
Mara Hvistendahl
Mara Hvistendahl writes about national security and technology. She was previously an investigative reporter at The Intercept, a National Fellow at New America, and the China bureau chief for Science. Her writing has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Economist, and Wired, and she has appeared as a commentator on the BBC, CBS, MSNBC, and NPR.
Mara is the author of “The Scientist and the Spy,” on an FBI counterintelligence investigation involving industrial espionage, and “Unnatural Selection,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Book Prize.
Hacked Russian Files Reveal Propaganda Agreement With China
In 2021, government officials and media executives from Russia and China discussed the exchange of news and social content.
A Competitor Put the FBI on Haoyang Yu’s Trail. The Investigation Didn’t Go as Planned.
Federal intelligence agencies ran a sting and dug through the trash of a Chinese American engineer they envisioned as a sophisticated technological spy.
Experimenting With DisasterLab That Created Risky Avian Flu Had “Unacceptable” Biosafety Protocols
Documents obtained by The Intercept reveal disturbing biosafety lapses and troubling gaps in oversight by government agencies.
Experimenting With DisasterAccident With 1918 Pandemic Virus Raises Questions About Pathogen Research
A researcher working with the 1918 flu virus was bit by an infected ferret and sent home to quarantine.