404 Media Podcast – “404 Media Live: LA! [TEASER]”

Date: September 4, 2025
Hosts: Joseph, Sam Cole, Jason Kebler, Emanuel (absent), and special thanks to technical support and interns
Episode Focus: Live event coverage, investigative reporting into ICE technology, and subscriber benefits

Episode Overview

This episode is a teaser of 404 Media’s first live event in Los Angeles. The hosts, 404 Media’s co-founders, gather in front of a live audience to discuss their recent reporting—especially their investigations into the technology used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They offer behind-the-scenes details on exclusive stories, talk through their experiences as an independent journalist-owned outlet, and express gratitude for community support that makes their work possible.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Community and the Significance of the Live Event

• The Team’s First LA Event:
  • Jason welcomes the crowd, shares appreciation for the venue and support crew, and underscores the DIY nature of the event.
    • “This is truly like a DIY thing. So I'm very, very happy that we haven't all exploded and that there is sound coming out of the speakers.” – Jason (03:57)
  • The podcast reflects on past gatherings (New York, SXSW) and the excitement, challenge, and gratitude involved in bringing people together IRL as a small digital media outfit.
  • Honest admission of nerves and surprises about audience turnout, expressing a profoundly human side of independent journalism:
    • “I didn’t think anybody would come. It’s very nice.” – Joseph (03:06)
    • “I'm always surprised when people come in real life because I'm a homebody and I stay home always.” – Sam (03:17)

2. Reporting Deep-Dive: ICE’s Investigative Databases

• Exposure of ICE’s Investigative Tools:
  • The primary investigative focus was ICE’s “Investigative Case Management System,” a vast database with capabilities far beyond initial expectations.
    • “This database allows filtering according to your visa status and a bunch of other things... It also has things for, quote, scars, marks, tattoos, criminal affiliation, location data, license plate reader data. Spoiler alert. That will be important later.” – Jason (06:08)
  • The team describes its mundane, even “boring,” user interface—masking the very “insidious” breadth and depth of its contents.
    • “You think inside a database... something very sleek and sexy and Techy. And it was pretty boring...the stuff inside was, like, pretty insidious and you would never know it.” – Sam (04:33)
  • The system tracks a massive array of personal identifiers: visa status, border crossings, biometric data, criminal affiliations, license plates, place of employment, etc.
  • The database was created under the Obama administration with supposed privacy guardrails, but the hosts point out the fragility of these protections:
    • “When it was first enacted... there were guardrails... and surprise, surprise, they had to do something called a privacy impact assessment... and they said, well, a future administration could take all these guardrails off, but we're going to launch it anyway." – Jason (06:36)
  • Teaser references to further technology (Palantir, Flock Safety, facial recognition, spyware) to be detailed in the full subscriber-only episode.

3. Behind-the-Scenes of Indie Tech Journalism

• A peek into the team’s process and challenges as a small, expert-run organization:
  • The balance between digital operations (Riverside, Google Docs) and live logistics.
  • Jokes about script reading and the realities of multitasking in live and recorded media.
    • "Every time we do this, it's me reading from a Google Doc and people don't realize that I have Riverside on the left side and then the Google Doc on the right side." – Joseph (00:49)
  • Gratitude and shout-outs for the team, volunteers, and technical staff.
    • “Thank you to Raul, who is running all of our tech. Could not do it without him. Thank you to Rosie, our intern. Rosie, I don't know where you are. Bought the balloons. Amazing, amazing help and thank you to all of you for being here.” – Jason (02:40)

4. Emphasis on Membership and Subscriber Support

• Listeners are encouraged to subscribe for access to the full event recording, bonus content, and to directly support sustainable, independent tech journalism.
  • "If you want to hear the rest of that conversation, please become a paying 404 Media subscriber...you'll get access to all of our bonus content..." – Emanuel (07:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the reality of live events:
  • “Didn't think that anyone would come. And you all did.” – Jason (02:47)
• On ICE’s Database:
  • “You think inside a database... something very sleek and sexy and Techy. And it was pretty boring...the stuff inside was, like, pretty insidious and you would never know it.” – Sam (04:33)
  • "It has things for, quote, scars, marks, tattoos, criminal affiliation, location data, license plate reader data. Spoiler alert. That will be important later." – Jason (06:13)
• On surveillance state evolution:
  • “A future administration could take all these guardrails off, but we're going to launch it anyway.” – Jason (06:41)
• On audience connection:
  • “I'm always surprised when people come in real life because I'm a homebody and I stay home always.” – Sam (03:17)

Important Segments & Timestamps

• [00:36] – Show introduction; banter over live reads, scripts, and the reality of podcasting
• [02:03] – Introductions and audience gratitude
• [03:17]–[04:00] – Reflections on previous events, surprise at live audience turnout
• [04:11] – Transition to ICE investigative reporting
• [05:16]–[07:00] – Technical deep-dive on ICE’s Investigative Case Management System
• [07:30] – End of teaser; instructions for subscribing to the full event content

Tone & Style Notes

• Conversational, candid, and at times, self-deprecating
• Blends technical reporting with human stories from the reporting trenches
• Community-focused, repeatedly expressing thanks and encouragement to listeners/readers

For the full investigation into ICE technology—including revelations about Flock, Palantir, and more—plus access to exclusive content and Q&A, listeners are urged to subscribe at 404media.co.