Interview on NPR’s “On the Media” about the history of the word “whistleblower.” (Feb. 13, 2015)
In the age of Snowden and Manning, the term “whistleblower” is increasingly present in our media. But where exactly did the word come from? Who gets to decide who qualifies as a whistleblower? Brooke talks to language columnist Ben Zimmer, legal director for the Government Accountability Project Tom Devine, and progressive icon Ralph Nader–who “rehabilitated” the word in the 1970’s–about the history of the popular epithet.
(Show page, audio, related Word Routes column)