The Public Interest and National Security Whistleblowing: Looking Back, Thinking Forward.
This special podcast series is brought to you by the Whistleblowing International Network and historian Kaeten Mistry.
The first episode of a special 3-part series from the Whistleblowing International Network (WIN) and historian Kaeten Mistry will be available to listen online on all major podcast providers.
As part of a new season of the Whistleblowing Now and Then podcast we are delighted to bring you this special series - The Public Interest & National Security Whistleblowing: Looking Back, Thinking Forward - with the release of its first episode on the 20 February 2023.
The 21st century has marked a new era of national security whistleblowing. The tradition of calling out government wrongdoing has deep roots, but our understanding of public interest disclosures has not kept pace with recent developments.
The series explores the history of secrecy around the world, the importance of holding governments to account in the most sensitive areas of state conduct, and the failure to properly protect national security whistleblowers. We speak to international experts working to enhance whistleblowing protection, defend press freedom, and bolster civil society. And we examine how secrecy and liberty, security and openness became competing concepts within democratic societies. We consider these questions within and across national and regional boundaries, looking at the UK, the US, Europe and Latin America.
This 3-part series is co-hosted by Anna Myers, Executive Director of WIN and Kaeten Mistry, Associate Professor of History and co-author of the book Whistleblowing Nation: The History of National Security Disclosures and Cult of State Secrecy.
Episode 1: Secrets: A Very British Affair. Release Date: 20 February 2023
We speak to Martin Bright, Editor-at-Large at Index on Censorship, and Maurice Frankel, Director at Campaign for Freedom of Information, about public interest whistleblowing, government transparency, and state secrecy in the United Kingdom.
“Ultimately Britain is a secretive society … The Official Secrets Act remains a very strong piece of legislation where in its most brutal expression you simply have no defence, even if you claim you have leaked information in the public interest” – Martin Bright
We also hear from Andrew Pepper-Parsons, Head of Policy at Protect, the UK’s preeminent whistleblower charity and one of the leading authorities on whistleblowing law and practice. Protect has been a key partner in helping us explore these issues.
Episode 2: Secrecy Superpower – Release Date: 6 March 2023
We sit down with two leading experts of whistleblowing and secrecy in the United States. Tom Devine, Legal Director at the Government Accountability Project and Sam Lebovic, Associate Professor of History at George Mason University, author of the prize-winning book Free Speech and Unfree News.
Stay tuned for Episode 3 when we turn to France, Spain and Latin America, as well as other supporting resources.
The project behind this podcast series was generously supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council. Whistleblowing Now and Then is produced by Verity Loughlin, WIN’s Communications Officer. The theme music is by Glasgow’s Routes Quartet. Follow online using #WBnowandthen.
There is more to WIN
The Whistleblowing International Network (WIN) launched the Whistleblowing Now and Then podcast to explore important issues of the day for whistleblowing, featuring interviews with experts, whistleblowers and advocates from around the world. For more information about the Whistleblowing International Network – a global network connecting and strengthening the legal, technical and strategic skills of civil society to protect whistleblowers - please visit www.whistleblowingnetwork.org
Support WIN
We are a non-profit organisation that relies on the generosity and support of those who value our work. Please consider supporting WIN and help us to educate, empower and mobilise civil society to protect whistleblowers, people who speak up for the greater good. You can make a donation here. Thank you.