Freedom of Speech

Two items from the last few days capture the dire situation now facing the West. The big one was the massive pro-Hamas demonstrations over the weekend in New York, London, and other major Western cities — crowds that rivaled the immense…

The Film, Television, and Theater (FTT) Department at the University of Notre Dame plans to host a drag show on Nov. 3. This event comes after a series of controversies in recent years as Notre Dame has grappled with its Catholic identity…

The theme of my career over the past year has been the transition of departing military service and reintegrating among the civilian populace. As I approached this season, I have heard one particular phrase frequently circulated among much…

Freedom Isn’t Weak: The Political and Artistic Significance of the Chinese ‘Socialist Core Values’ Graffiti and the Counter-Graffiti in East London Yao Bo, August 18, 2023 Yao Bo (姚博), better known as Wuyuesanren (五岳散人), was a well-known…

The First Amendment’s mandate that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech” is a guarantee that, no matter how inconvenient to those temporarily holding high office, the people have an absolute right to express…

An Interview With Ai Weiwei, Part Two: Ruins. Rebars. Water Lilies. ‘Straight’. Photo: The New York Times. (Continued from Part One: The Year 2008) Ruins. Rebars. Water Lilies. YC: Many details have left a deep impression on me from…

An Interview With Ai Weiwei, Part One: The Year 2008 I interviewed Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei in May in Portugal. It was my first meeting with him, and as many Chinese activists do, I called him by his nickname “Aunt Ai”…

Young and Furiously Laughing in China Yaxue Cao, May 28, 2023 A Xiaoguo stand-up comedy show in Nanjing. Following the Blank Paper protests last November, I realized that I had been caught off-guard by contemporary Chinese youth,…

A bill introduced last month in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, would allow the attorney general to bring charges carrying fines of up to $25,000 against those who say the wrong thing within 100 meters of a location the…

Authoritarianism Shall Perish – Ding Jiaxi’s Court Statement Ding Jiaxi, April 9, 2023 After a decade-long successful career as a successful commercial lawyer in Beijing, Ding Jiaxi (丁家喜) joined the New Citizens Movement in 2011 led by…