No Such Podcast

Rear Admiral Grace Hopper was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and United States Navy Rear Admiral. She was a pioneer of computer programing, and among her accomplishments, Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honor – in 2016. In 1982, then-Captain Hopper delivered a lecture at NSA entitled, “Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People.” Her insights on leadership and her prescient predictions still hold weight today, more than forty years later. In this two-part bonus episode of No Such Podcast, we bring you the lecture in full. Enjoy! Learn more at NSA.gov. Find the show transcript and other episodes at NSA.gov/podcast. Discover job opportunities at NSA.gov/careers.

It’s 3 a.m. A war has broken out halfway across the world. Someone needs to tell the President. Who provides the information that they need to know? The National Security Operations Center at NSA. Since its founding 50 years ago, NSOC has never closed. Every hour of every day, it monitors foreign developments and keeps our nation’s leaders informed. Bringing together experts from across NSA’s foreign signals intelligence and cybersecurity missions (and beyond), the NSOC watch floor hums with activity. Learn from the Director of NSOC about its critical mission, and from a watch floor employee who describes the thrill of the fast-paced, high-stakes work environment. There’s no place like NSOC. Learn more at NSA.gov. Find the show transcript and other episodes at NSA.gov/podcast. Discover job opportunities at NSA.gov/careers.

What’s it like to come to work in a secure facility every day? What about the people – who even works at a spy agency? The answer: people just like you!   Hear from two women who’ve chosen to make their careers at NSA. One is a computer scientist and the other is a chief of staff. They had different paths to get to NSA, but they’ve decided to stay for similar reasons. They discuss what it feels like to know that your work has meaning, no matter your role, because you’re helping defend the United States and protect national security. Learn about the deep expertise of the people of NSA and how they’re constantly learning.   Find the show transcript and other episodes at NSA.gov/podcast. Discover job opportunities at NSA.gov/careers.

How does NSA stay ahead of its foreign adversaries? Emerging technologies can have significant impacts on national security, further heightening the critical nature of NSA’s foreign signals intelligence and cybersecurity missions. NSA researchers help defend the United States every day by focusing on what’s next.   Learn from NSA’s Director of Research, Gil Herrera, about the strategy behind the largest in-house research group in the United States Intelligence Community. Learn about large language models (LLMs) from a leading expert in the field, and how this technology can help enable NSA to more effectively carry out its foreign signals intelligence and cybersecurity missions. Understand how leading researchers, from mathematicians to computer scientists to engineers and beyond, contribute to national security.   Learn more at NSA.gov/research. Find the show transcript and other episodes at NSA.gov/podcast. Discover job opportunities at NSA.gov/careers.