A libertarian law professor who responded to FIRE’s recent national survey of law faculty offered a striking admission: Whether justified or unjustified, I regularly hide beliefs from colleagues who are openly discussing important topics in the public interest out of fear of retaliation, particularly as a junior faculty member. No administrator had disciplined him. No student had filed a complaint. Yet, by his own admission, he and another colleague routinely conceal their views at faculty meetings and other public events, not because anyone ordered them to stay silent, but because they worry that candor can exact professional costs. That kind of silence is tricky to measure, but carries serious implications. And new data suggest it is relatively common in American law schools. For a report released this week, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) surveyed 1,959 law faculty at 192 ABA-approved law schools. The findings reveal a profession caught in a contradiction: law professors overwhelmingly endorse free expression in principle, yet many describe an academic culture that discourages them from practicing it. That should alarm anyone who cares about legal education. Law schools are supposed to be places that train students to make arguments they may not personally believe, stress-test ideas against the strongest opposing case, and examine precedents, doctrines, and historical cases that may offend some modern sensibilities. But that model depends on faculty willing to speak frankly and institutions willing to tolerate dissent. More than half of the law faculty surveyed (56%) report that they at least occasionally feel unable to express their opinion because of how students, colleagues, or administrators might respond. And that number becomes even more striking when ideology is taken into account. Conservative law faculty, who are outnumbered three to one in the sample, were more likely than their liberal colleagues to report self-censoring (72% versus 50%), and three times as many conservatives, compared to liberals, reported at least occasionally hiding their political beliefs from other faculty in an attempt to keep their job (52% versus 17%). The survey also found clear asymmetries in perceptions of institutional fit. While majorities of law faculty said a liberal individual would fit well in their law school, far fewer said the same about a conservative individual. As one law professor put it: In my law school, students get only half the story in most of their courses. There are no conservatives as full-time professors, and only a few moderates. Students who are moderate to conservative rarely share their views in class. And this same professor connected that climate directly to his own choices: For the past 15 years, I’ve seen our law students become less prepared for the adversarial nature of legal practice. I’m partly to blame, as I have modified my exams and exercises to avoid potentially controversial fact patterns and claims. That self-indictment — “I’m partly to blame” — isn’t a complaint about administrators or colleagues (though they could be the other part). Rather, it’s an acknowledgment that retreating from difficulty is something he’s done, incrementally, over many years. All within the context of diminishing ideological diversity. Multiplied across a profession, that accumulation of small adjustments doesn’t just reflect the culture of law schools. It creates one. Another law professor, a self-described strong Democrat, described the specific calculus self-censorship dynamics produce in his classes: I teach cases without ever saying what actually happened in the case because I’m afraid to say those words (notably some First Amendment cases address words I didn’t even know were slurs before reading the case). A First Amendment professor, self-censoring while teaching First Amendment cases. By this professor’s honest admission, we can see how his students are learning about free speech firsthand, but in this case by what isn’t being said. They are watching their professor decide that engagement with certain material is too risky, and filing that lesson away. This is how habits can form and a culture can shift. Not necessarily through any speech code or disciplinary action (though it can come from there too). But through hesitation and daily acts of omission that students observe, absorb, and over time likely begin to mimic themselves. Law students go on to become lawyers who argue cases in court, prosecutors who decide what charges to bring, judges who make rulings, policymakers who debate and enact laws and regulations. What they learn in law school isn’t just the law. It’s instinct. Habits. Principles. How to respond when an idea is uncomfortable. What to do when they’re on the unpopular side of an issue. Where to turn when silence is the path of least resistance. In February 2024, the American Bar Association adopted Standard 208, which requires law schools to adopt, publish, and adhere to written policies that protect academic freedom and encourage free expression. More than 9 in 10 law faculty support free expression policies. But the professor who hides his views at faculty meetings already knows his school has a free expression policy. The policy is not the problem, and though it is a good step, it isn’t the complete solution either. What we see from our new data from law faculty is that the culture within law schools appears to have taken a concerning turn. And written commitments alone don’t change cultures; people do. Through individual decisions about whether to speak or stay quiet. To participate in a debate, or pass. To publicly defend a colleague, or only offer private condolences. To prepare students for their professional careers by teaching the messy topics, or avoiding them in hopes of receiving better student evaluations. These decision points provide opportunities for faculty to model courage or model calculation. Right now, for too many law faculty, silence appears to be winning… and their students are watching. *** Nathan Honeycutt is a research fellow and manager of polling and analytics at FIRE.

'I applaud them'

'Under intense pressure'

'Somebody put a gun to us and took all of our money'

Americans, veterans, and veterans' families deserve something beautiful

The Senate moved exceptionally fast

News What to Watch What to Watch and Read This Weekend: Librarian, Watcher, Legend Plus: Doctor Who, Steven Spielberg, and the New York Knickerbockers By Molly Templeton | Published on June 12, 2026 Image: 20th Television Comment 0 Share New Share Image: 20th Television Hello, and welcome to a world in which the Reactor staff chat has been talking about sports more than usual! (We’ll get to that.) It’s a great weekend to make history, wouldn’t you say? And there are ever so many ways for that to happen (positively, I mean). Get some popsicles, call your reps, load up some Spielberg movies on the ol’ streaming platforms. Summer doesn’t officially start for another week and change, but no one told that to the weather! I Could Really Use a Wise Librarian to Turn to These Days It’s been a really rough couple of years for members of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast. Both Michelle Trachtenberg and Nicholas Brendan died far too young—and then, last week, we lost Giles. Anthony Stewart Head died at 72, which is still too young, to be honest. He was in a lot of things before and after Buffy (famous coffee commercials! Merlin!) but for a lot of us, he was Giles. He was long-suffering, tweedy, dry, wise, and supportive. When the news of his passing broke, I thought first—and continually—of the end of “Innocence,” when Buffy blames herself for what happened with Angel. Giles won’t join her: “If it’s guilt you’re looking for, Buffy,” he says, “I’m not your man. All you will get from me is my support… and my respect.” And Head played it perfectly. Just like he played it perfectly when he muttered about “bloody Americans” and their pretty masks that raise the dead; like when he did something terrible that Buffy would never do; like when he turned into a rebellious teen again in “Band Candy.” There are so many Giles moments to revisit. Were I more emotionally capable, I’d watch “Innocence,” and “Band Candy,” and “Lie to Me,” and probably “Once More, With Feeling,” but then I’d just want to do a whole Buffy rewatch, and … yeah, actually, that sounds like a really good idea, to be honest. RIP to one of the best fictional dads ever to do it.  It’s Fun to Find New Excuses to Revisit Doctor Who The news from Who-land isn’t great lately. Christmas is canceled, and the show’s future seems uncertain. But, on the plus side, most of modern Who is now on AMC+. And June 18th—that’s this coming Thursday—is, apparently, the 21st anniversary of the first appearance of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. He turns up, of course, when Christopher Eccleston regenerates in “The Parting of the Ways.”  This is probably, technically, a UK anniversary, but who cares? A ton happens in that episode, including the resurrection of Jack Harkness (I miss Jack Harkness) and Rose seeding the words “Bad Wolf” across time and space as a message to herself. And then Ten shows up. And then a whole small army of Doctor Who fans revisiting this episode remember how the Rose and Ten story ends up, and has a lot of feelings. It’s big feelings week this week, I guess? And there’s nothing wrong with that. Let’s Learn Something New About Steven Spielberg I’m breaking my own (loose) rules here and recommending something I haven’t finished reading yet: Bilge Ebiri’s “Raider of a Lost Art,” at Vulture, in which dozens of people tell the Story of Steven Spielberg. If you are of a certain age—a lot of certain ages, really—Spielberg’s movies are synonymous with childhood viewing. I saw almost no movies as a kid, and even I saw E.T.! He was inescapable, and definitive, and while his career has veered all over the place in subsequent decades, he has never been less than iconic. “How do you tell the story of Steven Spielberg?” Ebiri asks in his intro. “The director has, over the course of his career, told much of the tale himself, not just in his semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans but also through the intensely personal elements that infuse all his work, whether it’s about sharks, Jets, aliens, dinosaurs, soldiers, con artists, or Lincoln.” This is long, and it has a lot of Vulture’s delightful side-notes. I’m certain that it’s going to be worth your time. The Only Thing We Are Planning for is Game 5, Sorry In an unexpected turn of events, the only thing just about anyone cares about watching right now is Game 5 of the NBA playoffs. Sorry, I don’t make the rules! I wasn’t even paying all that much attention at first; my time as a basketball viewer was years ago. But on a whim, I went to a neighborhood bar, and asked them to put on Wednesday’s game for the last quarter, and then a miracle happened. So we’re all Knicks fans now. People who I have never known to care one jot about basketball are Knicks fans now. And you know what? I get it. Everyone needs something nice. We really, really, really need something nice. The Knicks haven’t won a championship since 1972. That game was literally the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history. Also, personally, I’ve had a grudge against the Spurs since 2005. We all have our reasons for feeling the way we do about sports. They don’t have to be reasonable. Game 5 of the NBA Finals tips off at 8:30pm (EDT) on Saturday; you can watch on ABC.[end-mark] The post What to Watch and Read This Weekend: Librarian, Watcher, Legend appeared first on Reactor.

News TCA Awards Widow’s Bay Co-Leads the Pack for TCA Awards Nominations The horror comedy tied with Heated Rivalry and Industry for having the most nominations By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on June 12, 2026 Photo: Apple TV Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Apple TV Today, the Television Critics Association (TCA) announced that Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay garnered five nominations for the 2026 TCA Awards. No other show earned more nominations, though Heated Rivalry and Industry also received five. Widow’s Bay got nominations for Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, Outstanding New Program, and both Kate O’Flynn and Matthew Rhys earned nominations for Individual Achievement in Comedy. Other genre shows also fared well, with Pluribus receiving four nominations, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms receiving two, and Paradise also earning two slots. Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord and Invincible also earned recognition in the new category, Outstanding Achievement in Animation, and Alien: Earth received recognition in the Outstanding New Program category. Read on for the full list of finalists by category; the TCA will announce the winners in early August. Congrats to all! Program of the Year The Comeback — HBO Max Hacks — HBO Max Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max Industry — HBO Max The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — CBS The Pitt — HBO Max (2025 Winner) Pluribus — Apple TV Shrinking — Apple TV Widow’s Bay — Apple TV Outstanding Achievement in Comedy   Abbott Elementary — ABC (2022 Winner) The Comeback — HBO Max The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins — NBC Hacks — HBO Max (2024 Winner) The Lowdown — FX  Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Apple TV Shrinking — Apple TV Widow’s Bay — Apple TV Outstanding Achievement in Drama The Gilded Age — HBO Max Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max Industry — HBO Max A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — HBO Max Paradise — Hulu The Pitt — HBO Max (2025 Winner) Pluribus — Apple TV Task — HBO Max Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials All Her Fault — Peacock The Beast in Me — Netflix Beef — Netflix (2023 Winner) Death by Lightning — Netflix DTF St. Louis — HBO Max  Half Man — HBO Max Lord of the Flies — Netflix Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette — FX Outstanding New Program Alien: Earth — FX  The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins — NBC Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — HBO Max The Lowdown — FX  Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Apple TV Pluribus — Apple TV Widow’s Bay — Apple TV Individual Achievement in Drama Marisa Abela, Industry — HBO Max Sterling K. Brown, Paradise — Hulu David Harbour, DTF St. Louis — HBO Max Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt — HBO Max Ken Leung, Industry — HBO Max Myha’la, Industry — HBO Max Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus — Apple TV Connor Storrie, Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max Hudson Williams, Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max Noah Wyle, The Pitt — HBO Max (2025 Winner) Individual Achievement in Comedy Hannah Einbinder, Hacks — HBO Max Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Apple TV  Harrison Ford, Shrinking — Apple TV Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback — HBO Max Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay — Apple TV  Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay — Apple TV Jean Smart, Hacks — HBO Max (2021, 2024 Winner) Tim Robinson, The Chair Company — HBO Max Outstanding Achievement in News and Information 60 Minutes — CBS (2012 Winner) The American Revolution — PBS CBS This Morning — CBS Disneyland Handcrafted — Disney+  Frontline — PBS (Eight-time Winner in Category) Have I Got News For You — CNN Marty, Life Is Short — Netflix  Mr. Scorsese — Apple TV Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch The Daily Show — Comedy Central  Jimmy Kimmel Live! — ABC Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — HBO Max (2018, 2019, 2021 Winner) Late Night with Seth Meyers — NBC The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — CBS The Muppet Show: Sabrina Carpenter — Disney+ Saturday Night Live — NBC Outstanding Achievement in Reality Couples Therapy — Showtime/Paramount+ (2021 Winner) Finding Mr. Christmas — Hallmark The Great British Baking Show — Netflix Love on the Spectrum — Netflix RuPaul’s Drag Race — MTV (2014 Winner) Survivor — CBS Top Chef — Bravo The Traitors — Peacock (2024, 2025 Winner) Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation — Disney+ Electric Bloom — Disney+/Disney Channel  Percy Jackson and the Olympians — Disney+/Hulu Phineas and Ferb — Disney+/Disney Channel Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 — Netflix Vampirina: Teenage Vampire — Disney+/Disney Channel Wizards Beyond Waverly Place — Disney+/Disney Channel WondLa — Apple TV Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming Carl the Collector — PBS KIDS The First Snow of Fraggle Rock — Apple TV Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+ — Disney+/Disney Jr.  Phoebe & Jay — PBS KIDS Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical — Apple TV Sofia the First: Royal Magic — Disney+/Disney Jr. Weather Hunters — PBS KIDS The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball — Hulu Outstanding Achievement in Animation – New Category Bob’s Burgers — Fox Haunted Hotel — Netflix  Invincible — Prime Video King of the Hill — Hulu Long Story Short — Netflix The Simpsons — Fox South Park — Comedy Central Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord — Disney+ Women Wearing Shoulder Pads — Adult Swim Outstanding International Series – New Category The Boyfriend — Netflix  Crime Scene Zero — Netflix  Drops of God — Apple TV The House of the Spirits — Prime Video Last Samurai Standing — Netflix  Squid Game — Netflix [end-mark] The post <i>Widow’s Bay</i> Co-Leads the Pack for TCA Awards Nominations appeared first on Reactor.