Daily Show Writer’s Reaction Letter On Censorship Goes Viral

By Maryann Yin 

What are your thoughts on censorship? Daniel Radosh, a senior writer for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, expressed his opinion on this issue in a viral letter after his son Milo presented him with a permission slip to read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Here’s an excerpt: “What a wonderful way to introduce students to the theme of Fahrenheit 451 that books are so dangerous that the institutions of society — schools and parents — might be willing to team up against children to prevent them from reading one. It’s easy enough to read the book and say, ‘This is crazy. It could never really happen,’ but pretending to present students at the start with what seems like a totally reasonable ‘first step’ is a really immersive way to teach them how insidious censorship can be.”

We’ve showcased the full piece in the Twitter post embedded above—what do you think? In the six decades since the publication of Bradbury’s dystopian novel, the book has been subjected to numerous instances of challenges and banning for reasons that include vulgarity, offensive language, and a controversial scene in the book where a bible is burned. (via The Daily Dot)