at liberty podcast

At Liberty is a podcast that explores the most pressing civil rights and civil liberties questions of our time. New episodes air biweekly on Fridays.

Free Speech

After 104 days in detention, Mahmoud Khalil is home. And this week, we鈥檙e honored to have him join us in studio for his first extended conversation with the ACLU. He and Kamau reflect on Mahmoud鈥檚...

It鈥檚 because of the First Amendment that we have a right to protest abuses of power, advocate for our neighbors, and defend our privacy. But what does the U.S. Constitution actually say about freedom of...

We talk a lot on At Liberty about knowing our rights, but since Donald Trump returned to office, where do those rights stand? This week, the ACLU鈥檚 National Legal Director Cecillia Wang joins Kamau to...

End-to-end encryption. Burner phones. Biometric authentication. Our technology is more advanced than ever, but what does that mean for our digital footprints鈥攁nd how our data is tracked, whether we鈥檙e crossing a US border or at...

Mahmoud Khalil is a recent Columbia University graduate, activist, soon-to-be father, and U.S. green card holder. On March 8, he was unlawfully detained because of his speech in defense of Palestinian human rights. On this...

You may recognize W. Kamau Bell from his multi-Emmy award-winning docuseries United Shades of America, from his Substack Who鈥檚 With Me, or from his commercials for the ACLU. If you're a longtime supporter of the...

Another Supreme Court term has come to a close. This year, the court delivered major decisions on reproductive freedom, voting rights, free speech, this women's rights, gun rights, and presidential immunity, among other decisions. The...

On this episode, "At Liberty" producer Vanessa Handy speaks with young adult and middle-grade literature author, Jason Reynolds. Though he writes for young audiences, Jason doesn't shy away from serious themes or challenges, with many...

On April 17, students at Columbia University set up an encampment to show support for Palestinians and demand the university divest from its business related to or within Israel as a means of anti-war protest....

With the rise of anti-war protests and encampments taking place on college campuses across the country, we are sharing an episode from a couple of years ago that addresses some questions related to free speech...