OUR SPEAKERS AND PANELISTS - 2025
Jacob Mchangama
Jacob Mchangama
Founder and Executive Director, The Future of Free Speech
Tyler Cowen
Tyler Cowen
Professor of economics, columnist and blogger
Rikki Schlott
Rikki Schlott
Journalist, co-author, and podcast host on Bill Maher’s network.
Greg Lukianoff
Greg Lukianoff
FIRE CEO and co-author of The Coddling and Canceling of the American Mind.
Peter Boghossian
Peter Boghossian
Socratic method expert, educator, and founder at University of Austin.
John Wood Jr.
John Wood Jr.
National leader for Braver Angels, Columnist for USA TODAY
Thomas Chatterton Williams
Thomas Chatterton Williams
Atlantic writer, author, and Bard visiting professor.
Michael Moynihan
Michael Moynihan
Michael Moynihan is an American journalist, former National Correspondent for Vice News.
Nathasha Edirisooriya
Nathasha Edirisooriya
Sri Lankan stand‑up comedian and human rights advocate
Dr. Nita Farahany
Dr. Nita Farahany
Professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and the author of The Battle for Your Brain
Yascha Mounk
Yascha Mounk
Persuasion founder, podcast host, and author of The Identity Trap.
Sarah Isgur
Sarah Isgur
Senior editor at The Dispatch, legal analyst, and former DOJ spokesperson.
Faisal Saeed Al Mutar
Faisal Saeed Al Mutar
Founder, Ideas Beyond Borders; social entrepreneur in Middle East development.
Renée DiResta
Renée DiResta
Professor, writer and former research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory.
Dr. William B Irvine
Dr. William B Irvine
Philosophy professor and author of The Guide to the Good Life.
David French
David French
NYT columnist and co-host of a leading legal podcast.
Prof. Randall Kennedy
Prof Randall Kennedy
Professor at Harvard Law School , author, and public intellectual
Peter Greste
Peter Greste
Journalism professor and press freedom advocate at Macquarie University.
Glen Weyl
Glen Weyl
Founder, Plural Technology at Microsoft and tech liberty initiatives.
Prof. Ge Chen
Prof. Ge Chen
Associate professor at Durham Law School and 2025 award winner of the Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression
Bay Fang
Bay Fang
President of Radio Free Asia; former journalist and U.S. diplomat
Samantha Barbas
Samantha Barbas
Samantha Barbas is a professor of law and Aliber Family Chair in Law at the University of Iowa College of Law.
Tarik Beyhan
Tarik Beyhan
Human rights and digital rights advocate; ex-Amnesty campaign director.
John Tomasi
John Tomasi
President of Heterodox Academy, and for many years the Romeo Elton 1844 Professor at Brown University.
Chemi Lhamo
Chemi Lhamo
Tibetan-Canadian activist and the Canadian representative for the International Tibet Network's Steering Committee
Jonathan Turley
Jonathan Turley
American attorney, legal scholar, writer and legal analyst
Jodie Ginsberg
Jodie Ginsberg
CEO, Committee to Protect Journalists; media freedom advocate.
Kevin Goldberg
Kevin Goldberg
Vice president and first amendment expert at Freedom Forum
Matthew Johnson-Roberson
Matthew Johnson-Roberson
Dean of Vanderbilt University's College of Connected Computing
Nikola Ilic
Nikola Ilic
Leadership professor, social entrepreneur, and life-long democracy activist
Alsu Kurmasheva
Alsu Kurmasheva
Journalist and editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Mariam Southwell
Mariam Southwell
Co-founder of Diatove and Georgian activist.
Dr. Alice Siu
Dr. Alice Siu
Political communication expert at Stanford’s Deliberative Democracy Lab.
Jonathan Rauch
Jonathan Rauch
Jonathan Rauch, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is the author of The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth.
Agustina Del Campo
Agustina Del Campo
Agustina Del Campo is a law professor and directs the CELE at Universidad de Palermo, specializing in freedom of expression and international human rights law.
Mary Kate Cary
Mary Kate Cary
Mary Kate Cary is Director of Think Again at UVA and a former White House speechwriter.
Carlos Affonso Souza
Carlos Affonso Souza
Carlos Affonso Souza is a professor at UERJ and Director of ITS Rio, known for his work on Brazil’s Internet Bill of Rights and current leadership in tech policy, data protection, and AI regulation.
Daniel Diermeier
Daniel Diermeier
Chancellor, Vanderbilt University
Ben Brooks
Ben Brooks
Affiliate at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center and Head of Public Policy at Black Forest Labs
Usama Khilji
Usama Khilji
Digital rights activist and Bolo Bhi co-founder in Pakistan
Rod Smolla
Rod Smolla
Professor of Law at Vermont Law and Graduate School, and Senior Counsel at Meier Watkins Phillips Pusch in Washington, DC
Ashkhen Kazaryan
Ashkhen Kazaryan
A Senior Legal Fellow at The Future of Free Speech.
Francesca Procaccini
Francesca Procaccini
Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University Law School.
Jordi Calvet-Bademunt
Jordi Calvet-Bademunt
Senior Research Fellow at The Future of Free Speech and a Visiting Scholar at Vanderbilt University.
Jacob N. Shapiro
Jacob N. Shapiro
Jacob Shapiro is a John Foster Dulles Professor of International Affairs at Princeton University.
Shikha Dalmia
Shikha Dalmia
Founder and President of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism and editor of The UnPopulist
Kyung Sin Park
Kyung Sin Park
Professor, Korea University Law School; Director, Open Net Korea