Colonial Cryptography

Guest:  Sara Georgini, PhD, Series Editor of The Papers of John Adams, Massachusetts Historical Society It's become popular these days in political and media circles – and even among White House staff, reportedly -  to use one of a growing number of apps, such as What's App or Signal, that allow you to send encrypted messages impervious to hackers and government surveillance and your boss who might not be thrilled that you’re leaking information to the press.  Encrypting messages has a long history in American politics. Many of our founding fathers were avid cryptographers and some of the messages they encoded two-hundred years ago have yet to be deciphered.