By guest host John Hockenberry:

The plot busting British intelligence agents who foiled an alleged airline bombing caper have renewed calls to retool this country’s domestic spying program.

The British have taught a lot of bad lessons on how to govern but do they have anything to teach in the business of intelligence gathering? They’re more secretive, they put certain civil liberties aside to do their work, rely less on high-tech electronic eavesdropping, and British agents are more likely to have broad knowledge of their targets in language and culture.

MI5 the British domestic spy agency is not merely the stuff of Le Carre’ novels anymore. Is MI5 a model for the USA’s FBI?

Hear about domestic spying and what the British can teach Americans.

Guests:

Rob Watson, Defense and Security Correspondent, BBC

Richard A. Posner, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. His most recent book is “Uncertain Shield: The U.S. Intelligence System in the Throes of Reform.”;
Erwin Chemerinsky, Duke University law professor and constitutional law expert.;
Coleen Rowley, former FBI agent.