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‘If you didn’t challenge it, you’d have the secret police knock on the door, you’d be arrested and you’d disappear.’ Caller Mark, who is half-Syrian, describes to James O’Brien what it was like growing up in Damascus, as he reflects on the collapse of the Assad regime.

“The country is now on a knife-edge.” Syrian caller Luma, whose cousin went missing in 2016, discusses with James O’Brien what must be done to avoid ‘another corrupt setup’, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

‘I was rolling on the floor laughing but then he set up an Etsy selling necklaces to keep the 5G off people… and we started to worry.’ Caller Chris tells James O’Brien how conspiracy theory 'delusion' can go from being ‘comedy gold’ to a mental health concern.

“How the hell did that happen?” James O’Brien questions whether pro-Brexit politicians like Nigel Farage knew Brexit was ‘directly responsible for decriminalising people smugglers’ to the UK, as it’s revealed the practice has been legal in Germany since the UK left the EU.

“The big majority leave because they can’t survive in the situation where they are.” Refugee camp worker Elsa tells James O’Brien that the media 'doesn’t portray' many reasons why people leave their home countries, including living with famine and environmental disasters.

“I don’t think I can argue with that.”   James O’Brien reacts to listener’s Laura’s text, who argues that people ‘have completely missed the fact that most refugees want to go home’ because 'the conversation is never with them, just about them'.

“Every employer since has said I’m an absolute asset… in an educational context, it just didn’t work out.”   Caller Connor, who has dyslexia and ADHD, tells James O'Brien he was thrown out of school and left 'illiterate' because teachers misunderstood his ‘behaviour’.

“I told him: ‘You are fighting your own people’. He smirked...” Syrian filmmaker Hassan Akkad حسان عقاد recounts to James O’Brien the time he met face-to-face with dictator Bashar Al-Assad, who he highlights has now fled Syria ‘like a little rat’.

Refugees & why so much coverage ignores the deep desire to return home. Growing up neurodivergent before diagnoses were possible. The impossibility of home ownership. Hassan Akkad حسان عقاد on the liberation of Syria & his own extraordinary encounter with Assad. globalplayer.com/podcasts/episo…

'It's like someone turns up in your kitchen and does a poo on the floor, then starts giving you advice on how to clean it up!' James O'Brien finds it 'absolutely extraordinary' that former Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has openly criticised the prison early release scheme.

'The poor woman is obviously completely out of her depth and she still thinks she's a super hero! Schadenfreude...' James O'Brien and Natasha Clark discuss Kemi Badenoch's decision to go in on immigration during PMQs, instead of other issues.

'Labour are saying: spending money today, to save us a fortune tomorrow.' 'Austerity was saying: saving money today, to cost us an absolute fortune tomorrow.' 'We're in the tomorrow now', says James O'Brien, reacting to Labour's approach to tackling prison overcrowding.

Prisons & the utter awfulness of Honest Bob Jenrick. ‘Medical misogyny’. PMQs with Natasha Clark.bsky.social Director Alexis Bloom on The Bibi Files. @zoejardiniere.bsky.social on Syrian asylum applications. globalplayer.com/podcasts/episo…

The average skilled worker immigrant made a net contribution of £16,300 to the UK economy last year, Natasha Clark reports. James O'Brien notes that the average Brit contributes £800 a year - 20 times less. 'Some food for thought, for those who are capable of thought', he says.

An extraordinary hour on whether & how Sara Sharif’s murder could have been averted. The Church of England’s latest shame. Guaranteed guffaws at tales of people retrieving their own stolen property. globalplayer.com/podcasts/episo…

Bibi Files makes the Oscars short list in great company. Congrats to Alex Gibney & Alexis Bloom press.oscars.org/news/97th-osca…

The importance of Gisele Pelicot. Mystery Hour. globalplayer.com/podcasts/episo…

Last show of the year so make it last… Gisele Pelicot & the astonishing speed with which some men made the story of women’s experience about themselves. Weight-loss jabs, crooks & miracles. Punishing parents of ‘naughty’ children. globalplayer.com/podcasts/episo…

Hello, this is your regular reminder that this site is rigged by its far-right owner to prioritise far-right content.

Elon Musk has posed as champion of bereaved families in Southport but the killer watched a violent video just before his killing spree *on X* and Musk is refusing to take it down despite numerous official requests from UK & Australian authorities ft.com/content/3c8923…