As promised last year, I’ve redesigned the website for The Private Citizen. The podcast has also gotten an album art refresh to go along with it. As you can see, I’ve now labelled it more clearly as a politics podcast, to reflect the changes in direction the show has experienced during its first year of operation. As before, the design is supposed to convey what the show is about in one glance and then get out of your way to quickly enable you to access the podcast and the substantial amount of show notes for each episode. Pleas let me know if there are any issues.

I will record and release the first episode of the year today. I was planning on streaming the recording starting at 18:00 CET, but looking at the current time, I might actually be a few hours late with that as I still have a lot of prep work to do. I will post in the Discord when I’m getting ready to go live. See you then, I hope!

I’ve just released the final episode of the year for The Private Citizen. Here, I’m taking a look back at the year through the lens of all the topics I’ve covered. It’s also a good episode to listen to if you haven’t been on board from the beginning and want to know what episodes are particularly interesting to go back to.

Enjoy this last one for the year. And enjoy the holidays. I know I will. And I’ll be back in January recharged and with a fresh outlook on the show.

→ The Private Citizen 50: The Year 2020 in Review

A look back at the first year of this podcast, the topics covered and how the show changed with them.

You can subscribe to the show via a number of methods:

It took me a while to get to it, but I’ve just released a fresh episode of The Private Citizen and I’m finally covering the renewed efforts by governments in the US and the EU to re-enter the Crypto Wars. Yes indeed, they are again trying to make it so that ordinary citizens can’t use effective cryptography. Because the state must know everything! This goes incredibly well with lockdowns and face masks orders, I feel.

→ The Private Citizen 49: Crypto Wars Redux

Ever since the Cold War, intelligence services and their sympathisers in Western governments have worked tirelessy to prevent everyday citizens from utilising effective encryption to shield their lives from prying eyes. When the Clipper chip failed, these people switched to influencing legislation to get what they want. And now they are at it again.

You can subscribe to the show via a number of methods:

I’ve just released a new episode of The Private Citizen. In the promised follow-up to our pre-election coverage, Mike and myself reconvene and discuss the fallout from the US Presidential Election. Warning: It’s another very long episode!

→ The Private Citizen 48: Trump, Biden and the Role of the Media

A conversation about how Joe Biden won the election, how Trump lost it, what the media had to do with it and what this means for the future.

You can subscribe to the show via a number of methods:

Tomorrow, the German Bundestag is set to pass the Drittes Gesetz zum Schutz der Bevölkerung bei einer epidemischen Lage von nationaler Tragweite or as I like to call it: The Total Lockdown Law. Last week, I recorded an episode of The Private Citizen explaining what it is all about.

→ The Private Citizen 47: The German Total Lockdown Law

The German Bundestag is about to debate far-reaching legislation that will permanently enshrine coronavirus-related restrictions into law. In this episode, I examine this law’s privacy and civil liberty implications.

You can subscribe to the show via a number of methods:

Coming soon. …Maybe. If I can get it off the ground. Website is almost done.

With all this Joe Biden election malarkey I got kind of distracted from telling you about the latest Private Citizen episode.

So, let’s get you updated before I record a new one this week. Episode 46 was published on Wednesday and in it, I talk about the recent raids against suspects who supposedly spread hate speech online and what these police actions mean for people concerned about their privacy when using the internet.

→ The Private Citizen 46: Fighting Hate Speech vs. Fighting Free Speech

Police raids across Europe to fight hate speech sound like a good idea. But what does “hate speech” actually mean? And does fighting it actually help? Or will it endanger your freedom of speech and maybe even your privacy?

You can subscribe to the show via a number of methods: