Rational Security

Shane goes on vacation, abandoning the gang to its fate. Brookings scholar Dan Byman steps in and brings a National Counterterrorism Center Calendar, which sparks a discussion of how to categorize terrorist acts that take place within warfare. Ben talks about a recent U.S. court decision that found the war in Afghanistan isn't really over—no matter what the president says. And Tamara talks about the president's Iran speech. In our Object Lessons segment, Dan shows off a large Yemeni dagger. Tamara brings a picture of Egypt's General Sisi sailing down the new Suez canal. And Ben brings an online course we all should sign up to take. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is notorious Taliban leader Mullah Omar dead—again? And then, Tamara and her very important friends at the Aspen Security Forum were discussing the threat of ISIS and the real truth about encryption. Plus in Object Lessons, Shane is heading off to paradise, and Tamara brought back some primo swag.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Ben and Shane are joined by special guests Wells Bennett of Lawfare and Quinta Jurecic, national security intern at Brookings. On the agenda: Obama has a plan to close Guantanamo, and it may be dead or alive. An Iraqi businessman wants to mount a private Sunni army to fight ISIS. And someone near and dear to us has a new plan to fix the encryption problem. Plus, in our Object Lessons, Ben is going to cut someone, and we’ll explain the title of this week’s show.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Iran deal is finally here. This week on the podcast, Shane, Tamara, and special guest Wells Bennett look at what’s in the deal, what it does, and what it doesn’t do. Also, a closer look at which sanctions are being relieved and whom that will help. Plus, do we need an AUMF for...Russia?  And in our Object Lesson, sideburns and Peanut Brigaders.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.