast, Jennifer Richmond and Winkfield Twyman, Jr. talk with Pastor Dumisani Washington on his journey through his early years, his “God Walk” in Africa, a name change, and finally to Israel. The crux of our conversation centers on how he relates the African story to that of Israel and in particular to the current Israeli-Palestine conflict. Dumisani takes us deep into the KGB pro...

In this week’s podcast, Jennifer Richmond and Angel Eduardo launch a new series on faith and liberalism. They spent some time wrestling with where to begin with such a weighty topic, when they finally landed on simply sharing their own personal faith journeys. They embark on this discussion with curiosity and humility, neither trying to convert, correct or proselytize, but simply in exploration of...

We’re back for another episode of the Free Speech Forward podcast! Today, Dr. Nafees Alam speaks with co-hosts Chris and Joia about his unique journey into the realm of free speech advocacy and viewpoint diversity. He emphasizes the importance of creating spaces for intellectual discourse and the necessity of viewpoint diversity for personal and societal growth. Their conversation explores the cha...

In this week’s podcast, Jennifer Richmond and Elizabeth Spievak speak with new ILV friend and (fingers crossed) advisor, Dr. Nafees Alam. Nafees is a heterodox social work professor who is bringing viewpoint diversity into his classroom. He is reinvigorating “point-counterpoint” strategies to get his students to explore different opinions and mindsets with compassion and empathy. He uses this styl...

In this week’s podcast, Jennifer Richmond and Ken Pope speak with Jany Finkielsztein about her immigrant experience and what drove her passion for working in education. Jany’s family immigrated from Poland to Colombia during the Holocaust, and one of her grandfather’s sayings was, (Outside of packing light and running fast) "nobody can take your education from you." Jany took that to heart and car...

In today’s Free Speech Forward podcast episode, hosts Chris and Joia speak with Wai Wah Chin, the charter president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York. They discuss the critical role of free speech in advocating for equal rights, particularly in education. Wai Wah shares her experiences with the specialized high schools in New York, emphasizing the importance of merit an...

In this week's episode Elizabeth and Matt Watson discuss orthodoxy and student disaffection in social work education. A recent survey project revealed that, while most students report a positive social work education experience, the feeling is by no means universal.  Some students  perceive that their religious beliefs, political ideology, or even their gender identity may be incompatible with soc...