WSJ Opinion: Free Expression

Four years ago this week, the U.S. shut down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. While officials were adamant that lockdowns, masks, and later vaccines were essential for all Americans to limit the damage from the spread, it's become increasingly clear that the science behind so many of the mandates was decidedly shaky. Yet those who warned at the time of the risks of draconian actions were wide...

Super Tuesday put the seal on the 2024 primary season and the rematch of Joe Biden and Donald Trump is set for November. Biden starts out in a weaker position than any incumbent in decades. But, while polling suggests Trump currently has the edge, many voters seem reluctant to endorse either candidate. On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, Gerry Baker speaks with former Trump pollster an...

This week Hungary finally agreed to the accession of Sweden to NATO. With characteristic defiance of allies and the U.S., Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who alone in the alliance mainstains strong relations with Vladimir Putin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, had held out for almost two years against the NATO expansion. It's not the only issue on which Hungary has been an outlier. With his opp...

The last few months have been a tumultuous time on the campuses of American universities. Shocking instances of anti-Semitic rhetoric on top of a culture of repression of views that challenge the progressive orthodoxies - as well as evidence of plagiarism - led to the departure of the presidents of two high profile institutions. The University of Chicago has long prided itself as a defender of fre...

After special counsel Robert Hur's report described Joe Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” many fears Democrats may have had in private were now out in the open. But with the party’s primary already almost over, is it too late to consider an alternative? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Democratic commentator and scholar Marie Harf tells Gerry Ba...

The U.S. is enjoying one of its best stretches of economic performance in years. Growth is strong, unemployment is low, and, though it remains elevated, inflation has fallen sharply. As the rest of the world stagnates, America seems to be booming.  But how good are things really and can they last? And will the Fed’s continuing struggle to get inflation down eventually push the economy under? On th...

From deepfakes to advances in medicine and science, artificial intelligence is becoming one of the most feared and misunderstood innovations of the 21st century. So why are so many people afraid of the future of AI? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang tells Gerry Baker how he went from MIT dropout to powering the AI industry, the effect the technology...

After solid victories in Iowa and New Hampshire by Donald Trump, we look set already for a rematch between the former president and Joe Biden. So where does that leave the Republican party? And what should Nikki Haley do next? Should she stay on and fight or accede to the inevitable? What have we learned from this short and apparently moribund primary season about Trump's and Biden's strengths and...

U.S. elections now seem routinely dogged by allegations of fraud and outside interference. Not just in 2020, but in several of the most recent presidential contests the losing candidates had cried foul. And so the security of this year’s contest may be more controversial than ever. Are our electoral systems safe - and what about the threat of “misinformation”? On this episode of the Free Expressio...

The Iowa Caucuses are just a few days away and the New Hampshire primary follows a week after. Donald Trump maintains a big lead in the Hawkeye State and a smaller one in the Granite State. But does Nikki Haley have the momentum? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, WSJ columnist Kimberly Strassel joins Gerry Baker to discuss what’s behind Haley’s apparent advance, what chance Ron DeSan...

The first two contests of the 2024 presidential election, the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, are just days away. So do any of Donald Trump's rivals have a chance to overtake him, and is Joe Biden a strong enough candidate to win reelection? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, veteran pollster Frank Luntz tells Gerry Baker why Iowa and New Hampshire residents are two compl...

The Free Expression podcast revisits Gerry Baker's conversation with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Catholic archbishop of New York. The two discuss how Pope Francis is leading the church worldwide, the importance of the separation of church and state, and how a lack of religion and moral conviction is to blame for our toxic cultural environment.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

As 2023 draws to a close, the war between Ukraine and Russia is approaching the two-year mark in what appears to be a stalemate, while the war between Israel and Hamas rages on. What have we learned? What can we expect in 2024? And how is the U.S. dealing with these challenges? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, former CIA director General David Petraeus tells Wall Street Journal edit...

Is a long overdue change finally coming to America's universities? With the resignation of Penn president Elizabeth Magill, and the controversial decision to keep Claudine Gay as the president of Harvard, the concerns over liberal indoctrination on campus have reached a fresh peak. On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, University of California, Santa Cruz Professor Emeritus of German Lit...

From Israel to Ukraine, 2023 has been a year of spreading violent conflict, increasing instability and posing stiff challenges to U.S. global strategy, all within the context of the developing new Cold War with China and its allies, Russia and Iran. It seems likely that our adversaries will probe further in 2024, and with a presidential election in the U.S., geopolitical uncertainty will only inte...

Can a little-known congressman from Minnesota really unseat a sitting Democratic president for his party's nomination? On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, Rep. Dean Phillips tells Wall Street Journal editor at large Gerry Baker why Biden's weaknesses as a candidate, and not the policies of the Democrats, could lead to a Donald Trump victory in 2024. They also discuss why Phillips is su...

Before celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, listen to some of Gerry Baker's most intriguing interviews from this year, including BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink, economist and China expert George Magnus, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump John Bolton, Middle East scholar Reuel Marc Gerecht, former Attorney General Bill Barr, and political science professor Patrick De...

Off year elections in Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio went the Democratic Party's way this week but does that presage a second term for Joe Biden in 2024? On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, political scientist Ruy Teixeira and co-author of a new book, "Where Have All the Democrats Gone?" tells Wall Street Journal editor at large Gerry Baker that the Democrats have lost touch with their c...

One year from the next presidential election, where does the race stand in both parties? Will a clear challenger from the ever-shrinking field emerge to Donald Trump's frontrunner status for the GOP nomination? And what difficulties could Joe Biden face in his reelection campaign? On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, veteran pollster Mark Penn tells Wall Street Journal editor at large G...

Is Joe Biden prepared to back up his rhetorical support for Israel? On the latest episode of the Free Expression Podcast, Middle East scholar Reuel Marc Gerecht tells Wall Street Journal editor at large Gerry Baker why Israel's promise of the destruction of Hamas may not be possible without the reoccupation of Gaza, why the Biden Administration needs to to draw a red line on Iran's involvement in...

On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink tells Wall Street Journal editor at large Gerry Baker about why he thinks ESG investing has become so controversial but also misunderstood. He outlines his concerns about embedded inflation in the economy and how it will change investing and says he thinks cryptocurrency could represent a viable hedge against inf...

As Israel prepares an all-out assault on Hamas following the bloody massacre on its soil last weekend, how does this new war in the Middle East unfold? On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, former Israeli ambassador to the US and Middle East historian Michael Oren joins Wall Street Journal editor at large Gerry Baker from southern Israel, where military barrages and calls to seek shelter...

What led eight Republicans to vote against Kevin McCarthy and end his time as Speaker of the House? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Wall Street Journal editor at large Gerry Baker speaks with one of the eight, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), about how this historic vote was months in the making. Good and Baker also discuss whether the upheaval was done in part with working with Democrats, th...

After another Trump-less presidential debate seemed to make few waves in the Republican primary race , what can we now expect from the contest? Is the field about to consolidate to just a handful of candidates vying to be the alternative to Trump?  How could the frontrunner be defeated? On this week's episode  of the Free Expression, conservative author and commentator Matthew Continetti talks wit...

Tim Scott entered the 2024 GOP presidential primary with a message of positivity that was in stark contrast to Donald Trump's dark critique of contemporary America. But is it a winning strategy? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, the South Carolina Senator tells Wall Street Journal editor Gerry Baker of his faith in the goodness of America, but also why he fears a government shutdown...