Rational Security

This week on the podcast: FBI Director James Comey goes to the Hill to talk about "going dark." Former officials are expressing concern about the Iran deal. And the Office of Personnel Management put people who had no experience in computer security in charge of...computer security! Plus, in Object Lessons, Ben and Tamara survive a shipwreck.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the show: Senators call for hearings on domestic terrorism in the wake of the Charleston shootings. Do we need a new National Commission on the War on Terrorism? And a cat fight between the FISA court and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Plus, in Object Lessons, are you “e-QIPped?” The Chinese are.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the podcast, Kori Schake joins the gang to discuss the week’s big stories. Was the shooting of nine people in Charleston, SC, an act of terrorism? Chinese spies now know the secret sex lives of U.S. government employees. And the U.N. has a new report on Gaza. Plus, in our object lessons, bitter memoirs and piggy banks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the show, Shane exposes the Iranian propagandists who tried to recruit him. Plus, the gang looks at how the military pays for war and at a new "manual" that lays out the rules for fighting them. Then, in Object Lessons: Are hackers trying to take over your spin cycle?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a major speech at the Herzliya Conference on national security, but he spends a lot of time talking about the economy. The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its ruling on passports and Israel. How important is it to Middle East policy? And is it a big win for John Yoo and David Addington? And just when you thought the fight over government surveillance was over, along comes Patriot Act 2.0 Plus, in our object lesson, how many lemons can a samurai robot slice if a samurai robot sliced lemons?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the show, special guest Nancy Youssef of the Daily Beast joins Ben and Shane to discuss the Senate's passage of the USA Freedom Act. Also, why do Americans hate government surveillance but tolerate big corporate data aggregators? And there's anthrax in the Pentagon! Later, in our Object Lesson, we mourn the passing a screen icon (of sorts) and celebrate a new day in national security publishing.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the show, Ben and Shane are flying solo (duo?) while Tamara is away. They ask, is everything we think we know about privacy wrong? And the guys discuss a novel proposal for easing the tensions between the press and the government when journalists disclose sensitive national security information. Plus, in our Object Lesson, very tiny robots. They’re here. Buzzing in your ear.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the show: The FBI is interrogating the wife of a senior ISIS official about Western hostages. The Justice Department hands down indictments against Chinese nationals for spying on the U.S. And the Tunisian president comes to Washington. Plus, in our object lesson, we’re going back to the movies again, sort of.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the show: The FBI rules out terrorism in the awful train crash in Pennsylvania. But why are we so quick these days to ask whether every accident was caused by terrorists? Congress is poised to pass new legislation on surveillance. And what does a new report on Iranian hackers tell us about the standards of intelligence in the age of cyber war? Plus in our object lesson, we go to the movies with an Ethan Hawke film on drones, and in North Korea, death by very, very big firing squad.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Triple Entente Beer Summit was a great success, with an audience that filled the Washington Firehouse loft and a cast that mashed up Lawfare, Rational Security, and the Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast.  We attribute the podcast’s freewheeling interchange to the engaged audience, our profound respect for each other, and, mostly, the beer. After a discussion of between the combined panels, we throw the event over to the audience, which demonstrates that we could have produced almost as good a program by randomly selecting audience members to appear on the panel with us.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.