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Snowden's Box
Gripping behind-the-scenes story of Edward Snowden's massive leak of US secret surveillance
In the summer of 2013, the world was riveted by Edward Snowden's leak of millions of classified documents detailing the US government's massive and secret electronic surveillance program, in which the NSA had infiltrated tech companies, communication systems, emails and phones to spy on, among others, its own citizens. But this digital-age story had an analog side—Snowden mailed printed-out documents to the journalists Jessica Bruder and Dale Maharidge, who hid them in barrels, in an outhouse, and in a tree. Thus began an education in surveillance and counter-surveillance for these two experienced reporters, who were nonetheless completely ignorant about the lack of privacy they—and all of us—now have.
The beautifully written story of Snowden's approach to Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald, the hurried, stumbling, increasingly paranoid, and sometimes comic efforts they made to understand what was unfolding, and the lessons these leading journalists draw from this episode make for riveting reading.
In the summer of 2013, the world was riveted by Edward Snowden's leak of millions of classified documents detailing the US government's massive and secret electronic surveillance program, in which the NSA had infiltrated tech companies, communication systems, emails and phones to spy on, among others, its own citizens. But this digital-age story had an analog side—Snowden mailed printed-out documents to the journalists Jessica Bruder and Dale Maharidge, who hid them in barrels, in an outhouse, and in a tree. Thus began an education in surveillance and counter-surveillance for these two experienced reporters, who were nonetheless completely ignorant about the lack of privacy they—and all of us—now have.
The beautifully written story of Snowden's approach to Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald, the hurried, stumbling, increasingly paranoid, and sometimes comic efforts they made to understand what was unfolding, and the lessons these leading journalists draw from this episode make for riveting reading.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published February 28, 2020
17 people are currently reading
439 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Bruder
8 books485 followersJessica Bruder is a journalist who writes about subcultures and resilience.
For her most recent book, "Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century" (W.W. Norton & Co.), she spent months living in a camper van, documenting itinerant Americans who gave up traditional housing and hit the road full time, enabling them to travel from job to job and carve out a place for themselves in our precarious economy. The project spanned three years and more than 15,000 miles of driving—from coast to coast and from Mexico to the Canadian border.
Jessica has been teaching at Columbia Journalism School since 2008. She has written for publications including Harper's Magazine, The Nation, WIRED, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, O: The Oprah Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Reuters and CNNMoney.com, along with The Oregonian and The New York Observer — where she worked as a staff writer — and Fortune Small Business magazine, where she was a senior editor. Her long-form stories have won a James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism and a Deadline Club Award.
For her most recent book, "Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century" (W.W. Norton & Co.), she spent months living in a camper van, documenting itinerant Americans who gave up traditional housing and hit the road full time, enabling them to travel from job to job and carve out a place for themselves in our precarious economy. The project spanned three years and more than 15,000 miles of driving—from coast to coast and from Mexico to the Canadian border.
Jessica has been teaching at Columbia Journalism School since 2008. She has written for publications including Harper's Magazine, The Nation, WIRED, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, O: The Oprah Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Reuters and CNNMoney.com, along with The Oregonian and The New York Observer — where she worked as a staff writer — and Fortune Small Business magazine, where she was a senior editor. Her long-form stories have won a James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism and a Deadline Club Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 23, 2020
I am a big fan of the Intercept and was excited when I received the advanced audio book copy from Libro.fm. I was also intrigued by the premise of combatting declining social trust.
The sections based on personal narrative are excellent. They are compelling, interesting, and reveal how isolating being involved in whistleblowing can be. I respect the authors' vulnerability and believe these passages struck the right tone: enough information to tell a story, but not so much as to be melodramatic.
I did not enjoy the sections later in the book. Anyone interested enough to read a work like Snowden's Box is likely already aware of the various ways in which private companies and governments track, store, and share data citizens often give voluntarily. This meandering intro to Alexa and other devices and companies read like a "Privacy 101" primer that had little to do with the narrative at hand. To be honest, it seemed like the authors realized how short their book would be and so they added some sections about privacy more generally. I would be less critical had they not repeatedly mentioned being long-form journalists. Surely, they are aware of story arcs and so I was surprised they didn't choose another medium.
This would have made a fabulous podcast. The best parts of the book are those that seem to have been conceived during chats between a few people who experienced something extraordinary together.
The sections based on personal narrative are excellent. They are compelling, interesting, and reveal how isolating being involved in whistleblowing can be. I respect the authors' vulnerability and believe these passages struck the right tone: enough information to tell a story, but not so much as to be melodramatic.
I did not enjoy the sections later in the book. Anyone interested enough to read a work like Snowden's Box is likely already aware of the various ways in which private companies and governments track, store, and share data citizens often give voluntarily. This meandering intro to Alexa and other devices and companies read like a "Privacy 101" primer that had little to do with the narrative at hand. To be honest, it seemed like the authors realized how short their book would be and so they added some sections about privacy more generally. I would be less critical had they not repeatedly mentioned being long-form journalists. Surely, they are aware of story arcs and so I was surprised they didn't choose another medium.
This would have made a fabulous podcast. The best parts of the book are those that seem to have been conceived during chats between a few people who experienced something extraordinary together.
February 5, 2021
Will I put my phone in the refrigerator after reading this book? Probably not, but I do appreciate all the little steps the authors recommend in order to protect one's privacy.
Snowden's Box is a great reminder of how even seemingly innocent technologies (like the internet of things) should not be treated lightly.
At the heart of the book lies the idea that it doesn't matter how scary it is to know that companies and governments can access your data and private information (it is indeed a maddening thought). We should still trust and rely on each other, as big changes can come even from the smallest acts of kindness.
Snowden's Box is a great reminder of how even seemingly innocent technologies (like the internet of things) should not be treated lightly.
At the heart of the book lies the idea that it doesn't matter how scary it is to know that companies and governments can access your data and private information (it is indeed a maddening thought). We should still trust and rely on each other, as big changes can come even from the smallest acts of kindness.
June 5, 2020
A well-written account of what is essentially a human story behind the leak of intelligence documents exposing a mass electronic surveillance program in the name of national security.
June 24, 2020
It was bland.
Honestly, just read Permanent Record, it's a gem.
1.9/5
Honestly, just read Permanent Record, it's a gem.
1.9/5
March 6, 2023
Davvero una piacevole scoperta. Non mi aspettavo fosse cosí avvincente, scritto bene, e al tempo stesso agghiacciante ansiogeno. Racconta la storia di una delle piú grandi imprese giornalistiche del XXI secolo, e lo fa con un stile molto limpido e divertente. A leggerlo vi sentirete come se foste stati protagonisti della vicenda.
Leggerlo, e comprarlo, è anche un gesto di protesta contro il capitalismo della sorveglianza e del massiccio spionaggio ingiustificato e illegale delle agenzie governative. È quindi fondamentale che lo si conosca e lo si faccia leggete a piú persone possibili. Una rivoluzione è possibile, come Snowden ci ha mostrato. E questa rivoluzione deve partire da noi «semplici» cittadini, checché la propaganda governativa ci faccia pensare: «le decisioni individuali contano. Ci viene spesso detto il contrario. Che non vale la pena agire —votare, dire la propria, persino scrivere— perché i singoli individui sono insignificanti e il mondo troppo grande. Eppure noi perseveriamo. Lo facciamo per lo stesso motivo per cui scegliamo la fiducia al posto della paura. Scrivendo contro il silenzio».
Questo è il punto fondamentale: leggete questo libro, e se siete esseri umani civili vi si raggelerà il sangue nelle vene. E usate quel forte sentimento, quella paura, quello smarrimento, quel senso di oppressione e di essere continuamente osservati, per lottare, per cambiare. Per sostituire gli strumenti informatici inutili e pericolosi che usate ogni giorni; per cambiare i vostri comportamenti e le vostre applicazioni. E diffondere il verbo con il vostro esempio da persone che amano la libertà e uno dei diritti umani piú fondamentali, sancito dalla Dichiarazione universale dei diritti umani: il diritto alla riservatezza.
Leggerlo, e comprarlo, è anche un gesto di protesta contro il capitalismo della sorveglianza e del massiccio spionaggio ingiustificato e illegale delle agenzie governative. È quindi fondamentale che lo si conosca e lo si faccia leggete a piú persone possibili. Una rivoluzione è possibile, come Snowden ci ha mostrato. E questa rivoluzione deve partire da noi «semplici» cittadini, checché la propaganda governativa ci faccia pensare: «le decisioni individuali contano. Ci viene spesso detto il contrario. Che non vale la pena agire —votare, dire la propria, persino scrivere— perché i singoli individui sono insignificanti e il mondo troppo grande. Eppure noi perseveriamo. Lo facciamo per lo stesso motivo per cui scegliamo la fiducia al posto della paura. Scrivendo contro il silenzio».
Questo è il punto fondamentale: leggete questo libro, e se siete esseri umani civili vi si raggelerà il sangue nelle vene. E usate quel forte sentimento, quella paura, quello smarrimento, quel senso di oppressione e di essere continuamente osservati, per lottare, per cambiare. Per sostituire gli strumenti informatici inutili e pericolosi che usate ogni giorni; per cambiare i vostri comportamenti e le vostre applicazioni. E diffondere il verbo con il vostro esempio da persone che amano la libertà e uno dei diritti umani piú fondamentali, sancito dalla Dichiarazione universale dei diritti umani: il diritto alla riservatezza.
March 9, 2024
This book does have a couple of instances of swearing.
It feels so wrong, yet so right to read this book.
If you think you've read and watched everything else related to Ed Snowden, then you're missing an important piece. The box. Which this book tells all about.
“the focus of our book was the human relationships that shepherded Snowden’s box — rather than the material inside”
How much of this story is actually true? That I don't know, but as the book mentions,
“systems are only as reliable as the people who operate them.
“When it all boils down to it,” he concluded, “it is all about personal trust.””
Stories are a great way to hook someone in, and it's interesting the approach that this book took.
““Thanks for making me laugh so hard,” Laura wrote to both of us the next day. It was the last time I’d laugh for a while.”
It's fascinating how the book is structured, telling the main story first, then adding details, then talking about US history and the future.
If you aren't interested in US history, or the US in general, then I feel you can finish the book once the author's dive into that. I felt they expanded too far away from “the box”, and they had to fill the book to be a certain number of pages.
“Society evolves when people can test boundaries and experiment with ways of living outside the mainstream. In a climate of total surveillance, such innovations would halt. The culture would stagnate and conformity would reign.”
“It also reflected what I consider to be one of the great lessons of adulthood: that most of the institutions and endeavors we regard as ironclad — from parenting to politics — are actually held together with chewing gum and duct tape. Nothing truly works, at least not for long, or not in the way it’s supposed to.”
It feels so wrong, yet so right to read this book.
If you think you've read and watched everything else related to Ed Snowden, then you're missing an important piece. The box. Which this book tells all about.
“the focus of our book was the human relationships that shepherded Snowden’s box — rather than the material inside”
How much of this story is actually true? That I don't know, but as the book mentions,
“systems are only as reliable as the people who operate them.
“When it all boils down to it,” he concluded, “it is all about personal trust.””
Stories are a great way to hook someone in, and it's interesting the approach that this book took.
““Thanks for making me laugh so hard,” Laura wrote to both of us the next day. It was the last time I’d laugh for a while.”
It's fascinating how the book is structured, telling the main story first, then adding details, then talking about US history and the future.
If you aren't interested in US history, or the US in general, then I feel you can finish the book once the author's dive into that. I felt they expanded too far away from “the box”, and they had to fill the book to be a certain number of pages.
“Society evolves when people can test boundaries and experiment with ways of living outside the mainstream. In a climate of total surveillance, such innovations would halt. The culture would stagnate and conformity would reign.”
“It also reflected what I consider to be one of the great lessons of adulthood: that most of the institutions and endeavors we regard as ironclad — from parenting to politics — are actually held together with chewing gum and duct tape. Nothing truly works, at least not for long, or not in the way it’s supposed to.”
April 12, 2021
More a reflection on issues of privacy and government surveillance than an actual story, my takeaway from it was the irony that to truly guard against invasion of privacy, one should send things through the snail mail rather than email them.
The actual story of Edward Snowden mailing government secrets in a small USPS Priority Mail box and the subsequent lengths the two authors went to guard their involvement was the smallest part of this book. It could have (and actually was) all been treated in magazine article. The rest of the book examines a bit of history of government spying on its own citizens and later offers suggestions on how to guard one's communications from spying eyes.
What I found most interesting was the fact that one of the authors, Jessica Bruder, was the author of Nomadland (which because a film last year). One of those six degrees of separation.
I wish there had been more about Edward Snowden himself in this story, but that is covered in many other books. I think the authors, having risked so much to be part of this caper, just really wanted to write a book about it.
Interesting and compelling, but not a major work. But it does alert the public to these issues, which is important.
The actual story of Edward Snowden mailing government secrets in a small USPS Priority Mail box and the subsequent lengths the two authors went to guard their involvement was the smallest part of this book. It could have (and actually was) all been treated in magazine article. The rest of the book examines a bit of history of government spying on its own citizens and later offers suggestions on how to guard one's communications from spying eyes.
What I found most interesting was the fact that one of the authors, Jessica Bruder, was the author of Nomadland (which because a film last year). One of those six degrees of separation.
I wish there had been more about Edward Snowden himself in this story, but that is covered in many other books. I think the authors, having risked so much to be part of this caper, just really wanted to write a book about it.
Interesting and compelling, but not a major work. But it does alert the public to these issues, which is important.
December 9, 2020
I was a little afraid that I would find this book somewhat repetitive after reading Snowden's memoir "Permanent Record" less than six months ago, but that wasn't the case. Of course the central points are much the same, but the change of perspective (from whistleblower to journalists) was very interesting and brought many new points to light.
A strong recommend for anyone interested in modern surveillance (including IoT and "smart"devices) and/or the media shabang surrounding Snowden.
A strong recommend for anyone interested in modern surveillance (including IoT and "smart"devices) and/or the media shabang surrounding Snowden.
July 8, 2023
Talk about opening one’s eyes…I’m pretty young (24 at time of writing this) so when the leaks happened I was still in school and wasn’t really old enough to care for tracking it. Growing up in this age of data has created clear complacency to both personal security & privacy. I’m guilty of the “so what if they’re watching me, I’m boring” mentality.
This was very well written and will lead to many more books on the topic for my future reading.
This was very well written and will lead to many more books on the topic for my future reading.
February 22, 2025
It's fine. It takes the lesser known parts of the Snowden case and fills the gaps with general observations about surveillance. Apparently it started as an article, and much like most of Verso's catalogue, it probably should have stayed an article. As Jeremy Scahill said, Laura Poitras is the most badass director alive today, and he's right. This is a kind of third party telling of Laura's story, which is a great story, I'd just rather hear it from her.
February 29, 2020
Fascinating story of the importance of human connection and trust. After reading, I plan to advocate for my own privacy and pay more attention to laws and policies about information gathering on us all. Thank you Edward Snowden, Laura Poitras, the authors and others who put their own lives and way of life at risk for the greater good.
May 4, 2021
Was an interesting book on the humans behind the scenes of the Snowden leaks. Highlights the importance of trust and relationships, but this book really would have benefitted by talking about what was in the box at least a little. A fun, fast read though, and recommended for people who already know the main story of the Snowden leaks.
March 20, 2023
3.5 stars
The central narrative of Snowden's Box didn't really grab me, but I REALLY enjoyed all the context the authors included. I learned a lot about the history of US surveillance and privacy legislation, and the conclusion makes some excellent points about IoT forensics and other evolving privacy/trust/surveillance issues.
The central narrative of Snowden's Box didn't really grab me, but I REALLY enjoyed all the context the authors included. I learned a lot about the history of US surveillance and privacy legislation, and the conclusion makes some excellent points about IoT forensics and other evolving privacy/trust/surveillance issues.
June 11, 2023
Ten years on from the Snowden revelations seemed like a good time to once again pick up something related to the topic.
Here's an interesting look at what it took to bring Snowden's information onto the frontpages of assorted newspapers from a different angle, through the eyes of two journalists who were only involved at the periphery, playing a small yet vitally important role.
Here's an interesting look at what it took to bring Snowden's information onto the frontpages of assorted newspapers from a different angle, through the eyes of two journalists who were only involved at the periphery, playing a small yet vitally important role.
December 31, 2021
Great story about the importance of encryption and security, and how a few select journalists protected themselves and Edward Snowden during his release of NSA surveillance memos. It should be required reading for all Americans.
April 9, 2022
Good enough that I might tackle other Snowden accounts…?
Very short but an engaging 4-stars
My Full Review →
Very short but an engaging 4-stars
My Full Review →
February 8, 2023
I’m not American and I’m quite young and also stupid so I’d never heard of the snowden nsa leaks before but wow… what a brave lad and what a story of human trust and surety of doing the right thing in the face of totalitarian-esque governments.
April 13, 2020
This was so gripping that I read it in one day! It reads like a novel and is anything but. Thank you Dale & Jesica for writing this.
July 8, 2020
A side story ...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2020
"Turnkey tyranny" - Edward Snowden
April 2, 2021
Remember: Big bro works for & with big business.
May 10, 2021
Scary side of information age brought out vividly. Courage of people to stand up to big state is inspiring.
February 5, 2022
I really enjoy Bruder’s writing. Quick, interesting read.
May 26, 2022
i wish it was longer and detailed more into Snowden’s experience. however i appreciate the story-telling.
September 23, 2022
Kanske bara lite trist för att man hört berättelsen, eller iaf stora delar av den, förut.
March 12, 2023
I really enjoy Bruder’s writing. Quick, interesting read.
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October 17, 2023Best read for completeness (at least for people who followed the news of 2013 deeply), rather than real additional insight.
July 26, 2024
I feel like the scope of this book was a little limited and I'd have appreciated... just more, in one direction or other.
But what was there was fascinating.
But what was there was fascinating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews