#397 – Greg Lukianoff: Cancel Culture, Deplatforming, Censorship & Free Speech

Lex Fridman Podcast

Lex Fridman

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science, Technology

4.7 • 13K Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2023

⏱️ 161 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Lukianoff is a free speech advocate, first-amendment attorney, president of FIRE - Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind and a new book The Canceling of the American Mind. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Greg's Twitter: https://twitter.com/glukianoff
Greg's Instagram: https://instagram.com/glukianoff
FIRE: https://thefire.org/
FIRE on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFIREorg
*** Greg's Books ***
The Canceling of the American Mind: https://amzn.to/464yasg
The Coddling of the American Mind: https://amzn.to/3EL48hj
Freedom from Speech: https://amzn.to/3rhrdVN
Unlearning Liberty: https://amzn.to/3rlFnoN
*** Books Mentioned ***
The Closing of the American Mind: https://amzn.to/4638KuX
The Origins of Political Order: https://amzn.to/464zkE8
So You've Been Publicly Shamed: https://amzn.to/48nm1Af
Racial Paranoia: https://amzn.to/3RzyY3U
Why Buddhism Is True: https://amzn.to/3t4R5Vk
Speaking Freely: https://amzn.to/3Zr64oG

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OUTLINE:
Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) - Introduction
(10:49) - Cancel culture & freedom of speech
(25:21) - Left-wing vs right-wing cancel culture
(34:06) - Religion
(36:46) - College rankings by freedom of speech
(42:54) - Deplatforming
(57:29) - Whataboutism
(1:02:32) - Steelmanning
(1:10:08) - How the left argues
(1:20:48) - Diversity, equity, and inclusion
(1:32:39) - Why colleges lean left
(1:40:17) - How the right argues
(1:44:52) - Hate speech
(1:53:39) - Platforming
(2:03:10) - Social media
(2:24:17) - Depression
(2:35:48) - Hope

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following is a conversation with Greg Gluckianov, free speech advocate, First Amendment attorney,
0:05.6	President and CEO of Fire, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression,
0:10.2	and he's the author of Unleashing Liberty, co-author with Jonathan Height of Coddling of the American
0:16.8	Mind, and co-author with Ricky Schlott of a new book coming out in October that he should definitely
0:23.5	preorder now called the Canceling of the American Mind, which is a definitive accounting of the
0:30.0	history present and future of cancel culture, a term used and overused in public discourse
0:36.4	but rarely studied and understood with the depth and rigor that Greg and Ricky do in this book
0:43.5	and in part in this conversation. Freedom of speech is important, especially on college campuses.
0:51.0	The very place that should serve as the battleground of ideas, including weird and controversial
0:56.6	ones, that should encourage bold risk-taking, not conformity.
1:03.3	And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description.
1:08.1	It's the best way to support this podcast. We've got policy genius for insurance,
1:13.3	Babble for learning new languages, better help for mental health,
1:16.6	insider tracker, for biological data, and the express VPN for security and privacy.
1:22.1	On the place we all love and sometimes hate to call the internet. Choose wisely, my friends.
1:27.7	Also, if you want to work with our amazing team, we're always hiring. Go to lextremen.com slash
1:33.5	hiring. Also, there's other ways to contact me if you go to lextremen.com slash contact.
1:38.5	And now onto the full ad reads. As always, no ads in the middle. I try to make this interesting,
1:43.2	but if you must skip them, friends, please still check out our sponsors.
1:47.4	They're awesome. They deserve all the love in the world. I enjoy their stuff. Maybe you will too.
1:52.4	This show is brought to you by policy genius, a marketplace for finding and buying insurance.
2:00.0	Boy, can I tell you some stories about life and death?
	...

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