In this emergency podcast Aaron talks to J.M. Berger about the confirmed death of Mullah Omar. They covered a variety of topics related to his death and what it could mean for the broader Islamic State -...

In my humble opinion, this is the best episode yet of Rational Security. If you've never listened to it before, check this one out. Shane, Tamara, and I discuss whether notorious Taliban leader Mullah Om...

Our guest for episode 77 is Bruce Andrews, the deputy secretary of the Commerce Department. Alan Cohn and I pepper Bruce with questions about export controls on cybersecurity technology, stopping commerc...

This week on the show, Shane and I are abandoned by Tamara, who has run off to the Aspen Security Forum—to which neither of us were invited. So we bring back special guest Wells Bennett, and invite Lawfa...

This week, the Aspen Security Forum featured interviews with—among others—FBI Director James Comey, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, and NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers. I have edited these discussions down t...

This episode features part 2 of Aaron’s conversation with Don Rassler. If you haven’t heard part 1 you can find it here. This two part series is based on Don’s article, “Situating the Emergence of the Is...

Episode 76 of the podcast features the power couple of privacy and cybersecurity, Peter Swire and Annie Antón, both professors at Georgia Institute of Technology. I question them on topics from the USA F...

This episode features part one of an interview with Don Rassler based on his article “Situating the Emergence of the Islamic State of Khorasan,” for the CTC Sentinel. This part of the conversation covers...

While world powers and Iran were embroiled in last minute negotiations last week, Brookings hosted a panel discussion on the meaning of another power’s recent nuclear threats: Russia's. In recent months,...

Bitcoin and the blockchain – how do they work and what do they mean for financial and government services and for consumers? And who holds massive stores of bitcoin that can’t be spent without solving on...

This episode of the Jihadology Podcast features an interview with Erin Saltman on the report she co-authored with Melanie Smith, “‘Till Martyrdom Do Us Part’: Gender and the ISIS Phenomenon” (PDF). The c...

Last month, I attended a briefing given by members of the Virginia Cyber Commission hosted by the Northern Virginia Technology Council. I was impressed by what I heard. So we invited the Commission’s Exe...

This week on Rational Security, FBI Director James Comey goes to Capitol Hill to talk about “going dark,” and the gang discusses his reception in two Senate committees. Former officials are expressing co...

Our guest commentator for episode 74 is Catherine Lotrionte, a recognized expert on international cyberlaw and the associate director of the Institute for Law, Science and Global Security at Georgetown U...

Last week, Brookings convened three policy experts, Michael Doran of the Hudson Institute, Brookings fellows Michael O’Hanlon and Jeremy Shapiro, as well as Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) for the first ever...

This episode features a discussion of jihadi primary sources from June, an interview with Nelly Lahoud, and a new segment: #SocialMedia. This episode covers jihadi primary source releases related to:

This week on Rational Security, senators call for hearings on domestic terrorism in the wake of the Charleston shootings. Do we need a new National Commission on the War on Terrorism? And a cat fight bet...

Our guest for Episode 73 is Rob Knake, currently the Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow for Cyber Policy and formerly with DHS, the White House, and the Richard Clarke finishing school for cybers...

The other day, I gave a talk at the George Mason Law and Economic Center on Jodie Liu and my recent Brookings paper, "The Privacy Paradox: The Privacy Benefits of Privacy Threats." The talk is a light-he...

This week on Rational Security, Kori Schake of the Hoover Institution joins us to discuss whether the shooting of nine people in Charleston, SC, was an act of terrorism, what happens now that Chinese spi...