Ron Charles

Keep Your Mouth Shut — or Else

Corporations perfected the art of silencing critics. Now the White House wants in.

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Ron Charles
Jun 05, 2026
∙ Paid
(Flatiron Books; photo illustration by Ron Charles)

At the Hay Festival in Wales last weekend, dozens of writers talked about their books. But one writer sat on stage completely silent for a full hour.

This wasn’t an avant-garde work of performance art or a literary version of John Cage not playing the piano for four minutes and 33 seconds.

No, this was ju…

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