What Happened to Syria?

Bernd Debusmann was a young Reuters bureau chief when Lebanon imploded into civil war and anarchy in the 1970s, during which Syria and Hafez al-Assad became intimately involved the conflict.   This talented and daring journalist took to war-torn Beirut like a duck to water, risking his life to interview combatants on all sides and civilians caught in the cross-fire, eventually running afoul of the Assad regime for reporting on their intervention in Lebanon and atrocities committed in Syria.   This prompted Syrian intelligence officers to threaten his life. Several Western journalists fled Lebanon after receiving similar death threats, but Bernd stubbornly refused to be intimidated. The Assad regime then resorted to, "censorship by bullet" and attempted to assassinate him in 1980.    Bernd survived and still walks around with a bullet in his back, to this day. And that wasn't even the first time he got shot in Lebanon.   You won't want to miss this incredible interview with a man who frequently put his life on the line to inform the public and now shares valuable insight on a bygone era. The Lebanese Civil War and Syria's role in the conflict are largely forgotten today, but their long-term consequences reverberate into the present day.

We're starting a new holiday tradition, an episode focused on refugees and other humanitarian issues in Syria.   As early as 2011, tens of thousands of people were forced to flee the country. Today, more than six million displaced Syrians are demonized by hateful individuals and political movements all over the world.   Mesud (@MaybeMesud on Twitter) describes how he and his family were forced to leave Aleppo and the challenges they faced not only during the journey but also while establishing a new life in Turkey.   Sources “Nearly 10,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey,” Yahoo! News https://web.archive.org/web/20110623163253/https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110617/wl_mideast_afp/syriaviolenceturkeyrefugees_20110617130011   Music licensing Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys   Ultimate Metal by Loyalty Freak Creative Commons - CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/HYPER_METAL_/Loyalty_Freak_Music_-_HYPER_METAL__-_08_ULTIMATE_METAL

How do you organize a leaderless movement?   The Syrian Revolution was a decentralized movement of localized cells, but enterprising activists still managed to coordinate with each other and reach out to the outside world.   We examine how the Local Coordination Committees attempted to create a post-Assad government before speaking to a civil society activist who still resides in Syria. We also speak with Ahmad, an engineer and civil society activist who has spent the last ten years enduring horror after horror and tragedy after tragedy in order to establish a Free Syria.   Ahmad is the first guest to call us directly from Syria, where he is currently hiding from both the regime and jihadists. He doesn't have anything good to say about either one, for what it's worth.    Sources “How the Syrian Revolution was Organized - And How it Unraveled,” by Zaina Erhaim, New Lines Magazine Syria by Samer N. Abboud "U.S. Secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, cables released by WikiLeaks show," by Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-secretly-backed-syrian-opposition-groups-cables-released-by-wikileaks-show/2011/04/14/AF1p9hwD_story.html   Music Licensing Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys   "Emotional Sad Piano Music" by Mattia Cupelli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JYHk_D5A44   "Yalla Erhal Ya Bashar" by Ibrahim Qashoush   "Jannah, Jannah, Jannah," sung by Abdul-Baset al-Sarout

Supporters and opponents of the Assad regime are becoming irrevocably alienated from one another, sowing the seeds for a future war between Assad's Syria versus Free Syria.   Sources A Woman in the Crossfire by Samar Yazbek Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher The Impossible Revolution by Yassin al-Haj Saleh The Syrian Revolution by Dr. Yasser Munif Civil War in Syria by Bakzo, et. al The Home That Was Our Country by Alia Malek Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad by Dr. David Lesch We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled by Dr. Wendy Pearlman   Music Licensing “Yalla Erhal Ya Bashar” by Ibrahim Qashoush   Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys   Fire Away by Forget the Whale Creative Commons - Attribution-Non Comercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Forget_the_Whale/you-me-talk-now/fire-away-instrumental   Genocide by Silent Carrion Creative Commons - attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international (cc by-nc-nd 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Silent_Carrion/Suprematism_EP_III_Sol/Silent_Carrion_-_Suprematism_EP_III_Sol_-_01_Genocide   "Emotional Sad Piano Music" by Mattia Cupelli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JYHk_D5A44

Jeff Butler's multifaceted career made him the perfect guest for THE TERROR. A warfighter, a CIA counterterrorism specialist, and now a first responder. His perspective is truly one-of-a-kind.    You can find Mr. Butler on Twitter at @SOFFru1   "Deliverance" by Aliaksei Yukhenevich https://tunetank.com/tracks/3960-deliverance/ 

There are too many amazing heroes among the Syrians who protested in 2011 to fit into a single episode. This is our second attempt at an ongoing effort to commemorate the heroes of the Syrian Revolution.   Ghiath Matar, Fadwa Soleiman, Bassel Shehadeh, a certain iconic goalkeeper-turned-singer from Homs, and other incredible individuals make appearances in this tribute to people whose bravery and sacrifices deserve to be remembered.   Thank you to @SubhiXCIV and @proud_damascene for the help you provided with this episode.   Sources: We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled by Dr. Wendy Pearlman A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution by Samar Yazbek Burning Country by Robin Yassin-Kassab “Syrian Christians Feel Pull From Both Sides In Civil War,” The Washington Times “The Days of Abd al-Basset” al-Jumhuriya.net “Abdel-Basset al-Sarout: Controversial Singer of Syria's War,” Al-Jazeera Music Licensing Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys   "Emotional Sad Piano Music" by Mattia Cupelli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JYHk_D5A44

DISTURBING CONTENT WARNING   There is no turning back for Syria after this episode.   The Syrian Opposition is nearing its breaking point after months of being massacred, mass-arrested, and mass-tortured by the Assad regime.   But all hell breaks loose when the public discovers the torture and murder of 13-year-old Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, leading to the largest protests to take place thus far as well as the first confirmed BATTLE between regime loyalists and armed opposition.   Sources: “We've Never Seen Such Horror,” Human Rights Watch Syria by Dr. Samer N. Abboud The Fall of the House of Assad by Dr. David Lesch We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled by Dr. Wendy Pearlman My Country by Kassem Eid No Turning Back by Rania Abouzeid The Home That Was Our Country by Alia Malek Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher Civil War in Syria by Bakzo, et. al The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli   Music Licensing: Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys Arrow Arrow by Aglow Hollow Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/aglow_hollow/Proximate_Laws_Baba_Yaga_Booty_Calls/arrow-arrow Ultimate Metal by Loyalty Freak Creative Commons - CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/HYPER_METAL_/Loyalty_Freak_Music_-_HYPER_METAL__-_08_ULTIMATE_METAL Genocide by Silent Carrion Creative Commons - attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international (cc by-nc-nd 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Silent_Carrion/Suprematism_EP_III_Sol/Silent_Carrion_-_Suprematism_EP_III_Sol_-_01_Genocide

Episode 11 - The Last Straw is taking longer than expected to edit. Here's an excerpt to tide everyone over until the full episode is done.   Sources Cited: "We've Never Seen Such Horror" by Human Rights Watch   Music Licensing Genocide by Silent Carrion Creative Commons - attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international (cc by-nc-nd 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Silent_Carrion/Suprematism_EP_III_Sol/Silent_Carrion_-_Suprematism_EP_III_Sol_-_01_Genocide   Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys 

This might be our most controversial episode, yet.   What is the relationship between the Assad regime and Syrian Kurds? How did Kurds react to the Syrian revolution? Why is it that a majority of Syrian Kurds came to prefer the YPG over the Free Syrian Army?   A lot of it has to do with societal attitudes that go back decades before the Syrian Revolution.   Peshmerge is a Syrian Kurd from Aleppo who participated in the 2011 protests and vehemently supported the Syrian Opposition. His opinion changed as the opposition gradually changed from a big tent movement to one dominated by racists and religious fundamentalism.   Music licensing: Come and Get It By Scott Holmes Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/media-music-mix/come-and-get-it   Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys   Genocide by Silent Carrion Creative Commons - attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international (cc by-nc-nd 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Silent_Carrion/Suprematism_EP_III_Sol/Silent_Carrion_-_Suprematism_EP_III_Sol_-_01_Genocide

Yusuf was born in Manbij and gave up his job in Latakia to organize protests during the Syrian Revolution.   The events of 2011 changed his life forever, resulting in the loss of his freedom (detained twice by the regime, plus once by ISIS) and eventually forcing him to leave Syria in 2015.   Music licensing Fire Away by Forget the Whale Creative Commons - Attribution-Non Comercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Forget_the_Whale/you-me-talk-now/fire-away-instrumental

Twenty years ago, the world changed.   The Terror is a 12-episode miniseries about 9/11, what led up to it, and it's aftermath. It's the story about how the Cold War led to 9/11 and the War on Terror.   Aram Shabanian (@ShabanianAram on Twitter) has extensively researched the events of September 11, 2001 for two decades. He is currently a Non-State Actors Researcher at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy.   Music credits   "Deep Noise" by Kevin MacLeod  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgB_L7Os5OA  "Deliverance" by Aliaksei Yukhenevich https://tunetank.com/tracks/3960-deliverance/  "Emotional Sad Piano Music" by Mattia Cupelli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JYHk_D5A44 

Hey y'all, we're going to put out one or two more episodes before we take a month off.  In the meantime, keep an eye out for The Terror, a 12-part miniseries about al-Qaeda, 9/11, and its aftermath due for release on September 11, 2021.    

This week, the Syrian Revolution takes a bloody and tragic turn when the Assad regime begins to put restive towns and cities under military siege. Starvation, indiscriminate bombings, and other horrors associated with the Syrian Civil War (a label that many Syrians see as a misnomer) begin to be seen in mid-2011.   Sources cited:   Syria by Samer N. Abboud   Civil War in Syria by Baczko, et al   The Syrian Revolution by Yasser Munif   Inside Syria's Slaughter: A Journalist Sneaks Into Dara'a, the ‘Ghetto of Death' by Christian Clanet for Le Monde, published in partnership with Worldcrunch and Time Magazine   Impossible Revolution by Yassin al-Haj Saleh   No Turning Back by Rania Abouzeid   The Last Sanctuary in Aleppo by Alaa al-Jaleel   Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher   Music licensing:   Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys   Genocide by Silent Carrion Creative Commons - attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international (cc by-nc-nd 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Silent_Carrion/Suprematism_EP_III_Sol/Silent_Carrion_-_Suprematism_EP_III_Sol_-_01_Genocide

How did the Assad family seize power in Syria? The answer lies in a man named Hafez al-Assad (basically, imagine an alternate version of Bashar al-Assad with confidence and a modicum of masculinity).   Hafez rises from a poor country boy from the Alawite heartland, the bottom rung of the Syrian socioeconomic power, to becoming the most powerful man in the country over the first forty years of his life.   The consequences of Hafez al-Assad's military and political career would lead directly to the events of 2011.    Sources cited: Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East by Patrick Seale We Crossed A Bridge and It Trembled by Dr. Wendy Pearlman The Home That Was Our Country by Alia Malek Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher   Music licensing: Genocide by Silent Carrion Creative Commons - attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international (cc by-nc-nd 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Silent_Carrion/Suprematism_EP_III_Sol/Silent_Carrion_-_Suprematism_EP_III_Sol_-_01_Genocide 

The regime and its opponents both dig in their heels while each tries to convince the other to give up. Appeasement, brutality, and other mix-messaging dominate the regime's approach to increasing unrest while protestors continue to put their lives on the line to voice their grievances.    This culminates in the Great Friday, where Syria sees its largest protests and highest death toll thus far.   Sources cited:    Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad by Dr. David Lesch   We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled by Dr. Wendy Pearlman   My Country by Kassem Eid   No Turning Back by Rania Abouzeid   Music licensing:    Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys    Ultimate Metal by Loyalty Freak Creative Commons - CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication  https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/HYPER_METAL_/Loyalty_Freak_Music_-_HYPER_METAL__-_08_ULTIMATE_METAL    Fire Away by Forget the Whale Creative Commons - Attribution-Non Comercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)  https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Forget_the_Whale/you-me-talk-now/fire-away-instrumental    Genocide by Silent Carrion Creative Commons - attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international (cc by-nc-nd 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Silent_Carrion/Suprematism_EP_III_Sol/Silent_Carrion_-_Suprematism_EP_III_Sol_-_01_Genocide

Fadil al-Mhameed lived right next to the Omari mosque in 2011, when Daraa became the epicenter of the Syrian Revolution. He witnessed, participated, and documented the uprising and crackdown by the regime, at grave personal cost.   Fadil sustained a gunshot wound to the hand in 2011 before he was badly injured a barrel bombing in 2014. He and his family have since resettled in the United States.   Music licensing:   Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys   Arrow Arrow by Aglow Hollow Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/aglow_hollow/Proximate_Laws_Baba_Yaga_Booty_Calls/arrow-arrow   Come and Get It By Scott Holmes Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/media-music-mix/come-and-get-it   Ultimate Metal by Loyalty Freak Creative Commons - CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/HYPER_METAL_/Loyalty_Freak_Music_-_HYPER_METAL__-_08_ULTIMATE_METAL

Protests have broken out across the country and the death toll from state violence against protestors has already broken the triple digits. Syria is in shock after the events of March 25, when more than a hundred people were murdered by soldiers and Shabiha in a single day.    Things are going to go from bad to worse when Bashar al-Assad gives a speech that changes everything.  Sources cited: We Crossed A Bridge and It Trembled by Dr. Wendy Pearlman Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad by Dr. David Lesch No Turning Back by Rania Abouzeid   Music licensing Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys   Ultimate Metal by Loyalty Freak Creative Commons - CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication  https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/HYPER_METAL_/Loyalty_Freak_Music_-_HYPER_METAL__-_08_ULTIMATE_METAL   Hello Tomorrow by Cult Fantastic Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Cult_Fantastic/I_Love_My_Selfie_EP/Cult_Fantastic_-_I_Love_My_Selfie_-_03_Hello_Tomorrow

Hasan al-Kassab (@HasanAlKassab2 on Twitter) was a medical student from Raqqa in 2011, when the protests began. Today, he's a Syrian revolutionary activist living in Romania.   Hasan joins us in this episode to talk about what the revolution was like in Raqqa and other parts of East Syria, located far away from Daraa, Damascus, and Homs.   There's so much more to Raqqa than ISIS and everything else that happened after 2014. Thank you Hasan al-Kassab for telling us your story.   Music license Fire Away by Forget the Whale Creative Commons - Attribution-Non Comercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)  https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Forget_the_Whale/you-me-talk-now/fire-away-instrumental 

They fell in love while risking their lives to protest against a regime that routinely arrests, tortures, and executes dissidents.   Noura Ghazi decided she wanted to be a lawyer at 13, when her father was a political prisoner. She met Bassel Khartabil in April of 2011, when activists in Damascus were trying to organize what they hoped would be a revolution similar to what had just taken place in Tunisia and Egypt. Bassel was a software developer who had worked overseas and returned to Damascus to take part in the Syrian revolution.   The two became famous among Syrian activists when they got engaged. Their romance was seen as one of the revolution's triumphs. But things took a very tragic turn when Bassel was detained by the regime.   We are so honored to have Noura Ghazi on as a guest to tell her story. She continues her work as a lawyer campaigning for the rights of Syrians detained and "disappeared" by the regime.   Music license Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojysFragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomynCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments

This is our first "biographical" episode. This week, we're going to look at individuals who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives to engage in non-violent resistance to tyranny.   Sources cited: The Impossible Revolution by Yassin al-Haj Saleh Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher Razan Zeitouneh's appearances on Democracy Now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_btXxZyMt7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNjC_nFwc10 Razan Zeitouneh's Final Message https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmRGpQwmAUE Yassin al-Haj Saleh speaking to Syrian Revolution: A History From Below at 41:43 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Bdbf5FlCs&t=2977s   Music licensing Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys

What is one to do after being exiled from your homeland?   That's exactly the situation Mamoun found himself in eight years ago. Coming of age and finding a path for oneself is difficult enough without a war at home and being able to visit one's family.   Mamoun will encounter the difficulties of being an exiled Syrian in Lebanon, Europe, and later the US at the start of Donald Trump's presidency on his path to finding a new home and embarking on the path of becoming an attorney.

Damascus to DC tells the story of Mamoun, a Syrian-Lebanese attorney whose life journey took him across the world from his hometown Damascus to Washington D.C. after he was forced leave Syria.   Part 2 focuses on Mamoun's involvement in the 2011 protests, how he helped combat disinformation by contacting media outlets, and why he hasn't been able to return to Syria since 2012.

How did the Syrian Revolution lead to the Syrian Civil War? Why didn't the regime make any real concessions? How quickly did the regime resort to massacring protestors? (Answer: very quickly).   This episode looks at what happened in Syria between March 15 to March 25, 2011.   Sources cited: The Impossible Revolution by Yassin al-Haj Saleh My Country by Kassem Eid The Syrian Revolution by Yasser Munif We Crossed A Bridge and It Trembled by Wendy Pearlman Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher Brothers of the Gun by Marwan Hisham https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12827542   Music licensing Come and Get It By Scott Holmes Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/media-music-mix/come-and-get-it   Arrow Arrow by Aglow Hollow Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/aglow_hollow/Proximate_Laws_Baba_Yaga_Booty_Calls/arrow-arrow   Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys

Today, we're reaching into the vault and pulling out a pilot episode from mid-2020, before we knew what exactly this podcast would look like.   Damascus to DC tells the story of Mamoun, a Syrian-Lebanese attorney whose life journey took him across the world from his hometown Damascus to Washington D.C. after he was forced leave Syria. Part 1 focuses on Mamoun's upbringing, what it was like to live in Syria when Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father, and how the first protests began in 2011.   You can find us on Twitter at @SyriaPod and email us at whathappenedtosyriapodcast@gmail.com.    If you like our show, please considering us for $1 or more at patreon.com/whathappenedtosyria  https://www.patreon.com/whathappenedtosyria?fan_landing=true 

What did protestors in Syria want? How does it feel to voice your opinion and show solidarity with your fellow citizens for the first time in a totalitarian state? How did protests in one part of the country differ from another? How quickly did the Assad regime resort to brutalizing and massacring protestors? (answer: very quickly) Suhail al-Ghazi is Non-Resident Fellow at the Tahrir Institute and a Syrian dissident from Damascus now based in Istanbul. He was arrested twice for political activism before he joined the 6.6 million people forced to flee the country. You can follow him on Twitter at @putintintin.

This week, we look at a topic that has dominated the discourse surrounding Syria: media coverage and disinformation.   Dr. Idrees Ahmad is lecturer in journalism at the University of Stirling with a doctorate in sociology and a focus on international conflicts. He is also the author of The Road to Iraq: The Making of a Neoconservative War. Idrees has spent years tracking online propaganda and its impact on the international response to events in Syria.   As the title suggests, we get into the best and worst coverage of Syria since 2011, and run down the list of grifters who have made a career spreading disinformation. *cough* Max Blumenthal, Vanessa Beeley, Eva Bartlett, Aaron Mate, Rania Khalek *cough*   Next week, we'll pick the main story back up with the events of March 15 to March 31, 2011.   Music licensing Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys

This is a prototype bonus episode. Future bonus episodes will feature interviews with Syrians or experts in the topics we discuss. Our first set of Bonus episodes will be released for free. In the future, they will be available only to our Patrons on Patreon.    Music licensing Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys

Here it begins! Our ten-year retrospective look at Syria. This first episode works its way to the 15 of March, 2011, the day most-commonly cited as the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. This is the start of Season 1, which will focus on 2011. Season 2 will focus on 2012, so on and so forth.    Sources cited: Syria by Samer N. Abboud No Turning Back by Rania Abouzeid Butterfly by Yusra Mardini We Crossed A Bridge and It Trembled by Wendy Pearlman My Country by Kassem Eid   Music licensing Fragments by Nomyn https://soundcloud.com/nomyn Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/l-fragments Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ndyyIhwojys