Glenn Greenwald and Noam Chomsky discuss Edward Snowden and the NSA

Harvard Book Store welcomed political commentators Glenn Greenwald and Noam Chomsky for a discussion of Greenwald's latest book, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State.
In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the 29-year-old NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and his revelations about the agency's widespread, systemic overreach proved to be some of the most explosive and consequential news in recent history, triggering a fierce debate over national security and information privacy. As the arguments rage on and the government considers various proposals for reform, it is clear that we have yet to see the full impact of Snowden's disclosures.
Now for the first time, Greenwald fits all the pieces together, recounting his high-intensity eleven-day trip to Hong Kong, examining the broader implications of the surveillance detailed in his reporting for The Guardian, and revealing fresh information on the NSA's unprecedented abuse of power with never-before-seen documents entrusted to him by Snowden himself.
Going beyond NSA specifics, Greenwald also takes on the establishment media, excoriating their habitual avoidance of adversarial reporting on the government and their failure to serve the interests of the people. Finally, he asks what it means both for individuals and for a nation's political health when a government pries so invasively into the private lives of its citizens-and considers what safeguards and forms of oversight are necessary to protect democracy in the digital age. Coming at a landmark moment in American history, No Place to Hide is a fearless, incisive, and essential contribution to our understanding of the U.S. surveillance state.
This talk was taped on April 15, 2014. By Gage Skidmore CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/b..., via Wikimedia Commons

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

Courage is contagious! Wonderful statement. So true.

[@dwj1231]

Snowden is a great citizen of America. He supports freedom and opposes communism. I wish that many people in America would defend their right to privacy and appose big government.

[@jim294]

I remember lamenting that our society has no young "Chomskys." I'm grateful that Greenwald is our new young Chomsky! Thank you, Chomsky, for creating a new healthy band of actual journalists!

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

No. It's Snowden who's the new young Chomsky. Greenwald has supported Trump and claims that Trump can win in 2024. No way he's the new young Chomsky.

[@dariusradu2369]

Boy, this comment aged like milk :))

[@tanktruck1]

Wow! Glenn Greenwald is such a great orator. I don't think that people would have paid as much attention to the reporting of NSA spying on Americans if it were a less capable journalist reporting on it. I like that he talks fast and covers so much-and of substance-in so little a time. I've seen him do the media rounds and have debates with other guests and am always amazed how he always comes out on top-I imagine it helps having a cause you can get behind and also being a capable debater. I know Noam is a little older, and although he is a man of intellect and ideas that are worth listening to, I have to admit that I sometimes find it hard to listen to him. Last time I did not finish the video; let me hope that I can finish it this time around.

[@chedwiggins7297]

downloading the book now...and probably appending myself to every watch list in existence. Except they already watch everyone. What has happened to our nation?

[@RakidulAlam]

In the case of Edward Snowden the Hong kongs action was hilariously brave

[@Viedt]

Why is it twenty minutes into this video and I haven't heard Chomsky say a word yet

[@fredlang3676]

I concur.

[@briseboy]

Exploring the Intercept articles, articles concerning US surveillance agencies,and this very youtube video, I have seen great numbers of comments diluting, departing from the issue, and purely irrelevant enough to ask the question: "What is the scope of psychological programs and training used by these agencies to obfuscate and dilute attempts to illuminate and discuss their activities?" Look below at a very few of the obvious common trolling methods.

[@mhe0815]

I have yet to see a talk by professor Chomsky where his voice is heard loud enough. He is always so soft-spoken and quiet in comparison to the other people he speaks beside.

[@gbhforumnetwork971]

Sorry about that - we had a hard time editing his voice too.

[@mhe0815]

Forum Network Not a problem, I got used to it over time, I love his talks! ;)

[@Johnconno]

+mhe0815 He's 154 years old, cut him some slack.

[@michaelschneider-]

+1. .. Prof Chomsky is not the first soft spoken individual to be recorded. .. Hey....... Audio ENG guy/gal ??? .. Simply mic the professor and add a touch of level. ..

[@timpascale4151]

@@gbhforumnetwork971 use a cuoressorin the editing or when recording . it may solve the problem

[@ignatiusmagnanimous]

Well Snowden doesn't do US interviews, except John Oliver, but he certainly did not disappear from the public life...I still admire his action but he will talk to everyone except the US. Our "News" is wretched and corrupt, howevere I don't see why he shouldn't take a interview in the US , but it should be a 2hour long interview and not just a double 6 min segment full of cliche hot button words or Orwellian double speak .

[@dangerale]

I love this debate, but why can't people get audio right?

[@britzkopf]

+dangerale Video ain't been 'got right' neither.

[@nyatty2]

This book is outstanding!

[@richh.2803]

34:56 that 20 seconds is hilarious excellent talk!!!

[@aliciam6725]

What would Hitch say?

[@viswaghosh1]

Kudos to both Ed Snowden and Glenn for their work and guts to stand up to the most powerful terrorist state. I think, one way to defeat the NSA would be if billions of us start using words in our emails that would make NSA computers trigger alerts thousand times every minute. That would force them to follow up every foolish prank played out on the Internet.

[@tanktruck1]

It's hard not to see parallels between what Mr. Chomsky was saying about the invasion of Indonesia into East Timor and Israel invading Gaza.

[@relinquis]

the audio bounces from left to right... you should test your sound-mix with headphones.

[@efortune357]

32:25 "There never had been any such programs(nuclear) with an interesting exception, apart from the ones the U.S. supported. What you won't see reported is that George Bush number 1 and Reagan were such enthusiastic supporters of Saddam Hussein that when the war with Iran was over, Bush was then President, he actually invited Iraqi nuclear engineers to come the the United States for advanced training in nuclear weapons production. Well, that's not the kind of thing to report." ~Noam Chomsky

[@MartinMutugi]

really commendable of Glen & Noam..

[@elizabethdiane3679]

May God bless these men. 🙏

[@idrissajah]

GOD BLESS PRO CHOMSKY

[@asianwoman100]

"just because they wear metals on their chest"...Lol Glenn is great!

[@williambarringer94]

Hes not goin to waste his time on something like 911 when snowden has only released 2 percent of what hes got

[@Batheify]

great tea....

[@sehidmujovic7087]

Why cant we just put surveillance on them. Stronger enforcement.

[@missdiablica666]

Chinese-Russion joint espionage sounds legit. Just like the weapons of mass destruction "east, west, south and north of Tikrit". Yeah...

[@ronaldsears4979]

That does not make him a terrorist you gave him the right to speak to freedom of speech and he did he stood up for all of you not just for himself he is important he is a good person at heart he has a hero's mind he loves all of your civil rights to be back in place the way it used to be how do you explain somebody who has a heart to protect you and all others if anyone did obstruction of justice it was those who were all involved this is not out of control on his behavior he just that he did what was right in the best interest of all of you wasn't there to hurt you he was there to protect you and your civil rights as human beings and that's a lot more than I can say he's a sweet down to her young man who thought you guys would take the time to listen and apparently you're burning him because he told the truth he was just doing what was in the best interest of all of you nothing more nothing less

[@jansoderlund364]

Please, use some proper microphones. At least for Prof Chomsky.

[@pauz9776]

doesn't matter he is never recorded at anything like a comfortable level to hear. I love the guy but he won't speak into a mic and give the hard of hearing a break.

[@abdalrahmanshaddow6121]

Killing some ones is More merciful than surveillance someone, destroying his nerves, and making him kill himself

[@elizabethdiane3679]

Hmm my comment above the Stzork post I shared. Politico.

[@ronaldsears4979]

All he wanted to do was speak to the world and let them know what was going on that's all it was about and he figured they'd take it from there that's why he did not want to be back out there so I can understand where he's coming from if he has to explain himself over and over there's something wrong he did what he can and I am looking at him as a hero who's done a lot for people by explaining the truth to them the best way he knew how he is a hero he did not hide the truth from the public he only wanted them to know what was true sincerely from the bottom of his heart he wasn't there to hurt anyone he admitted that he made a mistake but you know what everyone makes mistakes he's human his mother and father are worried about him especially his dad he got cut short from letting him know that he's fighting back for his sons rights he loves his son very much and his mother they miss him so dearly and it hurts him to see him going through this I can understand why he's not saying anymore his rights are important too just like the rest of you I hope you take this into consideration to why he stopped talking about it he explained what he could and that was important he's a good person at heart for caring about the people's civil rights

[@thenerdyanarchist2203]

The audio panning from side-to-side is really disorienting.

[@elduende367]

Go team ... Freedom is way beyond Common Law ... afortiori is the term that says it all!

[@elduende367]

Illuminati Bankers Seek Godlike Omniscience via ... "henrymakow.com/2014/05/no-place-to-hide-review.html" May 20, 2014 Left, If you haven't seen this video, you ought to. It is Edward Snowden's original revelation of NSA spying in May 2013. Now age 30, Snowden explains that spying today can be used in the future to send anyone to the Gulag. In the Talmudic NWO, everyone is guilty of something. Americans fear their own government's surveillance more than terrorism. This is reasonable since false flag "terrorism" is merely a pretext for the establishment of a Judeo Masonic world tyranny, re. the New World Order. Glenn Greenwald's book, No Place to Hide, explains that the Illuminati Jewish bankers seek "something akin to omniscience [by] spying on everyone on the planet." (The US government is merely their sock puppet.) The motivation behind spying - Makow - NWO is Throwback to Totalitarian Judaism No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald Review by Joel Whitney (Slightly abridged by henrymakow.com) noplacetohide.jpg"No Place to Hide" is indeed a meditation on hiding. It takes its title from the late U.S. Sen. Frank Church, who investigated the intelligence community's reach in 1975. Greenwald sounds the same call to arms as Church, but against a technical capacity beyond anything imagined then, enabling the government to scoop up almost everything we say or do. The book is a smart, impassioned indictment of what Greenwald calls "fear-driven, obsequious journalism" that uncritically amplifies whatever politicians say is needed to fight the war on terror. But the book is also an examination of the courage and savvy of a then-29-year-old cyberenthusiast who initially couldn't get Greenwald's attention. On Dec. 1, 2012, Greenwald got a tip from "Cincinnatus," who requested a more secure connection with the journalist and former civil rights lawyer, working then at the Guardian. (Greenwald is now an editor at the news site the Intercept, published by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar's new-media venture, First Look Media.) Greenwald was interested, exchanging a few e-mails with the would-be source, but ultimately never downloaded the encryption software. The next April, documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras told Greenwald about a source who might have documents that would provide insights into government surveillance. Samples, including a very rare FISA Court document, got Greenwald's attention. On June 1, they met the source in Hong Kong, where he was camped out in a luxury hotel. When he turned up in a hotel conference room with an unsolved Rubik's Cube, both journalists were shocked at how young he looked, given his self-assurance in e-mails and chats. This, of course, was Snowden. The cache, too, was astonishing for the breadth of surveillance it detailed in self-congratulatory PowerPoints and memos that Snowden had meticulously organized. Snowden later told Greenwald he was Cincinnatus, and because Greenwald wouldn't download simple privacy software, the largest leak in history had almost slipped through his hands. Snowden taught Greenwald and Poitras other security techniques over the next few days: how to stash cell phones in the freezer (they can be made into bugs); placing pillows against cracks under a hotel door to block sound; Snowden even draped a towel over his head when typing passwords on his laptop to block ceiling cameras. Greenwald.jpg(Glenn Greenwald, left) What felt like overkill proved warranted when the journalists explored the explosive cache they'd been handed on the most elusive of all American intelligence agencies. Days after he arrived, Greenwald's editors at the Guardian were filing his stories on unprecedented connivance between telecoms and the National Security Agency that gave the latter access to a vast (searchable) trove of e-mails, chats and other conversations and online habits of people the world over. The United States government was apparently attempting something akin to omniscience; it was spying on everyone on the planet (or at least those who use technology to communicate) and trying to store it all in vast canyons of servers in Bluffdale, Utah. The NSA was grabbing and stashing so much across an astounding number of code-named programs that, according to one leaked slide, they even repeatedly slowed down the Internet. As Snowden told Greenwald, "When the richest and most powerful telecommunications providers in the country knowingly commit tens of millions of felonies, Congress passes our nation's first law providing their elite friends with retroactive immunity ... for crimes that would have merited the longest sentences in ... history," he knew he had to act. Some of those companies' executives, like Google's Eric Schmidt, infamously said the innocent have nothing to hide (then Schmidt boycotted the CNET site for publishing details about his own life, like his salary). Privacy is no longer a "social norm," announced Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. Across government and media, supporters of the surveillance exclaimed upon hearing the revelations that the NSA wasn't listening in to their conversations; it was overblown. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein argued there was no violation since metadata (information on whom you call, sites you visit, what time, how often) isn't the same as "content" (a transcription of that call or the e-mail itself). But Greenwald makes the case that you can tell a very detailed story with metadata. (Indeed, former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden admitted last week to David Cole, "We kill people based on metadata.") Never mind that the NSA collects and saves content, too. In March, while Greenwald's book was going to press, Feinstein got a taste of snooping when she found that the CIA had spied on her. Greenwald's eloquent defense of the core beliefs enshrined in the U.S. Constitution reads like a brief on the importance of gravity to architecture, or water to swimming; the right to privacy - and not to be searched without cause - are so fundamental it's hard to imagine they need to be defended at all, let alone against such vast encroachment. The revelations have Americans concerned. Greenwald notes that one poll found Americans now fear their own government's surveillance more than terrorism. This is President Obama's legacy. Snowden told Greenwald that as he weighed his conscience on the view into surveillance afforded by his work for the NSA, CIA and management consulting firm Booz Allen - including watching drone attacks on distant Asian villages in real time - he "realized ... I couldn't wait for a leader to fix these things. Leadership is about acting first and serving as an example for others." After Snowden was chased into hiding and threatened with arrest, his passport revoked, Greenwald recounts that they both have faced numerous attacks by journalists. Also, Greenwald's partner, David Miranda, was detained under Britain's terrorism laws, and there have been threats of arrest and even whispers, reported by well-meaning fellow journalists, recounting intelligence officials' overheard desire to have Snowden and Greenwald "disappear." Obama famously entered office promising the most transparent administration in history. But in light of the Snowden disclosures, the war on whistle-blowers, the impunity in the face of vast crimes, he leaves with the opposite, the most spied-on constituency the world has ever known. Joel Whitney is the co-founder and editor at large of the online magazine Guernica. E-mail: [e-mail] - See more at: henrymakow.com/2014/05/no-place-to-hide-review.html#sthash.zZ0ypUPR.dpuf

[@kylemichaelreaves]

This church looks familiar...does anyone know where this event was located?

[@GBHForumNetwork]

Kyle Reaves This was at the First Parish Church in Cambridge, MA. Thanks for watching!

[@MrTankarl]

Really?

[@36742650885]

chomsky needs to turn his mic up and speak clearly

[@davidshaw8655]

It is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion upon the soul in any degree of unrighteousness. There is one principle which is eternal: it is the duty of all men to protect their lives, whenever necessity requires, and no power has a right to forbid it. They thirst for the blood of anyone in whose heart is so much as a spark of the spirit of the gospel. They swear that they believe the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, and then you will get from them filth, slander, and bogus-makers plenty. If men do not comprehend God, they do not comprehend themselves. They have committed hypocrisy against the Declaration and the Constitution. Joseph Smith I prefer to emigrate to Russia and take my despotism pure rather than stay in a despotism with the base alloy of hypocrisy. Abraham Lincoln

[@alsmith4791]

😳😳

[@samshado1744]

Chomsky + greenwald + Snowden To much intelligent To much humble

[@discardeddede]

18 minutes in - I wished Greenwald would stop talking about himself and circumstances and reactions, media etc. and would talk about the facts of the book, about the NSA, about politics... Blah blah.

[@Johnconno]

Queers, eh?

[@SonicPhonic]

Greenwald blabs for 22:44 minutes before Chomsky gets a word in...

[@brianrosell833]

what is the deal with the levels on this video, they seem to be waning from the left to the right channels and back

[@suziegreer8525]

I mean America

[@phiguy6473]

16:20

[@suziegreer8525]

Edward can documents be illegally de classified?

[@AsparagusG]

Good talk, come to think of it Glenn's tie here is terrible as well.

[@suziegreer7975]

QUESTION ...ARE THEY GOING TO KILL ME?????????????????????????AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[@PetadeAztlan]

▶ Greenwald: No Place to Hide - Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaW1q6yffrBkppo ~Pub May 19, 2014 ++++ @Peta_de_Aztlan

[@Johnconno]

Chomsky and Kissinger went to the same Swinger's parties back in the day. They both have compromising photographs of each other.

[@Batheify]

ley cho speak

[@user-rl1dt4vp9z]

0:06 disgusting

[@captain42979]

Concerned about your country? look what happened in 1776 and what happened in 1871.

[@pauz9776]

Dear Mr. Chomsky, Please speak up, I am a fan of your's but I don't hear well or have the background to follow your complex arguments. I repeat...I can't hear your speeches, hear your important thoughts, Lots of us have hearing problems. Also possibly simplify your long running points. I ask you to practice the art of public speaking ,if you aren't already for those of us new to your great teaching. thanks for years of your inspiration. sorry I'm grumpy , it's a pain...I get a headache trying to hear people all day long.

[@phantomofoaktown]

trust me, if you watch enough of his lectures and read his books, I promise that overtime your ears will follow everything very easily to where you no longer wish that he would simplify his long running points.

[@Batheify]

disrespt dudde

[@xander7ful]

Glenn Greenwald needs to learn how to edit himself on stage. It's already 3 or 4 minutes into the video, he's babbling & Professor Chomsky is getting fidgety.

[@suziewong1657]

I KNOW ABOUT SETH RICH GLENN PLEASE DONT FALL OUT WITH ME PLEASE! PLEASE1 DONT I DONT WANT ANY MONEY I DONT WANT PAYING FOR MY INFORMATION BUT I HAVE GUT FEELINGS GUT INSTINCTS IM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP BECAUSE I WAS THE ONE I WAS THE ONE WHO USED SETHS KZbin ACCOUNT WITH A FACE OF A WOMAN WITH LONG BROWN STRAIGHT HAIR ALL GOT IT WRONG ALL GOT IT WRONG

[@tarnopol]

Huh. Pretty crappy video -- what gives?

[@haroldnaples]

Citizenfour was terrible, like an extended episode of a reality show named "Where in the world is Edward Snowden". There was little to no substantial information in it. Greenwald is just another lucky shyster, milking his godsend for all its worth. His password challenge is worthless as with passwords in hand he could not only look but also impersonate that someone, delete his stuff and lock him out of his account. That is the kind of half-baked argument that a lawyer would make in an attempt to manipulate a jury. I cannot fathom why Chomsky would ever agree to be on the same stage with him.

[@dodemcdrode]

I hope Greenwald comes to the points of interest in his book more expeditiously than he does in this presentation. This fellow apparently gets paid by the word, and dotes endlessly on the sound of his own voice; articulate as he may be. Life is short...get to the point!