Imagine being torn away from your husband and son, brutally arrested, and tossed into solitary confinement. Imagine being prevented from calling your family or even speaking to your lawyer. Imagine having to go on a hunger strike to get attention. This was the actual experience of one Iranian woman, Shaparak Shajarizadeh. Her “crime”? Protesting the Iranian … Continue reading Western Apathy Toward Iran’s Religious Dictatorship
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Elan Journo interviews Onkar Ghate and Robert Mayhew about the enduring relevance of Ayn Rand's novel We the Living. Recorded February 2, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k90gaHMg4Bg Photo by David Gavi on Unsplash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJTRDSTa8D0 Every so often, the debate over “hate speech” moves to the foreground, and we hear urgent calls for the United States to enact laws banning it. Many claim that such laws would have beneficial outcomes, curtailing speech that belittles, demeans, offends, or discriminates. Canada, the United Kingdom, France and many other Western countries have … Continue reading Nadine Strossen on ‘Hate Speech’ Laws vs. Free Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZuFiGwJtUg Elan Journo and Onkar Ghate talk with Prof. Glenn Loury of Brown University about the "woke" culture and racism in America today. Jan. 20, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ-l3JX4Mgo Martin Luther King famously dreamed of a future in which his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Today that dream is far from realized, and the idea of being “colorblind” is increasingly regarded as entrenching racism. Instead, we’re urged to regard people … Continue reading Racism, ‘Color Blindness,’ and Tribalism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHZwu1V7Lq0 Elan Journo and Onkar Ghate discuss the moral significance and consequences of the Jan. 06 attack on U.S. Capitol building. Recorded Jan. 13, 2021. Photo by Cameron Smith on Unsplash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWun1PiBJB0 Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo reflect on the 2015 attack at Charlie Hebdo, and consider what it takes to uphold the ideal of freedom of speech in the face of threats to it today -- threats that come not only from jihadists, but also from within Western societies. Recorded Jan. 6, 2021. Photo by … Continue reading The Charlie Hebdo Assassinations: Six Years Later
Donald Trump’s rise put on display an identity crisis within the conservative movement. That crisis predated the friction between #NeverTrump and die-hard loyalists. For decades “conservatism” has been a conglomeration of different, conflicting factions. Religionists stood alongside secularists, traditionalists alongside classical liberals, protectionists alongside free-marketeers — and still many other elements. With Trump leaving office, … Continue reading Meet the Conservative Authoritarians
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