Ep. 283: Robby Soave on Trump's press ban, Macklemore, and free speech culture wars
Podcast: So to Speak: The Free Speech PodcastPublished On: Tue Sep 22 2026
Description: The free speech culture wars look different than they did a decade ago. Reason senior editor and Rising host Robby Soave joins us to discuss the White House's restrictions on media access, Macklemore getting dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour, and why efforts to suppress controversial speech so often backfire. We also look back at how the free speech debate has changed since Robby and Nico began covering it — from campus censorship and cancel culture to social media moderation and the changing politics of free speech. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:44 How Robby prepares for Rising 03:35 How the media landscape has changed 10:44 Trump, the press, and censorship 20:26 Cancel culture 23:55 Macklemore, Ed Sheeran, and the Streisand Effect 30:31 Why should we defend the media? 36:58 Campus free speech 43:48 The changing politics of free speech 58:34 Outro Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at fire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@fire.org.
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