Views on First

Knight Institute Podcasts
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“Views on First” is the Knight First Amendment Institute’s flagship podcast. Each season, we invite leading legal scholars, practitioners, tech policy experts, and others to join us in conversations about some of the most pressing First Amendment issues in the ever-shifting expressive landscape of the digital age.  “Views on First: Season 1” won a 2024 Anthem Award Silver Medal and 2023 Signal Listener’s Choice Award and a Signal Silver Medal.

  1. Extended Preview: “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment”

    05/13/2025

    Extended Preview: “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment”

    Cristian Farias, host of the new podcast by the Knight Institute, “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment,” shares his goal for the show: “to chronicle in real time the coordinated, unprecedented assault by the president of the United States and his administration on the freedoms of expression, inquiry, association, and the press... all happening at this very moment.” Each episode will explore a major First Amendment story in the news and feature the people most affected by it.  Launching May 16, with new episodes every Friday. Look for “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment” wherever you get podcasts. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. To learn more about the Knight Institute, visit our website, knightcolumbia.org, and follow us on social media.

    3 min
  2. A Preview of “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment”

    05/09/2025

    A Preview of “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment”

    The Knight Institute is launching a new podcast on May 16, with new episodes every Friday. Look for “The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment” wherever you get podcasts. “The Bully’s Pulpit” will follow the Trump administration’s assault on the freedoms of speech and the press and will feature the people, communities, and institutions that are fighting back. Hosted by legal journalist Cristian Farias and advocates from the Knight Institute, each episode will explore a major First Amendment story in the news and feature the people most affected by it. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. To learn more about the Knight Institute, visit our website, knightcolumbia.org, and follow us on social media.

    1 min
  3. Speech & the Border E5: The Free Speech Costs of Banning TikTok

    12/18/2024

    Speech & the Border E5: The Free Speech Costs of Banning TikTok

    From the first Trump administration to the Biden administration, the fight to ban TikTok has cut across conventional partisan and ideological lines. In this episode, host Ramya Krishnan explores the ban as an affront to our First Amendment right to receive information and ideas from abroad. Georgetown Law professor and tech regulation expert Anupam Chander highlights the government’s glaring lack of evidence that TikTok poses a national security threat. Signal Foundation President Meredith Whittaker explains why concerns about data collection and foreign disinformation aren’t limited to TikTok and why we need solutions that rein in the rapacious surveillance practices of U.S. platforms, too. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. To learn more about the Knight Institute, visit our website, knightcolumbia.org, and follow us on social media.

    34 min
  4. Speech & the Border E4: Spyware—The Authoritarians' Favorite Tool

    12/11/2024

    Speech & the Border E4: Spyware—The Authoritarians' Favorite Tool

    It's not new for repressive governments to go after journalists. What is new is the ease with which they can do so — by turning journalists’ own phones against them. Host Alex Abdo explores the pernicious commercial spyware industry, and how repressive governments around the world use spyware to target journalists and activists. John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, speaks about the technical capacities of commercial spyware products to infect a device without the user’s knowledge. Salvadoran news site El Faro co-founder Carlos Dada and digital content editor Nelson Rauda Zablah recount their experiences being targeted with spyware (likely by their own government), and seeking legal recourse with the help of the Knight Institute.  Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. To learn more about the Knight Institute, visit our website, knightcolumbia.org, and follow us on social media.

    28 min
  5. Speech & the Border E3: Singled Out & Searched

    12/04/2024

    Speech & the Border E3: Singled Out & Searched

    Citizen or not—anyone can be searched at the border. Border agents may search messages, photos, and other intimate data on your personal phone, tablet, or other devices. Host Ramya Krishnan hears from documentary filmmaker Akram Shibly about his experience being detained and having his phone searched—twice—by officials at the U.S.-Canadian border. Knight Institute attorney Stephanie Krent addresses the constitutionality of such searches and why warrants should be required. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. To learn more about the Knight Institute, visit our website, knightcolumbia.org, and follow us on social media.

    34 min
  6. Speech & the Border E2: The Digital Surveillance Dragnet

    11/20/2024

    Speech & the Border E2: The Digital Surveillance Dragnet

    Dating back to the Obama administration, the U.S. government has been using its authority over the border to justify the surveillance of visitors’ and immigrants’ social media accounts. Host Anna Diakun explores the chilling effect this digital surveillance has on the speech and associations of millions of people around the world. Guest Faiza Patel, Senior Director of the Liberty and National Security Project at the Brennan Center for Justice, discusses not only the legal concerns raised by the government's social media surveillance program but also the lack of evidence that it serves any national security purpose. Journalist and 404 Media co-founder Joseph Cox shares his findings about the array of surveillance technologies purchased by the government, and explains just how much we don’t know about how the government uses the information it obtains to make immigration and other law enforcement decisions. Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. To learn more about the Knight Institute, visit our website, knightcolumbia.org, and follow us on social media.

    29 min
  7. Speech & the Border E1: What are we so afraid of?

    11/13/2024

    Speech & the Border E1: What are we so afraid of?

    From the war on anarchism to President Trump’s extreme vetting policies, the U.S. government’s practice of using the border as a justification to exclude ideas considered “dangerous” is as American as apple pie. In the first episode of “Views on First: Speech & the Border,” host George Wang invites lawyer and historian Julia Rose Kraut to explore the history of ideological exclusion and the government’s authority to bar individuals from the country on the basis of their speech, beliefs, and associations. Illustrating how these policies continue to bear on noncitizens today, immigration activist Ravi Ragbir shares his ongoing fight with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s attempt to target him for deportation based on his activism and organizing.  Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. To learn more about the Knight Institute, visit our website, knightcolumbia.org, and follow us on social media.

    51 min
  8. A Preview of Views on First: Speech & the Border

    10/24/2024

    A Preview of Views on First: Speech & the Border

    We’ve all been hearing a lot about “the border”—in news headlines, candidates’ speeches, and political debates. On our third season of “Views on First: Speech & the Border” we examine the frontiers of censorship and surveillance. Today, the U.S. government uses its authority over the border to justify the exclusion of certain people and ideas, the surveillance of social media, the warrantless search of travelers’ laptops and cellphones, and the imposition of limits on access to foreign communications platforms. New digital technologies are reshaping the border and reinforcing the government’s power to control the flow of information and ideas, with dangerous consequences for democracy. Each episode, you'll hear from a Knight Institute lawyer involved in cases aimed at protecting vital First Amendment rights at the border and beyond.  Views on First is brought to you by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Please subscribe and leave a review. We’d love to know what you think. To learn more about the Knight Institute, visit our website, knightcolumbia.org, and follow us on social media.

    4 min
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About

“Views on First” is the Knight First Amendment Institute’s flagship podcast. Each season, we invite leading legal scholars, practitioners, tech policy experts, and others to join us in conversations about some of the most pressing First Amendment issues in the ever-shifting expressive landscape of the digital age.  “Views on First: Season 1” won a 2024 Anthem Award Silver Medal and 2023 Signal Listener’s Choice Award and a Signal Silver Medal.

Information

  • Channel
    Knight Institute Podcasts
  • Creator
    Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Views on First
  • Show Website
    Views on First

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