# Ep. 255: Authoritarians in the Academy

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607/ep-255-authoritarians-in-the-academy
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607/ep-255-authoritarians-in-the-academy.md
Podcast: [So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607)
Published: 2025-10-15T19:47:00+00:00
Episode link: https://sotospeak.libsyn.com/ep-255-authoritarians-in-the-academy
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/sotospeak/100825_STS_255_SARAH_RE-EDIT-.mp3?dest-id=601059
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/so-to-speak-the-free-speech-podcast-705607/episodes/ep-255-authoritarians-in-the-academy
Duration seconds: 2403

## Resource

FIRE Senior Scholar Sarah McLaughlin discusses her new book, "Authoritarians in the Academy: How the Internationalization of Higher Education and Borderless Censorship Threaten Free Speech." Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:17 Book origins 03:38 How China censored speech on American campuses 18:36 COVID's impact for international students' speech 22:05 What is sensitivity exploitation? 25:35 Free speech at international satellite campuses 31:28 Attempted deportations of Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk 36:52 Sarah's free speech inspirations: literature and people About the Guest: Learn more about Sarah McLaughlin and her work. Get the Book: Purchase Authoritarians in the Academy here . Read the transcript here: https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/so-speak-transcript-authoritarians-academy Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today ( https://www.thefire.org/ ) and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@thefire.org .

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## Transcript

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