I’m Not a Monster Presents… Where is Austin Tice?

Josh and Sara piece together Austin’s final route into Damascus. They find the farm where he celebrated his 31st birthday - the last place his mother spoke to him. Then comes an unprecedented discovery. For years, the story was that Austin was taken at a checkpoint. But what Josh and Sara uncover suggests something far more deliberate. And at the centre of Austin’s disappearance is one man. Archive: BBC; CNN; Fox. Writer and showrunner: Josh Baker Investigative producer: Sara Obeidat Series producer: Simon Maybin Field producing: Ouday Al Hussein Additional producing: Lucy Burns Open source intelligence: Thomas Bordeaux & Gabor Friesen Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Series editor: Clare Fordham Head of BBC News Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon BBC Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke NPR producer: Monika Evstatieva NPR editors: Robert Little & Katie Simon NPR executive producer for Embedded: Irene Noguchi BBC World Service commissioning editor: Jon Manel Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Additional music: Karim Chehoury Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell

The Austin Tice files begin to give up their secrets. Josh and Sara uncover names, locations and new leads about what happened to Austin Tice. But to understand them, they have to go back to the start - to Austin’s own journey through Syria, the rebels he befriended, and the road he took before he vanished. That road leads to a town outside Damascus - and a shocking discovery. Archive: CNN; Sky News; ABC; Fox; Houston Public Media; WNYC; BBC; CBS. Writer and showrunner: Josh Baker Investigative producer: Sara Obeidat Series producer: Simon Maybin Field producing: Ouday Al Hussein Additional producing: Lucy Burns Open source intelligence: Thomas Bordeaux & Gabor Friesen Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Series editor: Clare Fordham Head of BBC News Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon BBC Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke NPR producer: Monika Evstatieva NPR editors: Robert Little & Katie Simon NPR executive producer for Embedded: Irene Noguchi BBC World Service commissioning editor: Jon Manel Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Additional music: Karim Chehoury Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell

In the chaos after the Syrian regime’s downfall, the hunt for Austin Tice is on. Josh Baker and his fellow investigative journalist Sara Obeidat are in Damascus as bombs fall and gunfights break out. Armed with a list of locations where Austin may have been held, they race across the Syrian capital searching for any sign of him. They find horrifying evidence of detention and torture on an industrial scale. Then, after climbing across a five-storey drop to reach a hidden room, they get a breakthrough — a trove of material about Austin that was never meant to be found. Archive: Syria News; Al Jazeera; BBC; CBS; Fox; ABC; PBS; Al Arabiya; NBC. Writer and showrunner: Josh Baker Investigative producer: Sara Obeidat Series producer: Simon Maybin Field producing: Ouday Al Hussein Additional producing: Lucy Burns Open source intelligence: Thomas Bordeaux & Gabor Friesen Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Series editor: Clare Fordham Head of BBC News Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon BBC Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke NPR producer: Monika Evstatieva NPR editors: Robert Little & Katie Simon NPR executive producer for Embedded: Irene Noguchi BBC World Service commissioning editor: Jon Manel Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Additional music: Karim Chehoury Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell

Josh Baker investigates one of the biggest missing-person cases of our time. American journalist Austin Tice vanished in Syria, but the US president says he’s alive. For more than a decade Austin's mother Debra has been leading the search for her son. As Josh Baker and Sara Obeidat travel to Syria to help Austin’s mother’s search, a source gives Josh information that might unlock where he is - and a simple instruction: “Find Austin.” Archive: Houston Public Media; NBC; PBS; CNN; C-SPAN; MSNBC; The White House; BBC. Writer and showrunner: Josh Baker Investigative producer: Sara Obeidat Series producer: Simon Maybin Field producing: Ouday Al Hussein Additional producing: Lucy Burns Open source intelligence: Thomas Bordeaux & Gabor Friesen Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Series editor: Clare Fordham Head of BBC News Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon BBC Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke NPR producer: Monika Evstatieva NPR editors: Robert Little & Katie Simon NPR executive producer for Embedded: Irene Noguchi BBC World Service commissioning editor: Jon Manel Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Additional music: Karim Chehoury Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell

Josh Baker enters a dangerous world of fear, greed and betrayal as he sets out to uncover the truth behind one of the biggest missing-person cases of our time - the abduction of American journalist Austin Tice. Archive: NBC; PBS; CNN. Writer and showrunner: Josh Baker Investigative producer: Sara Obeidat Series producer: Simon Maybin Field producing: Ouday Al Hussein Additional producing: Lucy Burns Open source intelligence: Thomas Bordeaux & Gabor Friesen Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Series editor: Clare Fordham Head of BBC News Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon BBC Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke NPR producer: Monika Evstatieva NPR editors: Robert Little & Katie Simon NPR executive producer for Embedded: Irene Noguchi BBC World Service commissioning editor: Jon Manel Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Additional music: Karim Chehoury Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell

Josh Baker with an update about his new investigation – Where is Austin Tice? Listen from Tuesday 8 September. From BBC Radio 4 and NPR's Embedded.

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 security. Her lawyers claim that he failed to consider whether she was victim of trafficking. Will her appeal succeed?

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 have won two Rose D’Or Awards and it won an inaugural Podcast Academy Award for Documentary, an Edward R Murrow Award, The Grand Jury Prize at the New York Radio Awards and three awards in the documentary, current affairs and true crime categories at the British Podcast Awards 2023. Series two was recently named podcast of the year by the Foreign Press Association and best investigative audio series by the Association of International Broadcasters. Presenters: Josh Baker and Naga Munchetty Radio Theatre crew: Alan Zani, Marc Wilcox, Brendan Gormley, Clive Painter Production support: Janet Staples and Katie Morrison Mixed by: Tom Brignell Producer: Joe Kent with Sara Obeidat and Hayley Clarke Editor: Jonathan Aspinwall Commissioner: Dylan Haskins

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

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: Dylan Haskins This episode contains some strong language

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 Aspinwall Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins ARCHIVE John Sparks interviews Shammia Begum: Sky News (2019) Rohit Kachroo interviews Shammia Begum: ITV News (2019) This episode contains upsetting moments involving children

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 Staples and Helena Warwick-Cross Series Editor: Jonathan Aspinwall Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins ARCHIVE: Islamic State's final fighters hold on in Baghouz as caliphate crumbles: ITV News (2019) Alex Rossi goes inside the Islamic State's last stand in Baghouz: Sky News (2019) Anthony Lloyd interviews Shamima Begum: The Times of London (2019) This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and some upsetting moments involving children.

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

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 Aspinwall Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins This episode contains descriptions of violence, sexual violence, and has upsetting content

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: 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

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 sound design: Tom Brignell Production coordinator: Janet Staples Series Editor: Jonathan Aspinwall Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins Guidance: This episode contains descriptions of extreme violence

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 Aspinwall Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins ARCHIVE: SKY News: New Footage 'Of British IS Schoolgirls' (March 2015)

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 Gunni Tynes 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 This episode contains strong language.

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 hands of the Islamic State group. But how did it all begin? 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 ARCHIVE Good Morning Britain (ITV, September 2021) Sky News: John Sparks interviews Shamima Begum (February 2019)

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) Sky News: Newspaper Review (13/02/2019) ITV: Good Morning Britain (24/11/2020) Fox News; The Ingraham Angle (20/02/2019) ITV: Good Morning Britain (15/09/2021)