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Recorded Future News
The podcast that tells true stories about the people making and breaking our digital world. We take listeners into the world of cyber and intelligence without all the techie jargon. Every Tuesday and Friday, former NPR investigations correspondent Dina Temple-Raston and the team draw back the curtain on ransomware attacks, mysterious hackers, and the people who are trying to stop them.
Episodes
Mentioned books
13 snips
Feb 27, 2026 • 31min
Dispatches from the Ukrainian front
Karen Duffin, an investigative reporter who traces weapon parts, explains how wreckage reveals supply chains. Zahn, an active-duty Ukrainian air-defense officer, shares frontline life, drone swarm threats, Starlink’s battlefield role, radars and detection, and how connectivity reshapes modern warfare.
13 snips
Feb 24, 2026 • 46min
Your data, commodified
Kevin Hamlin, a university computer science professor who trains cyber defenders, and Josephine Wolfe, a cybersecurity policy professor who advises breach victims, discuss how personal data is packaged and sold, the rise of prison-like scam call centers, scaling of fraud with better tools and AI, and concrete protections like MFA and credit freezes.
23 snips
Feb 20, 2026 • 21min
Chasing shadows with The Citizen Lab
Ron Deibert, founder and director of The Citizen Lab, is an academic investigator of digital espionage and spyware. He recounts tracing global surveillance from a basement lab to uncovering censorship, the Tibet spreadsheet breakthrough, and the discovery of Pegasus and its zero-click attacks. The conversation highlights policy impacts and the growing normalization of surveillance.
9 snips
Feb 17, 2026 • 26min
Reading North Korea
Jeffrey Lewis, arms control expert who directs the East Asia Nonproliferation Program, walks through digital detective work on North Korea. He discusses analyzing satellite imagery, decoding staged launch videos, and using forensics like shadow analysis. Short, vivid stories show how open-source sleuthing teases apart propaganda from reality.
24 snips
Feb 13, 2026 • 22min
Miss Lonelyhearts and the money mules
Ruth Grover, a former police dispatcher who founded Scam Haters United after falling prey to romance scammers, shares her story. She describes fake profiles and the emotional pull of cons. Conversations cover leaked scam playbooks, how victims get pulled into check fraud and money laundering, and spotting red flags with online photos and messages.
16 snips
Feb 10, 2026 • 28min
Defying Gravity
Ed Lu, former NASA astronaut and space scientist who mapped the ISS and studies orbital threats. He discusses the growing cloud of space debris and how tiny fragments can cripple satellites. He explores the risks of deliberate attacks, the need for traffic-control systems in low Earth orbit, and lessons from internet security for governing space.
8 snips
Feb 6, 2026 • 23min
Coded music
Karen Duffin, producer/reporter who narrates the Cold War Phantom Orchestra mission, and Meryl Goldberg, conservatory-trained saxophonist who encoded messages into music. They recount a covert 1985 trip to Moscow, training in evasion, turning sheet music into code, clandestine concerts under surveillance, and the risky smuggling of stories out of the USSR.
14 snips
Feb 3, 2026 • 23min
The people vs. the cloud
Scott Stratton Henderson, a college student from Young St. Charles who organized local opposition to a proposed data center. He uncovers Project Cumulus, sparks a viral petition, and helps mobilize noisy city hall meetings. The story covers secrecy and NDAs, worries about location, and a developer withdrawal — with the community poised to keep watch if the plan returns.
10 snips
Jan 30, 2026 • 15min
Gone in 60 hacks
Kamel Ghali, an automotive cybersecurity expert and white-hat car hacker based in Japan, shares his journey from student intern to industry leader. He talks about how cars became computers on wheels. He outlines common theft methods, real-world network vulnerabilities, and why automakers now hire security teams. He argues for simpler, safer vehicle tech and stronger regulation.
9 snips
Jan 27, 2026 • 27min
Move fast and brake things
Peter Rothschild, a retired radiologist and long-time Volvo owner, recounts a terrifying brake failure after a software update. He describes the mountain road emergency and the investigation that traced the problem to a faulty release. The conversation explores over-the-air update risks, how automotive software testing can miss rare bugs, and calls for stronger safety standards.
