WSJ Opinion: Free Expression - podcast cover

WSJ Opinion: Free Expression

Gerard Baker, Editor at Large, The Wall Street Journalwww.wsj.com
Based on his Wall Street Journal Opinion column "Free Expression," Editor-at-Large Gerry Baker speaks every week with some of the world's leading writers, influencers and thinkers about a variety of subjects. Baker will welcome his guests from the worlds of politics, philosophy, and culture for wide-ranging dialogues that will enlighten and fascinate listeners. Episodes will be released each week.

Episodes

Is Russia on the Brink of Defeat?

On the latest episode of Free Expression, military historian Fred Kagan tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker why the recent counter offensive by Ukraine is the most significant event of the war, why the will of the Russian military is at a breaking point, and how the world would react to Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons when faced with no other choice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 13, 202236 min

How Donald Trump Broke History

On the latest episode of Free Expression, former senior adviser to President Trump Jared Kushner tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker about how the disruptive Trump presidency led to foreign policy successes, why he thinks the Biden administration provoked the war between Russia and Ukraine, and why the FBI's document search of Mar-a-Lago and the failures of Washington could lead Donald Trump to another White House run to correct "unfinished business." Learn more about your ad c...

Sep 06, 202243 min

Will Trump Be Indicted?

On the latest episode of Free Expression, constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker the chances of an indictment for the former President are rising. But he says the aggressive approach by the Department of Justice and the FBI are undermining trust in American justice and explains why the hard left is the true danger to the future of democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 31, 202239 min

The Decline of Men in the Workforce

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with economist Nicholas Eberstadt about why men are leaving the workforce in greater numbers, what these men are doing with their time while not employed, and if the policies and economics of Covid-19 have forever changed the culture of the office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 22, 202232 min

Can the U.S. and China Coexist Peacefully?

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with China expert Michael Pillsbury about the fallout from Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, what more the U.S. can do to protect Taiwan from aggression from China, and if there is an internal power struggle within Chinese politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 15, 202240 min

How Progressives Caused a Climate Panic and Ruined Cities

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with analyst Michael Shellenberger about why extremists on the left only speak about climate change in the most unnecessarily apocalyptic terms, why the world needs an energy abundance and not energy scarcity, and how progressive policies on crime and drugs have ruined many American cities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 08, 202234 min

The Left's Suppression of Speech

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with talk show host and columnist Dennis Prager about why there is so much censorship of conservative speech by the left, why leftists see organized religion as a hostile force, and why he thinks people would rather be taken care of than be free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 02, 202238 min

The Return of Stagflation

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with economist Mohamed El-Erian about when the U.S. economy will see any relief from the high rate of inflation, the mistakes made by the Federal Reserve to try to fix the problem, and the probability of a recession under Joe Biden's fiscal policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 26, 202240 min

Noah Rothman and "The New Puritanism"

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with conservative commentator Noah Rothman about what he calls the "new Puritanism," the left's modern secular religion that attempts to extinguish pleasure from our lives in pursuit of social justice, green extremism and ordered Utopianism, and why they won't succeed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 18, 202233 min

The Woke Assault on Western Civilization

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker talks to historian Andrew Roberts about the left’s campaign to defame and discredit the West’s history and the pushback against the woke cultural revolution. And as the British Conservative Party elects a new leader, they consider the condition of modern conservatism on both sides of the Atlantic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 13, 202232 min

Kellyanne Conway, Donald J. Trump, and the Future of the GOP

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with Kellyanne Conway, former counselor to President Donald Trump, about the Jan. 6 Committee, Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony, Donald Trump's possible candidacy in 2024, and why the Republican Party should be recognized for championing women and the issues they value most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 05, 202237 min

The Dobbs Decision and the Bioethics of Abortion

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with professor and bioethics expert O. Carter Snead about what Americans have gotten wrong about the original Roe. v. Wade decision, why the debate over what is considered a "person" still continues, and why the electorate will ultimately decide how lawmakers act on abortion in a post-Dobbs world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 28, 202244 min

The Consequential Decisions of the Supreme Court's Term

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with law professor and former Supreme Court clerk John Yoo about the historically significant conservative direction of the Court, the damage done by the leak of Justice Samuel Alito's draft decision in the Dobbs case, and why the Founding Fathers would have been suspicious of the January 6th Committee hearings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 21, 202240 min

The Successor Ideology and the Threat to Our Freedoms

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with essayist Wesley Yang about how the ascent of progressive ideas in the last few years represents a 'successor ideology”. Seeking to supplant traditional liberalism, it is an authoritarian dogma that has captured most of our cultural, political institutions and even business leadership, compelling compliance with its beliefs on social justice, anti-racism, identity politics and other left-wing nostrums....

Jun 13, 202236 min

Civilization and Its Enemies

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali about how ideologues and a lack of leadership created a lack of confidence in Western civilization, how the youth of today misinterpret concepts like free speech, and why it's not too late to stop the West from imploding from within. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 06, 202232 min

How Do Tragedies Like Uvalde, Texas, Happen?

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with Lionel Shriver, author of We Need to Talk About Kevin, about what tragedies like the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre say about guns, mental health and young men, and if the tide will turn against cancel culture and the war on language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 31, 202238 min

The Collateral Damage of Lockdowns

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with biophysicist Michael Levitt about the economic and social damage caused by lockdowns, why there should have been more disagreement among the experts studying Covid-19, and why he thinks the politicization of science will get worse before it gets better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 23, 202238 min

Will the World Overcome the Russia and Covid Crises?

Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with geopolitical analyst Ian Bremmer about how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has revitalized the west and harmed Moscow, why cyberattacks are more of a threat than nuclear proliferation, and how the world now faces three major crises that will require a revival of American unity and purpose to overcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 17, 202240 min

Jonathan Turley and the Fallout From the Supreme Court Leak

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with legal scholar Jonathan Turley about the ramifications of the leak of the Supreme Court's draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, how legal and constitutional norms are being trampled and what the possible final ruling may mean for abortion, the law and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 09, 202235 min

Yoram Hazony and the Future of Conservatism

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with political theorist Yoram Hazony about how conservatism has gone astray from its roots and how it can be rescued by a new generation that embraces religion and traditional values at its heart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 02, 202234 min

Douglas Murray and the War on Western Culture

On this episode of Free Expression, author and commentator Douglas Murray speaks with WSJ Editor at Large Gerry Baker about how a culture war has been declared on the traditions and history of the West, the problem with looking at America through a racial lens, and how the United States has become "an exporter of bad ideas." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 25, 202239 min

Mike Pompeo on Not Underestimating Vladimir Putin

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about why Vladimir Putin did not attempt an invasion of Ukraine during the Trump administration, why Americans are worse off now than during Donald Trump's years in office, and whether Pompeo is considering a run for president in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 19, 202232 min

Garry Kasparov on Putin and "the Virus of Imperialism"

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with Russian-born chess grand master and outspoken Vladimir Putin critic Garry Kasparov about how the U.S. and its allies are still not taking the Russian menace seriously enough and why the future of the free world may depend on the collapse of the Putin regime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 11, 202233 min

Will Vladimir Putin Escalate the Brutality in Ukraine?

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about the need for a new US global strategy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, why Putin’s war is faltering and how the west should deal with the emerging challenges from the China-Russia alliance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 06, 202233 min

Orville Schell

Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks this week with author and scholar Orville Schell about whether China can put pressure on Russia to end the invasion of Ukraine and what effect it may have on Xi Jinping's own ambitions to forcibly reclaim Taiwan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 28, 202234 min

Dr. Albert Bourla

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor-at-Large Gerry Baker speaks with Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla about how his company was able to develop a Covid-19 vaccine in under a year, the risks of new variants, and why some people distrust scientific institutions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 21, 202232 min

Stephen Kotkin

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor-at-Large Gerry Baker speaks with one of the world’s pre-eminent historians of Russia, Stephen Kotkin, about the autocratic ambitions behind Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, how the west can do more to resist his aggression and how he has placed China at an inflection point in its rise to global superpower status. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 14, 202244 min

William P. Barr

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor-at-Large Gerry Baker speaks with William Barr about his tumultuous time as Attorney General in the Trump administration. Barr forcefully refutes Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen, states why Donald Trump should not run again in 2024, and explains how the Trump presidency began to turn the tide against the progressive march through U.S. culture and institutions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Mar 08, 202245 min

Niall Ferguson

On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with historian and author Niall Ferguson about why the war in Ukraine represents a paradigm shift for the world, why Vladimir Putin is “rattling the nuclear saber,” and how this crisis is worse for Joe Biden than the ones that engulfed Jimmy Carter’s presidency in 1979. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 28, 202240 min

Lawrence H. Summers

In this episode of "Free Expression," former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers tells Gerry Baker why he would have rather been wrong in predicting the high rate of inflation, why the risk of a recession is high, and why the idea of a federal gas tax holiday is "the ultimate policy gimmick." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 21, 202239 min