Welcome to Within Reason.

My name is Alex O'Connor, and did you know that you can get early access to these podcast

episodes by supporting the podcast on Patreon?

Simply go to support dot within Reason Podcast.com, this is also the best way that you can

help this podcast to continue to grow my guest today is Dr David Renton

David Renton is a historian and a barrister who's represented clients in a number of high profile cases

specifically relating to trade union rights and free speech issues. A former member of the

Socialist Workers Party he's also written a number of books on left-wing issues, as well as fascism and anti-fascism.

I came across David Renton when I was walking through a bookshop and found a book called No Free Speech for Fascists, a title that somewhat jumped out at me.

I discovered that the book was a history of no platforming and free speech issues relating to fascism.

This book, according to the bl blurb shows how no platform was intended to be applied narrowly

only to a right-wing politics that threatened everyone else

David Renton thinks that no platforming on the grounds of hate speech that views like fascism are hateful is a mistake and that this needs to be subtly distinguished from the view that fascism is a very particular kind of ideology,

distinguished by its intrinsic propensity to use violence

to shut down all kinds of opposition,

and that this might make fascism the only kind of view that can be legitimately subject to no platforming.

We also discuss the nature of fascism. What is fascism and what is it not?

And what's with everybody seemingly calling everybody under the sun a

fascist these days is someone like Donald Trump a fascist and if not why do so many

people refer to him as one I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope that you do too. David Renton, thank you so much for being here.

David Renton, thank you so much for being here.

That's an absolute pleasure,

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