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"Be Bold America!" Live Interview Aired / June 19, 2026

The Global Crackdown on Free Expression

in Honor of Project Censored's 50th Anniversary

In this interview, on the global crackdown of free expression, Dr. Steve Macek from North Central College in Illinois will discuss his work to combat the growing attacks on free speech and academic freedom in the U.S. and around the world.

Over the past decade, free speech and academic freedom have faced a synchronized, global decline. This erosion is not limited to traditional autocracies; it has increasingly taken root within established liberal democracies – most notably, right here in the United States.

The threats manifest in two primary ways: external political and legal coercion (from governments and lawmakers) and internal culture pressures (leading to self-censorship and polarization).

Tune in to “Be Bold America!” on Friday, June 19 at 5:00pm to learn how restrictions on free expression mirrors a country’s broader shift toward authoritarian governance.

Interview Guest:

Dr. Steve Macek is a professor of communication and chair of the department of communication and media studies at North Central College in Illinois. He teaches courses on the First Amendment, journalism history, media policy, media, criticism, and urban studies.

Dr. Macek is the author of Urban Nightmares: The Media, the Right, and the Moral Panic over the City, that is a critical analysis of media discourse about American cities. His ads, commentaries and articles on censorship, academic freedom, media regulation and politics have been published in a wide range of newspapers, magazines, and websites

Produced by KSQD 89.5, 89.7 & 90.7FM

"Sexism is something that exists because it has existed, does exist, and therefore feels inevitable that it will exist. Certain treatments of women and girls are rooted in inequity simply because those bodies are female. Sexism over time and across institutions sends repeated messages about who women are and where they belong, and constructs a palatable version of womanhood that is non-threatening." - Allison T. Butler

In Allison T. Butler's new book, The Judgement of Gender, Allison examines how women are both centered and silenced, and maligned in popular culture. She explores a generational legacy in which media harms women, and unpacks what it means when women are cast as “problematic.”

Allison uses grounded and critical media literacy to look at celebrity stories, and those thrust into the spotlight, with more nuance, including the infamously sensationalized coverage of Britney Spears, Anita Hill, and Monica Lewinsky.

Interview Guest:

Allison Butler is a Senior Lecturer, Associate Chair, and the Director of the Media Literacy Certificate Program in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she teaches courses on critical media literacy and representations of education in the media. Allison serves as the Vice President on the Media Freedom Foundation and co-run Mass Media Literacy, a grassroots organization that builds curriculum and trains teachers in critical media literacy across K-12 schools. She is the author of numerous articles and books on media literacy and is co-author of multiple practical resources for media literacy education. In addition, Allison previous book The Media and Me was the subject of her previous "Be Bold America!" interview on media literacy, visit: The Media and Me: A Guide to Media Literacy.

Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7FM

"Be Bold America! ~ Aired May 15, 2026

With the 2026 midterm elections looming and democracy on the line, progressive attorney, activist, and author, Gary Lucks, presents in his new book We Are The People fiercely practical, street-level directions for Americans who want to engage beyond posting, protesting, or donating, to actually helping flip the House and Senate this November.

Drawing on postmortem data from Activate America, Lucks shows that grassroots volunteers shifted outcomes by 2-4% in battleground districts in 2024 and that Democrats need to flip just three seats in the House and four in the Senate to restore a legislative firewall against the current administration's agenda. Unlike many tomes on the current political situation, We Are the Power tells readers exactly how to close that gap.

Gary Lucks, JD, CPEA, is a progressive author, activist, and environmental attorney who has spent four decades at the intersection of law, policy, and sustainability. He is the founder of Progressive Action East Bay and Resistance Action East Bay Indivisible, two of California's most active grassroots political networks. Lucks is also the author of You Are Not Alone: Your Roadmap to Effective Political Action. More at garylucks.com.

Top Three Resources Shared in Podcast to Defend Democracy:

1) Hopium Chronicles (sign up for free)

2) Indivisible (look for a chapter near you)

3) Activate America (volunteer)