Hunting Warhead
How do you take down a criminal network that’s hidden in the shadows? How do you rescue child abuse victims who could be anywhere in the world? Hunting Warhead follows the journalists and police on a global mission to expose the darkest corners of the internet. What they discover shocks them. Host Daemon Fairless tracks down the investigators, survivors and criminals themselves. A co-production of CBC Podcasts and the Norwegian newspaper VG.
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Our Editor's Take
The podcast Hunting Warhead follows the story of a difficult subject. Some might even call it terrifying or devastating. But it's one worth telling. It is the account of exposing a child pornography website, finding the criminals behind it, and the larger-scale network.
Most journalists might find the subject matter too awful and choose to avoid it. Yet host Daemon Fairless decided that ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away. He knew he had a duty to uncover such atrocities, to try and make the world a safer place.
The events of Hunting Warhead start with a hacker named Einar Stangvik. The Norwegian is not a typical computer savant who breaks into people's accounts. As a cybersecurity expert, he finds weak points where scammers can break into a system. During his work, Stangvik explores the dark web. That's where he came across a website called Childs Play, entirely by accident. It didn't take him long to discover that it was a horrendous forum for pedophiles to share images. Even worse, it had millions of subscribers all over the world.
After months of exploring and gathering evidence, Stangvik decided to go to the media. That's how he collaborated with Hakon Hoydal of the Norwegian VG newspaper. It might sound like the climax point of this story. It turned out to be only the beginning of Hunting Warhead.
From that point on, the pair find themselves in the middle of a police investigation that crosses geographical borders. It extends from Norway to Australia, all the way to Washington, DC. It involves people in powerful positions and complicated sting operations.
Presented by CBC, Hunting Warhead is more of a journalistic program than a true crime podcast. The series focuses on the details that propelled the investigation. It interviews the people who helped make arrests and prevent future crimes. When it does deal with the survivors, it does so with care and compassion. Even with such a horrific topic, the podcast manages to avoid graphic details. Instead, it showcases bravery, persistence, and optimism despite circumstances.
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