The NSA collects data on billions of phone calls and internet communications per day. Are these surveillance programs legal? Do they keep us safe? If not for the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, most Americans would be unaware of the vast amounts of information their government is secretly collecting, all in the name of national security. But whether you believe leakers are heroes or traitors, an important public conversation has finally begun, and we should ask ourselves: What tradeoffs are we willing to make between security and privacy?
As Benjamin Franklin might have asked, "Are we giving up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety, and thus deserving of neither?"
The annual tradition of gathering Hollywood’s best and brightest has continued with this year’s Hollywood Issue, and Vanity Fair’s executive west coast editor Krista Smith joins to give us a look behind the scenes of the biggest photo shoot of the year.
34 Min
Jan 26, 2017
On The Gist, Matthew Dicks offers more tricks for helping Gist listeners tell better stories. You’re welcome. This class focuses on how to bring the emotions behind our experiences into how we tell our stories. Dicks is the author of Memoirs of...
29 Min
Jul 6, 2015
In this episode of BackStory, Ed, Joanne, and Brian look at the many reasons for joining the U.S. armed services.
42 Min
May 26, 2017