On the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, scholars, theologians, and laymen alike yearn to understand and perceive the drama of Martin Luther’s mallet on the Wittenberg Church door. A common temptation in seeking contemporary moments analogous to the dynamics of 16th Century Germany consists of limiting the range of observed events to the pews […]
From Wittenberg to WikiLeaks: The Parallel Paths of Martin Luther and Edward Snowden
Loneliness vs. Electric Shock. Who wins?
Blaise Pascal famously wrote: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone,” and now science shows us a deeper truth: that we would rather administer electric shocks to ourselves than sit quietly in a room alone. Read on below. The Latest Snowden Leak Is Devastating to NSA Defenders […]
Snowden: “I was trained as a spy”
In case you missed the latest Snowden interview, here’s a short clip where Snowden explains that contrary to official government releases, he was not simply a “low-level systems analyst” but actually trained as a spy. You can see the whole interview with Brian Williams and read more at NBC News.
Reading List: Snowden and Surveillance
For our reading list this week, we’ve got all the best Snowden, NSA and surveillance coverage we could find, starting with a video of the message he released on Christmas day. Enjoy! Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower – NY Times A quick and dirty overview of the entire Snowden story to get you up to speed. […]
Snowden: The Mission’s Already Accomplished
While it’s common to see news articles, TV shows, pundits, editorials, blogs, tweets and books discussing what limits we should or should not put on technology, Edward Snowden is one our few public figures who saw what was going on internally at the NSA and decided that our technological progress needed limits. Contrary to those […]
McLuhan on Snowden…in 1972
An interview of Marshall McLuhan in 1972 recently surfaced and is published in full by Maclean’s. Many of McLuhan’s insights are more relevant than ever, particularly his comments on surveillance and espionage with electric media. The new human occupation of the electronic age has become surveillance. CIA-style espionage is now the total human activity. Whether […]
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