National Security

Veteran national security correspondent JOBY WARRICK, whose new book profiles a terrorist of the 1970’s and 80’s who became so famous for his brazen attacks and playboy lifestyle that once, when he was releasing hostages from a hijacked airplane, several asked him for his autograph. His new book is The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the World’s First Super Terrorist. Warrick, whose last book Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS earned a Pulitzer Prize, believes there are lessons to learn from the life and crimes of his new subject, a notorious figure from the early days of modern terrorism.

(1.) STACIE PETTYJOHN is a senior fellow and director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security. She'll talk about the military challenges the United States faces, five and a half months into the war with Iran. There’s been considerable reporting in the American media about the depletion of U.S. weapons stockpiles and the continuing threat Iran can pose to American bases and allies in the Persian Gulf region. (INTERVIEW BY DAVE DAVIES0 (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES THRU THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW)

Ben Rhodes was a speechwriter and security adviser for President Obama. His book, All We Say, is a collection of 15 speeches — from Ben Franklin to Trump — about what it means to be American.

The New Yorker's Ruth Marcus says Bondi has presided over the DOJ's most convulsive transition of power since Watergate, aggressively reversing policies, investigating Trump's foes and firing staff.

In 2010, while working in Iraq, army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning provided hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic records about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to WikiLeaks in what's regarded as the largest leak of classified records in U.S. history. MANNING was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but was released after seven years, when President Obama commuted her sentence. Manning announced her gender identity as a women after her conviction in 2013 and began to transition. Her new memoir is titled Read Me Dot T-X-T, A Memoir.

New York Times journalist Eric Schmitt says the president's threats against Iran and his recent purge at the Pentagon, in which he ousted his secretary of defense, could undermine national security.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says it's not normal for the bureau to open investigations into the president.

Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times says that when it comes to national security, President Trump "doesn't trust the civilian national security establishment and they don't trust him."

Stone's new film presents the exiled former NSA contractor as a heroic whistle-blower. Critic David Edelstein says movie's take on Snowden is entertaining — but also a bit one-sided.

In Dragnet Nation, Julia Angwin describes an oppressive blanket of electronic data surveillance. "There's a price you pay for living in the modern world," she says. "You have to share your data."

Washington Post national security reporter Dana Priest's book Top Secret America looks at the top-secret intelligence and counterterrorism network created after Sept. 11. "No one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, [or] how many programs exist within it," she says.

One of the most common dangers to American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has been homemade remote-controlled bombs. Wired national security writer Noah Shachtman details the ongoing effort to create a device that could stop IEDs before they strike.

Historian Garry Wills won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for his book Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America and now he's back with a new book about how the atomic bomb transformed our nation. Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State explores the ways in which the bomb helped expand the power of the American presidency and turn the United States into a national security state.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died Tuesday night of complications related to a cancerous brain tumor. In this archival interview from 2006, Kennedy spoke with guest host Dave Davies about the problem of — and possible solutions to — America's burgeoning health care costs.

The seventh season of 24 premieres this Sunday. Critic David Bianculli assesses the four-hour, two-night return of counterterrorist Jack Bauer — who's got some new allies, and some new enemies.

Beginning with the Democratic primary, president-elect Barack Obama's campaign did not waver in its focus on "change." Journalist Ryan Lizza argues that the constancy and simplicity of Obama's message allowed the candidate to turn his vulnerabilities into assets — and outmaneuver both Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind says that the war in Iraq was based not simply on blunders but on lies. His book, The Way of the World, accuses the Bush administration of burying critical information and forging a letter that linked Iraq to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Journalist Bob Woodward's new book, State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III, is a follow-up to his previous books on the Bush administration. In the new book, Woodward says that the Bush administration has avoided telling the truth about the Iraq war to the public, to Congress, and to itself. Woodward is an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post and has been a newspaper reporter and editor for 35 years.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) talks about his new book, America Back on Track. In the book, Sen. Kennedy identifies what he sees as key challenges facing the United States now, and offers possible solutions.

In his new book, Blood and Oil, Klare argues that the United States and other world powers are jockeying to control diminishing global oil supplies. Klare is director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst.