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Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All Kindle Edition

by Suzanne Nossel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 53
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"A must read."—Margaret Atwood

A vital, necessary playbook for navigating and defending free speech today by the CEO of PEN America, Dare To Speak provides a pathway for promoting free expression while also cultivating a more inclusive public culture.

Online trolls and fascist chat groups. Controversies over campus lectures. Cancel culture versus censorship. The daily hazards and debates surrounding free speech dominate headlines and fuel social media storms. In an era where one tweet can launch—or end—your career, and where free speech is often invoked as a principle but rarely understood, learning to maneuver the fast-changing, treacherous landscape of public discourse has never been more urgent.

In Dare To Speak, Suzanne Nossel, a leading voice in support of free expression, delivers a vital, necessary guide to maintaining democratic debate that is open, free-wheeling but at the same time respectful of the rich diversity of backgrounds and opinions in a changing country. Centered on practical principles, Nossel’s primer equips readers with the tools needed to speak one’s mind in today’s diverse, digitized, and highly-divided society without resorting to curbs on free expression.

At a time when free speech is often pitted against other progressive axioms—namely diversity and equality—Dare To Speak presents a clear-eyed argument that the drive to create a more inclusive society need not, and must not, compromise robust protections for free speech. Nossel provides concrete guidance on how to reconcile these two sets of core values within universities, on social media, and in daily life. She advises readers how to:

  • Use language conscientiously without self-censoring ideas;
  • Defend the right to express unpopular views;
  • And protest without silencing speech.

Nossel warns against the increasingly fashionable embrace of expanded government and corporate controls over speech, warning that such strictures can reinforce the marginalization of lesser-heard voices. She argues that creating an open market of ideas demands aggressive steps to remedy exclusion and ensure equal participation.

Replete with insightful arguments, colorful examples, and salient advice, Dare To Speak brings much-needed clarity and guidance to this pressing—and often misunderstood—debate.

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  5. Publication date
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From the Publisher

Suzanne Nossel, Dare to Speak, Dave Eggers, Margaret Atwood
Suzanne Nossel, Hilary Rodham Clinton, Dare to Speak
Suzanne Nossel, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Dare to Speak

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This brave, wise, succinct book is a must-read for writers, speakers, teachers, journalists, and, well, anyone who talks."

-- "Margaret Atwood, New York Times bestselling author"

About the Author

Suzanne Nossel is the CEO of PEN America, the foremost organization working to protect and advance human rights, free expression and literature. She has also served as the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA; and held senior State Department positions in the Clinton and Obama administrations. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Nossel frequently writes op-eds for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other publications, as well as a regular column for Foreign Policy magazine. She lives in New York City.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07W65XTXR
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dey Street Books (July 28, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 28, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3154 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 53

About the author

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Suzanne Nossel

Suzanne Nossel

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Suzanne Nossel currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of PEN America, the leading human rights and free expression organization. Since joining in 2013, she has doubled the organization’s staff, budget, and membership, spearheaded the unification with PEN Center USA in Los Angeles and the establishment of a Washington, D.C. office, and overseen groundbreaking work on free expression in Hong Kong and China, Myanmar, Eurasia, and the United States. She is a leading voice on free expression issues in the United States and globally, writing and being interviewed frequently for national and international media outlets. Her prior career spanned government service and leadership roles in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. She has served as the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. During the first term of the Obama Administration, Nossel served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, where she led U.S. engagement in the United Nations and multilateral institutions, on human rights and humanitarian issues. During the Clinton Administration, Nossel was Deputy to the U.S. Ambassador for UN Management and Reform at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she was the lead negotiator in settling U.S. arrears to the world body. During her corporate career, Nossel served as Vice President of U.S. Business Development for Bertelsmann and as Vice President for Strategy and Operations for the Wall Street Journal. Nossel coined the term “Smart Power,” which was the title of a 2004 article she published in Foreign Affairs Magazine and later became the theme of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tenure in office. Nossel is a featured columnist for Foreign Policy magazine and has published op-eds in The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and dozens of other outlets, as well as scholarly articles in Foreign Affairs, Dissent, Democracy, and other journals. Nossel serves on the Board of Directors of the Tides Foundation. She is a former senior fellow at the Century Foundation, the Center for American Progress, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Nossel is a magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
53 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mount Vernon
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, timely, thought-provoking book that's fun to read
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2020
Verified Purchase
This excellent book is made for the moment. Nossel offers a nuanced look at the current state of free speech in America. Using many fascinating examples from high profile controversies, she gives us a practical roadmap for how to be more thoughtful speakers and listeners and how to protect free expression in an era of cancel culture. She also explains the legal framework in a way that is both accessible and thought-provoking.
3 people found this helpful
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Constant Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable and Relevant
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2020
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Dare to Speak is a terrific guide to understanding and managing the landmines around speech. So many great case studies/examples that bring concepts to life and a ton of advice on how to approach different challenges. Really valuable to my work and life.
One person found this helpful
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Deb S
4.0 out of 5 stars Well spoken but a touch heavy
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2023
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Nossel does an excellent job putting forth an argument for the necessity of free speech in society. My only complaint: at times this book is occasionally redundant.
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NYC reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Relevant, thoughtful and wise
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2020
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Dare to Speak tackles one of the thorniest and most important dilemmas of our time. This wise and thoughtful book presents both a powerful analysis and practical recommendations for finding common ground and defending our most important freedom. A very worthwhile read.
2 people found this helpful
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Gabriel Noah Brahm
5.0 out of 5 stars Dare to Speak, But Watch What You Say
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2020
This beautifully written book is a page-turner, elucidating one after another of our current dilemmas over how to preserve Americans’ constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech while at the same time avoiding microaggressions. For if, in general, free speech exists to seek truth (in science and the arts), promote republican self-government (in politics and civil society), and inculcate manly assertiveness among the citizenry (as opposed to the timidity characteristic of dependents on state power); then how, in particular, can the dignity of the marginalized (the preferred term now, one learns, is “excluded”) be protected against insult without undermining what it means to be American (or what it’s like to be included)? Nossel threads the needle by showing how responsible speech, sensitive to the changing words for things (what Steven Pinker dismissively calls “the euphemism treadmill”) can avoid needlessly angering strangers in a diverse society without impinging on the substance of what needs to be said. For example, don’t ask rudely, “where are you from?” but instead inquire, more tactfully, “tell me about your background?” The cure for hateful speech is not just more speech, but speech more attuned to today’s sensitivities. Watch your pronouns, for the good of humankind, which includes all persons with uteruses. The cancel culture is wrong to want to censor you, so don’t confuse these commonsense recommendations with “self-censorship.” Rather, this practical guide to avoiding irritating and embarrassing encounters with one’s moral superiors promises to take some of the unnecessary friction out of our collective advance toward a safer society, without sacrificing liberty for the sake of equality (or “equity and inclusion”). At least until our universities ease-off on teaching people to hate their country and despise their parents, the handy tips contained here are going to be important for anyone with college-age children. Anyone afraid of getting reprimanded at work can likewise benefit. Moreover, everyone who believes in upholding the principles of our First Amendment culture during a time of demographic change and evolving mores owes the author a debt of gratitude. The next time somebody tries to “cancel” someone else, hand both of them a copy of this terrific book instead. In sum, dare to speak—but watch what you say!
9 people found this helpful
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Jill Minor
5.0 out of 5 stars Responsibilities and rights of free speakers
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2020
A solid defense of free speech from a liberal point of view. Nossel is a member of PEN America and served in the Obama administration. She has a long history of representing people around the world whose rights of self-expression have been violated, and brings her experience to bear in the book. I appreciated the organization of the book into short chapters and sections, the extensive endnotes, and the bullet points of takeaways at the conclusion of each chapter.

Nossel is a super-clear thinker and writer. If her writing were a running stream, you could count the scales on the fish. I was surprised and pleased to find thorough coverage of the myriad responsibilities that accrue to speakers in our society, including the importance of carefully listening before speaking and how to listen properly, the duty to not only include but to amplify marginalized voices and strategies for doing so. The author also argues that simply saying "more speech" or "counterspeech" is the answer to free speech conflicts is insufficient and goes a long way toward illustrating what speech-counterspeech exchanges might be productive and which are likely to be unproductive.

The author includes the history of U. S. jurisprudence around speech, but the parts about the law never become boring or pedantic. A brilliant treatise.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley and was encouraged to write an honest review.
One person found this helpful
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Avid Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Very wordy, can't return pre-orders!
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
I pre-ordered this book for Kindle in April, and was looking forward to reading it. When it dropped last Tuesday, I was surprised by how long-winded it is . Other authors have been able to share the same useful information in fewer words, making a bigger impact. I decided to return the book, but surprised to learn Amazon's return window had closed a week after I ordered it in April - three months before the book was available! I won't be pre-ordering any more Kindle books.
6 people found this helpful
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