For centuries powerful forces have purposely crippled public efforts to share knowledge widely and freely. Kaufman, author of the newly released The New Enlightenment and the Fight to Free Knowledge, will map out some of these titanic and historic battles against church and state and describe some of today’s challenges, including giant media companies, sprawling national security agencies, gutted regulatory commissions, and lawmakers on the take.
With the Internet and other means of media production and distribution at hand, he explores our special responsibility to counter disinformation and fake news – and fight new efforts to control the free flow of information.
A writer, teacher, and documentary producer, Peter B. Kaufman works at MIT Open Learning and the Knowledge Futures Group. He lives in Lakeville, CT and Cambridge, MA