Free speech, tested against real cases.
Free To Speak brings New Zealand free speech arguments into long-form interviews with lawyers, academics, activists, politicians, and campaigners. It is direct and policy-heavy, but often conversational, moving from local cases to Australia, the UK, China, Iran, and wider democratic pressure points.
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Free To Speak is a New Zealand politics and society podcast organized around the practical limits of expression. Its centre of gravity is not studio banter or daily outrage. It is the case, the bill, the disciplinary process, the protest, the submission, and the precedent. Episodes often begin with a specific dispute and widen into a larger question about democratic life. What happens when a law uses promoting hatred instead of inciting hatred? How far can a professional body reach into a nurse's private speech? What does natural justice mean when a regulatory decision is delayed, confidential, or made without input from the affected people? The show is advocacy-minded, but it is not usually rushed. Conversations with people such as Professor Ben Saul, Sarah McLachlan, Kelly J Keane-Minchell, Farouk Amin, Deborah Cunliffe, Dr. Roderick Mulgan, Todd Stevenson, and Professor Mike Grimshaw give the feed a mix of legal analysis, activist testimony, political reaction, and historical-philosophical reflection. The New Zealand frame matters throughout. Albert Park, the Nursing Council's proposed Code of Conduct, Kath Simpson, the Law Society, and Free Speech Union submissions sit beside Australia, the UK, China, Iran, and international human rights language. The tone is direct. It can be skeptical, dry, and sharply worded, especially when discussing police decisions, professional regulators, protest tactics, or expanding speech offences. Still, the format generally leaves space for guests to build an argument rather than simply trade slogans. Some episodes are emotionally charged, especially where violence, terrorism, war, misogynistic language, and political extremism are discussed. Others are more procedural, following judicial review, court findings, and institutional accountability step by step. The result is a show for listeners who want free speech debates attached to names, documents, and consequences. It is best approached as free speech advocacy: clear about its commitments, interested in law and policy, and unusually focused on how abstract rights behave when institutions are under pressure.
Made for: Free To Speak is for listeners interested in New Zealand politics, civil liberties, law, protest, professional regulation, and the international pressures shaping expression. It especially suits people who want extended arguments rather than short culture-war reactions.
What sets it apart: The show ties free speech advocacy to concrete New Zealand cases while repeatedly measuring them against overseas law, activism, and democratic norms. Its strength is the combination of policy detail, legal process, and first-hand accounts from people inside contentious disputes.
Free to Speak is the New Zealand podcast that goes beyond headlines to explore the principles behind our most contentious debates.Produced by the New Zealand Free Speech Union, it examines freedom of expression and why it matters to a free and democratic society.Expect interviews with guests from New Zealand and around the world, plus deep dives with our Council into the cases and policy work shaping free speech today.Any questions, queries or feedback? Email: [email protected] www.fsu.nz
Dane Giroux takes contentious speech claims past the slogan stage, so you can test where the line belongs.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A sharp, lawyerly debate about where hate-speech law stops protecting people and starts policing ideas.
Professor Ben Saul and Dane Giroux keep the discussion tightly focused on Australia's hate-speech debate after the Bondi tragedy. The episode works best when it stays close to the practical questions raised by the bill: the move from "inciting hatred" to "promoting hatred," the…
A charged revisit of Albert Park that centers protest, censorship, and lasting harm.
The episode returns to Albert Park on a painful anniversary and uses Kelly J Keane-Minchell's memory to show how a women-led event ended in violence, protest, and censorship.
A focused look at nursing standards, private expression, and the process behind professional discipline.
Free to Speak frames the proposed Nursing Code of Conduct as a test of where professional standards end and private life begins. Jelaine Heather says the code appears to formalise limits nurses have already faced around personal beliefs and private expression, while Deborah…
Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson debate Canadian politics, from Alberta separatism to Ottawa's bureaucracy.
Robert Evans, Katie Stoll, and Cody Johnston build fake conspiracies and mock right-wing media.
Jonah Goldberg's literate, dry-witted arguments about politics and ideas.
On Free to Speak, Dane Giroux interviews Andrew Doyle about the possible return of blasphemy-style restrictions through laws addressing “harm” and “Islamophobia.” Doyle argues that criticism of Islam is being treated as irrational hatred, citing the UK government’s proposed terminology and the case of Hamid Kuskan, who was attacked after burning his own Quran outside the Turkish embassy.
Free to Speak hosts Dane Giroux and Douglas Brown examine proposed VPN restrictions linked to New Zealand's possible social-media age limits, including a parliamentary report that mentioned VPNs 19 times.
Graham Greene answered a reader's outrage over Lolita by founding a satirical John Gordon Society to ban filth in paintings, books and ceramics.
Annie O'Brien, a Substack writer and former Speak Up for Women spokeswoman, tells host Dan Jarreau about her "Good Faith Yarns" tour, which opens in Queenstown on 21 July.
Free to Speak host Dane Giroux interviews ACT MP Laura McClure about her Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill, which is now before a select committee.
Free To Speak hosts Dane Giroux and Professor Ben Saul, a University of Sydney academic and UN Special Rapporteur, examine Australia’s Combating Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill and the free-speech consequences of criminalising “promoting hatred.” Saul says international law under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1966 ICCPR protects expression broadly, but allows limits for incitement, national security, public order, and the rights of others.
This episode features an interview with Sarah McLachlan from FIRE discussing global free speech issues and their relevance to New Zealand.
Kelly J Keane-Minchell describes the Albert Park Let Women Speak event in Auckland as a day when police failed to create safe passage for women speaking in a rotunda.
An interview with Farouk Amin about Iranian Women in New Zealand and the war in Iran.
Free to Speak host Jelaine Heather questions Deborah Cunliffe and Dr.
Interview with ACT MP Todd Stevenson about the Nursing Council's proposed Code of Conduct and its implications for free speech.
A discussion about a legal case involving the New Zealand Law Society's handling of a complaint, focusing on delays, lack of natural justice, and confidentiality issues.
An interview with sociologist Mike Grimshaw about the importance of free speech and maintaining common ground in disagreements.
An interview with a school principal about his experience with cancel culture and dissenting viewpoints in education.
An interview with Dr.
A podcast episode advocating for a new narrative around free speech, contrasting traditional arguments with modern social justice concerns.
This episode features an interview with Professor Eric Heinze discussing why free speech is fundamental to human rights, particularly for minority groups like LGBTQ communities.
An interview with Professor Kendall Clements about free speech issues at the University of Auckland and the role of academia in upholding free expression.
Jonathan Ayling from the Free Speech Union discusses a government tender for disinformation research and the importance of free speech in addressing misinformation.
An interview with Associate Professor Mike Grimshaw about civil disobedience and policing, exploring free speech principles.
Discussion of a violent assault at a free speech event in Albert Park, analyzing the political and media response.