Whistleblowers, Allison Stanger
Whistleblowers, Allison Stanger
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Whistleblowers
Honesty in America from Washington to Trump

Author: Allison Stanger

Narrator: Kate Mulligan

Unabridged: 9 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/24/2019

Synopsis

A magisterial exploration of whistleblowing in America, from the Revolutionary War to the Trump eraMisconduct by those in high places is always dangerous to reveal. Whistleblowers thus face conflicting impulses: by challenging and exposing transgressions by the powerful, they perform a vital public service—yet they always suffer for it. This episodic history brings to light how whistleblowing, an important but unrecognized cousin of civil disobedience, has held powerful elites accountable in America.Analyzing a range of whistleblowing episodes, from the corrupt Revolutionary War commodore Esek Hopkins (whose dismissal led in 1778 to the first whistleblower protection law) to Edward Snowden, to the dishonesty of Donald Trump, Allison Stanger reveals the centrality of whistleblowing to the health of American democracy. She also shows that with changing technology and increasing militarization, the exposure of misconduct has grown more difficult to do and more personally costly for those who do it—yet American freedom, especially today, depends on it.

About Allison Stanger

Allison Stanger is Russell Leng ’60 Professor of International Politics and Economics at Middlebury College, New America Cybersecurity Fellow, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. She is the author of One Nation Under Contract.

About Kate Mulligan

Kate Mulligan has acted with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for more than ten seasons in productions including Hairspray, Alice in Wonderland, and Sense and Sensibility. Her film and television work includes Being John Malkovich and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Steve on September 26, 2019

Five stars for, if nothing else, the most fortuitous publication date imaginable. What are the odds that a book - published by a University press (which, as a general rule, isn't in the business of rushing pulp to the big box bookstore shelves) - titled Whistleblowers would land on the front-of-the-b......more

Goodreads review by David on September 05, 2019

It’s no secret that whistleblowers are self-sacrificers. They get blackballed, fired, their pensions get revoked, and their careers ended. But Allison Stanger’s book Whistleblowers is not really about those risks or the profile of these good Samaritans. Instead, it is about the history of American w......more

Goodreads review by Bruce on March 31, 2022

Whistleblowers: Honesty in America From Washington to Trump, by Allison Stanger (2019, 209pp). This started out promisingly, identifying Revolutionary commodore Esek Hopkins as the first target of American whistleblowers who, despite no supportive laws, were subsequently protected by the foresight o......more

Goodreads review by Carl on February 10, 2020

Thorough, rigorous & detailed exploration of whistleblowers & whistleblowing from the American Revolutionary War up to & including the tRump administration. Whistleblowing in the US began with a high ranking officer in the Continental navy who ignored & disobeyed orders & tortured captive prisoners......more

Goodreads review by Sue on November 14, 2020

A very interesting book on the history of whistleblowing from the Revolutionary War(Yes!) to the Civil War graft and corruption of supplying the troops to Boss Tweed and his crooked politics in NY to Daniel Elsberg and the Pentagon Papers, to Watergate to Julian Assange and Wikileaks to Edward Snowd......more

Quotes

“A stunningly original, deeply insightful, and compelling analysis of the profound conflicts we have faced over whistleblowing, national security, and democracy from our nation’s founding to the Age of Trump.” Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime

“The depth, breadth, and power of the national security state should concern every American who cares about our democracy. Allison Stanger has woven interviews, insights, and great stories into a compelling argument for why we must celebrate and protect whistleblowers as the indispensable guardians of our national ideals.” Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of The Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of a Connection in a Networked World

“This clear-eyed, sobering book narrates a history of whistleblowing…A must read.” Danielle Allen, author of Our Declaration

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