Hello and welcome to the GZero World podcast.

This is where you'll find extended versions of my interviews on public television.

I'm Ian Bremmer, and today we are diving into an issue that's becoming increasingly divisive in American politics.

Free speech.

But it shouldn't be, right?

We like to think of the First Amendment as sacrosanct.

You can speak your mind.

Protests peacefully, publish your opinions, and the government can't stop you.

In practice, of course, it's messier and has become more polarized than ever.

Both the left and right claim to be defenders of free speech, but they have very different ideas about what that means.

Republicans have long accused Democrats of silencing conservative voices.

Now, as the Trump administration targets campus protesters and cracks down on institutions it sees as hostile,

Democrats say they're the ones whose speech is being threatened.

So what does free speech mean in 2025? Why does so many Americans feel like theirs is under

attack? And what does the future of open discourse look like in a deeply divided country?

To help make sense of it all, I'm joined by two people who spend most of their time thinking

about these questions, Jeremy Peters, a journalist at the New York Times who covers free speech

and the politics of higher education.

Ilya Shapiro, a constitutional scholar and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Let's get to it. Jeremy Peters, Ilya Shapiro, thanks so much for joining us on G0 World.

Good to be with you.

Thank you.

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