London Falling: How the Birthplace of Free Speech Became a Censor’s Paradise

Breaking History

The Free Press

History

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Once, Britain was the cradle of free speech- the land of Milton, Orwell, and John Stuart Mill. But in 2025, police are arresting citizens for tweets, comedians are detained for jokes, and ordinary people are jailed for words deemed “hateful.” In this episode, we trace how the birthplace of liberty became a censor’s paradise - and what it reveals about a Western world that’s forgotten Mill’s warning: that without dissent, truth itself cannot survive. CREDITS Executive Producer: Poppy Damon Associate Producer: Adam Feldman Sound Designer and Composer: Tony Peer Original theme songs by Eli Lake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	There's a stunning irony in modern Britain. The birthplace of free speech is now a country
0:11.5	where speaking your mind can be dangerous. Today, tweets can get you arrested. Online speech is
0:18.1	policed by the actual police. And digital snitches are always watching.
0:23.6	Has the cradle of liberty become its coffin?
0:26.6	After the break, how the nation that gave the world dissent
0:30.6	has become a censor's paradise.
0:33.6	The pot you got this next year's model, Lee Harvey-Arvon, Irving Berlin,
0:41.8	what happened once happens again?
0:45.5	When news is a mystery.
0:49.8	Turn into breaking mystery.
0:54.0	When the Western artist George Catlin journeyed to the Southern Plains in 1834,
0:59.9	the animal that caught his attention there was the wild horse, which covered the country in immense herds.
1:06.5	Little known to Catlin or to Thomas Jefferson who longed to know more about horses in their natural state,
1:13.0	horses were so successful in the Western Wilds because they were original natives of North America.
1:19.7	Eventually, a trade in wild horses dominated the southern West.
1:23.7	It became an unexpected success and Mustangers, a working-class phenomenon of the West. It became an unexpected success and mustangers a working class phenomenon of the West.
1:31.8	Learn more on episode 11 of the American West with Dan Flores, the latest show from the Meat
1:38.1	Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck,
1:46.4	wine with a backbone.
1:48.4	By focusing on deep time, wild animals, and the West's unique environments,
1:53.9	this podcast is a look at a West available nowhere else.
1:58.9	Tune in now to the American West on Apple, IHeart, YouTube, or wherever you get your
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Free Press, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Free Press and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.