
S1E19 Torture
From John Kiriakou's Dead Drop by John Kiriakou & Alan Katz
March 16, 2026 · 26 min · Season 1 · Episode 19
About this episode
This episode explores how American policy came to legitimize torture, focusing on the role of key figures like Dick Cheney and the Bush Administration's manipulation of language around the issue.
THE BLURB: If this story has a heart of darkness, this is it. How did American policy find its way to legitimizing torture? In this episode, we'll take you down that terrible road. America became a torturer because certain people - including then Vice President Dick Cheney - wanted us to be that thing. We'll also describe how the Bush Administration's wordplay, dancing around the word "torture", made torture inevitable. SHOW NOTES For more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Hosts: John Kiriakou, Alan Katz
Topics covered
- torture
- American policy
- Bush Administration
- Dick Cheney
- legitimization of torture
- historical analysis
Keywords
- torture
- American policy
- Dick Cheney
- Bush Administration
- legitimization
- historical context
- war on terror
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bush Administration
More episodes of John Kiriakou's Dead Drop
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- S2E3 Circle Of Friends · June 1, 2026 · 60 min
- S2E2 Rules Of The Game · May 25, 2026 · 35 min
- S2E1 Welcome To Loretto · May 18, 2026 · 31 min
- S1E27 Prisoner Ex · May 11, 2026 · 36 min
- S1E26 Did John Le Carre Invent The Modern Spy? · May 4, 2026 · 1h 8m
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