Episodes

  • American ISIS Trailer

    American ISIS Trailer
    Jul 1 2021
    American ISIS is an eight-episode podcast that tells the remarkable story of Russell Dennison, an American ex-convict and Muslim convert who joined the Islamic State in Syria. As US and coalition airstrikes rained down on ISIS fighters in 2018 and 2019, Dennison secretly recorded dozens of hours of audio about his past and his life with ISIS and sent them to journalist Trevor Aaronson with one condition: Nothing he said could be revealed until he was captured or - more likely - killed.
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    Less than 1 minute
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  • Episode 1: Death and Life

    Episode 1: Death and Life
    Jul 15 2021

    As the Islamic State collapses in Syria, Russell Dennison contacts journalist Trevor Aaronson and says he wants to talk.
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    35 mins
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  • Episode 2: Beginnings

    Episode 2: Beginnings
    Jul 15 2021
    Russell’s typical suburban childhood features Saturday-morning cartoons, action figures under the Christmas tree, and a basketball hoop in the driveway. But his life takes a turn in his 20s, when he’s arrested in Pennsylvania for selling marijuana.
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    27 mins
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  • Episode 3: Conversion

    Episode 3: Conversion
    Jul 15 2021
    Russell learns how to be a Muslim in prison. Upon his release, he moves home to Florida, where he works at a car dealership and gains a reputation as a local firebrand and prolific YouTuber.
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    35 mins
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  • Episode 4: Rendition

    Episode 4: Rendition
    Jul 15 2021
    Suspecting that the FBI is watching him, Russell travels to Egypt, where he’s detained by security forces and interrogated. He returns to the United States with hardened views and a more confrontational attitude toward the FBI, whose interest in him is now confirmed.
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    42 mins
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  • Episode 5: Into the War

    Episode 5: Into the War
    Jul 15 2021
    After the FBI arrests one of his friends, Russell heads back to the Middle East on the advice of a fellow Muslim and former military translator he met through his YouTube videos. In Lebanon, Russell tracks down a sheikh who helps smuggle foreign fighters into Syria and asks for help crossing the border.
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    35 mins
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  • Episode 6: The Islamic State

    Episode 6: The Islamic State
    Jul 15 2021
    Russell becomes a fighter in Syria with the Islamist militia known as Nusra Front. When he learns that the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has entered the Syrian civil war, he joins the fledgling terrorist group and eventually moves to Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS.
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    43 mins
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  • Episode 7: The Americans

    Episode 7: The Americans
    Jul 15 2021
    As ISIS propaganda establishes the group’s reputation for barbarism, Russell marries a Syrian woman. But ISIS is losing control over its territory in Syria and Iraq. Just before Raqqa falls, Russell escapes to the countryside, where he joins a secret intelligence unit.
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    42 mins
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