The Let Me Just Swab Your Cheek Gabfest
Listen to Slate's show about how the government spies on big data, Chris Christie’s special election scheme, and the Supreme Court’s ruling on routine DNA collection.
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Chicago Live Show: Wednesday, July 10, 7 p.m., at the Thorne Auditorium on the Chicago campus of Northwestern University. Tickets and additional information.
On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the new revelations about the National Security Agency’s domestic spying program, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to hold a special election for New Jersey’s vacant Senate seat, and the Supreme Court’s ruling that upholds routine collection of DNA samples from criminal suspects.
Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week's show:
· Glenn Greenwald’s scoop about the NSA’s collection of Verizon customers’ phone records.
· The Washington Post’s article about PRISM.
· Channeling David, Slate’s Will Saletan expressed some ambivalence about the “Orwellian” aspects of the government’s spying efforts.
· Emily wrote about the legal processes that can compel companies to turn over their customers’ data.
· John wrote about what Christie’s decision reveals about his potential presidential candidacy.
· The Supreme Court’s ruling on DNA collection had Emily wondering whether Justice Kennedy had ever seen an episode of Law & Order.
· If police find a DNA “match,” that doesn’t mean they have the right suspect.
· In an article in Slate, Barry Friedman says he thinks the court missed a distinction between two types of searches, regulatory and investigative, that reflect two types of policing.
John chatters about the inevitability of gay marriage.
Emily chatters about ticketing the parents of bullies.
David chatters about sharing.
Topic ideas for next week? You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. The email address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (Email may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Bill Smee. Links compiled by Jeff Friedrich.