Week of Sept. 11, 2025

From the editor’s desk

Dear future historian,

If you want to know what life in the U.S. felt like in 2025—which, in a nutshell, is more chaotic, more threatening, and less politically stable than anytime in my 53-year-old memory—read the reactions that were reported on news sites and posted on social media platforms within 24 hours of the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, which occurred yesterday in Utah.

Collectively, these reactions amount to a snapshot of a moment in which Americans of various political leanings experience wildly different realities as we all flail in the same pressure-cooker.

For an endless stream of assertions that Kirk’s death is the Democrats’ fault (or the “radical left,” in the vernacular of some), just refer to posts by any of the more vocal right-wing politicians.

For an endless stream of assertions from “progressives” that Kirk “had it coming,” just refer to your nearest social media feed.

Meanwhile, future historian, if you’re grasping for some productive commentary, I’ve unearthed two leads for you.

1. The BBC (specifically, BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher, whose X profile calls him “A Texan who explains U.S. politics to Brits …”) opined: 

It is difficult to divine where American politics goes from here, but the trajectory is bleak.

Violence begets violence. Increasingly divisive rhetoric, fuelled by social media echo chambers and easy access to firearms, leads to raw nerves and a heightened potential for bloodshed.

2. This Is Reno posted a piece today by Kristen Hackbarth detailing a report, released Monday, on the state of free speech on U.S. campuses.

The article is headlined, “UNR, UNLV among U.S. colleges to earn ‘F’ grades on free speech climate,” and here is the lede: 

A majority of U.S. colleges continue to struggle with free speech, with conservative students increasingly joining their liberal peers in supporting censorship, according to new national rankings released Monday. In Nevada, both universities of Nevada in Reno and Las Vegas ranked among the worst public and private colleges for free speech, both earning “F” grades.

It wasn’t just Nevada schools that got an “F.” It was more than half of the 257 schools surveyed. According to TIR, “Only 11 schools earned a grade of C or higher.”

Here’s another passage: 

“This year, students largely opposed allowing any controversial campus speaker, no matter that speaker’s politics,” FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) President and CEO Greg Lukianoff said in a statement. “Rather than hearing out and then responding to an ideological opponent, both liberal and conservative college students are retreating from the encounter entirely.”

Am I blaming college students for Charlie Kirk’s death? Absolutely not. What I am saying here, future historian, is that I will bet money on you eventually concluding that the decline of free speech on U.S. campuses is one of many important keys to understanding what the heck was going on 2025.

It is a cause? A symptom? Both? I look forward to your report. Will it be on your list of Top 10 factors? It might not be, actually. So, why am I yapping on about it? 

Because, in my attempts to grasp some perspective today, as the echo chamber is at its worst, my only consolations have been the BBC’s explanation for Brits and the data TIR reported.

Take care,

—Kris Vagner, managing editor

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