{"podcast":{"title":"Paper Trail","slug":"paper-trail-7800276","podcast_index_feed_id":7800276,"rss_url":"https://publicfeeds.net/f/16890/feed-rss.xml","website_url":"https://www.propublica.org/series/paper-trail","image_url":"https://f.prxu.org/16890/images/3aa1b6ec-bf6a-4fc4-9c1e-901da89fde3d/Show_Art.jpg","author":"ProPublica (Maggie.Gourville@prx.org)","episode_count":8,"summary":"Investigative reporters at ProPublica chase down evidence of wrongdoing and bring it to light. That evidence can be on paper — or on thumb drives, in secret recordings, from conversations with whistleblowers. Each episode, you’ll ride along as we talk to reporters and their sources, uncover hidden facts and show you the receipts. When we publish what we find, things can change. Laws are passed, corrupt leaders fall, innocent people walk out of prison and sometimes a life is even saved. Investigative reporter Jessica Lussenhop is your guide. Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate .","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T18:19:30.273423+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paper-trail-7800276"},"episode":{"title":"How Microsoft’s “Little Workaround” Created a Major Pentagon Threat","slug":"how-microsoft-s-little-workaround-created-a-major-pentagon-threat","published_at":"2026-07-09T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paper-trail-7800276/how-microsoft-s-little-workaround-created-a-major-pentagon-threat","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paper-trail-7800276","url":"https://www.propublica.org/podcast/microsoft-digital-escorts-china-defense-department","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/swap.fm/track/sblTq32fyWAjsHzze2LG/dovetail.prxu.org/16890/f91c8e1d-66c3-4915-a640-1ad9dfbffafa/PAPER-TRAIL_Digital-Escorts_MIX_v07.mp3","summary":"A source told reporter Renee Dudley something she found hard to believe: that Microsoft was running tech support for the Department of Defense through China, the country’s biggest cybersecurity adversary. The arrangement was called “digital escorting.” She thought it sounded like a conspiracy theory — until she started looking into it. This is the story of what she found and how her investigation changed government policy. Read More: www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-digital-escorts-pentagon-defense-department-china-hackers Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate .","meta_description":"A source told reporter Renee Dudley something she found hard to believe: that Microsoft was running tech support for the Department of Defense through Chi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2031,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/paper-trail-7800276/episodes/how-microsoft-s-little-workaround-created-a-major-pentagon-threat/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paper-trail-7800276/how-microsoft-s-little-workaround-created-a-major-pentagon-threat.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}