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Chris Tarbell: FBI Agent Who Took Down Silk Road | Lex Fridman Podcast #340

Lex Fridman | March 2, 2026



Chris Tarbell is a former FBI special agent and cybercrime investigation specialist who brought down Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road, and Hector Monsegur (aka Sabu) of LulzSec and Anonymous. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Hacker And The Fed podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hacker-and-the-fed/id1649541362
Naxo: https://naxo.com/who-we-are

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4
Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41

OUTLINE:
0:00 – Introduction
1:16 – Silk Road
11:39 – Mass surveillance
15:50 – Operation Onion Peeler
21:06 – Hacker Avunit
31:56 – Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road
44:39 – Edward Snowden
46:44 – NSA surveillance
58:51 – Silk Road murders
1:07:37 – Dark web
1:11:39 – Ross Ulbricht’s arrest
1:19:37 – Aaron Swartz
1:22:55 – Donald Trump and the Mar-a-Lago raid
1:26:01 – Tech companies and censorship
1:35:00 – War in Ukraine
1:38:58 – Anonymous and LulzSec
1:49:10 – FBI
1:52:11 – Personal threats
1:57:57 – Hector Monsegur a.k.a Sabu
2:11:07 – Cyber attack threats against civilians
2:27:55 – Most secure operating system
2:31:44 – Cyber war
2:39:38 – Advice for young people
2:44:50 – FBI’s credibility
2:53:21 – Love

SOCIAL:
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– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman

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Written by Lex Fridman

Comments

This post currently has 46 comments.

  1. @lexfridman

    March 2, 2026 at 8:29 am

    Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast.
    0:00 – Introduction & sponsor mentions:
    – True Classic Tees: https://trueclassictees.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off
    – InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off
    – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod to get 3 months free
    – BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off
    – Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex to get 25% off premium
    1:16 – Silk Road
    11:39 – Mass surveillance
    15:50 – Operation Onion Peeler
    21:06 – Hacker Avunit
    31:56 – Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road
    44:39 – Edward Snowden
    46:44 – NSA surveillance
    58:51 – Silk Road murders
    1:07:37 – Dark web
    1:11:39 – Ross Ulbricht's arrest
    1:19:37 – Aaron Swartz
    1:22:55 – Donald Trump and the Mar-a-Lago raid
    1:26:01 – Tech companies and censorship
    1:35:00 – War in Ukraine
    1:38:58 – Anonymous and LulzSec
    1:49:10 – FBI
    1:52:11 – Personal threats
    1:57:57 – Hector Monsegur a.k.a Sabu
    2:11:07 – Cyber attack threats against civilians
    2:27:55 – Most secure operating system
    2:31:44 – Cyber war
    2:39:38 – Advice for young people
    2:44:50 – FBI's credibility
    2:53:21 – Love

    Reply
  4. @pickausername9002

    March 2, 2026 at 8:29 am

    Silk Road is one of the most exaggerated fantastical bullshit fairytales humans have created in the 21st century. There was never hitmen for hire, red rooms were not a thing, you can buy guns anywhere you want on the internet. The only TWO things that you're certain to find on the darknet are nefarious instruction manuals and drugs. Which isn't exciting anymore after a few days.

    Reply
  5. @jakejonas7366

    March 2, 2026 at 8:29 am

    Silk Road was the first dark web market? 2 minutes in and this guy is claiming the Silk Road was the first dark web market ever? This guy shouldn’t have a job if he believes that to be true.

    Reply
  13. @pasteyourinjectionstringhere

    March 2, 2026 at 8:29 am

    "If you write something online, then in 10 years you have to stand behind it." — that's absolutely wrong. People change, and should change. If someone is being kicked outta college etc for something they wrote in the past, then shame on that college!

    Reply
  17. @skytwist

    March 2, 2026 at 8:29 am

    Thanks for a great episode Lex. And Mr. Tarbell for taking down Silk Road. Are there other "roads" out there that have sprung up to replace it (yet)? Or were they already going before. Has bit coin taken its place?

    Reply
  20. @p38blue

    March 2, 2026 at 8:29 am

    Lex apple google etc mass surveil us have done for years …. in order to prevent horrendous physical and cyber attacks .. survellience by NSA FBI i etc is uncomfortably necessary

    Reply
  34. @Paradigm_Lost

    March 2, 2026 at 8:29 am

    Wild that Ross just got pardoned.. I’d probably pay to see Chris’s reaction to that.
    Also, I was almost convinced this dude seemed decent, until he answered Lex’s questions regarding the ethical issues surrounding Aaron Shultz – once a fed always a fed 100%. Lastly, the general disdain seeps through with his “I had do my job” and “enforcing the law is my excuse for not having to be held accountable to ethical standards …” ugh. But hey ! – he did buy Ulbricht breakfast with his OWN money- how compassionate 😅😅

    Reply

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