Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee. Plus, Librarians Under Siege

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has been pulled off the air following his comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer. On this week’s On the Media, how threats to free speech have escalated in the wake of the assassination. Plus, a school librarian in Louisiana shares how she’s been targeted by book-banning activists.

[02:25]  Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Lily Mason, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins and the co-author of the book Radical American Partisanship: Mapping Violent Hostility, to discuss what data we have on how Americans think about political violence. 

[21:07] Micah speaks with Ryan Broderick, author of the Garbage Day newsletter, to examine the evidence around Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, and what radicalization looks like in a digital age.  

[35:45] Host Brooke Gladstone talks with Amanda Jones, school librarian in Livingston Parish, Louisiana and former School Librarian of the Year, to discuss being a target of book-banning activists. Plus, why protecting libraries is as crucial as ever. 

Further reading / listening:

• Radical American Partisanship: Mapping Violent Hostility, Its Causes, and the Consequences for Democracy, by Lily Mason
• “Charlie Kirk was killed by a meme,” by Ryan Broderick
• That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America, by Amanda Jones

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