# Darknet Diaries

12 Hacker News commenters recommended Darknet Diaries and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A cybersecurity podcast of suspenseful true stories about hackers, spyware and criminal cases, which listeners call engaging and consistently great.

## Why people recommend it

- Suspenseful, fascinating true hacking stories (3 comments): "These episodes of Darknet Diaries were my favorite. Very suspenseful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46819601)) "I've heard some really fascinating stories on Darknet Diaries." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47165906)) "This episode of Darknet Diaries was eye opening" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47978486))
- Well-regarded episodes on Unit 8200 (3 comments): "there’s a pretty great episode of darknet diaries that talks about how they were directly targeted by 8200 agents" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49550338)) "There's also a couple of Darknet Diaries episodes with similar interviews." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49576533)) "Darknet diaries did a great podcast on unit 8200." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47048716))
- Engaging host, consistently great episodes (3 comments): "I love that show! Jack has an infectious take on all the criminal antics!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46550624)) "I've just started Darknet Diaries podcast. So great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47733100)) "Darknet diaries is always great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47165696))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Dwarkesh Podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dwarkesh-podcast.md): 29 recommend
- [Oxide and Friends](https://hackerapproved.com/p/oxide-and-friends-podcast.md): 26 recommend
- [Acquired podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/acquired-podcast.md): 25 recommend
- [Behind the Bastards podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/behind-the-bastards-podcast.md): 18 recommend
- [Mindscape podcast by Sean Carroll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mindscape-podcast.md): 18 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Darknet Diaries", https://hackerapproved.com/p/darknet-diaries-podcast/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).