About this episode
Back in the day, supposedly conservatives were the ones who cracked down on fun. The common knowledge went that liberals were focused on free expression and free speech, while the right tried to shut things down. The modern left has abandoned its old principles of free expression, however, and become infamous for scolding Americans on not being 100% politically correct. Noah Rothman, author of the new book “ The Rise of the New Puritans: Fighting Back Against Progressives’ War on Fun ,” says this new wave of woke censorship echoes the utopian push by the Puritans of old. Rothman says the leftist utopia is “a sort of messianic mission” that views anything not directly pushing leftist ideology “as not only worthless, but a threat [and] a menace.” He continues: The ideal here, an unrealizable ideal, is the creation, insofar as it is possible, of the ideal society. This is a vision, a framework of social organization, that extirpates the maladies associated with human frailty. It’s an unachievable objective. Rothman joins the show to detail the left’s shift from free expression to wokescolding, and how the rest if us can best counter it. We also cover these stories: President Joe Biden says he is committed to putting more restrictions on gun ownership in America. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk backs off from buying Twitter and shares memes about it. Gas prices are going down, according to AAA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices