Bruce Schneier is a cryptographer, security researcher and a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center, which studies the intersection of society and the internet. Recently, he's taken on the apparently dangerous job of working with The Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald to sift through thousands of the Snowden documents. He's also an excellent interview, as this piece from the MIT Tech Review proves.

It's only a few questions, but Schneier explains complicated details of the NSA story clearly and succinctly. Plus he uses awesome metaphors.

On what it's like to have his longtime suspicions about the NSA confirmed:

" ...it’s like death. We all know how the story ends. But seeing the actual details, and seeing the actual programs, is very different than knowing it theoretically."

On how the NSA talks to the private sector when trying to bypass encryption:

"It’s more of a joking thing: 'So, are you going to give us a back door?' If you act amenable, then the conversation progresses. If you don’t, it’s completely deniable. It’s like going out on a date. Sex might never be explicitly mentioned, but you know it’s on the table."

He also gives the justification for "leaking," researching and publishing these stories:

"Power without accountability or oversight is dangerous to society at a very fundamental level."

The whole interview is quick and worth a read. As is Schneier's blog.