Hacked by Hungary

What does it feel like to know that your government has been able to access every single message on your phone? Last year, the Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi found out that he'd been hacked using Pegasus spyware. This week we hear about his latest investigation, which looks at how the Orbán government managed to get hold of this incredibly powerful surveillance tool in the first place. We're also talking about last weekend's mysterious German train sabotage and growing European protests against World Cup hosts Qatar.

You can follow Szabolcs on Twitter here and read the inside story of how Pegasus was brought to Hungary here via Direkt36. A background read on the spyware scandal currently rocking Greece can be found here.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.

This week's Isolation Inspiration:

The latest visual episode in This Is What A Generation Sounds Like, our series with Are We Europe: Denisa

Scottish crime drama Karen Pirie

'Les années' (The Years) by Annie Ernaux

00:22 Welcome!
02:49 Bad Week: The Great German Train Sabotage Mystery
10:22 Good Week: Europe's growing World Cup protest movement
24:39 Interview: Szabolcs Panyi on being hacked by the Hungarian government
36:06 Isolation Inspiration: 'Denisa', 'Karen Pirie', and 'The Years' by Annie Ernaux
40:39 Happy Ending: Waxworms, gross but good

Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak

Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.

Photo of Szabolcs Panyi by Mira Marjanovic

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