Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Dan Burstein

124: The Cultural By-Product of the War on Terrorism 20

Whatever It Takes: The Politics of the Man Behind 24 22

Jane Mayer, the New Yorker

Confessions of a Serial Viewer: Forget the Time, Agent Bauer. What Year Is It? 37

Charles McGrath, the New York Times

Full-Voltage Shocks: The 24 Addiction 40

Dorothy Rabinowitz, the Wall Street Journal

Down with Torture! Gimme Torture! 43

Sarah Vowell, blogger, and contributor to This American Life

2Jack Bauer, Hero for Our Times 46

Rush Hour 48

John Leonard, New York magazine

The Circles of Hell: Dante, Daniel Boone, Gary Cooper, and . . . Jack Bauer 50

Rick Moran, blogger, The American Thinker

King of Pain: The Political Theologies of 24 55

Jerome E. Copulsky, Goucher College

Jack, Our Savior? 60

Deirdre Good, General Theological Seminary

In 24’s World, Family Is the Main Casualty 64

Ginia Bellafante, the New York Times

Jack Bauer, Meet James Bond 67

Paul Berger, blogger, Englishman in New York

Kiefer Sutherland: Born to Play Jack Bauer 72

Laura Jackson, author, Kiefer Sutherland: The Biography

From Jack Ryan to Jack Bauer: Thoughts from the Master of the Political Thriller 80

An interview with Tom Clancy, best-selling author

3 On the Set of 24 86

There Is Nothing Like It on TV 88

An interview with Joel Surnow

A Creator’s View: How 24 Became 24 92

An interview with Robert Cochran

A Fictional Version of Issues You Read about on the Op-Ed Page 97

An interview with Howard Gordon, Manny Coto, and Evan Katz

Kiefer Sutherland on Jack Bauer 101

A compilation

Geek Chic: The Awkward Allure of Chloe O’Brian 105

An interview with Mary Lynn Rajskub

Resurrecting Tony: A Chat with Jack’s Best Friend 108

An interview with Carlos Bernard

I Choose All of My Roles with a Pair of Tweezers 111

An interview with Shohreh Aghdashloo

Ahmed Speaks: Actor Kal Penn Talks about Racial 116

Profiling, Terrorism, and His Role in the plot of 24

An interview with Kal Penn

CTU Director Bill Buchanan Speaks Out 119

An interview with James Morrison

Dennis Haysbert on President Palmer: “They Killed Me for the Sake of the Ratings” 123

Stephen Applebaum, The Independent (UK)

4 24 and the Politics of Culture 126

We Need Chloe! 128

Maureen Dowd, the New York Times

24 and the American Tradition of Vigilantism 130

Tricia Rose, Brown University Jonesing for More

24 134

Judith Warner, the New York Times

24 and the Political/Cultural Zeitgeist 137

An Interview with Frank Rich, the New York Times

24 on the Other Side of the Pacific: 140

Chinese Viewers React to this Quintessentially American Show

Jing Guan and Ben Liaw

24 and the Fog of Politics: Is Hollywood Driving Public Policy? 143

 

What Would Jack Bauer Do? 144

Colin Freeze, Globe and Mail

The GOP’s Torture Enthusiasts 147

Rosa Brooks, Georgetown Law

Memo to the Candidates: 24 Is Just a TV Show 149

Clarence Page, the Chicago Tribune

24 and America’s Image in Fighting Terrorism: Fact, Fiction, or Does It Matter? 151

A Heritage Foundation Panel, including Rush Limbaugh, James Carafano, David Heyman, Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, and Howard Gordon

5 How Well Does 24 Reflect the Real World? 158

Reflections on 24 and the Real World 160

Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security

Unfortunately, the Threats Portrayed on 24 Are Quite Realistic 164

An interview with R. James Woolsey, former Director of the CIA

I Sleep Well at Nigh:t But We Must Not Let Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies Become Rogue Outfits 170

An interview with William S. Sessions, former Director of the FBI

Our Greatest Threat Is Not What You See on TV 174

An interview with Seymour Hersh, the New Yorker

24’s Unreality Quotient 177 An interview with Amy Zegart, UCLA The Shadow Hunters: LA’s Real CTU 185 Shane Harris, journalist

6 At The Crossroads of Urgency & Ethics 192

Jack Bauer’s Dilemmas—and Ours: Watching 24 As a Primer on Moral Philosophy 194

Brian Carney, the Wall Street Journal

An Army Interrogator’s Dark Journey Through Iraq 196

An interview with Tony Lagouranis, former U.S. Army interrogator

24, Or Himmler in Hollywood 202

Slavoj Zˇiˇzek, philosopher and cultural critic

Is Torture Ever Morally Defensible? 207

An interview with Mark Bowden, the Atlantic Monthly

Torture in Prime Time 212

David Danzig, Human Rights First

7 Next Threat: The Battles in Jack Bauer’s Future 216

Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism 218

John Robb, systems thinker

Why the Department of Homeland Security Should Be Dismantled 223

An interview with Alvin Toffler, futurist

24’s Suitcase Nuke Scenario: A Real-World Worry 227

An interview with Laura Holgate, Nuclear Threat Initiative

The Technology of 24: Real and Imagined, Fiction and Nonfiction 232

David A. Shugarts, journalist

About the Contributors and the Cast 242

 

Acknowlegments 252

 

Index 254