Lawfare currently hosts four podcasts, one produced by our staff (The Lawfare Podcast), and three produced independently (Rational Security, Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast, and The Jihadology Podcast). On this page, you can browse and listen to all of the podcasts we host.
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In a delightfully iconoclastic new book, Jeremy Rabkin and John Yoo take the air out of 75 years of inflated claims about the law of war. They do it, not for its own sake, though God knows that would be enough, but as a prelude to discussing how to use the new weapons–robots, space, and cyber–that technology makes possible.
The escalating tension between North Korea and the United States has risen to an unprecedented level. Earlier this month, Stephan Haggard, Lawrence and Sallye Krause Professor of Korea-Pacific Studies at UC San Diego, gave a lecture at a private function on the complicated strategic and political risks that North Korea’s missile and nuclear capabilities present. He talked about the complex relationship among North Korea’s allies and adversaries, the impact of sanctions against Pyongyang, and the past and future role of the United States in addressing North Korean aggression.
Robert Mueller serves warrants in the Russia investigation. Donald Trump makes his first appearance before the UN General Assembly. And Mike Flynn’s work on a private nuclear energy deal raises new questions about conflicts of interest in the Trump administration. Plus, Susan tells you about the worst law ever. Tamara runs a listener survey and Twitter. And guess who also saw Ty Cobb at a Washington restaurant.
In this week’s episode, Professors Chesney and Vladeck explore three big national security law developments from the past few days.
First up: The news that the FISC, on two separate occasions, issued orders authorizing surveillance of Paul Manafort’s communications.
Second: The news late last week that an as-yet-unnamed American citizen fighting for the Islamic State in Syria is now in US military custody and being held as an enemy combatant.
And third: An update on the travel-ban litigation as it moves into the Supreme Court.
Our interview is with Jeanette Manfra, DHS’s Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Communications. We cover her agency’s binding directive to other civilian agencies to purge Kaspersky software from their systems and her advice to victims of the Equifax breach (and to doctors who think that Abbott Labs’ heart implants don’t need a security patch because no one has been killed by hackers yet). I also ask how she’s doing at expanding civilian agency security from intrusion prevention to monitoring inside networks
The evidence of foreign interference in the 2016 U.S. elections emphasizes the significant national security threat to our democracy posed by weak cybersecurity in election-critical systems. Last week, Susan Hennessey joined a panel at the Brookings Institution to address the national strategy for protecting U.S. elections with retired four-star general John Allen, Alex Halderman of the University of Michigan, and Dean Logan, the president for the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials. Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow in Foreign Policy, moderated the conversation.
We have a special treat in this off-cycle episode! NSA GC Glenn Gerstell is in Austin to speak to our students here at UT, and (no doubt against his better judgment) he agreed to sit for an interview with Professors Chesney and Vladeck. The conversation focuses in particular on the nature, operation, and criticisms of Section 702 collection authority. As you probably know, Section 702 is scheduled to expire at the end of December, and there is certain to be a fascinating, high-stakes Congressional fight over its renewal in the months ahead.
Facebook confirms that a Russian troll farm bought ads during the 2016 election cycle. Congress pushes back on the Trump administration’s plan to gut foreign aid and the State Department. And Equifax suffers a massive data breach. Plus, Susan invites you to a party. And I shamelessly promote #BabyCannon merch!
Will this year’s Supreme Court term be packed with cases relating to military courts? In this week’s show, Professors Chesney and Vladeck explore the possibility. The Supreme Court currently has before it an array of petitions for review involving military court questions.
The Cyberlaw Podcast kicks off a series exploring Section 702 – the half-US/half-foreign collection program that has proven effective against terrorists while also proving controversial with civil liberties groups. With the program due to expire on December 31, we’ll examine the surveillance controversies spawned by the program. Today, we look at the “upstream” collection program under section 702.