Stage Talks with Bellingcat

We speak to Bellingcat researcher Youri van der weide about his latest article looking into incidents from the IDF raid of Jenin, West Bank produced alongside Bellingcat discord members. Youri discusses how the discord community members got involved in the research and how Bellingcat hope to work with our wider community in the future. The talk was hosted in the Bellingcat discord server on Thursd...

In this Stage Talk episode, Narine Khachatryan, a Bellingcat researcher and trainer, spoke honestly to the Bellingcat discord audience about her recent experience of burnout and follow up therapy. During the talk, audience members also shared their own experiences and concerns. This talk was not intended to provide medical advice to anyone currently suffering from mental health issues but to raise...

Bellingcat researcher and trainer Tristan Lee joined an audience in the Discord server to discuss his latest investigation, "The Mainstream Publishers, Distributors and Bookshops Selling Satanist Neo-Nazi Books ". Tristan unpacked what the group 'The Order Of Nine Angles (O9A)' represents and how he discovered that material affiliated to them were on sale in major bookstores. He also discussed met...

Aiganysh Aidarbekova, an investigator and researcher at Bellingcat returns to the Bellingcat discord server to unpack her recent investigation into the destruction of civilian homes and buildings along the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, following clashes between the two countries in September 2022.

Bellingcat researchers Charlotte Godart, Logan Williams, Aiganysh Aidarbekova and Tristan Lee came to the discord server to discuss their experiences of Rights Con, a large human rights conference that took place in Costa Rica at the start of June. The conference features an array of different speakers, from tech companies to government representatives to human rights defenders , with a focus part...

Dr. Jason Stanley came by the Discord server to talk to us about his book, "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them". During the talk, Dr. Stanley provided an overview of the main ideas in his book, and began his conversation by arguing that fascism and fascist politics are experiencing an "acceleration" at the international level. Dr. Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at...

Bellingcat's Aric Toler came by the Discord server to talk about how to teach open source research methods. As Bellingcat's Director of Research and Training, Aric is responsible for overseeing the development of Bellingcat's teaching materials, which have reached thousands of people across the world since 2015. During his talk, Aric gave advice on how to structure lessons and activities, and answ...

Our guest this week was Bellingcat Founder and Creative Director Eliot Higgins. Eliot came by our Discord server to talk to us about his book, "We Are Bellingcat", and to answer questions from our community about the current state of open source digital investigations. Eliot also spoke about where he thinks the field is headed in the future. This is a recording of a Discord Server Stage Talk that...

Michael Colborne, the lead of Bellingcat's Monitoring Project, dropped by the Discord server to talk to us about a recent article in which he explained how to make sense of far-right symbols online. During the talk, Michael provided practical advice to researchers who might come across these symbols, and answered questions from the community on how to carry out this type of work. This is a recordi...

Alex Ștefănescu spoke to us about internet censorship in the European union within the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. During her talk, Alex discussed EU Commission mandates to block Russian media outlets, which she says have had "mixed" results at best. Alex also spoke about how to monitor internet censorship. Alex is a Bellingcat Tech Fellow for 2022, and is currently a Python D...

Ollie Ballinger spoke to us about tracking ghost ships using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and about a tool that he's built to do just that. By helping to detect ships that have turned off their Automatic Identification Transponders (AIS), the tool can help to track down illegal activities at sea, including fishing in Marine Protected Areas, smuggling, and even sanctions-evasion. Ollie Ballinger...

Norm, the Project Owl Discord server owner, dropped by to tell us about the history of the Project Owl Community. Norm spoke to us about some of the highlights and challenges of the community over the years, and shared tips on how to become an active member of online communities like the one at the Project Owl server. Norm's talk also included practical tips for Discord server owners on how to fos...

Judy Mionki, an international criminal and human rights lawyer, spoke to us about the use of open source evidence in international criminal tribunals, from the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 to today. She also shared her experiences as a Defence Counsel at the International Criminal Court, and spoke about the fair trial implications of open source evidence. This is a recording of a Discord Server Stage...

During this Stage Talk, Bellingcat researcher Giancarlo Fiorella gave an overview of the history of the Bellingcat Discord server. Giancarlo spoke about how much the server has grown in 2022, what its biggest challenges were, and what he hopes 2023 has in store for the server. He was joined by server moderators Sarah and Subtle Knife, who spoke about what it's like to moderate the community. This...

Bellingcat Lead Investigator Hannah Bagdasar dropped by the Discord server to give us an overview of the projects that Global Authentication Project (GAP) members have contributed to this year. Launched in early 2022, the GAP is Bellingcat's formal volunteer community. It is made up of ordinary people from around the world who dedicate their free time and skills to help out with Bellingcat project...

This talk delves into the consequences of automation and Open-Source Intelligence on investigative journalism, using a political economy lens. It explores the impact of OSINT implementation in investigative newsrooms, such as changing modes of work, stress, overwork, vicarious trauma and PTSD. It also focuses on alienation, how structural imbalances of race, class and gender are replicated in the...

In this panel talk, researchers from Bellingcat (Johanna Wild, Aiganysh Aidarbekova, and Tristan Lee) and from Lightouse Reports (Justin Casimir Braun and Riccardo Coluccini) discuss their research into the spread of the QAnon conspiracy theory in Europe. The panel spoke about the role that language plays in the phenomenon's spread throughout Europe, as well as of the effects that it's had in diff...

Open source reporter and producer Jake Godin (@JakeGodin) spoke to us about his experiences conducting research into conflicts and high profile events around the world, and about his work at the award-winning Newsy + Bellingcat video series. This is a recording of a Discord Server Stage Talk that took place in the Bellingcat Discord server on November 10, 2022. To join the server, download Discord...

Line of Actual Control (RC) dropped by the Bellingcat Discord Server to share some tips on how to get started doing open source research. RC gave practical tips for researchers on choosing topics, navigating ethical questions in research, and applying programming skills to open source tasks. RC is active on Twitter (@LOActualControl), and runs a free Substack where he writes about his open source...

Brenna Smith spoke to the Bellingcat Discord server community about her career trajectory, from university student at the UC Berkeley's Human Rights Centre to open source research enthusiast, to award-winning journalist. Brenna has done freelance work for Bellingcat, and has held positions at US Today, the New York Times Visual Investigations Team, and most recently, the Baltimore Banner. In 2022,...

Dr. Shelby Grossman dropped by the Bellingcat Discord Server to talk about ethical challenges that she has faced in her career. Dr. Grossman also answered questions from community members about navigating ethical dilemmas, and checking personal bias when conducting an investigation. Dr. Grossman is a Research Scholar at the Stanford Internet Observatory, and is the co-editor of the Journal of Onli...

Tristan Lee, Aiganysh Aidarbekova, and Johanna Wild share their experience with programming as open source researchers, and share tips on how to get started down this path. Together, Tristan, Aiganysh, and Johanna make up part of the Bellingcat Tech Team, which is dedicated to creating tools for open source researchers.

In this recording of a Discord Stage Talk, Aram Shabanian of the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy speaks about the changing landscape in the open source monitoring of the war in Ukraine. From satellite image providers to military flight tracking, Aram's tips are invaluable for anyone looking to monitor developments in Ukraine using open sources. Aram also answered questions from the audi...

This is a Discord Stage Talk that happened on the Bellingcat server on May 23, 2022.The talk included advice on how to get a job as an open source researcher from Bellingcat staff members Tristan Lee, Aric Toler, Hannah Bagdasar, and Giancarlo Fiorella. They were joined by Jake Godin, from Newsy.

Bellingcat investigator Michael Colborne shares tips and suggestions for investigating far right groups using open source digital tools. This is a Discord Stage Talk that happened in the Bellingcat Server on June 29, 2022.