On his first day in office, in an executive order aimed at restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship, Donald Trump decreed that the First Amendment to the Constitution is “essential to the success of our republic.” Not long after, during an address to a joint session of Congress, the president declared it all a fait accompli. “I have stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America,” he said. “It’s back.” 

Palestinian activist and Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, whom ICE arrested over his advocacy against the war in Gaza, doesn’t think so. Neither does Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk, whom the Trump administration abducted off the street over an opinion piece she co-wrote in the student newspaper. Or the scores of student advocates and protesters who have seen their visas revoked or been marked for deportation. Or the colleges and universities that have seen their funding, and very existence, come under threat for not falling in line with the administration’s priorities. Or the news organizations that have been singled out for retaliation simply for making editorial decisions that the White House doesn’t like. And then there’s the law firms, nonprofits, and civic society organizations that fear they might be next on the president’s hit list—simply for standing up for their causes and clients.

“The Bully’s Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment,” a weekly podcast from the Knight Institute, will follow the Trump administration’s assault on the freedoms of speech and the press and will feature the people, communities, and institutions that are fighting back. Hosted by legal journalist Cristian Farias and lawyers from the Knight Institute, each episode will explore a major First Amendment story in the news and feature the people most affected by it.

Read more about the series here.

Launching on May 16, 2025, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

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Episode One: The Students Are Winning

In the first episode of “The Bully’s Pulpit,” host and journalist Cristian Farias describes a harrowing bail hearing for Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University Ph.D. student who was detained by ICE for co-authoring an opinion piece in a student newspaper, and reflects on the meaning of her shocking detention and now her freedom. Knight Institute Executive Director Jameel Jaffer joins Farias to discuss the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on First Amendment freedoms and the awe-inspiring resilience of students who have been threatened with deportation for their constitutionally protected speech.

Transcript: Ep. 1.

Further Reading


Episode Two: Farmers Fight Data Purge 

A mere ten days after President Trump took office in January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began purging climate-focused information from its web pages. Representing organic farmers and environmental activists, the Knight Institute and Earthjustice filed a lawsuit to restore the pages. Host Cristian Farias speaks with the Institute’s Stephanie Krent, an attorney on the case, and Wes Gillingham, organic farmer and board president of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the lawsuit’s lead plaintiff. They discuss how the data purge has already harmed farmers, how they’re fighting this form of “thought control,” and what this has to do with the First Amendment. 

Transcript: Ep. 2.

Further Reading

 

Episode Three: We Want to Look at Your Phone

The government has long invoked its authority to search traveler’s devices—whether owned by noncitizens or citizens—at the U.S. border. Under the second Trump administration, this practice only seems to be growing more aggressive and targeted. Host Cristian Farias speaks with the Institute’s Scott Wilkens, about the legal regime surrounding border searches, and with Amir Makled, an attorney whose smartphone was targeted for search by border agents following his legal representation of a pro-Palestine protester. They discuss how the omnipresence of digital devices and the presence of Ports of Entry at airports throughout the country have vastly expanded opportunities for the government to search and surveil travelers.

Transcript: Ep. 3.

Further Reading

Episode Four: Public Broadcasting Digs In

After issuing his own sweeping executive order, President Trump has sent a rescission notice to Congress seeking to eliminate all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which includes NPR and PBS. Host Cristian Farias speaks with Nadine Farid Johnson, the Institute’s policy director, to break down historical and ongoing attempts by both Congress and the Executive to defund independent public broadcasting. Tami Graham, executive director of Colorado-based public radio station KSUT, speaks about her station’s important work serving both tribal and broader communities, as well as KSUT’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over attempted funding cuts. In the face of major threats, public broadcasters are fighting to protect their independence.

Transcript: Ep. 4. 

Further Reading

 

Episode Five: Speaking Truth to Trump’s FCC

The Federal Communications Commission, under Trump-appointee Brendan Carr, is acting less like a watchdog and more like an attack dog. Host Cristian Farias talks to Katie Fallow, the Institute’s deputy director of litigation, about the FCC’s efforts to punish broadcasters for airing content the Trump administration doesn’t like. FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez speaks to the importance of an independent regulator unburdened by its leaders’ political objectives, and how the ongoing investigations threaten press freedom. 

Transcript: Ep. 5.  

Further Reading

Episode Six: ICE and LA's Day Laborers

The ICE raids in Los Angeles outside Home Depot stores and other public spaces have targeted day laborers seeking a day’s pay. Host Cristian Farias talks to immigration lawyer Ahilan Arulanantham about how these raids threaten a recognized First Amendment right of day laborers to seek work. Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, illuminates how day laborers have won hard-earned rights over decades of organizing and community-building.

Transcript: Ep. 6. 

Further Reading

Clarification: In this episode, we state that a 2011 federal appeals court ruling establishing a First Amendment right for day laborers to seek work in public also established the law for the entire nation. Instead, the case set binding precedent in the Ninth Circuit, and that precedent became persuasive authority for other courts throughout the nation.

 

Episode Seven: Protests, Deportations, and the Climate of Repression on Campus

In March 2025, the Knight Institute filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism. As the case heads to trial on July 7, host Cristian Farias speaks with Institute Litigation Director Alex Abdo about fighting back against the climate of repression and fear on university campuses wrought by attempts to deport multiple individuals for their pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Transcript: Ep. 7. 

Further Reading

 

Episode Eight: Amid Funding Cuts, Scientists Speak Out

Since taking office in January, President Trump has moved to cut federal funding to universities and other institutions carrying out academic research. Knight Institute Research Director Katy Glenn Bass tells host Cristian Farias about how the Trump administration is using the threat of cutting federal funding to try to enforce ideological conformity with the administration's views. With cuts affecting their research, Cornell Ph.D. students Isako Di Tomassi and Emma Scales talk about organizing the McClintock Letters, an initiative in which researchers from around the country are writing op-eds for local and state publications discussing how funding cuts are affecting their research and lives. Facing existential threats, scientists are finding new ways to communicate the importance of their research.

Transcript: Ep. 8. 

Further Reading

 

Episode Nine: Troubled Waters at the White House Press Pool

President Trump’s decision to block the Associated Press—and other journalists he dislikes—from the White House press pool is yet another clear attack on press freedom. Knight Institute Deputy Litigation Director Katie Fallow joins host Cristian Farias to discuss the legal implications of banning journalists from the pool, calling it a “classic First Amendment retaliation.” Longtime White House correspondent and HuffPost reporter S.V. Dáte speaks about the downstream effects these removals have had on both White House reporting and press freedom at large.

Further Reading

 

Preview: The Bully's Pulpit

Season credits

Producer: Ann Marie Awad and Candace White
Associate Producer: Kushal Dev
Host and Writer: Cristian Farias
Executive Producer: Candace White
Engineer: Patrick McNameeking
Fact-Checkers: Kushal Dev, Ellie Fivas, and Ella Sohn
Art: Astrid Da Silva