{"product_id":"book-gazf","title":"The Listeners","description":"Wiretapping is nearly as old as electronic communications. Telegraph operators intercepted enemy messages during the Civil War. Law enforcement agencies were listening to private telephone calls as early as 1895. Communications firms have assisted government eavesdropping programs since the early twentieth century—and they have spied on their own customers too. Such breaches of privacy once provoked outrage, but today most Americans have resigned themselves to constant electronic monitoring. How did we get from there to here?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Listeners\u003c\/i\u003e, Brian Hochman shows how the wiretap evolved from a specialized intelligence-gathering tool to a mundane fact of life. He explores the origins of wiretapping in military campaigns and criminal confidence games and tracks the use of telephone taps in the US government's wars on alcohol, communism, terrorism, and crime. While high-profile eavesdropping scandals fueled public debates about national security, crime control, and the rights and liberties of individuals, wiretapping became a routine surveillance tactic for private businesses and police agencies alike.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom wayward lovers to foreign spies, from private detectives to public officials, and from the silver screen to the Supreme Court, \u003ci\u003eThe Listeners\u003c\/i\u003e traces the surprising history of wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping in America.","brand":"Tantor","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49361950277936,"sku":"BDgazf","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49361950409008,"sku":"ZEgazf","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD","offer_id":49361950474544,"sku":"ZMgazf","price":45.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/gazf-Square-cover.jpg?v=1770938096","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-gazf","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}