The Journalist Who Tracked Epstein Island Visitors’ Phones
3/30/202644 min
This week Joseph talks to Dhruv Mehrotra, a journalist and technologist at Bloomberg. Before that, Dhruv was at WIRED, where you probably saw a ton of his interesting work. Dhruv sits in a very unusual space in journalism: he is able to both write technical tools to dig through data, or collect information, or really anything else, and is also able to just write a damn good story. That is a very unique blend. The pair chat about Dhruv’s entry into journalism, how computational journalism has changed over the years, and how Dhruv uses AI too. Jeffrey Epstein’s Island Visitors Exposed by Data Broker ‘They're Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls Epstein’s Inbox Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:01
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Dhruv Mehrotra· Guest0:28
Immediately after getting hired, they gutted the entire desk and fired everyone on it except for me. It was my first time in a newsroom. I didn't know how to write a story, report a story, or do anything. All I knew how to do was, like, tech stuff.
Joseph Cox· Host0:39
[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to the 404 Media podcast, where we bring you unparalleled access to hidden worlds, both online and IRL. 404 Media is a journalist-founded company and needs your support. To subscribe, go to fourohfourmedia.co. As well as bonus content every single week, subscribers also get access to additional episodes where we respond to the best comments, and they get early access to our interview series too, like this episode. Gain access to that content at fourohfourmedia.co. Dhruv Maratha is my guest this week. He does data journalism and investigations at Bloomberg. Kind of a vague [chuckles] title. You'll learn more