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The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet

In partnership with:
The Baffler
Date and time
Thursday, January 28, 2016

_Slate_ correspondent **Justin Peters** talks with editor-in-chief of [_The Baffler_](http://thebaffler.com/ "") **John Summers** about Peters' book, _The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet_. Peters looks at the lively history of the Internet, its free culture movement and its larger effects on society, in particular how it was part of the life and shocking suicide of Aaron Swartz, a founding developer of [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com "Reddit Homepage") and [Creative Commons](http://creativecommons.org "Homepage for Creative Commons"). Co-Hosted with [Harvard Bookstore](http://www.harvard.com/event/justin_peters/ "co-hosting") Referenced in the talk: [The Internet's Own Boy](http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy "") (2014) [The Boy Who Could Change the World](http://thenewpress.com/books/boy-who-could-change-world ""), (Newpress, 2015) (Photo: [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/2cfwxg/image_aaron_swartz_quote/ "Reddit: Aaron Schwartz page"))

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John Summers
Before taking on leadership of \_The Baffler\_, Summers had taught at Harvard University and Columbia University, where he was lecturer on American studies in 2008-2009. He also served as the editor of *The Politics of Truth: Selected Writings of C. Wright Mills* and is the author of *Every Fury on Earth*, a collection of his essays on history and politics. (Photo: Robert Birnbaum)
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Justin Peters
**Justin Peters** is a correspondent for \_Slate\_ and a contributing editor at the \_Columbia Journalism Review\_. He has written for various national publications, including \_The New York Times, The Washington Monthly\_, and \_Travel + Leisure,\_ and was the founding editor of \_Polite\_, a general-interest print journal. An alumnus of Cornell University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he divides his time between Boston and Brooklyn. (Photo Credit: Molly Peters)
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