J.K. Rowling & the Fight for Free Speech | with Solomon Schmidt

Episode von Schweizer Monat von Schweizer Monat · 19. August 2026 · 1 h 14 min

Solomon Schmidt, the 22-year-old author of A Pen to Change the World, the only complete biography of J.K. Rowling, sits down with Alex Buxeda for a wide-ranging conversation about the woman behind Harry Potter and the courage it took her to speak out during the trans controversy.

They get into the Christian story hidden inside Harry Potter, the moral panic that branded it witchcraft, cancel culture and the cost of saying what you believe, and where a Christian and a secular classical liberal find common ground. The purpose of dialogue is to let ideas die instead of us.

📖 J.K. Rowling's biography: https://www.solomonschmidt.com/jkrowlingbiography

More about Solomon: https://www.solomonschmidt.com/about

00:00 – Teaser: The Christian story hidden in Harry Potter

00:46 – Free speech, Harvey's speech & rushing to judgment

04:33 – Why Rowling spoke out — and what it cost her

05:31 – Why the wisest people are the calmest 11:32 – "What does it even mean to be a Christian?"

20:02 – Writing the only complete Rowling biography

25:08 – The single mother who wrote the best-seller of all time

30:10 – Doing what you love vs. chasing success

31:42 – Could Rowling or Jane Goodall even succeed today?

42:38 – Censorship, paternalism & who gets to decide

48:54 – The state, incentives & market failure

51:37 – King Solomon's judgment & the ownership instinct

59:00 – Faith, reason & America's founding

1:07:05 – The art of disagreeing well

1:08:16 – Heading to Ukraine: Trump biography & war reporting

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