Stage Talks with Bellingcat

Peter Barth, a researcher at Bellingcat, dives into an intriguing cold case murder from 1971 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He shares captivating insights on how he uncovered ties to organized crime while revealing the staggering number of unsolved homicides in the U.S. Barth emphasizes the crucial role of open-source investigation techniques and community engagement in solving these cases. Listeners learn about valuable resources and strategies for participating in cold case investigations, ultimately fostering a spirit of justice and resolution.

This week we were joined by Fogocruzado founder and journalist Cecília Olliveira.Cecília launched Fogocruzado after working on a story and discovering that data on armed violence in Rio and elsewhere in Brazil, something she was seeking at the time for the investigation, was not being robustly collected. She came in to our Server to discuss the power of data and why plotting data that hasn’t before been collated can illuminate otherwise hidden trends and be vital when it comes to informing the public of what is going on in their own cities.This talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday the 19th of June 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed: Fogocruzado: https://fogocruzado.org.br/ Film 'Elite Squad': https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0861739 API link: https://api.fogocruzado.org.br/ Where did the bullets on the streets of Brazil come from?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8WWSRoC93I&ab_channel=TheIntercept Other example on how to use the data: https://theintercept.com/2018/12/13/brazil-rio-de-janeiro-drug-gangs/Nemesis book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25329735-nemesisUpcoming book: https://www.bazardotempo.com.br/products/como-nasce-um-miliciano Aleph tool: https://aleph.occrp.org/

Lou Osborn, a lead researcher at Inpact's All Eyes ON Wagner project, dives into the complex world of Russian private military contractors in Africa. She discusses the Wagner Group's evolving role post-Yevgeny Prigozhin, including their influence in resource extraction and the challenges of monitoring their activities. Osborn also sheds light on the intricate competition between Wagner and Chinese interests, the innovative use of open-source tools for tracking them, and the significant difficulties in documenting human rights abuses linked to these mercenaries.

This week we spoke to The Fuller Project's Eliza Anyangwe about the steps her newsroom takes to protect their sources. We highlighted the basic precautions you should consider when speaking to those with lived experience of the topic you're reporting on and the differences between traditional investigations and open source research when it comes to human-centric storytelling. The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday May 22nd 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed:The Fuller Project: https://fullerproject.org/Eliza's talk at the International Journalism Festival on reporting on GBV: https://www.journalismfestival.com/programme/2025/best-practices-in-reporting-gender-related-crimes-centering-survivors-and-ethical-storytelling Eliza's CNN Afghanistan example: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/asequals/women-refugees-afghanistan-risks-as-equals-intl-cmd/ Murad code call out: https://www.muradcode.com/open-source-practitioners-guide

This week we spoke with DoubleThink Lab’s Jasper Hewitt as we explored the new forms of digital propaganda. We discussed spamouflage operations in the US elections to AI influencers pushing state lines on TikTok. The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday May 8th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed:DoubleThink Lab website: https://doublethinklab.org/DoubleThink Lab medium: https://medium.com/doublethinklabWhat is FIMI: https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/beyond-disinformation-what-fimi_enGraphika on spamouflage: https://graphika.com/reports/spamouflage/US report from VOA and DoubleThink Lab: https://medium.com/doublethinklab/doublethink-lab-and-voice-of-america-us-election-joint-observation-mission-final-report-d5f2dae85e27 Ben Nimmo, the breakout scale: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-breakout-scale-measuring-the-impact-of-influence-operations/Single File chrome extension: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/singlefile/mpiodijhokgodhhofbcjdecpffjipkle?hl=en&pli=1Bellingcat auto archiver: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/09/22/preserve-vital-online-content-with-bellingcats-auto-archiver-tool/ Patriotism for sale: https://medium.com/doublethinklab/patriotism-for-sale-wechat-channels-information-ecosystem-5c6a0f7c6358DFR Lab: https://dfrlab.org/ Wenhao substack: https://wenhao.substack.com/Discourse Power substack: https://discoursepower.substack.com/

John Mooney, a seasoned crime reporter at the Sunday Times, and Connor Plunkett, a financial researcher at Bellingcat, dive deep into the Kinahan cartel investigation. They reveal the intricate world of organized crime and the methods used to unveil hidden connections between the cartel and legitimate businesses. The duo discusses the challenges of digital sleuthing, the double life of cartel members, and the significant impact of investigative journalism on criminal operations. Expect insights on open-source intelligence and the ethical dilemmas faced when reporting on high-stakes crime.

This week we spoke to Lisa Broekhuizen from Space4Good, looking at how satellite imagery can help show large scale impacts on our environment from deforestation to the growth of trees. The talk was hosted by Giancarlo Fiorella on Thursday April 10th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed:

This week we spoke to Andro Mathewson from Centre for Information Resilience on identifying explosive ordnance seen in imagery on social media. Explosive ordnance are munitions that contain explosives, and can detonate without warning, killing or injuring civilians long after conflicts have ended. Andro wrote a guide to easily identify the most common types of EO and in this talk he walked us through it. The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday March 27th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed: Andro's guide and key: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/how-tos/2024/07/31/a-beginners-guide-to-identifying-explosive-ordnance-in-social-media-imagery/Small Arms Survey: https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/ Conflict Armament Research: https://www.conflictarm.com/OSMP: https://osmp.ngo/Repository that Andro built: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19xNmsQpcz7UwHOPy1Zrwud-2jVdctulT5W3_0fUNn8k/edit?gid=0#gid=0CIR: https://www.info-res.org/myanmar-witness/ Bellingcat workshops: https://www.bellingcat.com/workshops/ CORD database: https://www.ordata.info/ Book recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Military-Ordnance-Identification-Investigations/dp/0815369425Bulletpickers library: https://www.bulletpicker.com/technical-manuals.html

This week we spoke to Joe Dyke and Joe Emmett from AirWars and Nick R. Jenzen-Jones from Armament Research Services (ARES). Together they work on the Open Source Munitions Portal, a database of different munition types for open source research analysis. The team walked us through the uses of the OSMP, the many exciting features they've added over the years and why the project remains a vital resource for all open source researchers. The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday March 13th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcat Links mentioned:The OSMP: https://osmp.ngo/Airwars: https://airwars.org/ARES: https://armamentresearch.com/OSMP glossary: https://osmp.ngo/resources/glossary/OSMP visual guide example (3D model): https://osmp.ngo/collection/small-diameter-bomb-gbu-39-visual-guide/OSMP Israel and Gaza collection: https://osmp.ngo/collection/israel-and-gaza-2023-2024/OSMP on X: https://x.com/munitionsportal OSMP on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/munitionsportal.bsky.socialBellingcat toolkit: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2024/09/24/bellingcat-online-investigations-toolkit/

This week we spoke to Dr. Alexa Koenig from UC Berkeley. Alexa has spent much of her recent career looking into how digital investigations could aid accountability for war crimes and gender based violence. Within this discussion we focused on her work covering gender based violence and what lessons she’s learnt from the various groups she’s spoken to and worked with, from legal professionals to survivor groups. The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday February 20th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Links mentioned:https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-mali-mr-al-hassan-convicted-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-committedhttps://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2023/03/03/sexual-and-gender-based-violence-open-source-researche-osint-digital/https://www.refworld.org/reference/research/gbrfco/2014/en/101109https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4895271https://humanrights.berkeley.edu/publications/evaluating-digital-open-source-imagery-a-guide-for-judges-and-fact-finders/https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/case-studies/2014/08/23/the-hills-of-raqqa-geolocating-the-james-foley-video/https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/policy-and-methodological-publications/berkeley-protocol-digital-open-sourcehttps://humanrights.berkeley.edu/publications/gender-persecution-in-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/