Watch now (2 min) | Welcome to The Freedom Academy! I’m Asha Rangappa, and I’m an Assistant Dean and Senior Lecturer at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. I’m also a lawyer and the former Dean of Admissions at Yale Law School. And before that, I was a Special Agent in the counterintelligence division of the FBI.
My name is Jonathan, i’m a senior at Florida State University majoring in Political Science with a minor in Global & Homeland Security. Thank you so much for doing this and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from you.
Hi Asha! We have “talked” before on email about your Navy t-shirt, lol. I just subscribed for the free part. In my younger years, I was blessed enough to have obtained two Masters Degrees. One in Counseling and one in School Social Work. Fast forward 20 years and now I’m retired with a terminal illness. Being on Social Security, I have to watch my money in case it gets taken away by the Republicans. As I have previously told you, my wife and I have been fans for quite a few years now and we are thrilled that you are doing this venture. In a previous life, I was also a teacher at a small community college teaching about teenage suicide prevention so I know what it takes to teach a college level course with the prep, etc. Kudos to you! Keep up the good work and remember what I told you previously, you are a breath of fresh air in today’s world.
Thank you so much, Dan! I am so sorry to hear about your illness. I do appreciate your kind words and your support! And yes, teaching is a ton of work but has big rewards, as you know. I hope you enjoy the publication!
All the best for your plans! I am hesitant to subscribe since there are already other substacks that I would like to subscribe to, as well, but haven't (Seth Abramson, et al.) because I can foresee a monthly equivalent of a car loan payment from accumulated substack fees. Ongoing payments are a budget buster, even ongoing annual payments. It seems that Substack itself needs to offer a broader access program, allowing users to select preferred sources, for a reduced fee. Maybe five substacks for the monthly $5 fee, 15 for $10, 50 for $20, etc.. For the actual (miniscule, compared to print) cost of online publication, that would still result in substantial remuneration for contributors, as well as the umbrella organization., once the legions of avid readers follow.
Agree! My substacks are adding up! Thing is, the NYT is only $4/mo and WAPO is about that. Want to read and support more of this independent journalism, but it's a cost. So far, I follow Kristen DuMet (sp?), Angela Denker, and Steve Schimdt...not cheap, but worth it!
I am looking forward to your class! I'm bothered by the freedom to lie and am curious about the reach of the First Amendment. Apparently it doesn't extend to people under oath or to lying to various agencies. I wonder if legislation could exploit this fact to stanch the firehose of lies from elected officials: Every X months they must answer a defined range of questions in public under oath.
Hello Asha, Just wanted to say that I very much enjoy your legal take on a lot of things that are going on today! Good luck with your new Freedom Academy.
I am a reporting analyst in the banking industry in Wisconsin and have a master's degree in history. I am here to learn more about the dark arts of disinformation.
So glad you are on here! Looking forward to the class. I am business and public policy faculty at the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley, where I teach undergrads and grad students. (On occasion, I write about 5G and cybersecurity.) Very much looking forward to your class! And yes, I enjoyed the brief cat cameo during your introductory video. ;-)
This sounds very intriguing so I am going to give it a try. I think I am a little intimidated that it could be over my head but we shall see. I studied International Relations in Berkeley in the sixties and it was an unforgettable imprint that has stayed with me to this day. Thanks, Asha, for offering this. I am a longtime member of Ruth BG's Lucid group.
Good points, all. I remember "Periscope" to be one of the best new sources. It allowed instant live video feeds from anywhere in the world. It even had a map so that you could zoom into anywhere that had an emerging news story and find at least one, usually more, live feeds from cell phones. Like you, I hope the platform can survive. But I can't be a part of it while it allows the traitor trump back on. His words actually caused insurrection and death. But, like you, I hope it survives somehow and finds a way to return to sanity.
Hi Asha, I’ve followed you for a while and have learned from your analyses. I’m very glad you decided to write The Freedom Academy. I know it will be work and will consume a lot of your time so I want to thank you for your efforts and for sharing your time. Oh, btw, I also use a steam mop on our kitchen floor!
Thank you, David! I recognized your name from Twitter. It is going to be a labor of love but I have a feeling it will be worth it! I am already loving the more meaningful interactivity here compared to the bird app.
I'm so glad you are doing this! I've been kicked off of Twitter!!! My crime? A person suggested that trump would not return even if Elon allowed him to and I responded,
"He's a publicity whore, he'll go anywhere and to any depths to get any amount."
For this I was locked out for "posting violence..." I'm not kidding! They said they would allow me back on if I deleted that tweet, which I'm not going to do, there was nothing the least bit violent about it. I've gone from one of Elon's biggest fans to one of the biggest non-fans. So glad to see you writing this substack! Thanks! Ken P.S. I also subscribed to your and Renato's podcast, "It's Complicated", excellent podcast!
I love Renato and Asha ! When the sky is falling they always calm me down :) And the sky has been falling a lot in recent years! LOL! I hope this platform takes off and we see them here and others. Twitter is over for me. Sadly, but probably for the best. Onward! :) Oh... wait... I see... by "this platform" I was thinking this post was on the 'new twitter' , post.news Pretty good, hopefully it, or another platform will prevail!
He said he wanted free speech. Instead, he’s just censoring mostly the left in the same way he thinks the previous management censored mostly the right.
“Owning the libs” may be what his “base”—which greatly though not entirely overlaps Trump’s base—wants; but it’s no way to administer the international Town Square.
I only hope that after the company’s market value tanks, some rational party or group of parties will buy it at the fire sale and manage it more responsibly.
Or else that some such consortium will start a true substitute elsewhere from scratch—AND SOON.
I’m not at all sanguine about the prospect of losing that popular forum where so many people turn to find out “what’s going on”, scan the (legacy media and other) news “headlines” and click on anything that interests them to learn more, exchange opinions, network, market their art or business, chat about pop culture or hobbies, seek or offer advice, empathy, or mutual aid, and (perhaps best of all) interact as equals with intelligent people who in real life might consider themselves “out of our league” (#WritingTwitter)—ALL IN ONE PLACE AND ALL WITHIN THE SAME FEED. Without changing platforms or servers or instances or ANYTHING.
Some have great hope that one or more other currently-existing platforms can substitute for what we may be about to lose; I DO NOT.
So far every “alternative” platform, including this one, may be good for some purposes but not for others. (Oh, and the PAYWALLS!)
Hi, Professor Rangappa!
My name is Jonathan, i’m a senior at Florida State University majoring in Political Science with a minor in Global & Homeland Security. Thank you so much for doing this and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from you.
I’m excited to dig in! Thanks again
Excellent! Thank you for subscribing and I look forward to having you in class!
Hi Asha! We have “talked” before on email about your Navy t-shirt, lol. I just subscribed for the free part. In my younger years, I was blessed enough to have obtained two Masters Degrees. One in Counseling and one in School Social Work. Fast forward 20 years and now I’m retired with a terminal illness. Being on Social Security, I have to watch my money in case it gets taken away by the Republicans. As I have previously told you, my wife and I have been fans for quite a few years now and we are thrilled that you are doing this venture. In a previous life, I was also a teacher at a small community college teaching about teenage suicide prevention so I know what it takes to teach a college level course with the prep, etc. Kudos to you! Keep up the good work and remember what I told you previously, you are a breath of fresh air in today’s world.
Thank you so much, Dan! I am so sorry to hear about your illness. I do appreciate your kind words and your support! And yes, teaching is a ton of work but has big rewards, as you know. I hope you enjoy the publication!
All the best for your plans! I am hesitant to subscribe since there are already other substacks that I would like to subscribe to, as well, but haven't (Seth Abramson, et al.) because I can foresee a monthly equivalent of a car loan payment from accumulated substack fees. Ongoing payments are a budget buster, even ongoing annual payments. It seems that Substack itself needs to offer a broader access program, allowing users to select preferred sources, for a reduced fee. Maybe five substacks for the monthly $5 fee, 15 for $10, 50 for $20, etc.. For the actual (miniscule, compared to print) cost of online publication, that would still result in substantial remuneration for contributors, as well as the umbrella organization., once the legions of avid readers follow.
Agree! My substacks are adding up! Thing is, the NYT is only $4/mo and WAPO is about that. Want to read and support more of this independent journalism, but it's a cost. So far, I follow Kristen DuMet (sp?), Angela Denker, and Steve Schimdt...not cheap, but worth it!
I am looking forward to your class! I'm bothered by the freedom to lie and am curious about the reach of the First Amendment. Apparently it doesn't extend to people under oath or to lying to various agencies. I wonder if legislation could exploit this fact to stanch the firehose of lies from elected officials: Every X months they must answer a defined range of questions in public under oath.
Hello Asha, Just wanted to say that I very much enjoy your legal take on a lot of things that are going on today! Good luck with your new Freedom Academy.
Thank you, Harry!
I am looking forward to learning and engaging
Same -- thank you for joining!
I am a reporting analyst in the banking industry in Wisconsin and have a master's degree in history. I am here to learn more about the dark arts of disinformation.
So glad you are on here! Looking forward to the class. I am business and public policy faculty at the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley, where I teach undergrads and grad students. (On occasion, I write about 5G and cybersecurity.) Very much looking forward to your class! And yes, I enjoyed the brief cat cameo during your introductory video. ;-)
Ha! I think the cat may make more cameos throughout the course! Thank you for joining.
So good to see you here.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it
This sounds very intriguing so I am going to give it a try. I think I am a little intimidated that it could be over my head but we shall see. I studied International Relations in Berkeley in the sixties and it was an unforgettable imprint that has stayed with me to this day. Thanks, Asha, for offering this. I am a longtime member of Ruth BG's Lucid group.
Good points, all. I remember "Periscope" to be one of the best new sources. It allowed instant live video feeds from anywhere in the world. It even had a map so that you could zoom into anywhere that had an emerging news story and find at least one, usually more, live feeds from cell phones. Like you, I hope the platform can survive. But I can't be a part of it while it allows the traitor trump back on. His words actually caused insurrection and death. But, like you, I hope it survives somehow and finds a way to return to sanity.
Subscribed! Can’t wait to get started!
Hi Asha… I enjoy hearing your legal perspective and I’m excited to hear you are are doing this. I will definitely carve out some time to tune in.
Thank you so much!
Hi Asha, I’ve followed you for a while and have learned from your analyses. I’m very glad you decided to write The Freedom Academy. I know it will be work and will consume a lot of your time so I want to thank you for your efforts and for sharing your time. Oh, btw, I also use a steam mop on our kitchen floor!
Thank you, David! I recognized your name from Twitter. It is going to be a labor of love but I have a feeling it will be worth it! I am already loving the more meaningful interactivity here compared to the bird app.
Dear Asha, I am thrilled at the opportunity to learn from you! Also, I have bought two steam mops and I got three friends to get one, too.
Thank you for starting this, I am so excited!
I’m thrilled (both that you’re here, and that you are a steam mop proselytizer)! 😄
I'm so glad you are doing this! I've been kicked off of Twitter!!! My crime? A person suggested that trump would not return even if Elon allowed him to and I responded,
"He's a publicity whore, he'll go anywhere and to any depths to get any amount."
For this I was locked out for "posting violence..." I'm not kidding! They said they would allow me back on if I deleted that tweet, which I'm not going to do, there was nothing the least bit violent about it. I've gone from one of Elon's biggest fans to one of the biggest non-fans. So glad to see you writing this substack! Thanks! Ken P.S. I also subscribed to your and Renato's podcast, "It's Complicated", excellent podcast!
Thank you! Glad you are here!
I subscribed to "It's Complicated" too.
I love Renato and Asha ! When the sky is falling they always calm me down :) And the sky has been falling a lot in recent years! LOL! I hope this platform takes off and we see them here and others. Twitter is over for me. Sadly, but probably for the best. Onward! :) Oh... wait... I see... by "this platform" I was thinking this post was on the 'new twitter' , post.news Pretty good, hopefully it, or another platform will prevail!
He said he wanted free speech. Instead, he’s just censoring mostly the left in the same way he thinks the previous management censored mostly the right.
“Owning the libs” may be what his “base”—which greatly though not entirely overlaps Trump’s base—wants; but it’s no way to administer the international Town Square.
I only hope that after the company’s market value tanks, some rational party or group of parties will buy it at the fire sale and manage it more responsibly.
Or else that some such consortium will start a true substitute elsewhere from scratch—AND SOON.
I’m not at all sanguine about the prospect of losing that popular forum where so many people turn to find out “what’s going on”, scan the (legacy media and other) news “headlines” and click on anything that interests them to learn more, exchange opinions, network, market their art or business, chat about pop culture or hobbies, seek or offer advice, empathy, or mutual aid, and (perhaps best of all) interact as equals with intelligent people who in real life might consider themselves “out of our league” (#WritingTwitter)—ALL IN ONE PLACE AND ALL WITHIN THE SAME FEED. Without changing platforms or servers or instances or ANYTHING.
Some have great hope that one or more other currently-existing platforms can substitute for what we may be about to lose; I DO NOT.
So far every “alternative” platform, including this one, may be good for some purposes but not for others. (Oh, and the PAYWALLS!)