Free Kiwis!

Dec 20 2024 39 ep. 65 mins
Free Kiwis! Podcast artwork

A podcast focussing on freedom and free speech in a New Zealand context, hosted by two Wellington-based academics, Drs. Michael Johnston (VUW Education) and James Kierstead (VUW Classics).

  Education
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Peter Boghossian

Dec 20 2024 56 mins  
Dr Peter Boghossian is a freelance philosopher and former academic. He was jointly responsible for the 'Sokal squared' hoax, as a result of which he was investigated by his then-employer, Portland State University, for research misconduct. He later left the university and now travels the world engaging bystanders in 'street epistemology' - open, reasonable conversations on a range

Nigel Biggar

Nov 18 2024 57 mins  
Nigel Biggar is an emeritus professor at Oxford University, where he was Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology. He is also an Anglican priest. His most recent book is Colonialism. A Moral Reckoning (2023). We talked to Prof. Biggar about the how to assess the British Empire and about the roots of our universities' ongoing travails. Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning: https://

VUW's new academic freedom policy, with Stephanie Martin

Oct 09 2024 73 mins  
Only a few days after its Senate voted down the University of Auckland's 'academic freedom' policy, Victoria University of Wellington has come out with a similar policy of its own. Here to discuss VUW's policy with us is Steph Martin from the Free Speech Union. We also discuss Steph's work to help protect New Zealanders' speech rights on a variety of fronts.

Toby Young

Jul 22 2024 60 mins  
Toby Young is the founder of the Free Speech Union and The Daily Sceptic, an associate editor of The Spectator, and a former associate editor at Quillette. We talked to him about the prospects for free speech and academic freedom in the Anglosphere, why he left Quillette and founded The Daily Sceptic, and what his experience of free (or charter) schools has been. https://freespeech

Peter Ridd

Jun 22 2024 59 mins  
Peter Ridd was formerly head of the Physics Programme and the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University in Queensland. We asked him how and why he was forced out of JCU, as well as about the Great Barrier Reef and climate change in the Pacific. An article by Peter calling for greater quality assurance in 'policy-science': https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

VUW free speech event debrief (FKs! Dialogues 5)

May 28 2024 76 mins  
The morning after Victoria University of WELLINGTON's free speech event, Michael and James met to discuss the event, including both its set-up and points made by the speakers.

Jonathan Rauch

May 28 2024 55 mins  
Jonathan Rauch is a US writer whose books include The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50 (2018); Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America (2004); Government's End: Why Washington Stopped Working (2000); and Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought (1993).We talked to him about his latest book, The Constitution of Knowled

Free speech at VUW (FKs! Dialogues 4)

May 05 2024 39 mins  
A conversation about Victoria University of Wellington Vice-Chancellor Nic Smith's decision to postpone his original panel on free speech and about the two new panels he's now announced. Topics we discuss include: Is the new panel more balanced or representative? Is Michael right-wing? And is Nic Smith going to be able to force his institution to respect people's basic expressive r

Cynical Theories (Book Club 3)

Apr 30 2024 75 mins  
The topic of our third Free Kiwis! book club was Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay's book Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity - And Why this Harms Everybody.We talked about its account of post-modernism and 'grievance studies,' and considered how much this has affected academia and the free speech crisis in New Zealand.Panelli

Graham Linehan

Mar 20 2024 66 mins  
Graham Linehan is the co-creator of Father Ted and other popular UK comedy series. We talked to him about Ted's origins, comedy in a time of censorship, and trans issues. Graham's time in NZ was hosted by the Free Speech Union: https://www.fsu.nz/Mia Hughes' report on 'the WPATH files': https://environmentalprogress.org/big...Graham's X: / glinner Free Kiwis!' X: / freekiwis