Episode 8: Who's Free to Speak?

This is Episode 8 of the State of the Theory Podcast. Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably. In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call. In this episode, we look at the politics surrounding the freedom of speech. By focusing on case studies such as Donald Trump and the US Presidential Election, Chris Rock’s hosting of the recent Academy Awards, and the various debates surrounding Trans identities within Feminism, we discuss how useful the concept of free speech is to further progressive causes. The theoretical text we refer to is: "You are oppressing us!" by Sara Ahmed (http://feministkilljoys.com/2015/02/15/you-are-oppressing-us/) Our theme music is "The Face of God" by The Agrarians (freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agra…he_Face_of_God) State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick and Anindya Raychaudhuri Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast/?fref=ts) or Tweet us @drhfitz and @DrAnindyaR