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President Trump’s latest anti-broadcast media actions are portrayed in legacy media as being unprecedented. While they definitely are outrageous, they hardly are the first time presidents have used federal agencies to go after broadcast opposition.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/presidents-have-long-history-using-fcc-silence-their-critics
The government runs out of money next Tuesday. Trump’s threatened “mass firings” if it shuts down. Earlier this year, Democrats played ball. But now, one Democratic Senator explains why he’s approaching things differently.
Guest: Chris Van Hollen, Democratic Senator from Maryland.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.
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The government runs out of money next Tuesday. Trump’s threatened “mass firings” if it shuts down. Earlier this year, Democrats played ball. But now, one Democratic Senator explains why he’s approaching things differently.
Guest: Chris Van Hollen, Democratic Senator from Maryland.
This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.
Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.
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We’ve been on quite the journey with our First Amendment-guaranteed right to free speech, haven’t we? This week, we had the reinstatement of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after Kimmel was suspended – thanks to the FCC threatening to take action against networks that chose to carry his show. And President Trump is still threatening to sue ABC in response to Kimmel’s return. You know, the President of the United States sure does have a lot of time on his hands to threaten talk-show hosts, get his political opponents indicted by the state, and rant about… escalators, for some reason. Which is odd, given that we’re staring down the barrel of a government shutdown if Congress can’t find a path to get the government funded in the next four days. So to talk more about the shutdown, our crisis of free speech, lawfare, and whether he’s worried he could become Trump’s next target, we spoke to Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin.
And in headlines, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly summons top military officers to Virginia for a surprise meeting next week. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in front of the United Nations that Palestinians will not leave their homeland, and President Donald Trump reminisces on when he was in …exile?
Show Notes:
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Why would Donald Trump rush to announce that Tylenol is a potential cause of autism, a claim unsupported by the research?
Guest: Dan Diamond, White House reporter for the Washington Post.
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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.
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FCC chair Brendan Carr’s “easy way or hard way” threat to TV broadcasters lit a censorship firestorm this week. Our Cato panel digs into the government's jawboning, broadcast licensees' “junior-varsity” First Amendment rights, and whether it’s time to scrap the FCC altogether. Plus, the latest on AI regulation and the art of the TikTok deal.
Featuring Gene Healy, Ryan Bourne, Brent Skorup and Jennifer Huddleston
Brent Skorup, "Jimmy Kimmel, the FCC, and Why Broadcasters Still Have “Junior Varsity” First Amendment Rights," September 19, 2025.
Ilya Somin, "Abolish the FCC," September 18, 2025.
David Inserra and John Samples, "Kimmel Cancellation a Dangerous Sign for Free Speech," September 24, 202
Jennifer Huddelston, "Trump’s TikTok Reprieve Won’t Fix the Law’s Free Speech Problems," February 3, 2025.
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The machinery of mass deportations has been operating both in plain sight and out of view since President Donald Trump took office back in January. As millions of people are being deported, thousands more are stuck in detention facilities across the country. In fact, the exact number of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention right now is 58,766, according to ICE data. The vast majority have no criminal record, but the Trump administration is denying them bond at an astounding rate, forcing them to stay in dirty and decrepit detention facilities for months on end with no hope of getting their day in court. But aside from that, there’s a lot we don’t know about the immigration system, as it’s operating right now. To discuss immigration policy in more detail, we spoke with Katie Blankenship, an attorney who represents clients navigating the immigration system.
And in headlines, more than 100 countries at the United Nations General Assembly agree to mitigate climate change, sans the United States, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz clarified that Tylenol, is not in fact bad for you, and the federal government is asking scores of employees who lost their jobs (thanks to Elon Musk) to pretty please come back.
Show Notes:
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The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws that abridge freedom of speech or of the press, but in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, it’s clear that it doesn’t take a law to attack those rights.
Guest: Karen Attiah, former columnist for the Washington Post and former editor of the Post’s Global Opinions section.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
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