Free to Think Podcast
by Scholars at Risk
Free to Think features conversation with interesting, thoughtful, and inspiring individuals whose research, teaching, or expression falls at the always sensitive intersection of power and ideas. We'll be speaking with those who have the courage to seek truth and speak truth, often at great risk, as well as with those who support them and share their stories.Free to Think is a podcast presented by Scholars at Risk, where we celebrate people with the courage to think, question, and share ideas. For information on membership, activities, or donating to Scholars at Risk, visit www.scholarsatrisk.org.
Episodes
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"We are on a constant search for the truth. That is what science and research are all about." Dr. Walter Rosenthal on why Truth Matters at the German Rectors' Conference (HRK)
In this episode, SAR Executive Director Rob Quinn speaks with Dr. Walter Rosenthal, President of the German Rectors Conference and former president of the University of Jena. Dr. Rosenthal reflects on what the "Truth Matters" theme means to him as a scientist, highlighting the essential link...
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"That is the moment of maximum inquiry" — Dr. Charles Reeve on why Truth Matters at the Ontario College of Art and Design
Dr. Charles Reeve, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Visual and Critical Studies at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), sees Truth Matters as a challenge to protect expression not only when it is comfortable, but when it unsettles deeply held beliefs. In conversation...
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Universities as "guardians of reliable knowledge" — Dr. Angela Ittel and Dr. Magdalena Sut-Lohmann on why Truth Matters at TU Braunschweig
Universities serve an essential role in democratic societies by facilitating the creation and exchange of knowledge. That's the case made by Dr. Angela Ittel, President of Technische Universität Braunschweig, in this episode. One way universities live up to that purpose is by welcoming and...
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Academia as a tool for building fairness in society - Dhia Al Uyun and Dr. Rafiqa Qurrata A'yun on why Truth Matters at the Indonesian Campus Workers' Union (SPK)
The Indonesian Campus Workers' Union (Serikat Pekerja Kampus/SPK) serves as a unified voice for over 2,050 permanent and casual higher education workers—including lecturers, researchers, and administrative staff—across public and private universities throughout Indonesia. Dhia Al Uyun and Dr....
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"Universities are more important than ever, even in times of conflict." Dr. Robert Egnell on why Truth Matters at the Swedish Defence University
Amid conflicts and political tensions around the world, the Swedish Defence University sees its role as a source of research and education that contributes to a "robust and democratic society." That is the contention of Vice Chancellor Dr. Robert Egnell, who highlights SDU's unique role in...
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"All science is about truth. And if it is not, it is ideology." Prof. Dr. Lilli Gast on why Truth Matters at the International Psychoanalytic University (IPU)
Prof. Dr. Lilli Gast, Chair of the Supervisory Board and Senior Professor at the International Psychoanalytic University (IPU) in Berlin, sees SAR's 25th anniversary theme Truth Matters across her work. In discussing psychoanalysis as a "project of enlightenment," Dr. Gast reflects on the...
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"Light, Life, Liberty:" President Andreas Marx on why Truth Matters at the University of Jena
"We need to be open in order to be strong," asserts Professor Dr. Andreas Marx, President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Framing openness as a necessity for both academic excellence and societal resilience, Dr. Marx discusses how his institution lives out its core mission of "Light, Life,...
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"We can become more powerful in our struggle if we unite." Camilla Croso on why Truth Matters at the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA)
Camilla Croso, Executive Director of the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA), one of three coalitions for academic freedom founded in partnership with Scholars at Risk, joins SAR Executive Director Rob Quinn to discuss the importance of truth-seeking for a healthy democracy.…
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"We should be active in communicating what we stand for." Rector Martin Paul on why Truth Matters at Ruhr University Bochum
Threats to truth, inquiry, and free expression abound today. For Professor Dr. Martin Paul, Rector of Ruhr University Bochum, that means universities should be even more vocal about how those values are embodied on campus. RUB is a hive of activity on these themes, with threatened scholars...
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"There can be no justice without the search for truth." Anne Weyembergh on why Truth Matters at the Université libre de Bruxelles
The Université libre de Bruxelles has a long tradition of hosting threatened scholars from all over the world. In this conversation with SAR Executive Director Rob Quinn, Anne Weyembergh, Professor of Law and Vice Rector for External Relations and Cooperation, describes the motivations for and...
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"Somebody wanted me in prison…" Paul Chambers and Tyrell Haberkorn on laws silencing scholars in Thailand
Dr. Tyrell Haberkorn and Dr. Paul Chambers join Free to Think to discuss the use of Thailand's lèse-majesté law to intimidate and silence scholars. After three decades living and working in Thailand, Professor Paul Chambers was arrested in April 2025 and charged under Article 112 of the Thai...
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"People were disappeared, just like the smoke." Omar Gómez Trejo on seeking truth and justice in the 2014 Ayotzinapa case in Iguala, Mexico
Free to Think speaks with Omar Gómez Trejo, a lawyer and human rights advocate from Mexico. Omar gained prominence as the special prosecutor leading the investigation into the disappearance of 43 student teachers from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College in the city of Iguala, Mexico. From...
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"Before being a scientist, I'm a human being:" Dr. Encieh Erfani on exile and solidarity among Iranian academics abroad
As the first in her family to attend university, Dr. Encieh Erfani was drawn to the stars. Her interest led her to physics and cosmology, examining the origin of the universe – a rare subject in Iran at the time. Dr. Erfani was traveling outside of Iran in September 2022 when the "Women, Life,...
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"It never crossed my mind to stop…" Omar Mohammed on using scholarship for the public good
Omar Mohammed first gained international prominence in 2014 as the anonymous blogger "Mosul Eye", risking his life to document daily existence in the occupied city of Mosul, Iraq. His blog was considered one of the few reliable, real-time sources of information on life under the Islamic State…
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Finding solidarity "beyond the border" in Southeast Asia – Khoo Ying Hooi on how building regional coalitions can help protect scholars & academic freedom
Free to Think speaks with Dr. Khoo Ying Hooi, an Associate Professor at the University of Malaya and 2022-23 Mellon/SAR Academic Freedom Fellow, on academic freedom and coalition building in Southeast Asia. Ying Hooi discusses her research and shares how building an academic freedom coalition...
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'Refusing to accept the status quo' — Students speak up for at-risk scholars through SAR seminars & legal clinics
Free to Think speaks with three university students who express the profound impact of joining the SAR student advocacy community. "Being involved in the amplification of the voice of somebody who's marginalized doesn't just affect the person who's marginalized," says Samkele Shange, a SAR…
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Navigating the 'mental prison' – Mubashar Hasan on higher education in Bangladesh
Free to Think speaks with academic, policy analyst and human rights activist Mubashar Hasan. He describes how in Bangladesh certain research topics are off-limits, particularly those that threaten the power of the ruling class, and speaks from first-hand experience — Hasan survived 44 days of...
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Gaining or losing academic freedom? Decoding the Academic Freedom Index with Katrin Kinzelbach and Lars Lott
Free to Think speaks with Katrin Kinzelbach and Lars Lott, researchers behind the Academic Freedom Index (AFI) which assesses levels of academic freedom in 179 countries and territories from 1900 to the present. Recent headlines suggest academic freedom is in retreat everywhere, but is it true?...
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"Undoing the censorship that was stuck in me" – A conversation with Achiro Olwoch, writer, playwright, filmmaker from Northern Uganda
Free to Think speaks with Achiro P. Olwoch, an award-winning writer, playwright, and filmmaker from Northern Uganda, and current scholar-at-risk and Weiss International Fellow at Barnard College in New York City. Achiro describes her recent play 'The Survival,' the impact of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in...
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"We have no definition" — MSCA4Ukraine fellow Artem Nazarko on prosecuting war crimes in Ukraine
In February 2022, Artem Nazarko was in Odesa, Ukraine with his family, coming to terms with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "It was huge traffic jams everywhere, empty shops, panic and confusion" he says. "No food, no petrol. It was tough times, and dark days." Two years later, Artem is a PhD...
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"Our voices really do matter from an early age" – Student advocates at UC Santa Barbara highlight wrongful charges against Egyptian scholar Patrick Zaki
Emma Hartley and Jonathan Gelfond, undergraduates at UC Santa Barbara in California, weren't sure if elected officials in Washington DC would agree to speak with them. They were advocating on behalf of Patrick Zaki – a University of Bologna graduate student formerly detained for two years, in...
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"'Jane from California' might be an Afghan woman…" University of the People's Shai Reshef on education in Afghanistan under the Taliban
Free to Think speaks with Shai Reshef, President of the University of the People, the first non-profit, tuition-free, American, accredited, online university whose mission is to help students worldwide overcome financial, geographic, political, and personal obstacles to higher education. Since...
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"Raising the cost of repression" — Sol Iglesias on political violence, red tagging, and threats to academic freedom in the Philippines
Free to Think speaks with political scientist Sol Iglesias about "violence for social control" and threats to scholars in the Philippines, including online trolling, "red-tagging," threats, and violent attacks. Iglesias, who is a professor at the University of the Philippines and contributes to...
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"Every day my children can go to school, I laugh, because my heart is full of joy," with SAR scholar Zahra Hakimi
In Herat, Afghanistan, Zahra Hakimi was a faculty member, midwife, family planning trainer, and women's reproductive healthcare provider. She often worked in secret and at personal risk to provide treatment to survivors of sexual assault. Within a week of taking control of her city, the Taliban...
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The "forgotten crisis" of attacks on higher education in Venezuela
Venezuelan higher education is in crisis. After decades of political attacks on universities, many professors struggle to survive a national economic collapse that threatens the whole society with runaway inflation, skyrocketing poverty, and mass outward migration of millions. Professors rely on...
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"There Were No Fatalities. . . [But] If This Happens Again, I Am Not So Sure." Discussing The Forcible Violation Of The Universidad Nacional de San Marcos, Lima, Peru, With Salvador Herencia-Carrasco
On January 21st, police forcibly entered the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru, arresting over 200 people including students pulled from their dormitories. Free to Think speaks with Salvador Herencia-Carrasco about his work with colleagues inside and outside Peru to free...
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"Academic Activism" In Southeast Asia, With SHAPE-SEA's Joel Mark Barredo
What is 'academic activism?' What responsibility, if any, do scholars have for engaging outside of academia, with the public and with marginalized communities in particular? Free to Think speaks with Joel Mark Barredo, the Executive Director of SHAPE-SEA, the "Strengthening Human rights and Peace...
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"Empathy is Active." Henry Reese, on Salman Rushdie, City of Asylum, and the "Reader Effect."
In 1997, Henry Reese and his wife, Diane Samuels, were at a public talk by writer Salman Rushdie, and inspired by his call for communities around the world to offer sanctuary to exiled writers. They "kicked each other under the chair" and thought, why not? Six years later, they founded the City…
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"The Fear has Fallen away…" Roya Hakakian and Sasha Gladkikh on the Death of Mahsa Amini and the Protests in Iran
Free to Think talks with Roya Hakakian, a writer and founding member of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, and Sasha Gladkikh, a student activist and director of philanthropy at the Iranian Student Group at UCLA about the recent protests in Iran. On September 16th, 2022, Mahsa Amini, a...
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"They Were Trying to Keep Education Going." Ukrainian Higher Education Endures the Conflict
Free to Think talks with Yulia Bezvershenko, a visiting scholar at Stanford University, and Liz Shchepetylnykova, a civil society activist, on the state of higher education in Ukraine after four months of war. As Russia invaded Ukraine, and war broke out across the country, professors and…
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"The Life of Dr. Djalali is Paramount."
Free to Think talks with Hadi Ghaemi, founding Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). Why is Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian scholar and 2021 SAR Courage to Think Award winner, at risk of imminent execution in Iran? And what can advocates worldwide do to help?...
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"There's No Way You Did That!"
Free to Think talks with Brian Mello, a professor of political science at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, where he leads a Scholars at Risk Student Advocacy Seminar. He's joined by his student, Bhavna Prakash, a biology major and political science minor at the university. "You're 19," said...
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"A Virtual Target Painted on my Back…"
Free to Think talks with Colin Harvey, a Professor of Human Rights Law and former Head of the School of Law, Queen's University, Belfast about what UN experts described as a "smear campaign" against him for his work debating the possibility of new constitutional arrangements for the island of...
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"We Lost 20 Years of Achievements." An Afghan Scholar Resumes Life in Ireland
Free to Think talks with Dr. Aziz Mohibbi, an environmental engineer and former chancellor of Afghanistan's Bamyan University, about his recent relocation to Ireland following the return of the Taliban, and Dr. Roja Fazaeli, an Associate Professor of Islamic Civilization, Near & Middle Eastern...
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"No Red Lines?" The 'KIWi Compass' Guide For Scientific Cooperation Under Complex Conditions
Free to Think talks with Christiane Schmeken, Director of the Strategy Department of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and Julia Linder, at the Center for International Academic Collaborations (KIWi) at DAAD. They discuss DAAD's new 'KIWi Compass,' a guide for institutions and leaders...
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"The Lack of Clarity…Creates a Climate of Fear"
Free to Think talks with Mai El-Sadany, Managing Director and Legal and Judicial Director at the Tahir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP). El-Sadany discusses the cases of Patrick George Zaki and Ahmed Samir Santawy, two graduate students targeted by Egyptian authorities. She describes the...
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"Self-Censorship is Hard to Admit"
Free to Think talks with Elizaveta Potapova, a researcher at the Public Policy and Management Institute in Lithuania. She holds a PhD from the Central European University, where she did her dissertation on academic freedom in Russia. Potapova discusses DOXA, an independent student journal which...
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"We Do Not Accept. We Do Not Give Up"
Free to Think talks with Zeynep Gambetti, Associate Professor of Political Theory, and Can Candan, a documentary filmmaker and academic, both at Turkey's Bogazici University. They discuss the collapse of institutional autonomy in Turkey, the one-year anniversary of faculty and student resistance,...
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"Weaponization" of Higher Education
Free to Think talks with Camila Nobrega, a Brazilian journalist, fellow at the Alice Salomon Hochschule, and PhD candidate in the political science department at the Free University of Berlin, and Dr. Débora Medeiros, a researcher at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies and…
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"Nobody's Working on Your Case"
Free to Think talks with Ali Arab, Associate Professor of Statistics at Georgetown University and board member of Hostage Aid Worldwide, which fights globally for the release of hostages while aiming to study and prevent hostage-taking against other innocent people. Arab discusses "hostage...
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Higher Education for Democracy
Free to Think talks with Dr. William Tierney, university professor emeritus and founding director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California. He discusses his new book, Higher education for Democracy: The Role of the University in Civil Society, released…
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Free to Think Message on the Crisis in Afghanistan
University scholars and students, public intellectuals, civil society leaders and human rights defenders across Afghanistan, especially women and ethnic and religious minorities, are in fear for their lives. None of them wore a uniform or got a government paycheck, but for the better part of…
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"No Regrets for Telling the Truth"
Free to Think talks with Dr. Jo Smith Finley, a Reader in Chinese studies at Newcastle University, UK. In March 2021, Dr. Smith Finley was sanctioned by the government of the People's Republic of China, along with a group of UK politicians and peers, a legal chambers, and the entire staff of The...
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Still Very Much in Africa, in a Way...
Free to Think talks with Dr. Prosper Maguchu, researcher, human rights lawyer and activist from Zimbabwe. He worked to defend victims of state violence before domestic and international courts, bringing vindication to his clients, but drawing threats and violence against himself. "I wanted to be…
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Questioning Authority in Myanmar
Free to Think talks with Kyaw Moe Tun, executive director of the Parami University, the first private, non-profit, liberal arts and sciences university in Myanmar. Parami nurtures future leaders by providing students from various cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds with skills in global...
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Transforming Afghanistan Through Education
Free to Think talks with Aziz Royesh, a leading advocate for primary and secondary education in Afghanistan and the founder of the Marefat High School in Kabul, which currently serves more than 3100 Afghan students, about half of whom are girls. Royesh is a former fellow at the US National...
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The Engaged Listening Project
Free to Think talks with Sarah Stroup, Faculty director of the Engaged Listening Project at Middlebury College. Created after protests and disruption of a visit to the campus by controversial scholar Charles Murray, the project aims "to create spaces for close listening and productive...
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"They Fight Their Battles on Women's Bodies"
Free to Think talks with Marvi Sirmed, a political commentator, journalist, and human rights activist from Pakistan, about the 2021 Aurat March (Women's March), violence against women, intersectionality, blasphemy accusations and the responsibility of social media companies. Sirmed advocates for...
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Share the Platform
Free to Think talks with Alfred Babo about Share the Platform, a new initiative to formed by a group of practitioners and scholars from refugee and non-refugee backgrounds to "center the expertise of refugees to improve policy, programs, and practice" in a wide variety of fields. Babo is an...
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I Was a Hostage
Free to Think talks with Xiyue Wang, a PhD candidate in history at Princeton University, whose research focuses on Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, China and the late Ottoman Empire. In May 2016, Wang visited Iran to do library and archival research in Tehran. Despite prior approval of his...
About this show
Free to Think features conversation with interesting, thoughtful, and inspiring individuals whose research, teaching, or expression falls at the always sensitive intersection of power and ideas. We'll be speaking with those who have the courage to seek truth and speak truth, often at great risk, as well as with those who support them and share their stories.Free to Think is a podcast presented by Scholars at Risk, where we celebrate people with the courage to think, question, and share ideas. For information on membership, activities, or donating to Scholars at Risk, visit www.scholarsatrisk.org.
Hosted by
Scholars at Risk