The Line of Fire with Ramita Navai

What can facing death and danger teach us about humanity and the world we live in, and what wisdom can be learned from working in war zones? In every episode, foreign correspondent Ramita Navai, renowned for her investigations and for telling the ‘story behind the story’, talks to a fellow war reporter about the life-changing moment they faced death. As guests recount extraordinary stories of kidnap and danger - many never told before - they explore what the experience taught them about themselves and the world, and how it's changed their perspectives on life.Subscribe for latest episodes and please rate and review.Ramita Links:Twitter: @ramitanavaiInstagram: @senoritaramitaWebsite: http://www.ramitanavai.com/Aurra Studios:@AurraStudios on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTubeShow notes and transcripts: - https://aurrastudios.com/the-line-of-fire/ - Watch Ramita’s latest documentary No Country for Women on ITV HubPresented by Ramita NavaiExecutive Producers Richard Osman and Matt RazProduced and edited by Chris Scott (@ctscott_)

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Episodes

Sebastian Junger : Some sand sort of sprayed into the side of my face. I was like, damn, what was that? And then I heard the burst

In the series finale of The Line of Fire, Ramita interviews Sebastian Junger, the number one New York Times bestselling author, multi award-winning journalist and Oscar-nominated documentary maker. Sebastian explains how he was inspired to become a journalist while researching dangerous jobs, and what drew him to conflict reporting. When he was covering the war in Bosnia, Sebastian’s first book The Perfect Storm became an instant best-seller, and Sebastian describes how retreating from the limel...

Jun 29, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 12

Guillermo Galdos (part two) : Two Black Hawk helicopters appeared on top of us…spraying with bullets. I remember hearing the trees falling down. It looked like the end of the world

This week on The Line of Fire, Ramita continues her conversation with the award-winning Peruvian journalist and documentary maker Guillermo Galdos. In Part two Guillermo tells Ramita about his meeting with one of the world’s most notorious drug lords “La Tuta”, who was too drunk and high to interview, and about getting on the wrong side of cartel boss El Chapo’s wife. We’ll hear how a single moment coming under attack in Colombia changed Guillermo forever. Ramita and Guillermo’s conversation is ...

Jun 22, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 11

Guillermo Galdos (part one) : This guy was shooting his gun.... And suddenly they hit him in the head, right in the forehead. And I remember thinking, what the hell am I doing here?

This week on The Line of Fire, Ramita’s guest is the Peruvian journalist and BAFTA-nominated documentary maker Guillermo Galdos. Guillermo is the Latin America correspondent at Channel 4 News and is known for his work investigating drug cartels. In the first of a two-part interview, Guillermo describes how his family was forced to flee Peru, and why he gave up his safe newsroom job in London to cover conflicts in Latin America. Guillermo discusses the risks of investigating drug cartels and how ...

Jun 15, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 10

Anas Aremeyaw Anas : We don’t care you are journalists. The rule is simple. We will kill you

Ramita interviews Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Africa’s most famous journalist whose work has been cited by former US President Barack Obama, calling Anas “a courageous journalist who risked his life to report the truth". Anas discusses the extraordinary lengths he takes working undercover in order to expose high-level corruption - in fact, few people know Anas’s true identity, as he lives in constant fear of being killed for his work. Anas talks about the murder of his closest partner, Ahmed Suale, foll...

Jun 08, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 9

Mais Al-Bayaa (part two) : I kept screaming “is anyone alive?” but I did not hear anyone. I genuinely thought I was dead

The second part of Ramita’s interview with Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award-winning Iraqi journalist and documentary producer Mais Al-Bayaa. After surviving a targeted suicide bombing, Mais recounts how she discovered she was on a militia hit list, finally prompting her to leave Iraq. She also describes why, despite fleeing her motherland, she decided to return, and how the birth of her daughter has given her the courage to continue reporting on dangerous stories. Show Notes: Watch Mais’s docume...

Jun 01, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 8

Mais Al-Bayaa (part one) : I was asleep in my bed, three bullets came just above my head and the curtain was burned

Mais Al-Bayaa is an Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award-winning Iraqi journalist and documentary producer. Mais has covered her home country and events in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In part one of this fascinating interview, Mais explains how her family were exiled by Saddam Hussein, the horrors of both Gulf wars and how she became a journalist by accident. We also hear what it was like to live on the ‘road of death’, and what happened when her father was kidnapped by a Shia militi...

May 25, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 7

Sam Kiley : It wasn’t a question of talking your way out of it, it was all over, it was just waiting for the bullet

CNN’s Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley survived an attempted execution in Iraq in 2003 when he and his team were kidnapped while reporting on the US invasion. Sam joins Ramita this week as one of Britain's most experienced and prolific war reporters - he has covered nearly every conflict in the world since 1991. In fact, it's easier to name the wars he hasn't covered than the ones he has. He's also the only journalist who's completed a full combat tour with NATO in Afghanistan, spend...

May 18, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 6

Shoaib Sharifi (part two) : Your head will be chopped after 4 o’ clock today. I felt, tasted and smelt death, and I cried

Part two: Shoaib talks about being captured by the Taliban, surviving two near executions, forming a bond with his captors, and how and why he stopped his fellow prisoners from killing their Taliban jailers. Shoaib has been covering his home country for the last 22 years. He's a former BBC World Service Kabul bureau chief who launched the acclaimed political debate program Open Jirga (a co-production between BBC Media Action and BBC World Service). Shoaib is one of the few Afghan journalists who...

May 11, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 5

Shoaib Sharifi (part one) : My heart started pounding and the man with a dagger approaching to chop a head, and I fainted

Shoaib Sharifi is one of Afghanistan's greatest journalists - and has won many awards for covering his home country for the last 22 years. He's a former BBC World Service Kabul bureau chief who launched the acclaimed political debate program Open Jirga (a co-production between BBC Media Action and BBC World Service). Shoaib is one of the few Afghan journalists who decided to stay on after the Taliban took power in August, 2021, and he's currently the country director for BBC Media Action, the BB...

May 04, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Janine di Giovanni : I had been told this before that they would just assassinate me because they didn’t want any witnesses

This week we are joined by multi award-winning author, journalist, and war correspondent Janine di Giovanni. She tells Ramita about escaping a Chechen village as it was encircled by Russian tanks and bombed by helicopter gunships after she entered the country illegally to report on the fall of Grozny. As well as describing how she survived many terrifying situations while reporting from the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Janine recounts how she became a journalist, despite not wanting to be one...

Apr 27, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Stuart Ramsay : lying on the back, just watching the whole car slowly but surely disintegrate… I said to myself I am going to die and I wonder if it's going to hurt

Stuart Ramsay is Sky News’ longest serving foreign correspondent. Over the past 30 years he's covered 18 wars and has won multiple awards for his reporting, including two Emmys. Stuart has just returned from covering the war in Ukraine. In this episode of The Line of Fire, Stuart recounts the terrifying moment he was shot and wounded in an ambush by the Russian military just outside of Kyiv. Show Notes: Watch Sky News team under heavy fire as ambushed in Ukraine. Watch Hotspots (series) Sky on D...

Apr 20, 2022•56 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Clarissa Ward : Two thoughts…I really might die, this could be it… and what am I doing here?

Clarissa Ward was caught in a targeted suicide bomb attack whilst working in Iraq in 2005. This week CNN’s nine-time Emmy award winning correspondent discusses how 9/11 changed the course of her career and life. From the challenges and advantages of being a female war journalist to becoming obsessed with the Syrian civil war, and the trauma of losing friends and colleagues in the field. Her story about how she found herself singing for a group of women in Syria during an airstrike is also both p...

Apr 11, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Trailer

What can facing death and danger teach us about humanity and the world we live in, and what wisdom can be learned from working in war zones? In this brand new series, foreign correspondent Ramita Navai, renowned for seeking the ‘story behind the story’, talks to a fellow war reporter about the life-changing moment they faced death. As guests recount jaw-dropping stories, many never told before of kidnap and danger, they explore how the experience forever altered their outlook, and what it reveal...

Mar 28, 2022•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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