Freedom of speech has never been for everyone

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

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Summary

Fights over free speech have taken up a lot of space in the zeitgeist lately. People on both the left and right claim to be the defenders of free speech, while pointing fingers at the other side for censorship and encroachments. So what is actually going on? This week on the podcast, we explore where the idea of free speech comes from, how the concept has changed meaning in the hands of different people, and why fights over freedom of speech are often actually fights about power.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
0:05.4	RWJF is a national philanthropy, working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.
0:12.1	Learn more at RWJF.org.
0:15.5	Heads up, this episode contains some salty language, but that's our right as Americans.
0:22.6	Hey everyone, you're listening to Code Switch, the show about race and identity from NPR.
0:29.6	I'm B.A. Parker. And I'm joined today by our senior editor, Leah Donella.
0:35.6	Hey, Leah.
0:36.6	Hey, Parker.
0:39.2	All right, what do you got for us today?
0:45.1	Okay, today I want to talk about something that has been a little bit of a hot topic recently.
0:47.2	Freedom of speech.
0:48.4	Ooh.
0:49.3	Yes. So, Parker, as you likely remember, very early in this current presidential administration, President Trump signed a whole lot of executive actions.
0:59.7	Like in January of 2025, he signed almost 50 executive actions or executive orders.
1:06.2	So many, so many, lots to do.
1:08.7	So much to do.
1:14.2	Yep. And one of those executive actions was called,
1:22.2	all caps, restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship. And that action said it was an attempt to reinstate free speech protections, especially on online platforms that had been, quote, trampled by the Biden
1:30.1	administration. That's interesting, Leah, because the Trump administration has been accused by a number
1:35.8	of people of infringing on people's free speech. Like, there are a lot of lawsuits in progress
1:42.0	alleging that the Trump administration is unlawfully restricting
1:46.5	people's First Amendment rights, including, we should say, one by NPR. Indeed. And for months
	...

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