I'm Not a Monster
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Series 2: The Court Decides
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 2: Josh Baker Answers Listener Questions
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 R...
Series 2. Our Live Show
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 answ...
Series 2: 10. The World’s Unwanted
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 go...
Series 2: A Message From Josh
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 10 will be available on Wednesday March 22nd
Series 2: 9. State of Mind
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 2: 8. No Plan B
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 as...
Series 2: 7. Trapped
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 Producer...
Series 2. 6. Father Figure
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 h...
Series 2: 5. Empty Paper
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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-o...
Series 2: 4. When You’re In Love
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 sh...
Series 2: 3. Double Agent?
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 2: 2. The Point of No Return
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 s...
Series 2: 1. It Felt Like a Dream
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Three London schoolgirls disappear, heading for a war zone. Four years later only one emerges from the ashes of ISIS. Nobody knows what really happene...
Introducing… The Shamima Begum Story
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 1: 13. Your questions answered
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Series 1: 12. Those we leave behind
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 1: 11. Epilogue - The wounds and the scars
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 I...
Series 1: Update
13 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Series 1: 10. It’s all behind me now
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 1: 9. The rest be damned
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 1: 8. I take my book back
25 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 infamo...
Series 1: 7. On American soil
18 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Series 1: 6. Now I’m calling the shots
28 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A torture prison, buying slaves and a dramatic escape: Sam continues her account of her years in Raqqa.This episode includes references to sexual abus...
Series 1: 5. We had a great life
21 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 i...
Series 1: 4. She’s like my mother
14 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 1: 3. My name is Yusef
07 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 a...
Series 1: 2. Read between the lines
30 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Series 1: 1. I love you, I miss you
23 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 fro...
Introducing... I’m Not A Monster
13 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An American mother living in the heart of the ISIS caliphate. Her husband an ISIS sniper. Her 10-year-old son forced to threaten the U.S. president in...