Novelist Ma Jian, a veteran of the Tiananmen Square protests, talks to
Nigel Warburton about political and artistic freedom in China
CATEGORY: Free Speech Bites
Free Speech Bites: Timothy Garton Ash on global free speech standards
Timothy Garton Ash is Professor of European Studies at Oxford University, and a noted author and commentator. Here he tells Nigel Warburton about his Free Speech Debate project, a forum for discussing global free speech standards in the digital age...
Free Speech Bites: DJ Taylor on George Orwell
DJ Taylor is the author of Orwell: The Life, an award-winning biography of journalist and novelist George Orwell. he speaks to Nigel Warburton about Orwell's nuanced attitude to free speech and his encounters with censorship Download the mp3...
Free Speech Bites: Denis MacShane on Tom Paine
Denis MacShane is a politician and journalist. Previously a BBC reporter, he was Labour MP for Rotheram from 1994 until 2012, when he resigned after controversy over expense claims. Here, he talks to Nigel Warburton about the legacy of Enligtenment...
Free Speech Bites: Natalia Kaliada on the arts in Belarus
Natalia Kaliada is co-founder of the Belarus Free Theatre. The group, formed in 2005, performs provocative political works in a country where it can be lethal to criticise the dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Natalia was forced into exile after the...
Free Speech Bites: Martin Rowson about humour, satire and offence
Martin Rowson is an award-winning cartoonist, writer and satirist in the tradition of Swift and Gillray. Here he talks to Nigel Warburton about humour, satire and offence saying: I think there are people crying out to be offended by things Read...
Free Speech Bites: Irshad Manji on religion and free speech
Self-described “Muslim refusenik” Irshad Manji campaigns for reform in Islam. Here the feminist author and activist thrashes out the clashes between religion and free speech with Nigel Warburton Download transcript here | Download the mp3 here
Free Speech Bites: Zarganar on the importance of thinking and speaking freely
Zarganar spent years in solitary confinement for satirising Burma’s ruling military junta. The Burmese poet, comic and musician talks to Nigel Warburton about the importance of thinking and speaking freely, even under tyranny. Download the mp3...
Free Speech Bites: Stephanie Merritt on Giordano Bruno
Writer Stephanie Merritt explains why renaissance astronomer, mathematician and heretic Giordano Bruno inspired her bestselling “SJ Parris” series. A free speech martyr, Bruno was burned at the stake for challenging the church. Download transcript...
Free Speech Bites: Jonathan Dimbleby on why free expression matters
Broadcaster and writer Jonathan Dimbleby is also a former Chair of the Index on Censorship board of trustees. In the opening episode of Free Speech Bites, he explains to Nigel Warburton why free speech matters, and the philosophy of John Stuart...