Episode 11: Free Speech and Cancel Culture

Beyond Atheism

In this episode, Todd and Nathan discuss Nathan’s recent article, “Reading John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty in the Age of ‘Cancel Culture’ and ‘Fake News’.” We discuss Mill’s famous defense of free speech and its limits. Along the way, we talk about the implications for present-day issues like “cancel culture,” Antifa’s answer to hate speech, and religious tolerance in a secular world.

Reading John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty in the Age of “Cancel Culture” and “Fake News”: https://www.liberalcurrents.com/reading-john-stuart-mills-on-liberty-in-the-age-of-cancel-culture-and-fake-news/

Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance

Examples of “cancel culture” we discuss:

3 cases of people being fired for innocuous things: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/stop-firing-innocent/613615/

Gina Carano: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Carano#Social_media_controversy

Canceled young-adult novelist: https://reason.com/2019/02/28/he-was-part-of-a-twitter-mob-that-attack/

For Todd’s post-episode reflections, check out: https://todd-tavares.medium.com/

Follow Nathan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NathGAlexander

Nathan’s website: https://www.nathangalexander.com/

If you find the podcast valuable and want to support it, go to https://anchor.fm/beyond-atheism and click the “Support” button. We are grateful for every contribution.

--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/beyond-atheism/support