"Libertarianism and Its Limits": Podcast

Nick Gillespie is interviewed by Spiked's Brendan O'Neill about the Enlightenment, free speech, and crony capitalism.

"If we believe in things like the Enlightenment and what the Enlightenment gives us—that's individualism, that's autonomy, political representation, a certain amount of freedom—it all depends on free speech and arguing stuff out. Otherwise, we're going to get shitty arguments, shitty versions of technology, shitty innovation."

I was recently interviewed by Reason contributor Brendan O'Neill, whose main hustle is being the editor of the great U.K.-based website Spiked. We talked about a whole lot of topics, but kept coming back to the central role that free expression plays in a truly free society—and how all sorts of governments, corporations, and social movements are trying to shut down speech for all sorts of reasons. O'Neill is a great interviewer and he pushed me to talk about the places where I think traditional libertarian arguments aren't getting the job done. Take a listen by clicking below or by going here.