Speaker 1: Lately, when we hear about free speech, it's usually stuff
Speaker 1: like this. These companies went on a rampage deep platform
Speaker 1: and conservatives, beginning with at the time the sitting President
Speaker 1: of the United States. But there is an actual free
Speaker 1: speech threat happening right now, and it's not about people
Speaker 1: being able to spread lies or insults with no consequences.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the way governments all over the world
Speaker 1: are suppressing environmental protests.
Speaker 2: Are you telling the dogs to bite the protest The
Speaker 2: dog has blood and its nose in its mouth.
Speaker 1: You can see the access since just the oil. I've
Speaker 1: just been dragged away by police, very quickly, bundled into
Speaker 1: the van. This isn't new. Anytime environmental activists have succeeded,
Speaker 1: there's backlash, and sometimes it's violent.
Speaker 2: Judy Barry, with a partner off to go and address
Speaker 2: a rally, got into the car and a bomb exploited
Speaker 2: in the car.
Speaker 1: In many parts of the world, the assassination of environmental activists, journalists,
Speaker 1: and lawyers has been far too common for far too long.
Speaker 3: In these struggles, many people were assassinated, many people were
Speaker 3: wounded almongst them. My mother, Berta Casaidz, she was murdered
Speaker 3: in twenty sixteen. I guess, I mean he didn't understand
Speaker 3: what he was up against until the actual night that
Speaker 3: he was killed.
Speaker 1: Still, what we're seeing now feels new. Nowhere is safe,
Speaker 1: No one is safe, even in countries like the United States,
Speaker 1: which has the broadest free speech protections in the world.
Speaker 2: I have no idea what to expect for the next
Speaker 2: decade of my life.
Speaker 4: When I went to surrender to the FBI, I thought
Speaker 4: it was going to be kind of a straightforward, more
Speaker 4: of a like a clerical matter, But I ended up
Speaker 4: being put into shackles.
Speaker 1: And the attacks are more coordinated than ever, more widespread,
Speaker 1: not just on people who show up at protests, but
Speaker 1: on lawyers, journalists, and nonprofits too. It's almost like the largest,
Speaker 1: most powerful industry in the history of the world is
Speaker 1: fighting for its future, and its biggest opponents are the
Speaker 1: people fighting for theirs.
Speaker 2: So anyone who opens their mouth to express an opinion
Speaker 2: about the climate crisis is a potential target for retaliation
Speaker 2: by the industry and their government and financial enablers.
Speaker 1: Who feel threatened. Over the next several months will be
Speaker 1: investigating those attacks, revealing the people, companies, and politicians behind
Speaker 1: them and highlighting the people who are fighting back. Because
Speaker 1: you can't have climate action without democracy, we can't have
Speaker 1: democracy without free speech. Join us for our new season,
Speaker 1: The Real Free Speech Threat, wherever you get your podcasts,