The Perils of Self-Censorship; Plus, Tough Questions on Fighting Book Bans and What Democracy Really Means

On this very final episode of The PEN Pod, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel talks about free speech in 2021, from the Capitol Hill insurrection to calls to ban books and entire topics from America's classrooms. Then we reflect on The PEN Pod and PEN America's impact. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On this edition of The PEN Pod, we speak to two experts on the situation for free expression in Myanmar nearly one year since the coup. Then, Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, joins for our latest installment of TOUGH QUESTIONS. This week, we discuss disinformation consumers, texts to Trump amid the insurrection, and what lies ahead for free speech in 2022. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On this week's episode of The PEN Pod, we bring you a conversation about self-censorship among PEN America's own Ayad Akhtar, Suzanne Nossel, and Jennifer Finney Boylan, alongside Wajahat Ali, John McWhorter, and Carmen Maria Machado. Then, Suzanne wades through the tough questions of free speech from the past week, including what it means to be a democracy in 2021 and how best to fight back against book bans, --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On this edition of The PEN Pod, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel answers tough questions about a silenced Chinese tennis star; how Disney self-censored in the face of cross-border censorship; and how the utterance of two words -- critical and race -- can draw a crackdown on free speech. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On this episode of The PEN Pod, author, attorney, and activist Natashia Deón on her new book THE PERISHING, as well as themes of redemption and immortality in her work and writing. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel fields tough questions about President Biden's approach to China's government; the freedom of a U.S. journalist detained in Myanmar; and the prospects of establishing a free speech university. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On today's episode of The PEN Pod, award-winning author Anthony Doerr talks to PEN America's Jane Marchant about his latest work CLOUD CUCKOO LAND. George M. Johnson reflects on efforts to ban the author's book ALL BOYS AREN'T BLUE, as well as the broader effort to impose educational gag orders in classrooms. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel on legislative threats to the freedom to learn, plus efforts to get at the truth about Jan. 6. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On this edition of The PEN Pod, PEN America's Jared Jackson interviews The Bronx Is Reading founder Saraciea J. Fennell on her debut anthology Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel tackles tough questions about facial recognition, tech surveillance, and local news. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On this week's episode of The PEN Pod, our own Jared Jackson speaks to poet and podcaster Melissa Lozada-Oliva about her work in verse, Dreaming of You. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On this special edition of The PEN Pod, we hear the voices of three students and a teacher who helped overturn a pernicious book ban in their home town of York, Pennsylvania. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support

On this episode of The PEN Pod Jared Jackson, PEN America’s manager of literary programs, speaks with Uli Beutter Cohen, creator of Subway Book Review, about her book Between the Lines: Stories from the Underground, which collects over 170 interviews from the acclaimed social media movement that highlights books and the people who cherish them. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel answers our latest round of tough questions about free speech from the past week. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penamerica/support