BIG TERROR E1: Patriot Act or Die
On Monday, Jake Hanrahan and I released the first episode of Big Terror, a podcast exploring the authoritarian creep and radical expansion of policing and surveillance over the past three decades (and beyond).
On Monday, Jake Hanrahan and I released the first episode of Big Terror, a podcast exploring the authoritarian creep and radical expansion of policing and surveillance over the past three decades (and beyond). Our point of departure is, unsurprisingly, the September 11, 2001 attacks by Al Qaeda on the United States that launched the West into two decades of Forever Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The domestic consequences of 9/11 were tremendous as well, with the massive "anti-terrorist" PATRIOT Act rammed through Congress to drastically expand the powers of the American security state and roll back almost all the checks on our intelligence and law enforcement agencies set in place following Watergate and the Church Committee.
A half-hour preview of the first episode is below. If you're interested in the whole episode and the rest of this series, subscribe to Popular Front's Patreon. This will also give you access to the Skeleton Key series about the global Neo-Fascist resurgence, which I've appeared on a number of times. Jake began Popular Front on a shoestring seven years ago and nurtured it into a remarkable independent media operation. It's well worth your support.
This series will not be limited to the United States: our scope will extend to Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and beyond. Forthcoming episodes will include deep looks at police militarization and 'green scare' campaigns by intelligence agencies.
If you're looking for some reading on the post-9/11 era, here are some titles that I referenced in this episode. Feel free to contact me for more material if there's anything particular that piques your curiosity.
Back Bay Books
New Press
City Lights Books
New Press
Anchor
Holt Paperbacks
Anchor
Penguin Books
Back Bay Books