6. The Real Godfather: Assad’s Syrian Mafia (...

By July 2001 the plan for 9/11 was almost complete… All that was missing was a day. How do you set the date the world changes? Listen as David and Gordon unpack the night before the 9/11 hijackers carried out their plot. ------------------- THE REST IS CLASSIFIED LIVE 2026 at The ...  Show more

Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers on 9/11 came from Saudi Arabia, many from a handful of poor remote villages. Who were the men known as ‘the muscle’, and what made them? Listen as David and Gordon explore the alleged Saudi connection to the 9/11 plot. ------------------- THE RES ...  Show more

This episode brings us to one of the most complicated conflicts raging in the Middle East. Thomas and Aimen both know the country well and walk us through the actors and their motives. They’ll also explain how Syria became such a killing field as a result of the Arab Spring and h ...  Show more

After eight years of civil war in Syria, with hundreds of thousands of its citizens dead and millions more fleeing the country, one question looms large: how did things get so bad? During those early days of peaceful protest, what prompted a shoot-to-kill order from the highes ...

Featuring Bassam Haddad on the historical and geopolitical origins of Assad’s rise and fall—and what might happen next. We think through the contradictions: honoring the joy felt by Syrians at Assad’s ouster while simultaneously taking stock of a truly bad geopolitical outcome. W ...  Show more

Saddam consolidates his own power base, appointing friends and relatives to key positions. We hear a remarkable account from a woman whose own family was targeted by his secret police. Soon, the deputy will be in pole position to move against his mentor. And after that, Saddam wi ...  Show more