The New Yorker Radio Hour – Episode 3: Hacking for the Masses, and Gloria Steinem

Date: November 6, 2015
Host: David Remnick, with contributors Wahini Vara, Jill Lepore
Guests: Vinny Omari, Adriana Alti, Gloria Steinem, Rebecca Mead

Overview

This episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour features three stories:

1. A deep-dive into the democratization of hacking, focusing on the Lizard Squad and its public face, Vinny Omari.
2. The quest of Adriana Alti to uncover the truth behind her mysterious and legendary biological father, the poet known as Big Brown.
3. A candid, insightful conversation between David Remnick and feminist icon Gloria Steinem about her new book, American politics, and the role of women in leadership.

The episode flows seamlessly from tech investigation, to personal and cultural discovery, to thought-provoking political interview.

Segment 1: Hacking for the Masses – The Lizard Squad and Vinny Omari

(00:54–12:53)

Key Points

• The Christmas Hacking Incident (00:54):
  Last Christmas, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox networks were crippled by hacks, resulting in outages for users worldwide. The group responsible, Lizard Squad, turned the incident into a publicity stunt to launch a hacking tool, Lizard Stressor.

• What is Lizard Squad? (01:35):
  Lizard Squad met online and developed Lizard Stressor—a DDoS (distributed denial of service) service letting anyone, regardless of expertise, pay to shut down websites for a fee (between $6 and $500), exclusively in Bitcoin.

  "These guys are creating tools that allow anyone to hack, and so it sort of lowers the bar for this kind of criminal activity." – Wahini Vara (02:35)

• The Arrest and the "Democratization" of Hacking (02:08–03:01):
  Vinny Omari, then 22 and a Lizard Squad spokesperson, was arrested in the UK shortly after the Christmas attacks. The group’s tool signaled a shift to hacking being available to all—not just the technically gifted.

• How the Tool Works (03:03–03:46):
  A simple interface: input the IP address to attack, define the attack duration, and the tool floods the target with traffic, disabling it.

  "The tool is so easy that my grandmother could use it." – Vinny Omari (03:09)
  "Imagine if someone was to send, like, 50,000 text messages to your phone at once. Your phone would probably have a seizure." – Vinny Omari (03:46)

• Motivation and Ethics (04:05–10:42):
  Omari explains the endeavor was primarily for fun and to see who would buy the tool. While over $10,000 was made, Omari claims not to have personally profited.
  The supposed legitimate use for the tool—testing one’s own server security—was a legal fig leaf, but Omari concedes most buyers used it for personal gaming vendettas or minor sabotage, not for serious cybercrime or ethical security research.

  "Chances of someone using it ethically are very slim." – Vinny Omari (10:05)

• Aftermath, Legality, and Personal Consequences (08:17–12:20):
  The Lizard Stressor site was ultimately hacked, with user data leaked and many arrests made. Omari discusses strained family relations, public exposure, the shifting ethics of hacking, and his own future, stating he now studies computer forensics.

  "All security researchers or analysts, whatever you want to call them, they all do hacking anyway... it depends on which side you're on. You're either on the legal side or the illegal side." – Vinny Omari (11:11)

• Ramifications (12:33):
  While the specific tool is gone, its creation opened the door to more accessible hacking, with lingering implications for cybersecurity and the spread of “script kiddie” attacks.

Segment 2: The Search for Big Brown – Adriana’s Family Quest

(13:33–34:25)

Key Points

• Adoption and Identity (14:02):
  Artist Adriana Alti was adopted into a white family and knew little of her black heritage. Her birth mother, Nina, offered colorful lore about Adriana’s biological father: William Brown—"Big Brown," a street poet of 1960s Greenwich Village, legend to Bob Dylan and others.

• Tracing Big Brown (14:50–17:09):
  Jill Lepore and Adriana’s breakthrough comes with a simple search: pairing “Big Brown” with Bob Dylan uncovers rare music and poetry recordings, confirming Brown’s existence and cultural significance.

  "You put Big Brown in YouTube and, you know, his album comes up." – Adriana Alti (15:00) "Now you have Bob Dylan saying, this is the best poetry you ever heard." – Adriana Alti (17:18)

• Beat Poets, Toasts, and Cultural Legacy (18:02–21:21):
  Interviews and archival research connect Big Brown to the oral tradition of "toasts"—rhymed, braggart poetry of hustlers and outsiders, with scholars and poets like Abiodun Oyewole (of The Last Poets) providing context.

• Life, Myth, and Mysterious Death (22:54–26:45):
  The show explores Big Brown’s Beat Party mock presidential candidacy (1960) and the many rumored accounts of his death—ranging from being run over by a steamroller to being stabbed or killed by mobsters.

• Search for the Man Behind the Legend (27:24–33:52):
  Lepore and Alti scour photo archives and rare films (including one by Larry Rivers) for traces of Brown’s life. Ultimately, no definitive conclusion arises about his fate, but the search renders him vividly alive for Adriana and listeners.

  "I feel like I am like him. I mean, I'm actually like somebody where... I've never been like anyone that I've ever known." – Adriana Alti (32:05)
  "So I feel in this very different way. I'm so happy to have found the best poet Bob Dylan ever knew." – Jill Lepore (33:52)

Segment 3: In Conversation – Gloria Steinem

(36:51–50:35)

Key Points

• On Book Titles and "Everyone Matters" (36:51–38:21):
  Discussing her latest book "My Life on the Road," Steinem confesses struggles with book titles. The phrase “America as if Everyone Matters” was considered, but dropped so as not to diminish or compete with #BlackLivesMatter.

  "When Black Lives Matter came along... I didn't want it to take away from that or seem to be derived from that." – Gloria Steinem (37:47)

• The Story Behind the Dedication (38:21–39:50):
  Steinem shares the moving and risky story of her pre-Roe v. Wade abortion performed in postwar London, and her promise to the doctor to "do what [she] wanted to do" with her life.

  "I've always remembered that... he would want to be known as someone who knew the laws were wrong and unjust." – Gloria Steinem (39:51)

• On Abortion Rights and Reproduction (40:13–40:59):
  Steinem underlines that reproductive control is the foundational issue in social power dynamics.

  "Economics courses ought all to start with reproduction, not just production, because it's actually more basic." (40:38)

• Race, Law, and Culture – The Limits of Policy (41:20–42:11):
  A discussion of Hillary Clinton’s meeting with Black Lives Matter organizers prompts Steinem to note the interplay between legal and cultural change:

  "Culture is really just deep politics... the law tends to change last and often needs to be subverted by culture." (42:21)

• Empathy, Activism, and Leadership (43:13–44:34):
  Steinem describes activist roles, the necessity of empathy, and balancing power dynamics within social change movements.

  "Empathy is first, and then listening... If you have more power, you have to be careful to listen as much as you talk." (43:43)

• "Always Listen to the Turtle": Political Lessons (44:40–45:51):
  An anecdote about a misguided attempt to save a turtle becomes a parable for listening to the lived experience of those most directly affected by any issue.

  "The person who is experiencing something probably knows more about it than the experts." (45:51)

• Barriers to Women in Leadership (46:06–47:35):
  She explores deep-rooted resistance to women leaders in the U.S., linking it to traditional gender roles and family structures.

  "We won't escape this until men are raising children as much as women are... because we associate female authority with emotionality and nurturance and home." (46:06)
  "When we finally get an elected woman, I think she's much more likely to really represent the majority of the country." (47:35)

• Steinem's Controversial 2008 Op-Ed (47:35–49:46):
  Remnick probes Steinem on her New York Times op-ed during Obama vs. Clinton. She recounts the emotional toll and the negative consequences of selective quoting, and shares a trademark Florence Kennedy aphorism:

  "The purpose of kicking ass is not that you get your ass kicked at the right time for the right reason, but that it keeps your ass sensitive." (49:46)

Segment 4: Rebecca Mead on Lin-Manuel Miranda and Hamilton

(51:10–54:15)

• Rebecca Mead and David Remnick discuss Mead’s recent interview with Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cultural resonance of Hamilton—especially its unique blend of history and hip-hop, and its inclusive, feminist approach to storytelling.
• They briefly touch on the pleasures of audiobooks, with Mead reevaluating D.H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow from a new perspective.

Notable Quotes

• On Hacking's New Era:

  "Chances of someone using it ethically are very slim." – Vinny Omari (10:05)

• On Identity, Poetry, and Legacy:

  "Now you have Bob Dylan saying, this is the best poetry you ever heard." – Adriana Alti (17:18)

• On Culture and Law:

  "Culture is really just deep politics... the law tends to change last and often needs to be subverted by culture." – Gloria Steinem (42:21)

• On Empathy and Activism:

  "Empathy is first, and then listening... If you have more power, you have to be careful to listen as much as you talk." – Gloria Steinem (43:43)

• On Gender, Family, and Leadership:

  "We won't escape this until men are raising children as much as women are...We associate female authority with emotionality and nurturance and home." – Gloria Steinem (46:06)

• On Mistakes and Resilience:

  "The purpose of kicking ass...is that it keeps your ass sensitive." – Gloria Steinem (49:46)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Hacking for the Masses: 00:54–12:53
• The Search for Big Brown: 13:33–34:25
• Gloria Steinem Interview: 36:51–50:35
• Rebecca Mead on Hamilton: 51:10–54:15

Tone and Style

The episode oscillates between investigative, personal, and reflective—incorporating the sharp wit of Remnick, the cultural curiosity of Lepore, and the gentle defiance of Steinem. Interwoven are themes of democratization (hacking), belonging and legacy (Big Brown), and the ongoing struggle for gender and racial justice (Steinem).

Conclusion

Episode 3 of The New Yorker Radio Hour is a rich tapestry: it explores the societal implications of accessible cybercrime, journeys through a poetic lost history, and draws wisdom from a pioneer of feminism. The interplay of technical detail, personal testimony, and political insight makes it essential listening for anyone interested in technology, identity, or progress.