Best Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University Podcasts (2025)

1
The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment will be back next week 1:51

2d ago1:51

1:51

We’re taking a pause this week for the 4th of July. Everyone at the Knight Institute has been working hard to get ready for a big trial that we previewed during last week’s episode—check it out to learn more. We’ll resume next week with another episode. "The Bully's Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment" is brought to you by the Knight First Amendme…

1
Protests, Deportations, and the Climate of Repression on Campus 27:35

9d ago27:35

27:35

In March 2025, the Knight Institute filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism. As the case heads to trial on July 7, host Cristian Farias speaks with Institute Litigation Director Alex Abdo about fighting back again…

1
ICE and LA's Day Laborers 43:36

16d ago43:36

43:36

The ICE raids in Los Angeles outside Home Depot stores and other public spaces have targeted day laborers seeking a day’s pay. Host Cristian Farias talks to immigration lawyer Ahilan Arulanantham about how these raids threaten a recognized First Amendment right of day laborers to seek work. Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day …

1
Speaking Truth to Trump’s FCC 38:42

23d ago38:42

38:42

The Federal Communications Commission, under Trump-appointee Brendan Carr, is acting less like a watchdog and more like an attack dog. Host Cristian Farias talks to Katie Fallow, the Institute’s deputy director of litigation, about the FCC’s efforts to punish broadcasters for airing content the Trump administration doesn’t like. FCC Commissioner An…

1
Public Broadcasting Digs In 36:49

30d ago36:49

36:49

After issuing his own sweeping executive order, President Trump has sent a rescission notice to Congress seeking to eliminate all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which includes NPR and PBS. Host Cristian Farias speaks with Nadine Farid Johnson, the Institute’s policy director, to break down historical and ongoing attemp…

1
We Want to Look at Your Phone 38:07

1M ago38:07

38:07

The government has long invoked its authority to search traveler’s devices—whether owned by noncitizens or citizens—at the U.S. border. Under the second Trump administration, this practice only seems to be growing more aggressive and targeted. Host Cristian Farias speaks with the Institute’s Scott Wilkens, about the legal regime surrounding border …

1
Farmers Fight Data Purge 34:23

1M ago34:23

34:23

A mere ten days after President Trump took office in January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began purging climate-focused information from its web pages. Representing organic farmers and environmental activists, the Knight Institute and Earthjustice filed a lawsuit to restore the pages. Host Cristian Farias speaks with the Institute’s Stephani…

1
The Students Are Winning 27:00

2M ago27:00

27:00

In the first episode of “The Bully’s Pulpit,” host and journalist Cristian Farias describes a harrowing bail hearing for Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University Ph.D. student who was detained by ICE for co-authoring an opinion piece in a student newspaper, and reflects on the meaning of her shocking detention and now her freedom. Knight Institute Exec…

1
Extended Preview: “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment” 2:58

2M ago2:58

2:58

Cristian Farias, host of the new podcast by the Knight Institute, “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment,” shares his goal for the show: “to chronicle in real time the coordinated, unprecedented assault by the president of the United States and his administration on the freedoms of expression, inquiry, association, and the press... all h…

1
Extended Preview: “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment” 2:58

2M ago2:58

2:58

Cristian Farias, host of the new podcast by the Knight Institute, “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment,” shares his goal for the show: “to chronicle in real time the coordinated, unprecedented assault by the president of the United States and his administration on the freedoms of expression, inquiry, association, and the press... all h…

1
A Preview of “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment” 0:49

2M ago0:49

0:49

The Knight Institute is launching a new podcast on May 16, with new episodes every Friday. Look for “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment” wherever you get podcasts. “The Bully’s Pulpit” will follow the Trump administration’s assault on the freedoms of speech and the press and will feature the people, communities, and institutions that …

1
A Preview of "The Bully's Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment" 0:49

2M ago0:49

0:49

“The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment," a weekly podcast from the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, will follow the Trump administration’s assault on the freedoms of speech and the press and will feature the people, communities, and institutions that are fighting back. Hosted by legal journalist Cristian Farias an…

1
Speech & the Border E5: The Free Speech Costs of Banning TikTok 34:04

7M ago34:04

34:04

From the first Trump administration to the Biden administration, the fight to ban TikTok has cut across conventional partisan and ideological lines. In this episode, host Ramya Krishnan explores the ban as an affront to our First Amendment right to receive information and ideas from abroad. Georgetown Law professor and tech regulation expert Anupam…

1
Speech & the Border E4: Spyware—The Authoritarians' Favorite Tool 27:41

7M ago27:41

27:41

It's not new for repressive governments to go after journalists. What is new is the ease with which they can do so — by turning journalists’ own phones against them. Host Alex Abdo explores the pernicious commercial spyware industry, and how repressive governments around the world use spyware to target journalists and activists. John Scott-Railton,…

1
Speech & the Border E3: Singled Out & Searched 34:18

7M ago34:18

34:18

Citizen or not—anyone can be searched at the border. Border agents may search messages, photos, and other intimate data on your personal phone, tablet, or other devices. Host Ramya Krishnan hears from documentary filmmaker Akram Shibly about his experience being detained and having his phone searched—twice—by officials at the U.S.-Canadian border. …

1
Speech & the Border E2: The Digital Surveillance Dragnet 28:58

8M ago28:58

28:58

Dating back to the Obama administration, the U.S. government has been using its authority over the border to justify the surveillance of visitors’ and immigrants’ social media accounts. Host Anna Diakun explores the chilling effect this digital surveillance has on the speech and associations of millions of people around the world. Guest Faiza Patel…

1
Speech & the Border E1: What are we so afraid of? 51:23

8M ago51:23

51:23

From the war on anarchism to President Trump’s extreme vetting policies, the U.S. government’s practice of using the border as a justification to exclude ideas considered “dangerous” is as American as apple pie. In the first episode of “Views on First: Speech & the Border,” host George Wang invites lawyer and historian Julia Rose Kraut to explore t…

1
A Preview of Views on First: Speech & the Border 3:35

8M ago3:35

3:35

We’ve all been hearing a lot about “the border”—in news headlines, candidates’ speeches, and political debates. On our third season of “Views on First: Speech & the Border” we examine the frontiers of censorship and surveillance. Today, the U.S. government uses its authority over the border to justify the exclusion of certain people and ideas, the …

1
War & Speech E9: The University’s Role in Political and Social Action 39:21

1y ago39:21

39:21

Harvard Law School’s Noah Feldman talks with Jameel Jaffer about whether and when universities should issue statements about social and political issues, and about the pros and cons of institutional neutrality. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d …

1
War & Speech E8: Anti-Discrimination Law and the Protests on Campus 41:24

1y ago41:24

41:24

Cornell Law School’s Michael Dorf talks with Jameel Jaffer about how federal anti-discrimination law is shaping universities’ responses to pro-Palestinian protests on campus, and about the tensions between anti-discrimination law and the First Amendment. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University…

1
War & Speech E7: The War and the Platforms 28:27

1y ago28:27

28:27

Deborah Brown of Human Rights Watch and Evelyn Douek of Stanford Law talk with Jameel Jaffer about the role that social media platforms are playing in shaping, suppressing, and distorting public discourse about the war. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a revi…

1
War & Speech E6: The Crisis at Columbia 28:09

1y ago28:09

28:09

Jelani Cobb, Dean of Columbia’s Journalism School, and Isabella Ramirez, Editor in Chief of the Columbia Daily Spectator, talk with Jameel Jaffer about the crisis at Columbia, and about the challenges of reporting on it. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a rev…

1
War & Speech E5: The War Comes for Academic Freedom 28:40

1y ago28:40

28:40

Jameel Jaffer returns to the issue of free speech on campus with Jeannie Suk Gersen, professor of law at Harvard, contributing writer to the New Yorker, founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance, and co-president of the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard. They talk about the challenges facing academic freedom on college campuses since Oc…

1
War & Speech E4: Campus Speech, Double Standards, and Discrimination 29:59

1y ago29:59

29:59

Jameel Jaffer returns to the issue of free speech on campus with Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). They talk about “cancellations” before and after October 7, the difference between free speech law and free speech culture, and the free speech implications of Title VI, the law that requires u…

1
War & Speech E3: A Climate of Repression and Fear 18:15

1y ago18:15

18:15

Radhika Sainath, senior staff attorney at Palestine Legal, talks with Jameel Jaffer about the climate for speech supportive of Palestinians, defining discrimination, and the “Palestine Exception” to the First Amendment. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a revi…

1
War & Speech E2: Campus Speech in the Shadow of the War 34:45

1y ago34:45

34:45

Jameel Jaffer talks with Eugene Volokh, distinguished professor of law at UCLA and soon-to-be senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, about free speech on campus in the shadow of the war in Israel and Gaza. They discuss whether administrators should ban what some students describe as calls for genocide and consider what can be done to protect the …

1
War & Speech E1: How Repressive Is This Moment, Really? 29:07

1+ y ago29:07

29:07

Jameel Jaffer talks with Genevieve Lakier, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School and one of the country’s leading theorists of free speech, about the climate for speech in the United States relating to the war in Israel and Gaza. How repressive is this moment, really? Is the First Amendment failing us? And what imprint will the e…

1
S1 E5: The 1A A-Bomb 39:00

2+ y ago39:00

39:00

Social media platforms have evaded heavy regulation on their content moderation practices so far, but the jig may very well be up. Many U.S. states are considering enacting laws to rein platforms in. To date, two states—Florida and Texas—have passed laws that significantly limit social media companies’ ability to moderate their platforms, and the m…

1
S1 E4: Our Corporate Speech Overlords 37:16

2+ y ago37:16

37:16

Social media platforms make more decisions about free speech every minute than the Supreme Court has made in more than two hundred years. So the values and systems adopted by these Corporate Speech Overlords matter a lot. Guests Nicole Wong—former Google VP and Twitter Exec—and Alex Stamos—Director of the Stanford Internet Observatory and former Fa…

1
S1 E3: Old Doctrine, New Tricks 30:43

2+ y ago30:43

30:43

Over time, the First Amendment has meant lots of different things to a lot of different people. In this episode, with University of Chicago law professor Genevieve Lakier by her side, host Evelyn Douek travels back to the time when modern free speech doctrine first started to emerge. Together they consider the values that have influenced how Americ…

1
S1 E2: A Slippery Slope? 33:01

2+ y ago33:01

33:01

Thanks to the ruling in Knight v. Trump, then-president Trump could no longer block critics on social media. Hooray! But the ruling was only the start of the story, and quickly new questions arose. How would it affect other government officials? What might it mean for the development of the law more generally? Could the ruling be used in ways that …

1
S1 E1: What is Twitter? 38:02

2+ y ago38:02

38:02

What is Twitter (or any social media platform) as a matter of First Amendment law? In the first of five episodes, host Evelyn Douek begins to crack open this question, starting with perhaps the most famous Twitter handle of all — @realdonaldtrump. As president, Trump used his account to hire and fire government officials, butt heads with North Kore…

1
A Preview of Views on First 1:31

2+ y ago1:31

1:31

What is Twitter? Yes, it’s where you find the latest news and commentary, read about celebrities you love (or hate), and have a nice, civilized discussion with fellow users (read: sarcasm). But is it the public square? Nothing but a private platform? And what are social media platforms’ rights and obligations under First Amendment law? On Wednesday…

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Knight First Amendment Institute At Columbia University Podcasts

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