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PODCAST

The 404 Media Podcast

Welcome to the podcast from 404 Media where Joseph, Sam, Emanuel, and Jason catch you up on the stories we published this week. 404 Media is a journalist-owned digital media company exploring the way technology is shaping–and is shaped by–our world. We bring you unparalleled access to hidden worlds both online and IRL through investigative reporting, smart blogging, and breaking news. At 404 Media you’ll read, and hear, stories you can’t find anywhere else written by journalists who are leading

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All Episodes

38:36

How Benn Jordan Discovered Flock's Cameras Were Left...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/01/12

This week, Jason is talking to YouTuber Benn Jordan, who has done some of our favorite reporting on Flock, the automated license plate reader surveillance company. A couple months ago, he found vulnerabilities in some of Flock’s license plate reader cameras. I have been following Benn’s work for a while, and soon after that video came out, he reached out to me to tell me he had learned that some of Flock’s Condor cameras were left live-streaming to the open internet. In this episode, we discuss how

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51:07

The People Tracking America's AI Data Centers

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/01/07

We start this week with Matthew’s story about an organization tracking the location of AI data centers around the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. After the break, Jason tells us all about what Grok got up to over the holiday break, and we ruminate on what the breakdown in the information ecosystem means. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about how we bought 404media.com!Timestamps: 1:38 - Researchers Are Hunting America for Hidden Datacenters 25:58 - Grok's AI CSAM

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56:54

REPLAY: Pornhub Exec Alexzandra Kekesi Discusses...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/01/05

On this special guest episode of the 404 Media Podcast, Sam talks to Alexzandra Kekesi, VP of Brand and Community at Pornhub. Kekesi started in her current role in August 2023, after working for Pornhub and its parent company for more than a decade. She joined us from Montreal, where Pornhub is headquartered. They discuss the stigma facing the adult industry, Luigi Mangione porn, the trad wife to feet pics pipeline, and algorithms that shut you down for showing side boob. Kekesi also breaks down

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49:25

REPLAY: Signal's Meredith Whittaker on Backdoors and AI

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/31

This is a special interview episode with Meredith Whittaker, the president of the Signal Foundation. I'm sure you all know, and maybe even use, the Signal messaging app. Here we sat down with Whittaker to talk all about the state of Signal today, the threat of AI to end-to-end encryption, what backdoors actually look like, and much more. This is a wide-ranging discussion where one of the few journalists who has revealed new details about backdoors (Joseph) gets to speak to one of the most important

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46:29

The Shifting World of OSINT (with Craig Silverman)

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/29

Joseph speaks to Craig Silverman, one of the co-founders of Indicator. Indicator is a new, independent media company that Craig runs with Alexios Mantzarlis. For years Craig has covered the world of ad fraud and disinformation using all sorts of open source intelligence (OSINT) techniques. Definitely check out Indicator at Indicator.media. The site publishes its own investigations but also tips and tricks you can use yourself.Indicator’s site: https://indicator.media Learn more about your ad

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53:43

We Tracked Ourselves with Exposed Flock Cameras

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/24

We start this week with Jason’s story about Flock exposing a bunch of AI-powered cameras. These cameras zoom in on people as they walk by, sometimes so closely you can read what’s on their phone screen. After the break, we talk about some of our biggest stories this year. In the subscribers-only section, we give some of our personal recommendations of games, other reporting, or just a more chill life.Timestamps:0:00 - Intro00:54 - Gift a 404 Media subscription2:27 - Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered

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43:53

Landing Big Scoops as an Indie Journalist (with...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/22

Marisa Kabas is the founder of The Handbasket, an independent newsletter and website that has been breaking stories left and right about government workers, the media business, and Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Jason and Marisa share notes Marisa about doing journalism without a big newsroom, how the media business has changed over the last decade, and why sources often prefer to talk to journalists who don’t work for mainstream media.YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/e73spvZnc9s The

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47:51

Is Wiping a Phone a Crime?

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/17

Joseph had to use a different mic this week, that will be fixed next time! We start this week talking about a very unusual case: someone is being charged for allegedly wiping a phone before CBP could search it. There are a lot of questions remaining, but a super interesting case. After the break, we talk about Matthew’s article on an Anthropic exec forcing AI onto a queer gamer Discord. In the subscribers-only section, we all chat about the Disney and OpenAI deal. Timestamps: 00:48 - Man Charged

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65:35

Why Are We Obsessed With Aliens? (With Becky Ferreira)

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/15

Humanity has talked about aliens throughout recorded history, and obsession that has changed science, faith, and media. The past few years have been very exciting for those who want to believe. The U.S. government has released tantalizing videos and held several gripping hearings showing and discussing UFOs. People who always thought the government was hiding evidence of alien life from the general population saw it as proof that what they’ve said was happening all along. Skeptics have made

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41:51

Zines Are Back

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/10

We start this week with news of our zine! We’re printing it very soon, and walk you through the process. Independent media is turning back to physical zines as a way to subvert algorithms. After the break, Emanuel tells us about some very weird Instagram changes. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains ICEBlock’s lawsuit against the U.S. government.YouTube version: https://youtu.be/lseEXc-ZzsQ Timestamps: 1:37 - 1st Story - ⁠404 Media Is Making a Zine⁠; buy the zine here 28:01 - 2nd

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56:18

How AI Porn Isolates Us with Noelle Perdue

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/08

This week Sam is in conversation with Noelle Perdue. Noelle is a writer, producer, and internet porn historian whose works has been published in Wired, the Washington Post, Slate, and more, and you’re probably familiar with her work if you’ve been paying attention to the plot in your favorite pornographic films. She’s writing on Stubstack so look her up there!YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/9eqMXBwWtkA Noelle and Sam discuss everything from sexbots and AI porn to censorship, age

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41:02

This Podcast Will Hack You

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/03

We start this week with Joseph’s very weird story about Apple Podcasts. The app is opening by itself, playing random spirituality podcasts, and in one case directing listeners to a potentially malicious website. After the break, Matthew tells us how it sure looks like a map of Ukraine was manipulated in order to win a bet on Polymarket. In the subscribers-only section, Sam breaks down how half of the U.S. now requires a face or ID scan to watch porn.YouTube version:

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51:10

Inside the Biggest Sting Operation Ever (with Michael...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/12/01

Joseph speaks to Michael Bobbitt, a former FBI official who worked directly on Operation Trojan Shield. In this operation the FBI secretly ran its own encrypted phone company for organized crime, backdoored the phone, and collected tens of millions of messages. Michael and Joseph discuss how Michael handled intelligence sourced from the phones, how to navigate an operation that complex, and its fallout.YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/bLeueG5V4QY Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of

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55:23

A Massive Breach Reveals the Truth Behind 'Secret...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/11/26

We start this week with Sam's piece about a massive leak of an AI chatbot, and how it showed that people were taking ordinary women’s yearbook photos and using them to make AI porn. After the break, Jason explains how a recent change on X exposed a bunch of grifters all around the world. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about how our reporting contributed to the shut down of a warrantless surveillance program. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/UgOtR_bDft4 Timestamps: 1:23 - Intro:

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62:44

Luxury Surveillance (With Chris Gilliard)

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/11/24

Jason talks to Chris Gilliard, the author of the upcoming book Luxury Surveillance. Gilliard has studied the rise of companies like Ring and Flock, as well as the dynamics that lead people to surveil themselves and each other.YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/4kBgnjn5cC0 Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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57:06

The Epstein Email Dump Is a Mess

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/11/19

We start this week with a rant from Jason about how the latest dump of Epstein emails were released. It would be a lot easier to cover them if they were published differently! After the break, we talk about Joseph’s piece about a contractor hiring essentially randos off LinkedIn to physically track immigrants for $300. In the subscribers-only section, Sam tells us about a new adult industry code of conduct that has been a long time coming. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 3:08 - First Segment 34:23 -

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64:39

The Video Game Industry’s Existential Crisis (with...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/11/17

The video game industry has had a turbulent few years. The pandemic made people play more and caused a small boom, which then subsided, resulting in wave after wave of massive layoffs. Microsoft, one of the major console manufacturers, is shifting its strategy for Xbox as the company shifts its focus to AI. And now, Electronic Arts, once a load-bearing publisher for the industry with brands like The Sims and Madden, is going private via a leveraged buyout in a deal involving Saudi Arabia’s Public

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49:54

Inside a Small Town's Fight Against a $1.2 Billion AI...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/11/12

We start with Matthew Gault’s dive into a battle between a small town and the construction of a massive datacenter for America’s nuclear weapon scientists. After the break, Joseph explains why people are 3D-printing whistles in Chicago. In the subscribers-only section, Jason zooms out and tells us what librarians are seeing with AI and tech, and how that is impacting their work and knowledge more broadly.YouTube version: https://youtu.be/rHk580uKwHw 6:03 - Our New FOIA Forum! 11/19, 1PM ET7:50

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46:08

A Massive Archiving Effort at National Parks (with...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/11/10

If you’ve been to a national park in the U.S. recently, you might have noticed some odd new signs about “beauty” and “grandeur.” Or, some signs you were used to seeing might now be missing completely. An executive order issued earlier this year put the history and educational aspects of the parks system under threat–but a group of librarians stepped in to save it. This week we have a conversation between Sam and two of the leaders of the independent volunteer archiving project Save Our Signs, an

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53:04

People Are Modding Meta Ray-Bans to Spy On You

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2025/11/05

We have something of a Meta Ray-Bans smart glasses bumper episode this week. We start with Joseph and Jason’s piece on a $60 mod that disables the privacy-protecting recording light in the smart glasses. After the break, Emanuel tells us how some people are abusing the glasses to film massage workers, and he explains the difference between a phone and a pair of smartglasses, if you need that spelled out for you. In the subscribers-only section, Jason tells us about the future of advertising:

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