Nine years to the day since Shamima Begum entered ISIS controlled Syria, she’ll find out whether she’s any closer to coming back to Britain. Josh is at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London to hear whether Begum’s lawyers have succeeded in arguing that the British government’s decision to take away her citizenship was unlawful. After she emerged from the remnants of the Islamic State group in 2019, the British Home Secretary took away her citizenship saying she was a threat to national s...
Feb 23, 2024•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Josh answers your questions about Shamima Begum and the making of the multi-award winning series. Recorded in front of an audience at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in London, Naga Munchetty puts your questions to Josh including: what is it about this story that captures the imagination and curiosity of so many people? How did Josh keep safe while making the podcast? And, Should Shamima Begum be seen as a villain? I’m Not A Monster is the BBC’s most-awarded podcast series. It’s the only audio series to...
Nov 29, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast What do you want to know about The Shamima Begum Story and the making of the podcast? Join us on Tuesday the 12th of September in London, as Josh answers your questions about the series, share more about how it was made and some extra things we’ve learnt about the story. Apply for FREE TICKETS: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/shamima-begum Email your questions: josh@bbc.co.uk
Aug 08, 2023•1 min•Transcript available on Metacast What happened to the girl Shamima Begum says convinced her to join the Islamic State group? Less than 24 hours before this episode was published ,we got the answer. Reporter: Josh Baker Written and produced by: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell Production coordinators: Janet Staples and Helena Warwick-Cross Series Editor: Jonathan Aspinwall Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dyla...
Mar 22, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 10 will be available on Wednesday March 22nd
Mar 15, 2023•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast No longer a vulnerable schoolgirl, but a seemingly unrepentant adult. Shamima Begum enrages the British public and ends up stuck in Syria. A series of media interviews come to shape how she’s perceived - with long lasting consequences. Reporter: Josh Baker Written and produced by: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell Production coordinators: Janet Staples and Helena Warwick-Cross Series Editor: Jonathan Aspin...
Mar 08, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Raqqa falls, the so-called caliphate crumbles and a pregnant Shamima Begum is desperate to come home. After she and her husband Yago walk out of the ashes of the Islamic State group, she’s discovered in a detention camp where she gives an interview that will change her life. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell Production coordinators: Janet ...
Mar 01, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Someone close to Shamima Begum is looking for a way out of the so-called caliphate. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell Production coordinator: Janet Staples Series Editor: Jonathan Aspinwall Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins
Feb 22, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast With her new husband in prison, Shamima Begum is left in the care of a stranger, but who is he? Josh travels to the heart of the former caliphate as he searches for clues and investigates what her life with the Islamic State group was like. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell Production coordinator: Janet Staples Series Editor: Jonathan Aspi...
Feb 15, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Shamima Begum’s new life under ISIS isn’t what she expected. She says what she thought would be paradise is more like a prison. At just 15 years-old she finds herself trapped in an ISIS guesthouse, where the only way out is to get married. In his first interview since 2019, Islamic State group fighter Yago Reidjik reveals how he became her husband and what their life together was like. This episode contains very strong language and references to sexual abuse. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Jos...
Feb 08, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Friendship, propaganda and the promise of paradise - why Shamima Begum left London at 15 for the Islamic State group in war torn Syria. But how did she ignore the group’s brutal violence? And who convinced her to go? The feature length documentary, "The Shamima Begum Story", will be on BBC2 at 9pm on February 7th. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Theme music: Sam Slater and Gunni Tynes Mix and so...
Feb 01, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast The man who smuggled Shamima Begum to Syria claims he was spying for Canada. What's the truth? And could she and her school friends have been stopped from reaching the Islamic State group? Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent Field producers: Hussam Hammoud Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Theme music: Sam Slater and Gunni Tynes Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell Production coordinator: Janet Staples Series Editor: Jonathan Aspinwal...
Jan 25, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Following Shamima Begum’s route reveals a dangerous Islamic State group smuggling network, but that’s not all. A local taxi firm isn’t what it seems and a gangster threatens to make Josh “disappear.” It all ends in an underground carpark with a stack of secret documents and a warning. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent Field producers: Hussam Hammoud and Zeynep Bilginsoy Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Theme music: Sam Slater and...
Jan 18, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Three London schoolgirls disappear, heading for a war zone. Four years later only one emerges from the ashes of ISIS. Nobody knows what really happened to her. Josh Baker meets Shamima Begum in Syria to begin unpicking her story. Almost eight years earlier, he was filming in Shamima’s local mosque when news broke that she and her friends had gone missing, it made global headlines. He was there when their families came asking for help, but it was all too late; they'd already made it into the hand...
Jan 11, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Investigating the story of Shamima Begum. At 15, she ran away from her London home with two school friends to join the terror group ISIS in war torn Syria. Now she wants to come back. It’s a tale that has gripped the world, but there are different ways to tell it. Josh Baker has been following the story since 2015 when Shamima Begum left for the Islamic State group. For Series 2 of I’m Not a Monster he investigates what really happened. ARCHIVE: CNN: Three British Girls Run Away to Syria (2015) ...
Jan 04, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seeking to separate fact from fiction, the multi award-winning series returns to investigate the divisive story of Shamima Begum. When three London school girls went missing in 2015, they generated global headlines and the media storm that ensued continues to this day. Back then, investigative journalist Josh Baker was filming at a mosque in the girls’ neighbourhood as their families came to seek help; their daughters were on the way to Syria to join the Islamic State group. But it was too late,...
Aug 31, 2022•1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Since the series ended, so many of you have got in touch wanting to know more. With the help of criminal psychologist Dr Julia Shaw, Josh answers your questions. Presenters: Josh Baker and Dr Julia Shaw (host of the Bad People podcast on BBC Sounds) Mixed by: Tom Brignell Producer: Joe Kent Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples Editor Emma Rippon “I’m Not a Monster” is a collaboration between BBC Panorama and FRONTLINE (PBS) and is a BBC Long Form Audio production for BBC Sounds....
Jan 25, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Northern Iraq, Josh finds out how two people you’ve been asking about are doing now. In 2014, the Islamic State group killed thousands of members of the Yazidi religious community and kidnapped and enslaved many, many more. Ayham and Saud were both taken from their families and ended up in Syria where they were eventually bought by Sam and her husband Moussa. Josh first met them just after they’d escaped ISIS with Sam and then made it back to Iraq. Now he returns to hear how they are doing to...
Jan 18, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast What happened to the family Josh was staying with when the Islamic State group struck in 2016? I’m Not a Monster began after Josh was injured by an ISIS truck bomb in Mosul, Iraq. If it wasn’t for an old contact reaching out to see how he was doing, he may never have heard about Sam and Matthew. Now he returns to the Iraqi city and finds that while the fighting may be largely over, the people of Iraq are facing a different battle as a mental health crisis has taken hold. This episode includes de...
Nov 16, 2021•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Josh is back with news of what to expect next and with a reminder of what we heard in I’m Not A Monster. Reporter: Josh Baker Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green “I’m Not a Monster” is a collaboration between BBC Panorama and FRONTLINE (PBS) and is a BBC Radio Current Affairs production for BBC Sounds.
Nov 13, 2021•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sam’s son Matthew was just seven when he was taken to Syria and the Islamic State group. He thought he’d never see America again. Now he’s back with his dad and talks of the “sweet relief” of being home. Josh finds out how he and Sam’s other children are doing now. This episode includes references to violence and some upsetting moments involving children. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam ...
Feb 12, 2021•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast After years of insisting she’s innocent, Sam pleads guilty and Moussa’s exes reveal more about the man that led her to Syria. Sam’s team claims she was “a wife under the thumb of her violently abusive and radical husband” but the prosecution says she has “credibility issues” and tells stories that serve her personally. So how long will she spend in prison? This episodes contains some upsetting moments involving children. If you know something that you think might help the investigation please em...
Feb 01, 2021•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Josh retraces Sam’s steps in Syria and asks could she have been an ISIS supporter all along? He meets her old neighbours in Raqqa, visits the infamous torture prison where she says she was held and meets an Islamic State group member who knew her personally. This episode includes references to violence. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam Slater Mixed by: Tom Brignell Series Editor: Emma Rip...
Jan 25, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Josh starts to uncover more about the family’s past, Sam tries to explain away some of the many discrepancies in her story. Then, a connection to the FBI raises new questions about her. If you know something that you think might help the investigation please email notamonster@bbc.com Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam Slater Mixed by: Tom Brignell Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning...
Jan 18, 2021•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast A torture prison, buying slaves and a dramatic escape: Sam continues her account of her years in Raqqa. This episode includes references to sexual abuse, extreme violence and some upsetting moments involving children. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam Slater Mixed by: Rod Farquhar Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins Commissioning Editor: Jason Phipps If you've...
Dec 28, 2020•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Josh is face-to-face with Sam after a year trying to track her down. On a military base in Syria, she begins to tell her side of the story. She says it all started as a family holiday. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam Slater Mixed By: Tom Brignell Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins Commissioning Editor: Jason Phipps “I’m Not a Monster” is a collaboration bet...
Dec 21, 2020•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast A young boy in the mountains of Northern Iraq makes Josh question what he knows about Sam. Then ten days searching war-torn Syria lead to an offer of help, but can it be trusted? This episode includes descriptions of violence and some upsetting moments involving children. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam Slater Mixed by: Tom Brignell Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dyl...
Dec 14, 2020•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Islamic State group forces Sam’s son Matthew to spread its propaganda. Josh searches the woods of Idaho looking for a man on an elk hunt. Then an obscure tweet leads him to Syria to try to find the family. If you know something that you think might help the investigation please email notamonster@bbc.com Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam Slater Mixed by: Tom Brignell Series Editor: Emma...
Dec 07, 2020•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast A man who says he’s a people smuggler offers to help the family, while a drive around a suburb in Indiana reveals their past. Sam’s father adds a new twist on who his daughter really is. This episode includes descriptions of violence and some upsetting moments involving children. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam Slater Mixed by: Tom Brignell Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning Execut...
Nov 30, 2020•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast A suicide bombing in Iraq and a home video from inside the ISIS caliphate begin the search for a family trapped in Syria. A desperate plea arrives from an American woman who says she wants to escape the Islamic State group with her young children. This episode includes descriptions of violence and some upsetting scenes involving children. Reporter: Josh Baker Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent Producers: Joe Kent and Max Green Production assistant: Lucie Sullivan Composer: Sam Slater Sound Desi...
Nov 23, 2020•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast