Skip to contentSkip to site index
Portrait of Mara Hvistendahl

Mara Hvistendahl

I cover big stories about power, technology and misdeeds across Asia. After studying Chinese and living for nearly a decade in Shanghai, I often write about China. I’m particularly drawn to stories that have a global reach. But I strive to put people at the center of my stories, showing how their lives are affected by geopolitical wrangling or by corporate abuse. I am also interested in open-source investigation and in stories that can be told using unconventional or emerging approaches.

I have been a journalist for almost two decades. Before joining The Times, I was an investigative reporter for the nonprofit newsroom The Intercept, covering national security and technology. Before that, I was based in Shanghai for eight years, where I worked for the news section of Science magazine. I have also been a fellow in a program for journalists and academics at the think tank New America and a China correspondent for the Chronicle for Higher Education.

I am the author of two books: “Unnatural Selection,” which was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize and The Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and “The Scientist and the Spy,” published in 2020. I speak Chinese, Dutch and Spanish.

I graduated from Swarthmore College and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. I grew up in Minnesota, where, as a high school student I was selected as a U.S. Presidential Scholar. I still think Midwestern sweet corn is the best.

As a Times journalist, I share the values and adhere to the standards of integrity outlined in The Times’s Ethical Journalism handbook. Because I often deal with sensitive information, I strive to protect my sources. I allow my sources to remain anonymous if need be. I am a stickler for accuracy. Whenever possible, I check details with multiple sources, and in my writing, I flag what I don’t know as well as what I do. I do not directly own stock in any of the companies I cover, and my retirement savings is in broad funds that I do not directly control. I never accept gifts, money or favors from anyone I cover or am likely to cover. I always identify myself as a reporter for The Times when conducting interviews.

I am including several different ways to contact me, but if you have sensitive information to pass on, please email me from a personal or anonymous account so that we can connect on Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app.

Latest

  1.  
  2.  
  3.  
  4.  
  5.  
  6.  

    How Tesla Planted the Seeds for Its Own Potential Downfall

    Elon Musk’s factory in China saved his company and made him ultrarich. Now, it may backfire.

    By Katrin Bennhold, Mara Hvistendahl, Rikki Novetsky, Mooj Zadie, Rachelle Bonja, Lisa Chow, Alexandra Leigh Young, Marion Lozano, Diane Wong, Elisheba Ittoop, Sophia Lanman and Chris Wood

  7.  
  8.  
  9.  
  10.  
Page 1 of 2