Under Trump and Project 2025, censorship isn’t creeping in — it’s charging full force. From gutting public media and defunding the arts to banning words like “diversity” and “trauma,” the far-right agenda aims to erase marginalized voices, rewrite culture, and muzzle dissent. By reviving the Comstock Act, weaponizing the FCC, and attacking DEI and online speech, this authoritarian blueprint threatens free expression, queer visibility, and artistic resistance. But artists, educators, and activists aren’t staying silent — they’re fighting back with truth, satire, and solidarity. This episode is a wake-up call to resist the silencing machine.
Resources cited in this episode:
Defunding public broadcasting:
Trump wants to cut NPR and PBS funding. He could succeed this time | US news | The Guardian
Will Trump Defund NPR And PBS? Here’s What We Know As President Attacks The Broadcasters
Voice of America has to provide accurate, objective and comprehensive news – could that all change?
Kari Lake meets with Voice of America’s overseers, raising concerns over its independence
FCC: Project-2025-Civil-Rights-Technology.pdf
NEA: Trump Executive Orders Target the Arts, Culture, and Science Sectors
Kennedy Center: How Trump’s influence is reshaping the Kennedy Center
Banned terms: The List of Trump’s Forbidden Words That Will Get Your Paper Flagged at NSF
Comstock Act: Democrats Introduce Legislation to Serve as Barrier for Impending Comstock Act Revival
Age verification for porn: AVP Association Update on Recent Developments
Section 230: 2025’s Implications for the Telecommunications Industry
Times v Sullivan: A Supreme Court Ruling Could End Press Freedom as We Know It
Further reading:
At NSF, executive orders add up to a culture of fear
Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Centre, explained
Trump Administration Threatens ‘Extreme’ Cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities
Not deregulation but heavy-handed regulation at the Trump FCC
Will Trump target America’s public broadcasters? It’s complicated
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