Free Kiwis!

James
Free Kiwis!
Latest episode

62 episodes

  • Free Kiwis!

    Grant Robertson and South American dictators

    19/06/2026 | 36 mins.
    In their latest dialogue, Michael and James discuss whether an email sent by Grant Robertson in his capacity as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago breached the institutional neutrality provision introduced into the Education and Training Act just last year. Michael also asks James about the second rounds of the Peruvian and Colombian presidential elections, as well as both countries' troubled political pasts.
    Mario Vargas Llosa: Una Vida en Palabras: https://youtu.be/WiHzTF4W_SY?si=5ElK-u2qR8HVpUkZ
  • Free Kiwis!

    Frederick Attenborough

    18/05/2026 | 34 mins.
    James talks to Fred Attenborough, Research Manager at the UK Committee for Academic Freedom, about the recent ruling in a landmark academic freedom case, University of Sussex vs. Office for Students. Will the ruling fatally weaken the Office for Students, which the new UK academic freedom legislation empowers to regulate universities, before the the new academic freedom regime even gets going?
    Freddie has a number of pieces on this case up on the CAF website: https://afcomm.org.uk/author/frederick-attenborough/
  • Free Kiwis!

    Mitchell Palmer

    16/05/2026 | 1h 4 mins.
    Mitchell Palmer is an economist at the Adam Smith Institute. We talked to him about his journey from Auckland to London via Singapore and Oxford; how to reform the UK student loan system; and the recent past and near future of the ACT Party. 
    Mitchell's report on student loans: https://www.adamsmith.org/research/credit-crunch
    Peter Ainsworth's IEA report on student loans: https://iea.org.uk/publications/shares-in-students-a-new-model-for-university-funding/
  • Free Kiwis!

    Sarah McLaughlin

    10/05/2026 | 1h 11 mins.
    Sarah McLaughlin is Senior Scholar, Global Expression at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). We talked to her about threats to free speech from various quarters (including the Trumpian right, the progressive left, the CCP and UAE) and about how to build a healthy and consistent free speech culture. Sarah was in New Zealand courtesy of the NZ  Free Speech Union.
    Sarah's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Authoritarians-Academy-Internationalization-Borderless-Censorship/dp/1421452804
  • Free Kiwis!

    Ilana Redstone

    21/04/2026 | 35 mins.
    Ilana Redstone is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne. She talked to James about the state of sociology, 'the certainty trap' of ideological extremism, and how much of today's progressive extremism can be traced back to the civil rights era.

    Ilana's book *The Certainty Trap*: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Certainty-Trap-Question-Ourselves-More/dp/1634312562

    Richard Hanania's essay 'Woke Institutions is Just Civil Rights Law': https://www.richardhanania.com/p/woke-institutions-is-just-civil-rights
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About Free Kiwis!
A podcast focussing on freedom and free speech in a New Zealand context, hosted by two Wellington-based academics, Drs. Michael Johnston (VUW Education) and James Kierstead (VUW Classics).
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