Trump vs. CBS: How Government Pressures Companies to Self-Censor

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Marek Michulka and Onkar Ghate examine the Trump administration’s actions against CBS — including a billion-dollar lawsuit and FCC investigation — and argue that the FCC’s regulatory power is incompatible with free speech.

 Among the topics covered:

• How Trump’s actions against CBS are targeting them for their content;
• How censorship in a free country relies on self-censorship;
• Why many critics of Trump’s actions miss the essential issue;
• How antitrust is being used to force editorial rooms to cater to the whims of bureaucrats;
• Why the realm of ideas can’t be separated from the realm of production and trade;
• How elite universities’ “public interest” rhetoric opened the door to government control;
• What the future holds.

Recommended in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s essay “Have Gun, Will Nudge,” her talk “Censorship: Local and Express,” and her novel, especially Part II Chapter 5. 

This podcast was recorded on June 11, 2025 and posted on July 31, 2025.

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