Voices and Votes: The State of Free Speech After the Election
January 23 | 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
$5 – $25In a time when the boundaries of speech and expression are constantly tested by political, technological, and societal changes, it is essential that we build our understanding of these fundamental rights and think about what’s at stake in the years to come. Join us at the National Liberty Museum as we host a panel of free speech experts to discuss the most pressing challenges and emerging threats that shape the discourse around free speech in the United States. Reflecting on recent free speech controversies and the course and results of the 2024 presidential election, panelists will consider the future of free speech in our democracy and how we can work together to cultivate a society that values open dialogue and the exchange of diverse perspectives.
TICKETS
$25 General Admission
$10 National Liberty Museum or World Affairs Council Members
$5 Students, Teachers, or School Faculty (w. Valid ID)
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
5:30 pm Doors open, with access to all NLM galleries including our Free Speech: Our Right, Our Responsibility exhibition
6:00 pm Panel begins, followed by Q&A with the panelists and moderator
7:30 pm Panel and Q&A concludes
8:00 pm Doors close
PANELISTS
Summer Lopez, Interim Co-CEO and Chief Program Officer, Free Expression at PEN America
Aaron Terr, Director of Public Advocacy at FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression)
Ben Wizner, Director of the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
MODERATOR
Mike Pesca, host of The Gist daily news podcast
Mike Pesca is the host and creator of The Gist, the longest running daily news podcast, and the author of Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs In Sports History. In addition to guest-hosting NPR Programs All Things Considered and the news quiz Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, Mike’s work has been featured on This American Life, Radiolab, and Planet Money. He has frequently appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and The PBS Newshour, and written for The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, GQ, Slate, and Baseball Prospectus.
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Meet the Panelists
Summer Lopez
Aaron Terr
Ben Wizner
Summer Lopez
Summer Lopez joined PEN America in 2017, and serves as the chief program officer of Free Expression Programs. In that role she oversees PEN America’s advocacy, research, and programming in defense of free expression in the U.S. and globally. Beginning in Nov 2024, she is also serving as interim co-CEO of PEN America.
Lopez has worked to advance democracy and human rights in the nonprofit and government sectors, including for eight years with the U.S. Agency for International Development and three years with The AjA Project, a San Diego-based nonprofit providing participatory media programming for immigrant and refugee youth. She has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, Egypt, Nepal, India, and Ghana, and holds a BA from Harvard University and a master in public affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
Aaron Terr
Aaron Terr is the Director of Public Advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), where he advocates on behalf of individuals facing violations of their First Amendment rights and promotes a culture of free expression. He previously was a member of FIRE’s Campus Rights Advocacy team. His expert commentary on free speech issues has appeared in outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Reason Magazine, NPR, and The New York Post. Aaron is a 2012 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review, and a 2007 graduate of Vassar College.
Ben Wizner
Ben Wizner is the director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, which works to protect and expand the First Amendment freedoms of expression, association, and inquiry, and ensure that civil liberties are enhanced rather than compromised by new advances in science and technology. For more than two decades at the ACLU, Ben has litigated cases involving the right to protest, freedom of expression online, government surveillance practices, airport security policies, targeted killing, and torture. Since July of 2013, he has been the principal legal advisor to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Ben is a graduate of Harvard College and New York University School of Law.
