Episode 8: God’s Plan

De: Trevor Aaronson

Narrado por: Trevor Aaronson

The bombs are falling. Russell and his Syrian wife now have two children together. ISIS, once feared, is on the verge of collapse. Russell is running out of options.©2021 First Look Institute, Inc. (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC

What a story! And so well made!

This is fascinating and well told story about how one rather unremarkable man came on a collision course with his own country. It takes you through the circumstances that would lead to the man’s violent death.
What’s particularly fascinating is how the man himself gets to tell his story, you hear his actual voice throughout the podcast.
Trevor Aaronson connects the man’s many voice recordings with such narrative clarity and outstanding journalistic professionalism that you start to wish all podcasts were like this. Aaronson is also gifted with a voice and cadence ”made for radio.”
Help! What podcast is supposed to top this? Seriously, I need recommendations, because everthing else sounds like crap in comparison.

Excellent in all ways.

Amazing to hear this man who was brought up in the same society as I could see the world and our places in it so differently. A sobering story.

A rare inside look into a young American’s search for meaning and belonging through Jihad.

I would recommend this podcast to anyone who wants to find out what it was like to be an American man in ISIS. Russell’s search for meaning and belonging led him to a foreign land and to take on a culture of extremism and war, but his calm demeanor and relatively soft spoken voice is in great contrast to his surroundings and not what one would expect after seeing video clips of the war or ISIS propaganda videos.

I have listened to many podcasts over the years and this is definitely unique and unlike any other I have heard. Despite the author’s rather monotone voice non-theatrical performance, it takes you on an emotional rollercoaster with twists, turns, and drops riddled with food for thought and contemplations.

The only thing that I really didn’t like, although the author did acknowledge this in the end, was the sterile and somewhat cold way in which the author related to Russell. The fact that he only gave a half-hearted attempt to connect Russell’s widowed wife and children with Russell’s parents was strange and distasteful to me. Maybe I have more of a soft spot than most, but, regardless of that and the tragic elements, I highly recommend checking this podcast out and hope that it can be a lesson to others who may feel enticed to join an extremist group.

Great story

This is an amazing story. It is worth the time. It provides an amazing look into Russell's world, as disturbing as that might be.

wow

great story and i think the author/reader was able to keep such a horrific story humane!