1 SPECIAL EDITION Whistleblowers

  The concept of a whistleblower is a unique American innovation, meant
to check corrupt power and help us give protection and sanctity to our
ideals in practice, not just in theory.  Whistleblowing is a cousin to
civil disobedience, but is done within the system through long
established tradition and laws.  We’re all getting a lesson in the
protections and reprisals that await a whistleblower as we are now
subsumed in, perhaps, the most significant episode of whistleblowing in
American history, in that it involves the President. While you often
hear that whistleblowers, particularly in the public sector, are truth
tellers, it may be surprising to find that often their complaints are
dismissed and they face reprisal for coming forward.  We are in a period
with more reported cases of whistleblowing as power is concentrated in
fewer hands.  However, the treatment of the whistleblower’s concerns in
the national political crisis we now face may determine the willingness
of others to come forward in the future.  This timely podcast emerges
along with the recent release of Allison Stanger’s book ‘Whistleblowers:
Honesty in America From Washington to Trump’.  We will pay particular
attention to the special circumstances surrounding whistleblowing in the
context of national security and intelligence.              

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