'Skullduggery' political podcast: 'The Postal Service's surveillance program' — May 20, 2021

Based on the dogged reporting of investigative journalist and Yahoo News contributor Jana Winter, Americans have recently learned about the covert internet surveillance operation being inexplicably run out of the U.S. Postal Service. The operation, charmingly dubbed “iCop,” targets citizens’ social media posts, and both the exact ends of this invasive effort and the legal authority under which it exists are unknown. Winter joins Michael Isikoff, Daniel Klaidman and Victoria Bassetti on this episode to discuss the fruits of her reporting and the implications of her findings and to ask why Democrats have not risen to the occasion to protect their constituents.

Plus, author Brad Stone joins to talk about his new book, Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire. They discuss some of Amazon’s unlikely successes (like Alexa), and notorious failures (like the Fire phone), as well as the scandalous episode where some of Bezos’s intimate text messages were leaked to the public.

GUESTS:

  • Jana Winter (@janawinter), Investigative journalist; contributor, Yahoo News

  • Brad Stone (@BradStone), Author; head, Global Technology coverage, Bloomberg

HOSTS:

  • Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff), Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo News

  • Daniel Klaidman (@dklaidman), Editor in Chief, Yahoo News

  • Victoria Bassetti (@VBass), fellow, Brennan Center for Justice (contributing co-host)

RESOURCES:

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Skullduggery is a political podcast about underhandedness. Trickery. Unscrupulous behavior. Skullduggery breaks down the conduct of Washington's political class, tracks the latest in conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns coursing through social media — and who is pushing them — and keeps you up to date on the latest investigations into misbehavior by members of Congress as well as current and former government officials. Yahoo News’ veteran investigative journalists Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman break news, offer authoritative analysis on sensitive national security and law enforcement issues and draw intriguing historical parallels from decades of covering D.C. scandal

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