Episode 85 - Citizenfour

Laura Poitras has established herself as a filmmaker unafraid to criticize the actions of the U.S. government.  In 2013, she was contacted by an anonymous source who wanted to reveal some damning information regarding the invasion of privacy of millions of Americans.  The source, Edward Snowden, requested a meeting in his Hong Kong hotel room with Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill, both reporters for The Guardian.  The public heard about this 'leak' in the newspapers.  Poitras' film captures the pivotal moments on video, as they happen.  Edward Snowden says on video that he doesn't want his image to become a part of his whistleblowing, but Poitras wisely does not listen.  She crafts a portrait of the man as a hyper-intelligent, altruistic and charismatic figure that is the hero of this film.  Poitras' film transcends partisan politics to bring us a story about how privacy is invaded on a grand scale in a supposed democracy.  "Citizenfour" is history in the making - a documentary that doesn't explain everything but just enough to keep us current, and urge us on to find out the rest of the information on our own. You can download the podcast here by right-clicking on the hypertext link and choosing "save as", or you can use the convenient player located below: If you cannot see the audio controls, listen/download the audio file here