Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder & Pegasus Spyware

Dec 19 2023 19 ep. 34 mins 730
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder & Pegasus Spyware Podcast artwork

Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware come to light in a special partnership between Exile Content Studios and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Hosts Rose Reid and Nando Vila examine the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and his inner circle that had the world's most sophisticated military-grade spyware confirmed on their phones. It's called Pegasus. How did this spyware come to be, how does it work, and how vulnerable are you?

Every other week Shoot The Messenger investigates Pegasus, the Israeli technology company that makes it, the NSO Group, and the cyber war industry that is booming around it. You have heard the headlines — this is the deep dive.

  Society & Culture
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BONUS: Introducing "The Professor"

Dec 19 2023 41 mins  
Hey Shoot the Messenger Listeners - we are hard at work on Season 2, “Who Killed the Haitian President?” It will launch in late February. Until then, we’re bringing you special bonus episodes. This episode we’re sharing the first episode of a new series from our friends at Brazen and PRX called ‘The Professor.’ “The Professor” is an investigative podcast about

Exiled Russian Journalist Hacked with Pegasus

Oct 31 2023 38 mins  
In this bonus episode of Shoot the Messenger, we share a special interview host Rose Reid did with Russian journalist and founder of the media outlet Meduza, Galina Timchenko. Citizen Lab and Access Now confirmed Galina Timchenko had been infected with Pegasus — which is the first documented case of the use of Pegasus against a Russian journalist. Before Galina Timchenko was

BONUS: The Spy Inside Your Phone, a special collab with Reveal

Sep 26 2023 52 mins  
We partnered with our friends at Reveal for a special episode on Pegasus, “The Spy Inside Your Smartphone,” featuring a deeper dive in the hacking of the El Faro newsroom in El Salvador and an interview with co-host Rose Reid. Reveal, hosted by Al Letson, is a weekly investigative news show. You can hear it weekly on your local NPR station, or subscribe here. We are hard a

Bonus: Recommending "Silenced: The Radio Murders"

Aug 15 2023 36 mins  
A chilling wave of murders sweeps through Little Haiti, a Miami neighborhood that is home to many Haitian exiles. The victims are radio broadcasters, using the airwaves to demand democracy at home. Little Haiti is up in arms, calling for justice for the fallen heroes, but the investigation stalls. To this day, the masterminds remain free. And rumors persist … about cocaine traffi

A Sneak Peak into Season 2 "Who Killed The Haitian President?"

Jul 11 2023 3 mins  
We're taking a brief hiatus, but here's a sneak peak into what we're working on for Shoot The Messenger season two! For our second season of Shoot the Messenger, we are doing a special collaboration with reporter David Adams to tell a story that continues to be a mystery, the assassination of the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse

BONUS: Introducing Transportista

Jun 27 2023 30 mins  
Captain Humberto Coral was a key member in the Search Bloc that hunted down and killed notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. Only a few months after the killing of Escobar, Captain Coral was mysteriously killed in the streets of Medellín. His son, Beto, grows up asking himself who was responsible for his father’s death?

Bonus: How a US Reporter was Imprisoned in Putin's Russia

Jun 13 2023 26 mins  
On March 29, Russian authorities arrested Evan and accused him of spying on Russia on behalf of the US government. Evan was imprisoned in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, where he remains today. In this special episode from Project Brazen, you’ll hear from those close to Evan — his friends, newsroom colleagues, even his former soccer coach — about his shocking arrest, efforts to

BONUS: Introducing Click Here

May 30 2023 19 mins  
A special bonus episode from one of our favorite podcasts, Click Here. Click Here is a podcast about the world of cyber and intelligence hosted by Dina Temple-Raston. Click Here did a special episode about Pegasus spyware in Mexico: Classified documents and internal memos in a new report from digital activists in Mexico make clear the Mexican Army systematically deployed Peg

10. A Blacklist, an Executive Order, and Front Companies to Circumvent it All

May 16 2023 35 mins  
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware concludes its first season with its tenth episode. Up until now, this show has focused on the use of Pegasus in foreign countries. But while we were in the middle of releasing the episodes of this season, a pair of New York Times journalists published a bombshell report that showed that the US government is making monthly

9. 50,000 Phone Numbers

May 02 2023 37 mins  
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its ninth episode, a conversation with Sandrine Rigaud and Laurent Richard of Forbidden Stories, the organization behind the Pegasus Project. Published in July 2021, the findings of the Pegasus Project sent shockwaves throughout the world. The leaked data showed that at least 180 journalists had been selec