Episode 35 – White Man´s Burden: Empire, Liberalism and Censorship
During the mass protests that have rocked Hong Kong since June 2019, pro-democracy protesters have waved Union Jack flags and been singing God Save the Queen –– a clear […]
Category: Episodes
Episode 34 – The Age of Reaction: The fall and rise of free speech in 19th century Europe
The 18th century ended with free speech in full retreat. With the French Revolution, the call for “Enlightenment Now!” was no longer seen as the harbinger of humanity’s inevitable […]
Special Edition – A conversation with Professor David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur
In this special edition of Clear And Present Danger we leave the past and jump into the present for a discussion on how international human rights standards are relevant […]
Episode 33 – Counter-Revolution: Dutch Patriots, Tom Paine´s Rights of Man and the campaign against Seditious Writings
Faced with bloody terrorism democratic Europe has often reacted with tough measures. The UK Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act of 2019 criminalizes expressing an opinion that is “supportive” of a […]
Episode 32 – Policing opinion in the French Revolution with Charles Walton
On Aug. 26, 1789, France’s National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Article 11 of the Declaration proclaimed: The free communication of ideas […]
Episode 31 – The Old Regime
In Nov. 2018, French President Emanuel Macron declared war on “offensive and hateful content” on the internet. Subsequently, France adopted strict laws against both online hate speech and fake news, […]
Episode 30 – Northern Lights, The Scandinavian Press Freedom Breakthrough
In the 1760s and 1770s, Sweden and Denmark-Norway shortly became the epicenter of press freedom protections in Enlightenment Europe. In 1766, the Swedish Diet passed the Press Freedom Act, making […]
Episode 29 – The Philosopher King – Enlightened Despotism, part 2, Prussia
In his famous essay “What is Enlightenment?” the Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant declared: “[E]nlightenment requires nothing but freedom … to make public use of one’s reason in all matters. Now […]
Episode 28 – Writing on Human Skin – Enlightened Despotism, part I, Russia
The Enlightenment’s emphasis on science, progress, tolerance and rationality attracted not only philosophers — even absolute monarchs dreamt of “Enlightenment Now.” But how do you incorporate the enlightenment’s revelations […]
Episode 27 – How Enlightening
After a brief detour into the present, we return to Ground Zero of the Enlightenment in 18th century Europe, with this recap of past episodes and a brief overview […]