Intrigue

After a shocking data breach at the Finnish psychotherapy service Vastaamo, a nation’s secrets are being held to ransom by a faceless hacker. Jenny Kleeman traces the story.
After negotiations with Vastaamo fail, ransom_man begins publishing 100 patient records a day on the dark web. He posts a link to the records on popular sites like Reddit and Ylilauta, Finland’s version of 4chan.
He ends the post with one word. “Enjoy!” .
Finland is a nation in panic.
One victim, Meri-Tuuli, heads to the dark web to find out if her notes are among those published, and is appalled by what she sees.
But after a few days, the hacker does something that no one could have foreseen.
Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman.
Producer: Sam Peach.
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt.
Sound Design: Sam Peach
Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective.
A BBC Studios Production
Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke

A shocking data breach at a Finnish psychotherapy service. Jenny Kleeman traces the story of a nation’s secrets held to ransom by a faceless hacker.
We all have some thoughts we’d never write down. Now, just imagine that someone had got hold of those thoughts, and was threatening to publish them for all the world to see - if you didn’t pay to stop them.
This is what happened to Tiina, a Headteacher living near Helsinki. When decades of stress and anxiety overwhelmed her, she sought support through a therapy service called Vastaamo.
Vastaamo was accessible, affordable, and a national success story. But in September 2020, the company received an email from a hacker claiming to have stolen their entire patient database - including therapy notes.
Antti Kurittu is the cybersecurity specialist tasked with saving the secrets of 33,000 patients, but can he and the police find a way to stop this hacker, who calls himself ransom_man?
Before long, Antti, Tiina and a whole nation learn just how far he is willing to go.
Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman.
Producer: Sam Peach.
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt.
Sound Design: Sam Peach.
Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective: Neil Leiter, Margaret Hermant and Fabien Leseure.
A BBC Studios Production
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke

What would you do if your deepest secrets were held to ransom? Jenny Kleeman investigates one of the world's most audacious hacks.
When a shocking data breach takes place at a Finnish psychotherapy service, the nation's darkest secrets are held to ransom by a faceless hacker. He calls himself ransom_man.
Award-winning journalist Jenny Kleeman (BBC Radio 4's The Gift) traces the story from the first extortion email to the hunt to find the hacker and bring him to justice.
We all have some thoughts we'd never write down. Now, just imagine that a criminal had got hold of those thoughts, and was threatening to publish them for all the world to see if you didn't pay to stop him. Jenny finds out what kind of person is prepared to terrorise a nation like this, and the lengths people will go to fight back. On the way, she'll discover that the origins of this dark crime stretch far beyond Finland. Her extraordinary quest leads her around the world and to unexpected places, bringing Jenny face to face with victims, investigators, police and notorious hackers themselves.
It is a cautionary tale about something that could happen anywhere, to any of us, again and again.
Jenny will learn just how vulnerable our deepest secrets can be - and the enormous power that hackers now have to hold our inner lives to ransom.

When Antony Easton's enigmatic father passes away, he begins sorting through a suitcase filled with cryptic family clues. Neatly stacked German money, a family tree stretching back generations, and books filled with sprawling notes. He also finds his father's birth certificate, but bearing a different name. Confronting his dad's double identity, Antony begins a ten-year quest to uncover the truth. Piece-by-piece he comes to understand his family's dark history. Large numbers of his relatives were murdered by the Nazis and a vast fortune was stolen from his grandparents - factories, property and art - which now lie scattered across Germany. Antony is determined to find the descendants of those who looted his family's assets and continue to live off their wealth today. He sets out to meet them face to face.

A dark, cold morning in February 2025. Hundreds are filing into the Museum of the Bible - evangelical leaders, gospel singers, and over 30 members of Congress including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. They've gathered just three blocks from the US Capitol for an annual event of fervent prayer about what they see as America's most pressing problems.
Meanwhile, journalist Ben Lewis explores how an institution that once dreamed of becoming a centre for biblical scholarship has transformed after losing some 17,000 artefacts - nearly 40% of its entire collection.
Through revealing interviews with museum officials and its critics, Ben traces the extraordinary journey of the Museum of the Bible - from the Green family's ambitions to make Washington, DC a centre for biblical scholarship, to the devastating revelations of forged Dead Sea Scrolls fragments and thousands of problematically sourced artefacts. Yet despite these setbacks, the museum has found new purpose as a convening space for a movement that wants to make evangelical protestantism the moving spirit of America’s future.
As Ben explores exhibits that present a selective view of religious and American history, he discovers how the museum bridges faith and politics. While its staff insist there's no religious agenda, events hosted within its walls blend prayer with political messaging. Through conversations with scholar Roberta Mazza and journalist Katherine Stewart, Ben examines how museums shape our understanding of history through what they choose to display - and what they leave out.
This final episode reveals how the Museum of the Bible has quietly evolved into something more significant than just a repository of ancient artefacts - a platform for reimagining America's past to shape its future.
Presented by Ben Lewis
Produced by Martha Owen
Series producer: Clem Hitchcock
Executive producers: Philip Abrams and Jago Lee
Story editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound design by Richard Courtice
Original music by Max de Wardener
Additional sound effects courtesy of Freesound
A TellTale production for BBC Radio 4