The NSA Has a Podcast (wired.com) 14
Steven Levy, writing for Wired: My first story for WIRED -- yep, 31 years ago -- looked at a group of "crypto rebels" who were trying to pry strong encryption technology from the government-classified world and send it into the mainstream. Naturally I attempted to speak to someone at the National Security Agency for comment and ideally get a window into its thinking. Unsurprisingly, that was a no-go, because the NSA was famous for its reticence. Eventually we agreed that I could fax (!) a list of questions. In return I got an unsigned response in unhelpful bureaucratese that didn't address my queries. Even that represented a loosening of what once was total blackout on anything having to do with this ultra-secretive intelligence agency. For decades after its post-World War II founding, the government revealed nothing, not even the name, of this agency and its activities. Those in the know referred to it as "No Such Agency."
In recent years, the widespread adoption of encryption technology and the vital need for cybersecurity has led to more openness. Its directors began to speak in public; in 2012, NSA director Keith Alexander actually keynoted Defcon. I'd spent the entire 1990s lobbying to visit the agency for my book Crypto; in 2013, I finally crossed the threshold of its iconic Fort Meade Headquarters for an on-the-record conversation with officials, including Alexander. NSA now has social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. And there is a form on the agency website for podcasters to request guest appearances by an actual NSA-ite.
So it shouldn't be a total shock that NSA is now doing its own podcast. You don't need to be an intelligence agency to know that pods are a unique way to tell stories and hold people's attention. The first two episodes of the seven-part season dropped this week. It's called No Such Podcast, earning some self-irony points from the get-go. In keeping with the openness vibe, the NSA granted me an interview with an official in charge of the project -- one of the de facto podcast producers, a title that apparently is still not an official NSA job posting. Since NSA still gotta NSA, I can't use this person's name. But my source did point out that in the podcast itself, both the hosts and the guests -- who are past and present agency officials -- speak under their actual identities.
In recent years, the widespread adoption of encryption technology and the vital need for cybersecurity has led to more openness. Its directors began to speak in public; in 2012, NSA director Keith Alexander actually keynoted Defcon. I'd spent the entire 1990s lobbying to visit the agency for my book Crypto; in 2013, I finally crossed the threshold of its iconic Fort Meade Headquarters for an on-the-record conversation with officials, including Alexander. NSA now has social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. And there is a form on the agency website for podcasters to request guest appearances by an actual NSA-ite.
So it shouldn't be a total shock that NSA is now doing its own podcast. You don't need to be an intelligence agency to know that pods are a unique way to tell stories and hold people's attention. The first two episodes of the seven-part season dropped this week. It's called No Such Podcast, earning some self-irony points from the get-go. In keeping with the openness vibe, the NSA granted me an interview with an official in charge of the project -- one of the de facto podcast producers, a title that apparently is still not an official NSA job posting. Since NSA still gotta NSA, I can't use this person's name. But my source did point out that in the podcast itself, both the hosts and the guests -- who are past and present agency officials -- speak under their actual identities.
Iâ(TM)d love to hear their thoughts (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In NSA America... (Score:2)
... podcast listens to you?
The good old days. (Score:2)
I miss them.
Too paywall (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's literally a podcast on Spotify and others, what paywall?
A typical baleen whale of an institution. (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
If we had known that a helicopter hovering over the Agency was taking pictures, perhaps we wouldn't have stood staring up at it! And I'd appreciate advance notice that my car may be featured in a movie...
I 100% agree!!!! I was standing in the parking lot staring like an idiot, wondering why this helicopter with some strange object underneath it was hovering above me. Will Touchstone be getting in touch with me so I can get paid for my appearance in this movie?
Yes, it is legal to fly over, and we can't stop it. But in this particular case, the original statement implies that the PAO was told in advance that a flyover for filming was being planned. I think the objection being raised is that the PAO did not send out a message saying "we've been told there will be a film crew flying over in the next few weeks to take background shots for a movie. If you do not want to be filmed, go inside, instead of standing there staring. We cannot forbid the filming..."
I realize the issue you folks deal with are more complex than they appear in the seven line note, but I was left with a few questions after I read it. The first is why do we prevent people from taking still pictures of the building from the access road, yet we allow rather close pictures to be taken by Touchstone.
The second is why wasn't FAA policy used to prohibit the flyover I thought the minimum altitude over the NSA (and anywhere else for that matter) was much higher than the altitude Touchstone was operating at. At the time of the overflight I really was wondering if it was being done in a safe manner, but I figured it was being run by the same Agency which had done an excellent job with the Carson folks. Now that I know this was not under Agency control, I really wonder if the pilot of that helicopter was taking chances with the saftey of the people at the agency.
The new No Such Podcast is not the old (Score:2)
No Such Podcast, by Justin Vermillion. That podcast had 5 episodes all aired in the first half of 2020. He was obviously knowledgeable about a number of spooky topics, at least from my PoV. What happened to that one? Did the no-such-agency arrange to have him go silent in 2020, and then by happenstance light off their own version now? Inquiring minds need to know!
Part of their responsibility is to provide ino (Score:1)
So does the CIA (Score:2)
It is very interesting if irregular.