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  1. Podcasts/
  2. The Ricochet Podcast/
  3. Free Speech, Rightly Handled
September 19, 2025
September 19, 2025

•Episode length: 55m

Ricochet

Free Speech, Rightly Handled

Episode length: 55m

Subscribe to The Ricochet PodcastSubscribe

Steve Hayward is back with James and Charles after a few weeks away, and the trio sits down with Josh Hammer, senior editor-at-large of Newsweek, to talk about his murdered friend, Charlie Kirk. The gang discusses the Turning Point enterprise, the mission of its founder, and the ugly attempts by clickbait peddlers to contort the late-Kirk's message.

Plus, the hosts break down everything right and wrong with Jimmy Kimmel's suspension, Pam Bondi's comments, the proposed investigation into Antifa, and the latest on the TikTok deal.

Sound from this week's open: Trump and Jimmy Kimmel's latest public comments about each other.

Hosts:
•Charles C. W. Cooke•James Lileks•Steve Hayward
Guest:
•Josh Hammer

Discussion (21)

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    Quintus Sertorius@BillGollier·1y

    Excellent PodCast!! All of you asked very pertinent questions and Josh Hammer responded with clarity and knowledge…especially on Tucker Carlson. I really hope Megyn Kelly is not letting herself get sucked into Tucker’s world. I see her trying to play devil’s advocate so to speak with Candice and Tucker but that is playing with a snake.

    Thanks again!!

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    James Lileks@jameslileks·1y
    ReplyingtoQuintus Sertorius

    Quintus Sertorius (View Comment):

    Excellent PodCast!! All of you asked very pertinent questions and Josh Hammer responded with clarity and knowledge…especially on Tucker Carlson. I really hope Megyn Kelly is not letting herself get sucked into Tucker’s world. I see her trying to play devil’s advocate so to speak with Candice and Tucker but that is playing with a snake.

    Thanks again!!

    You’re welcome, and thanks to you for listening!

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    Charlotte@Charlotte·1y

    I definitely related to Charlie's comments about being baffled by antisemitism. I've never understood it. And I remember having a similar reaction when I learned about the industrial scale of the Holocaust. It just seemed literally unbelievable.

    Josh Hammer was a good guest. I hadn't heard of him before and appreciated what he had to say.

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    Wolfsheim@Wolfsheim·1y

    Please have Josh Hammer back! He combines brilliance and common sense.

    Living for a few months in the US, I would go down to the gym in our building and return in time to listen to Tucker Carlson. I was also a fan of Candace Owens...I thought that I was immersing myself in sane America...And now they have gone far, far off the deep end. At the first hint of antisemitism, I pulled the plug on the both of them.

    Judenhaß, a more powerful word than antisemitism, cannot be understood in passing political terms alone. It is demonic. Andrew Klavan says it all very well.

    Another splendid podcast...A long-time listener, I want very much to give the entire show a five-star rating but don't know how to do it.

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    Brickhouse Hank@HankRhody·1y

    Wait, how many digits of Pi can James do?

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