David Letterman on the Threats to Late-Night Hosts
September 19, 2025
21 min
Bonus
318 of 364
September 19, 2025
David Letterman on the Threats to Late-Night Hosts
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The Atlantic Episodes Around September 19, 2025
Episode 318 of 364 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
21:57This episodeDavid Letterman on the Threats to Late-Night Hosts
Summary
Yesterday, Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was suspended indefinitely. It’s a shocking moment for free speech, given the order in which events unfolded. Earlier that day, FCC Chair Brendan Carr had suggested on a conservative podcast that ABC and its affiliates consider taking steps against Kimmel, saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
As it so happened, the late-night legend David Letterman was scheduled to speak at The Atlantic Festival the next day. Letterman and The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, sat down for an impromptu interview about the news.
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