Stage Talks with Bellingcat

This week Bellingcat's Kolina Koltai and The Press' Michael Wright joined us to discuss their recent investigation into the website LeakedBB. LeakedBB was a publicly accessible forum with millions of registered users, where intimate images were allegedly shared without consent. Kolina and Michael provided insight into the methodology behind their investigation, how they identified a key admin of the website, and the challenges of tackling the wider issue of non-consensual sharing of explicit images online.The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on August 13th 2026. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in our Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks:The investigation: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/07/16/leakedbb-crypto-entrepreneur/The Press' version of the investigation: https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/361041069/leaked-global-online-forum-trading-leaked-nudes-and-its-christchurch-linksThese researchers also recently spoke to The World about this investigation: https://theworld.org/segments/2026/08/07/investigative-report-traces-global-reach-of-revenge-porn-websiteHave a story for Bellingcat? https://www.bellingcat.com/contactOpenCorporates: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/opencorporatesMrDeepfakes investigation: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/05/07/canadian-pharmacist-linked-to-worlds-most-notorious-deepfake-porn-site/Motherless (.com) podcast episode: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/2909687/Image Angel podcast episode: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/2962192/Hunchly: https://hunch.ly/Autoarchiver: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2025/08/13/the-open-source-tool-that-has-preserved-150000-pieces-of-online-evidence/

This week, we were discussing how open source research can help build vital factchecking skills across disciplines. We spoke to Prof. dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh, a professor and one of the leaders of the Open-Source Global Justice Investigations Lab at Utrecht University. Alongside her, we were joined by Felix Lommerse, the student assistant at the lab and a former student of the course. In the talk they described the purpose of the project, how major newsrooms have got involved and why other universities may want to take note.The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday October 9th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed:The lab: https://www.uu.nl/en/research/institutions-for-open-societies/contesting-governance/projects/open-source-global-justice-investigations-labBerkeley: https://humanrights.berkeley.edu/Dr Alexa Koenig Stage Talk: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/1908244/FT article in partnership with lab: https://ig.ft.com/haiti-gangsTheir work was also mentioned by GIJN: https://gijn.org/stories/african-journalism-database-local-digital-verification/Their timeline of the Palestinian protests at Utrecht University: https://www.uu.nl/sites/default/files/UU%20May%207%20-%209%20Events%20Report_0.pdfBellingcat challenge site: https://challenge.bellingcat.com/Giancarlo's article on protecting your mental hygiene as a researcher: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/11/23/how-to-maintain-mental-hygiene-as-an-open-source-researcher/The Dart Center referenced has been closed over the summer. You can now access those resources here: https://gcjt.org/

TW: This episode contains a description of a murder and mutilation. This week we spoke to the team at New America about their work tracking militia and private military groups online. Candace Rondeaux and Ben Dalton led us through their tips and techniques for tracing connections on Russian social media site VK and Telegram. The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday September 11th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed:New America Future Frontlines: https://www.newamerica.org/future-frontlines/Their Wagner project: https://www.newamerica.org/future-frontlines/uncovering-the-wagner-group/And Proxy Warfare project: https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/future-proxy-warfare/New America covering Hamdi Bouta's murder https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/reports/inquiry-murder-hamdi-bouta/introduction/Our previous Stage Talk with All Eyes on Wagner: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/2061764/ Coverage of the IDF's lavender programme: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

This week we were joined by psychotherapist and activist Leyla Hussein. In the session we explored how reporters and researchers can make survivors of sexual violence feel safe, supported and heard, and at the same time ensure they make an impact with their work. TW: The talk contains extensive discussion of sexual violence particularly FGM. This talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday the 14th of August 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed:You can learn more about leyla's work here https://www.leylahussein.co.uk/The Cruel Cut Channel 4 Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiC_gpE7y053Qlgb9fU0ykM-BggXpfkmj One month old FGM case: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6200g5d4jlo The Girl Generation: https://thegirlgeneration.org/Eliza's talk: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/2041897/#aboutAlexa's talk: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/1908244/Our Discord Server channels that were mentioned: #gender-based-violence-misogny : https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1118448280435687506#bellingcook : https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1018196475932590090

This week we were joined by Bellingcat researcher Kolina Koltai and our long-standing publishing partners Kevin Clancy, cofounder of Evident Media and Sergio Olmos, an investigator from CalMatters. The conversation centered around the reliance on bystander videos for accountability of these arrests and the scale advice for other researchers on what to look out for in bystander videos and what from patterns identified, could emerge over the next few months in other regions. This talk was hosted by me Charlotte Maher on Thursday the 17th of July 2025 in the Bellingcat Discord Server. This talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday the 17th of July 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcatLinks discussed:The two investigations: Los Angeles: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/07/08/masked-armed-and-forceful-finding-patterns-in-los-angeles-immigration-raids/ Bakersfield: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/04/08/us-border-patrol-called-raid-300-miles-from-border-targeted-open-source-evidence-suggests-otherwise/Related conversational threads in our Discord Server: https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1381169631263199232 https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1371571764525535242Evident: https://www.youtube.com/@evidentmedia CalMatters: https://calmatters.org/The lack of local reporters in the United States: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/10/media/severe-shortage-local-news-muck-rack-journalism-index The Atlantic article interviewing ICE officials: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/07/trump-ice-morale-immigration/683477/ People impersonating ICE: https://msmagazine.com/2025/07/10/men-impersonating-ice-agents-immigration-customs-attack-women-maga-trump/ People Over Papers: https://padlet.com/PeopleoverPapers/people-over-papers-anonymous-anonimo-lf0l47ljszbto2uj Bellingcat Volunteer Community: https://sites.google.com/bellingcat.com/bellingcat-volunteer-community