Ep. 87: Barrett Brown on Anonymous, Whistleblowing, Wikileaks, Journalism, & the Pursuance Project

On April 11, 2019 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was arrested by British authorities after almost 7 years of asylum in London's Ecuadorian embassy. Reviled by many and revered by others, Assange and Wikileaks became a magnet of controversy for over a decade thanks to their publishing leaked media like the Collateral Damage video and the Podesta emails. Wikileaks, however, was part of a broader movement called "hacktivism" that became increasingly popular in the early 2000's through work of the informal, online collective Anonymous. This movement raised increasingly relevant questions about whistleblowing, journalism, and transparency that have only became more pressing as the highly technological 21st century rolls forward with concerning revelations made public by whistleblowers like NSA contractor Edward Snowden and former Cambridge Analytica data consultant Christopher Wylie. Joining us on this edition of Parallax Views to unpack these issues is journalist, whistleblower, and former Anonymous associate Barret Brown of the Pursuance Project. Like Julian Assange, Barrett Brown ran afoul of government authorities due to his involvement with Anonymous eventually culminating in his arrest and a 63 month prison sentence in relation to the Stratfor email leaks case. Brown has written for such publications as The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair, True/Slant, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, and D Magazine as well as winning a National Magazine Award for his work at The Intercept. During the course of our discussion Brown tells his story and gives his takes on the arrest of Julian Assange and the media's coverage of it, the state of journalism, Wikileaks, Anonymous, The Intercept's shutdown of the Edward Snowden archive, and much. In addition, Brown fills us in on his latest endeavor the Pursuance Project and his hopes that it will continue the fight for transparency where others have failed. On the whole it's a candid conversation with Barret Brown that's sure to go down as one of Parallax Views' most explosive and controversial episodes to date. CHECK OUT THE PURSUANCE PROJECT Look Out for Barrett Brown's Upcoming Book My Glorious Defeats: Hacktivist, Narcissist, Anonymous: A Memoir Show Notes: Anonymous (Wikipedia Entry) 2012–13 Stratfor Email Leak (Wikipedia Entry) HBGary (Wikipedia Entry) Video Footage of FBI Raid on Barrett Brown During an Online Video Chat Accidental Warrior: The Life and Time of Barrett Brown (Documentary) Relatively Free (Alex Winter's Short Documentary on Barrett Brown and His Release from Prison) Barrett Brown Archive @ The Intercept Barret Brown Archive @ D Magazine Barrett Brown Archive @ Medium Police arrest Julian Assange at Ecuadorian Embassy in London (CNN) EXCLUSIVE: Assange arrested & escorted out of Ecuadorian Embassy (Ruptly/RT) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be punished for embarrassing the DC establishment by Jonathan Turley (USA Today) Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg Speaks Out on the Arrest of Julian Assange (The Progressive) Julian Assange Went After a Former Ally. It Backfired Epically. by Spencer Ackerman (Barrett Brown Vs Julian Assange; The Daily Beast) Barrett Brown's Statement on Julian Assange (April 4th 2019, Prior to and Predicting Assange's Arrest) WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange: Expelled, Extradited, Undaunted. Is Journalism on Trial? (RT's The Big Picture) Snowden archives at great risk — As alarming as Assange's arrest (Justice Integrity Project) The Intercept Shuts Down Access to Snowden Trove by Maxwell Tani (The Daily Beast) The Intercept Bars Co-Founder From Meeting After Snowden Archive Shutdown by Maxwell Tani (The Daily Beast) Laura Poitras ‘Sickened’ By Layoffs at The Intercept (The Daily Beast) Why The Intercept Really Closed the Snowden Archive by Barrett Brown (Medium) The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald Responding to Criticism of the Snowden Archive's Shutdown Music: Metaphazic - Slipstream [ synthwave ] (Intro Collage) Metaphazic - Hydrophase [ synthwave ] (Intro Commentary) FSM Team – Flying Home [Synthwave] from Royalty Free Planet™ (Outro Commentary) SUPPORT PARALLAX VIEWS ON PATREON!