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Spencer Ackerman has been a national-security correspondent for outlets like The New Republic, WIRED, The Guardian, and currently The Daily Beast for nearly the entire War on Terror. He is the author of the new acclaimed book REIGN OF TERROR: HOW THE 9/11 ERA DESTABILIZED AMERICA AND PRODUCED TRUMP. As the former U.S. national security editor for the Guardian, Ackerman was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team reporting on Edward Snowden’s surveillance revelations.
In addition to that very impressive resume, Spencer is also a major comic book geek and musician, so we had a lot to talk about. I was very excited to talk to him about one of our favorite comic book series Lazarus by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark.
I know I say this all the time, but I learned SO much from this conversation. Spencer’s insights and ability to articulate the ramifications of the war on terror are superb. It really helped me understand how we got where we are today and provided me with a viewpoint that I had not explored before.
He is the publisher of the Forever Wars newsletter on Substack, where he tracks the ongoing course of the War on Terror, I highly suggest you check it out.
Spencer promises to come back on the show and talk with me more about music and comics, and I can’t wait. I’m loving these conversations and hope you are too. If you are, please rate my podcast on your platform of choice and share it with others! If you would like to support with a donation to help keep this podcast going, you can become a patron of the show by visiting my website or Patreon.com/sifumimichan to make a donation.
For comments or suggestions, please reach out on social media @sifumimichan.
Discussed in this episode:
Spencer Ackerman :
Ground Zero Mosque
Flatbush, NY
Central Park 5
Cerebro podcast
Issues at the border with Haiti
CLR James - The Black Jacobins
Eric Hobsbawm - The Age of Revolution
Eric Hobsbawm - The Age of Capital
Eric Hobsbawm - The Age of Empire
Eric Hobsbawm - The Age of Extremes
David Blight - Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
Lazarus Comic
Greg Rucka
Michael Lark
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Ted Leo
“Into The Conquering Sun” by Ted Leo and Spencer Ackerman
About Spencer Ackerman:
Spencer Ackerman has been a national-security correspondent for outlets like The New Republic, WIRED, The Guardian, and currently The Daily Beast for nearly the entire War on Terror.
He has reported from the frontlines of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. He shared in the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism for Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks to The Guardian, a series of stories that also yielded him other awards, including the Scripps Howard Foundation’s 2014 Roy W. Howard Award for Public Service Reporting and the 2013 IRE medal for investigative reporting. Ackerman’s WIRED series on Islamophobic counterterrorism training at the FBI won the 2012 online National Magazine Award for reporting. Ackerman is the publisher of the Forever Wars newsletter on Substack, where he tracks the ongoing course of the War on Terror. He lives in his native Brooklyn with his wife and children.255. Spencer Ackerman on the Reign of Terror, Haiti, and comics
THE SIFU MIMI CHAN SHOW CREDITS Host: Mimi Chan Intro Music: Mike Relm
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