Free To Speak

Dr Ben Jones, Director of Case Management at the UK Free Speech Union, joins host Dane Giraud to discuss his new book, Island of Strangers, and a question that should trouble anyone who values open debate: how did Britain - the country that gave the world so much of its free-speech tradition - become a place where the police knock on your door over a Facebook post? Jones has spent five years on the front line of Britain's free-speech wars, and his union now fields around fifty requests for ...

We examine the proposed nursing Code of Conduct through culture, law, and lived reality, asking how far regulation should reach into nurses’ private speech. Deborah Cunliffe and Dr Roderick Mulgan unpack conformity in institutions, the legal test for disrepute, and the chilling effect on whistleblowing and public debate. • institutional conformity shaping nurse behaviour • vague standards used to police lawful opinions • legal threshold for bringing profession into disrepute • the Cath Simps...

We trace a working life in New Zealand journalism with Yvonne Van Dongen, exploring how subs, travel desks, and lively disagreements shaped stronger reporting, and why today’s monoculture and omissions threaten trust. We compare shoe-leather craft with hot takes and argue for free speech as the backbone of credible media. • Amsterdam detour to newsroom doors and a bruising AUT interview culture • Canterbury training, shorthand, and the saving grace of sub-editors • Weekly-paper freedom, trav...

We trace Greg Fleming’s path from charity leader to MP and his decision to learn Te Reo Māori as an adult, linking language revitalisation with a culture of listening and free speech. We test tokenism, compulsion, and what realistic, hopeful goals for Te Reo might look like. • representing a highly mixed electorate and staying accessible • dialogue as a proven way to reduce radicalisation • awkward first steps bringing tikanga into workplace rhythms • staff learning pathways and hosting comm...

This first “board roundup” episode focuses on a bigger pattern: regulators trying to extend their reach into online speech and private life. The board unpacks the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s attempt to assert jurisdiction over internet live-streaming and podcasts (sparked by a complaint involving Sean Plunket), and what that would mean for alternative media and even ordinary people livestreaming online. They then turn to The Telecommunications Amendment Bill they argue quie...