It's not even a sweeps month, and yet Vladimir Putin's televised call-in show featured some stunt casting with Edward Snowden. The NSA leaker asked the Russian president about the country's use of mass surveillance on its citizens. "Does Russia intercept, store or analyze, in any way, the communications of millions of individuals?" asked Snowden via a video link-up.
Putin, a former KGB agent, set the tone by treating him like an "equal," notes Talking Points Memo. "Mr. Snowden, you are a former agent, a spy. I used to be working for an intelligence service," he said. "We are going to talk one professional language." Putin went on to deny that Russia carries out mass surveillance on its population and that any intelligence operations are regulated by court orders. Watch below. --Jordan Valinsky
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Groypers: the alt-right group pulled into the foregroundThe Explainer The network is led by alt-right activist Nick Fuentes
-
10 concert tours to see this upcoming fallThe Week Recommends Concert tour season isn't over. Check out these headliners.
-
How to put student loan payments on pauseThe Explainer If you are starting to worry about missing payments, deferment and forbearance can help
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
