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WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans view college campuses as far friendlier to liberals than to conservatives when it comes to free speech, with adults across the political spectrum seeing less tolerance for those on the right, according to a new poll. More recently, a conservative Princeton University professor was drowned out while discussing free speech at Washington College, a small school in Maryland. Overall, Republicans see a clear double standard on college campuses. “The reality is that there’s free speech for everyone on college campuses,” said Fleisher, a linguistics professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. But as the nation has become more politically divided, so have college campuses, said Kristen Shahverdian, senior manager for education at PEN.

Persons: you’re, ”, Rhonda Baker, Donald Trump, ’, Chris Gauvin, “, Gauvin, Nicholas Fleisher, Fleisher, Kristen Shahverdian, Morgan Ashford, Linda Woodward, Mike Darlington, Ilya Shapiro, Shapiro, Gene VanZandt, ___, ___ Gecker Organizations: WASHINGTON, University of Chicago, The Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, Republicans, Republican, Stanford University, Princeton University, Washington College, Overall, Yale University, Congress, GOP, American Association of University, University of Wisconsin, PEN America, PEN, Democrat, Troy University, Stanford, Foundation, Rights, University of, Manhattan Institute, Darlington, Associated Press, Carnegie Corporation of New, AP Locations: Goldsboro , North Carolina, Maryland, Manchester, Conn, Milwaukee, Alabama, Ashford, “, Hot Springs, , Arkansas, Darlington, Chesterfield County , Virginia, Hampton , Virginia, San Francisco, Carnegie Corporation of New York

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for New College of Florida, the traditionally progressive public liberal arts college that was taken over by allies of Gov. “Over time, we hope to build an online institute that helps protect other communities facing similar attacks,” the Alt New College website said. But attorneys for Sarasota, Florida-based New College said in a letter last Thursday that the online institute may be violating the school’s trademark and is likely to cause confusion. The attorneys demanded that Alt New College stop using the “New College” name. Gavin Newsom of California in which he sharply criticized DeSantis and the changes under way at New College.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, ”, New College provosts, “, DeSantis, Richard Corcoran, Gavin Newsom Organizations: New College of Florida, Gov, Alt, Alt New, New College, Bard College, PEN America, New, “ New, ”, Democratic Gov Locations: SARASOTA, Fla, New York, Sarasota , Florida, California

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Thursday that Egypt's poor human rights record hasn't improved, but it won't withhold as much military aid as it did last year regardless. Egypt has been a top recipient of U.S. military aid since it signed a U.S.-brokered peace deal with Israel in 1979. Congress in recent years has attached restrictions meant to pressure Egyptian leaders to curb human rights abuses to a comparatively small portion of the more than $1 billion in annual military aid to the country. Rights groups and some congressional Democrats had urged the Biden administration to take a hard line against Egypt on human rights, while some lawmakers said strategic interests should be prioritized. U.S. officials said the decision announced Thursday did not signal that the U.S. believed Egypt had made progress on human rights.

Persons: —, Biden, Abdel Fattah el, ” Amr Magdi, ” Magdi, Hisham Kassem, Sen, Chris Murphy, Sisi, Kassem, Jamal Khashoggi, “, Matthew Lee Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, State Department, Human Rights, Connecticut Democrat, Freedom, U.S . State Department, PEN, Amnesty International, Amnesty, Saudi, Newsweek Locations: Egypt, U.S, Israel, Connecticut, Taiwan, Ukraine, PEN America, Saudi Arabia

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Awards dropped Drew Barrymore as the host for this year's ceremony on Tuesday, a day after her talk show taped its first episode since the Hollywood writers strike began. “The National Book Awards is an evening dedicated to celebrating the power of literature, and the incomparable contributions of writers to our culture," the organization said in a statement. “I think first and foremost, this is obviously way bigger than just ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ and writers. Barrymore drew criticism from members of both guilds for crossing the picket line. When Barrymore was announced as host of this year's National Book Awards, scheduled for Nov. 15, the chair of the National Book Foundation's board of directors lauded her work championing books.

Persons: Drew Barrymore, “, ” Chelsea White, ’, Barrymore, ”, Ted Sarandos, Oprah Winfrey, ” David Steinberger, Winfrey, Ms, John Carucci, Ryan Pearson Organizations: Hollywood, Foundation, CBS, American Federation of Radio, Television Artists, WGA, MTV, Netflix, May's PEN, PEN, Associated Press Locations: hollywood

☆ Why Trump’s latest indictment will reverberate for years to come
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

And he’s not just any former president – Trump’s the front-runner for the GOP nomination, whom polling shows is closely matched with President Joe Biden in a hypothetical rematch. “The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes,” it said. Trump’s congressional Republican backers ignored Smith’s evidence, branding the indictment an attempt to distract from questions they’ve raised about the business activities of the current president’s son, Hunter. The political inferno ignited by the indictment will raise questions about whether such an ordeal is truly in the national interest. Ron DeSantis stands to gain in the GOP primary from any eroding of Trump’s political prospects.

Persons: CNN —, Donald J, Trump ”, “, –, Joe Biden, George Washington, Jack Smith’s, Trump, President Trump, they’ve, Hunter, Smith, insurrectionists, …, Biden, they’d, Scott Jennings, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Mike Pence, it’s, ” Smith, ” George Conway, John Lauro, ”, Jeffrey Clark, ” Clark, Pence, Trump’s, Ron DeSantis, Kevin McCarthy, Wyoming Sen, John Barrasso –, weaponizing, Chris Sununu, who’s Organizations: CNN, GOP, Trump, Biden, Department, Republicans, New York Times, Siena, Justice Department, Republican, White House, Trump thickens, White, Justice, Florida Gov, Harvard Law, US Navy, Capitol, New Hampshire Republican Gov Locations: United States, America, Washington, Manhattan, Nazi Germany, Fulton County , Georgia, Wyoming

☆ Publishers, booksellers sue Texas over public school book ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 26 (Reuters) - A coalition of booksellers, authors and publishers has sued Texas seeking to block a new state law that bans "sexually explicit" books from public schools. Vendors that do not participate will be barred from selling any books to Texas schools. Any books rated explicit cannot be sold to public schools and must be recalled from libraries. Republican Governor Greg Abbott has said the Texas law protects children, declaring that it "gets that trash out of our schools" when he signed it in June. In May, the writers' group PEN America and others sued a Florida school district for banning books dealing with LGBTQ and race issues.

Persons: Greg Abbott, Joseph Ax, Colleen Jenkins, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Republican, Texas Education Agency, PEN America, American Library Association, Thomson Locations: Texas, Austin, Florida, Arkansas

In the past two years, book bans have surged in the United States, driven by conservative activists who have targeted books about race and racism or L.G.B.T.Q. While the fight has largely centered on books that are available in school classrooms and libraries, the legislation in Texas has drawn booksellers directly into the conflict. “Some school libraries have books with sexually explicit and vulgar materials,” he said during the bill signing session. But the plaintiffs said that the Texas law would take decisions out of the hands of schools and parents and put the burden on vendors instead. The law’s opponents also argue the legislation will increase the number of book bans in Texas, which already leads the country in removing books from schools, according to an analysis by the free speech organization PEN America.

Persons: Greg Abbott, ”, “ Organizations: PEN America Locations: United States, Texas

☆ Obama slams 'profoundly misguided' effort to ban books in message to America's librarians
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Obama slammed efforts to ban books in a message to the nation's librarians. Obama said banning books is antithetical "to what has made this country great." "It's also important to understand that the world is watching," Obama wrote in a public letter to the nation's librarians. "I believe such an approach is profoundly misguided, and contrary to what has made this country great," he wrote. According to The Post, Obama also filmed a series of TikToks with local libraries across the country to push his message.

Persons: Obama, Barack Obama, It's, Joe Biden's, Biden, MAGA Organizations: Service, Post, PEN America, The, NPR, Politico, Republican, Social Locations: Wall, Silicon, Washington

☆ ‘Building Something Together’: Translators Discuss Their Art
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There are as many ways of translating a literary text as there are translators. Literary translators have, however, historically received little recognition. Efforts by translators and by organizations like PEN America, which recently issued a manifesto on literary translation, have brought the field greater visibility, helping to cement the rights of translators and to raise awareness of literary translation as a creative art in its own right. Mui Poopoksakul is a Thailand-born lawyer turned literary translator. Bruna Dantas Lobato, originally from Brazil, is a literary translator from Portuguese and a writer.

Persons: Samantha Schnee, Allison Markin Powell, Jeremy Tiang, Mui, Bruna Dantas, JULIANA BARBASSA, Isaac Bashevis Singer Organizations: PEN America, Times, Conference, PEN Locations: Singapore, Thailand, Brazil

☆ A South Carolina teacher had her AP lesson shut down after students snitched that she planned to have them read Ta-Nehisi Coates' memoir
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A South Carolina teacher's lesson was shut down after students complained they were uncomfortable. The AP English lesson included reading Ta-Nehisi Coates' 2015 memoir on racism "Between the World and Me." This past spring, Chapin High School English teacher Mary Wood included Coates' book in her lesson plan before the AP English Language exam, according to lesson plans and documents obtained by The State. Wood said in the documents that she had taught Coates' memoir the prior academic year with no issue, The State added. Young compared the situation to the AP African American Studies course debacle in Florida, which also involved the removal Coates' writing from lesson plans.

Persons: Nehisi Coates, Coates, —, Mary Wood, AP Lang, Wood, Jeremy C, Young, doesn't, that's, hasn't Organizations: PEN America, Service, Carolina teacher's, Chapin High School English, The State, AP, Chapin High School, AP African American Studies, South, South Carolina Republicans, Associated Press, GOP Locations: Carolina, America, South Carolina, The, Florida

☆ Illinois becomes first state to pass law curtailing book bans
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, signed the historic measure into law on Monday in a Chicago library. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, the governor's office said in a statement. "Here in Illinois, we don't hide from the truth, we embrace it," Pritzker said. Under the new law, Illinois public libraries can only access state grants if they adopt the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights, which stipulates that "materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval." Other states may choose to embrace prejudice and divisive ideologies, but our state is going in a better direction," said Democratic State Representative Anne Stava-Murray, who represents Downers Grove, in support of the Illinois measure.

Persons: J.B, Pritzker, shouldn't, Laura Hois, We're, Representative Anne Stava, Murray, Maia Kobabe, Toni Morrison, Amanda Gorman, Joe Biden's, Brendan O'Brien, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Illinois, American, Association's, Republican, PEN America, American Library Association, ALA, ABC, Democratic, Representative, Downers, Thomson Locations: Illinois, United States, Chicago, U.S, Florida, Texas, Downers Grove, Utah , Missouri, Miami, Dade County

☆ The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love’ set her latest novel in Russia. Now she’s asking her own publisher to withdraw it after Ukrainian readers expressed their disappointment.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Lauren Steussy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elizabeth Gilbert set her latest novel, "The Snow Forest" in Soviet Russia. "It is not the time for this book to be published," she said in a Twitter video Monday. Elizabeth Gilbert told her fans Monday on Twitter that now "is not the time" for her book, "The Snow Forest," to be published. Gilbert's best-selling memoir "Eat, Pray, Love," about finding love and wanderlust in midlife, was made into a 2010 blockbuster starring Julia Roberts. Readers also took to social media to reach Gilbert and urge her to reconsider publishing the book.

Persons: Elizabeth Gilbert, —, Gilbert's, Julia Roberts, Gilbert, Readers, hasn't Organizations: Twitter, Penguin Random, Riverhead Books, Riverhead, New York Times, PEN America, Wall Street Locations: Soviet Russia, Russia, Ukraine, midlife, Siberia, Soviet, russia

☆ Upstart News Site Has Youth on Its Side, and Albany in Its Sights
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Ginia Bellafante | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Out of these and other revelations came the notion for New York Focus, a nonprofit news site. But it would distinguish itself by concentrating on the way that power is exercised in Albany and how it filters down and affects almost everything. The order would have also prevented Mr. Lennon and writers like him from getting paid. A day after the New York Focus piece appeared, the corrections department rescinded the directive. In November New York Focus, with the Intercept as a partner, published the results of a yearlong investigation into allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Ulster County.

Persons: Mehta’s, Sam Mellins, Lee Harris, John J, Lennon, sodomizing Organizations: York, state’s Department of Corrections, Community Supervision, Sullivan Correctional, New York, New York Times Magazine, New, PEN America, Shawangunk Locations: City, Hell, New York City, Albany, Chicago, York, New York, Ulster County

☆ Opinion: Ambitious, tech-savvy and jobless. Why India’s young people could reshape the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Opinion Snigdha Poonam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Her book, “Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World,” was longlisted in 2019 for the PEN America Literary Awards. Unlike China, which leveraged its demographic dividend through large-scale factory employment, India’s economic growth does not rely on young workers manufacturing goods. Catering to a market of 750 million smartphone users, India’s fast-growing gig economy is attracting young workers in great numbers. As incidents of abuse and exploitation pile up, many of India’s gig workers are questioning their career choice. Feeding the social media monsterThere are other ways in which India’s young people are shaping the future of technology.

Persons: ”, Raju Rai, Rai, “, ” Rai, Dhiraj Singh, Mithun Kumar, Kumar, hyperlocal, Jewel Samad, Mohit Yadav, Monu Manesar Organizations: PEN, CNN, Delhi CNN, Facebook, Catering, Bloomberg, Getty, YouTube, Big Tech, Twitter, New York Times Locations: Delhi, India, Thailand, Indian, Varanasi, Bangkok, Myanmar, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Southeast Asia, Europe, China, Mumbai, Bihar, Covid, AFP

☆ Biden Administration Announces Indo-Pacific Deal, Clashing With Industry Groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Ana Swanson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration announced Saturday that it had reached an agreement with 13 other countries in the Indo-Pacific region to coordinate supply chains, in an effort to lessen the countries’ dependence on China for critical products and allow them to better weather crises like wars, pandemics and climate change. The supply chain agreement is the first result of the administration’s trade initiative in the region, called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Negotiations are continuing for the other three pillars of the agreement, which focus on facilitating trade and improving conditions for workers, expanding the use of clean energy, and reforming tax structures and fighting corruption. Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, said the supply chain agreement would deepen America’s economic cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region, helping American companies do business there and making the United States more competitive globally. “Bottom line is, this is about increasing the U.S. economic presence in the region,” she said in a call with reporters Thursday.

☆ A Florida parent tried to get Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem banned from school — and confused her with Oprah
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Florida parent tried to get Amanda Gorman's poetry banned, complaining it could "indoctrinate students." Gorman said she is "gutted," but the school told Insider the poem isn't bannedGorman slammed the situation on Twitter, repeating claims that the school banned the book. "Because of one parent's complaint, my inaugural poem, 'The Hill We Climb,' has been banned from an elementary school in Miami-Dade County." The organization, along with Penguin Randomhouse, filed a lawsuit against a Florida school district over the book bans, the Miami Herald reported. "I wrote 'The Hill We Climb' to that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment.

☆ Opinion: A button, a love story, and an Iranian couple who will not be silenced
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Opinion Jeff Kaufman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

We were also moved by the continued defiance represented by the “I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab” button that Nasrin wore on her jacket. Iranian couple Nasrin Sotoudeh and Reza Khandan, with their friend and fellow activist Farhad Meysami (center) after being released from prison earlier this year following a lengthy hunger strike. Nasrin: When Reza and I first met, we were working at a magazine that presented a dialogue on social issues. Kaufman: Nasrin, you have one of the last “I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab” buttons in Iran (the government destroyed the rest). Reza KhandanFor example, when I was arrested, Reza and Farhad made the ‘I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab’ buttons in the hope that people would wear them.

“The attack on books, the attack on teaching, the attack on libraries, in – how can I put this – Florida, has never been more dangerous, never been more important to fight,” he said. Rushdie spoke at the PEN America Gala in New York City, praising the literary and free speech advocacy group for its latest efforts to block politicians and local officials seeking to ban literature concerning race and gender identity. PEN America, along with book publisher Penguin Random House and several parents and authors, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging Florida’s Escambia County school district’s removal of certain books on race and LGBTQ issues from school libraries. “I was really proud to hear yesterday that PEN America, together with my publisher Penguin Random House, has taken this step of bringing a lawsuit in Florida,” Rushdie said. “Tonight, we recognize the courage of an Iranian writer, and we’ve done so over and over (with) writers from all over the world.

☆ This PTA Mom From Escambia County Is Suing Her School District For Banning Books - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

in bright-red Escambia County, Fla., knows that coming out as a public face in the fight against book banning could make her life difficult, but she’s made peace with it. “I don’t want my business to suffer,” the optometrist and mother of elementary school-age girls told me. I’m not one to keep my mouth shut.”Durtschi is part of a groundbreaking lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, against the Escambia County School District and Escambia County School Board for their sweeping school library censorship. In addition to Durtschi and another Escambia County parent, the plaintiffs include the free expression organization PEN America, Penguin Random House and a group of authors of children’s and young adult books. The suit seeks to have Escambia’s book restrictions declared unconstitutional for targeting specific viewpoints and for infringing on the rights of students to receive information.

☆ The world's biggest publisher is suing a Florida school district for banning books by writers including Toni Morrison and Khaled Hosseini
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Penguin Random House is suing a Florida school district and board after it banned certain books. Penguin Random House has joined forces with an authors' group to sue a Florida school district after it banned a number of books. Books removed or restricted by Escambia include "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, and "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. All have had books removed from libraries or had student access restricted by the district, PEN America said in a press release. "The book removals and restrictions enacted by the School District and School Board are denying students access to books they would like to read, or chilling such access."

☆ Salman Rushdie Makes Surprise Appearance at PEN America Gala
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“We see free speech threatened on all sides, from the left and the right,” Suzanne Nossel, who has been PEN America’s chief executive since 2013, said in an interview before the gala. But this is a really important time to shore it up as a cultural and constitutional value. That’s part of what the gala does.”The gala itself has been affected by the complexities of the current moment. “As a free speech organization, we must go to the utmost lengths to avoid sidelining speech or being seen to do so,” she said. “Nothing puts you at ease at an event like seeing Salman Rushdie,” he said to titters.

☆ Penguin Random House and Florida parents sue school district over book bans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A selection of books including "The Bluest Eye," by Toni Morrison, that have been the subject of complaints from parentsPenguin Random House, authors, parents and an advocacy group filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a Florida school district for removing 10 books related to race and the LGBTQ community after a high school teacher complained. In addition to the publishing house, PEN America, a nonprofit group that advocates for free expression in literature, five authors whose books have been removed from the district, and two parents whose children go to school in the district filed the suit against the Escambia County School District and the Escambia County School Board in Pensacola, Florida. "The clear agenda behind the campaign to remove the books is to categorically remove all discussion of racial discrimination or LGBTQ issues from public school libraries. Neither the district nor the school board immediately returned requests for comment. More than 100 other titles are restricted and require parental approval for access.

☆ Journalist Resigns From Board After PEN America Cancels Russian Writers Panel
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Boycotts of Russian artists and culture have been a topic of debate across the cultural world since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. But Nossel, who has spoken out against such boycotts, said the question had yet to fully reach PEN until now. But there were no Russian writers in the festival, which was smaller than usual due to Covid concerns. Ukrainian writers’ concerns about appearing with Russians had been raised earlier this year, Nossel said, when discussions about the festival began. Reached by email, Chapeye said he believed that “a Ukrainian soldier cannot be seen under the same ‘umbrella’ with Russian participants for political / public image reasons.”

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Novelist Salman Rushdie has warned that countries in the West face the most severe threats to freedom of expression and freedom to publish in his lifetime, speaking nine months after a man repeatedly stabbed him onstage in New York. Rushdie, 75, was awarded the 'Freedom to Publish' award by The British Book Awards on Monday. "We live in a moment, I think, at which freedom of expression, freedom to publish has not in my lifetime been under such threat in the countries of the West,” Rushdie said in a video message from New York broadcast to the award ceremony. "The freedom to publish, of course, is also the freedom to read and the freedom to write, the ability to write what you want ... to be able to choose what you want to read and not have it decided for you externally." “In the countries in the West, until recently, there was a fair measure of freedom in the area of publishing.

☆ Striking Hollywood Writers Disrupt TV’s Major Ad Event
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( John Koblin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Other major media companies — including Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Still, media executives have been anxiously awaiting the fallout from the prospect of hundreds of writers assembling on picket lines. Negotiations between the major Hollywood studios and the Writers Guild of America, the union that represents the writers, broke down on May 1, and 11,500 writers for television and film immediately went on strike. But the writers are not just demonstrating outside the major studios. They have gone far afield as well, setting up pickets outside productions in Maplewood, N.J., Chicago and Philadelphia.

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