Taking Apart Terror

The podcast exploring how much we really know about terrorism and what is being done to stop it. Hosted by former British soldier Adnan Sarwar.

Understanding terrorism is the first step in fighting it.

Preventing acts of terror is a major priority for governments across the globe. Yet terrorism has fallen off the news agenda, we’ve had other things to think about. And while the eyes of the world are elsewhere, there are well organised extremists who haven’t given up their fight.

Yet it’s hard to engage with something we don’t understand; Daesh, ISIS, Islamic State, ISIL... what do these terms actually mean? Are they the same thing?

Taking Apart Terror is a brand-new podcast presented by former British soldier, Adnan Sarwar, who served in the Iraq War. Across 10 episodes, Adnan speaks to experts to learn about every aspect of how terrorist organisations operate: how they're funded, how they communicate, and the role of women. He discovers what's really going on behind the scenes, and what the world is doing to stop them.

For the first time ever, the world’s leading counter terrorism and extremism experts join Adnan to explore the world of terrorism, including leading professors from universities across the globe who specialise in extremism, organisations who prevent terrorism and investigative journalists who have risked their lives to bring true stories of terrorism to the world.

Taking Apart Terror tells extraordinary stories from a former Al-Qaeda recruiter and features the brave ‘Mosul Eye’, a citizen journalist called Omar Mohammed, who risked his life to tell the world about the atrocities taking place in his city. The harrowing realities of terrorism are shared by a mother who lost her son in the Manchester Arena attack and Nobel prize-winner Nadia Murad who stood before President Trump and demanded help for her Yazidi people, who suffered unimaginable brutality at the hands of Daesh.

A terrorist organisation doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to out compete the opposition that it’s up against. Terrorists want us to be confused, they want to us to be scared, they want to seem like a terrifying threat with mythical status. Taking Apart Terror, from The Global Coalition against Daesh, is here to help us understand more and fear less, exploring every aspect of how terrorists work and what the world is doing to stop them.

Taking Apart Terror was the recipient of the Bronze Lovie & People’s Lovie Winner 2022 for the Best Crime & Justice Podcast and a finalist for the Best International Affairs Podcast at the New York Festival Radio Awards 2022.