FanFare

A group of NSA agents headed by Jon Voight conspires to kill a Congressman and to cover it up after a tape of the murder is discovered. Gene Hackman plays Brill, as a "continuation of The Conversation" from 1974. Jason Lee plays Daniel Zavitz. Jack Black plays Fiedler. Tom Sizemore plays mob boss Pintero. One of Tony Scott's 10 best films. The film inspired the US military to develop the WAMI hyper-surveillance technology.
posted by growabrain on Jun 12, 2019 - 8 comments

This episode aired on July 29:

• More Stupid Watergate, "Something with the potential gravity of Watergate, if the entire White House was on bath salts and Nixon was a raccoon with his head stuck in a jar of peanut butter." Revealed is that Cohen secretly taped interactions between him and Trump, and some of one of the tapes was leaked, relating them planning to keep a story about Trump's affair with Playboy Bunny Karen McDougal secret. Also, Cohen claims Trump knew in advance of the meeting with Russian representatives in Trump Tower. And, Mueller is looking into whether Trump's tweets constitute obstruction of justice.
• Facebook loses $119 billion dollars of value, 19% of its total valuation, overnight. That's more than the value of the entire global cheese market: Facebook's stock dropped by the concept of cheese. It's because of piracy issues, which they've apologized for via an ubiquitous ad. LWT provides one of their trademark more honest versions.
• Main story: Workplace sexual harassment. In the wake of a number of prominent male executives being brought down, it's looking like something may finally be done about it... except that the current situation shares a lot of things in common with the 90s, at which time everything was supposed to change, and then, didn't. The issue became national news with the testimony of Anita Hill before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The last act was a great interview with Anita Hill herself.

Both the main story and the interview are on the show's official Youtube channel. (29m) [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Aug 13, 2018 - 1 comment

Experts have said that we are heading towards a future where privacy is dead. Do humans have any say in the matter? Dan talks encryption, personal security vs collective security, and dreams he has.
posted by Tevin on Jul 14, 2015 - 0 comments

Night Vale Daily Journal editor Leann Hart announces changes at the newspaper, while continuing a successful execution of her most controversial business plan. Plus, a station editorial, a look at local traffic, and a parade for a local sports hero. [more inside]
posted by DevilsAdvocate on Feb 15, 2015 - 12 comments

In which a golden boy political pollster discovers the harsh realities of campaigning in a digital dystopia, Harold reminisces about the Machine's formative years, Reese goes to anger management, and Root finally meets her adversary's avatar.
posted by homunculus on Oct 21, 2014 - 16 comments

Complex but lighthearted thriller about computers and cryptography, government and espionage, secrets and deception and betrayal. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan on Sep 4, 2014 - 46 comments

The Machine and government surveillance are put on trial, and the judgement may fundamentally change the order of things. Season finale.
posted by homunculus on May 13, 2014 - 22 comments

Alliances and rivalries get reaccessed as the major factions make their move. This is the second to last episode of the season. [more inside]
posted by homunculus on May 6, 2014 - 18 comments