Quick Thought: As we head into our penultimate blog post, we finish with the world’s most famous whistleblower, Edward Snowden. He captivated the world and continues to do so. There’s so much material written about him, sometimes for, sometimes against but there’s always an opinion. I’m looking for you to form yours.

Links:

Required: CitizenFour & the NPR interview

The Oscar Winning documentary – CitizenFour – it’s free on youtube

NPR Interview: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/19/761918152/exiled-nsa-contractor-edward-snowden-i-haven-t-and-i-won-t-cooperate-with-russia

Watch 2 or more:

The response to Snowden’s TED talk:

Text to read:

Required:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/19/daniel-ellsberg-edward-snowden-and-the-modern-whistle-blower

Read: 1 out of 2 or both or get others 🙂

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/edward-snowden-operation-firstfruits/610573/

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/the-vindication-of-edward-snowden/392741/

Prompts

• Required: Discuss Ellsberg, Wigand, and Snowden.
• Feel free to go your own way but here are some to guide you, considering there are options.
• Did you know who Edward Snowden was/is? Were you one of the people in the Man on the Street video from John Oliver’s piece?
• Edward Snowden has been called a hero and a traitor – where do you come out on it?
• What are your thoughts on what he did? Explain why.
• John Oliver discusses several points about people not caring about surveillance, do you agree or disagree?
• Should the government be allowed to have this much power to spy on people around the world, and in turn in the US?
• What are your thoughts on gov’t surveillance? What are your thoughts on the NSA’s rebuttal…
• How do you feel right now about all this????
• Any thoughts/ideas you want to add or focus on, up to you.
• Word Count – 750-1000