I'm Not A Monster Presents...

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 is at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London to hear whether Begum’s lawyers have succeeded in arguing that the British government’s decision to take away her citizenship was unlawful.
After she emerged from the remnants of the Islamic State group in 2019, the British Home Secretary took away her citizenship saying she was a threat to national security. Her lawyers claim that he failed to consider whether she was victim of trafficking.
Will her appeal succeed?

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 Radio Theatre in London, Naga Munchetty puts your questions to Josh including: what is it about this story that captures the imagination and curiosity of so many people? How did Josh keep safe while making the podcast? And, Should Shamima Begum be seen as a villain?
I’m Not A Monster is the BBC’s most-awarded podcast series. It’s the only audio series to have won two Rose D’Or Awards and it won an inaugural Podcast Academy Award for Documentary, an Edward R Murrow Award, The Grand Jury Prize at the New York Radio Awards and three awards in the documentary, current affairs and true crime categories at the British Podcast Awards 2023. Series two was recently named podcast of the year by the Foreign Press Association and best investigative audio series by the Association of International Broadcasters.

Presenters: Josh Baker and Naga Munchetty
Radio Theatre crew: Alan Zani, Marc Wilcox, Brendan Gormley, Clive Painter
Production support: Janet Staples and Katie Morrison
Mixed by: Tom Brignell
Producer: Joe Kent with Sara Obeidat and Hayley Clarke
Editor: Jonathan Aspinwall
Commissioner: Dylan Haskins

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 answers your questions about the series, share more about how it was made and some extra things we’ve learnt about the story.
Apply for FREE TICKETS: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/shamima-begum

Email your questions: josh@bbc.co.uk

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 got the answer.
Reporter: Josh Baker
Written and produced by: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent
Composer: Firas Abou Fakher
Theme music: Sam Slater
Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell
Production coordinators: Janet Staples and Helena Warwick-Cross
Series Editor: Jonathan Aspinwall
Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon
Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins
This episode contains some strong language

Episode 10 will be available on Wednesday March 22nd