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The Free Press Investigates

The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling | 3. A New Pyre

The Free Press Investigates

The Free Press

Society & Culture

4.716K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2023

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The early days of the internet collide with the feverish fandom of “Harry Potter,” and a sprawling, global community emerges. But the hopefulness of this new technology brings with it the darker impulses of human nature. Produced by Andy Mills, Matthew Boll, and Megan Phelps-Roper, with special thanks to Candace Mittel Kahn and Emily Yoffe. This show is proudly sponsored by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. FIRE believes free speech makes free people. Learn more at thefire.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, dear listener. I'm Megan, host of this series. And before we get into the show,

0:09.9

I wanted to take a minute to tell you about our sponsor, Fire, the foundation for individual

0:14.9

rights and expression. We live in a moment when free speech, the bedrock of our democracy

0:20.5

and of all free societies, is often viewed as suspect, where many argue that the right

0:25.4

to free speech is too dangerous, and that even listening to ideological opponents is morally

0:31.4

wrong. Many people just don't see a problem with using the law, corporate power, and even

0:37.8

extraordinary social pressure to censor viewpoints they disagree with. But many of us feel the

0:43.5

costs of all this in our everyday lives. We feel it when we self-sensor, afraid to say what we really

0:49.8

think, sometimes even in private conversations with friends or loved ones. We feel it when

0:55.3

we opt out of a growing number of public discussions, afraid of the potential cost to our jobs,

1:00.8

and even our relationships. Fire shares a mission with this show. To remind us why a culture of

1:07.4

free speech in open dialogue matters, and regardless of how loud the calls for censorship are,

1:13.6

fire's defense of that culture is unshakable and invaluable. And if you want to remember why we

1:20.4

choose freedom, even for people we strenuously disagree with, you can learn more about fire's

1:26.2

incredible work at thefire.org. And now, onto the show.

1:37.9

This episode contains language that might not be suitable for children.

1:42.0

Can you talk to me about some of the threats that you've received over the past few years?

1:52.6

There have been a lot. A huge amount, as every woman will know who speaks up on this issue,

2:00.1

a huge amount of, I want her to choke on my fat trans dick, like very sexualized abuse.

2:07.3

Why don't think all of them mean it literally, but attempts to degrade, to humiliate,

2:14.1

people might say, well, that's not really a threat. And you know what, up to a point,

2:18.4

you're probably right, though it's very unpleasant to be on the receiving end of it,

...

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