The Whistleblower's Dilemma
Snowden, Silkwood and Their Quest for the Truth
Richard Rashke
- A
- look
- at
- Edward
- Snowden,
- Karen
- Silkwood,
- and
- government
- and
- corporate
- whistleblowing,
- by
- an
- author
- praised
- for
- his
- “first-rate
- reporting”
- (Kirkus
- Reviews).In
- June
- of
- 2013,
- Edward
- Snowden,
- a
- twenty-nine-year-old
- former
- CIA
- employee,
- leaked
- thousands
- of
- top
- secret
- National
- Security
- Agency
- (NSA)
- documents
- to
- journalist
- Glen
- Greenwald.
- Branded
- as
- a
- whistleblower,
- Snowden
- reignited
- a
- debate
- about
- private
- citizens
- who
- reveal
- government
- secrets
- that
- should
- be
- exposed
- but
- may
- endanger
- the
- lives
- of
- others.
- Like
- the
- late
- Karen
- Silkwood,
- whose
- death
- in
- a
- car
- accident
- while
- bringing
- incriminating
- evidence
- against
- her
- employer
- to
- a
- meeting
- with
- a
- New
- York
- Times
- reporter
- is
- still
- a
- mystery,
- Snowden
- was
- intent
- upon
- revealing
- the
- controversial
- practices
- of
- his
- employer,
- a
- government
- contractor.
- Rightly
- or
- wrongly,
- Snowden
- and
- Silkwood
- believed
- that
- their
- revelations
- would
- save
- lives.
- In
- his
- riveting,
- thought-provoking
- book,
- Richard
- Rashke
- weaves
- between
- the
- lives
- of
- these
- two
- controversial
- figures
- and
- creates
- a
- narrative
- context
- for
- a
- discussion
- of
- what
- constitutes
- a
- citizen’s
- duty
- to
- reveal
- or
- not
- to reveal.
