Episodios

  • Sebastian Junger : Some sand sort of sprayed into the side of my face. I was like, damn, what was that? And then I heard the burst

    Sebastian Junger : Some sand sort of sprayed into the side of my face. I was like, damn, what was that? And then I heard the burst
    Jun 29 2022

    In the series finale of The Line of Fire, Ramita interviews Sebastian Junger, the number one New York Times bestselling author, multi award-winning journalist and Oscar-nominated documentary maker. 

    Sebastian explains how he was inspired to become a journalist while researching dangerous jobs, and what drew him to conflict reporting. 

    When he was covering the war in Bosnia, Sebastian’s first book The Perfect Storm became an instant best-seller, and Sebastian describes how retreating from the limelight to cover the war in Sierra Leone helped him cope with the pressures of overwhelming success. 

    Sebastian discusses life-changing experiences, including the time he spent with the famed Afghan fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud and being embedded with a platoon of US soldiers in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, then considered one of the most dangerous postings in the US military.

    Sebastian shares his insights about the effects of witnessing violence and the worst of human nature, and about his decision to leave war reporting after the death of his close friend and collaborator Tim Hetherington who was killed while covering the Arab Spring in Libya in 2011.

    Show Notes:

    • You can find all Sebastian’s books (including Freedom, Tribe, and The Perfect Storm) and films (including Restrepo) here: http://www.sebastianjunger.com/
    • Follow Sebastian on Twitter @sebastianjunger
    • Follow Sebastian on Instagram @sebastianjungerofficial

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    1 h y 5 m
  • Guillermo Galdos (part two) : Two Black Hawk helicopters appeared on top of us…spraying with bullets. I remember hearing the trees falling down. It looked like the end of the world

    Guillermo Galdos (part two) : Two Black Hawk helicopters appeared on top of us…spraying with bullets. I remember hearing the trees falling down. It looked like the end of the world
    Jun 22 2022

    This week on The Line of Fire, Ramita continues her conversation with the award-winning Peruvian journalist and documentary maker Guillermo Galdos. 

     

    In Part two Guillermo tells Ramita about his meeting with one of the world’s most notorious drug lords “La Tuta”, who was too drunk and high to interview, and about getting on the wrong side of cartel boss El Chapo’s wife. 

     

    We’ll hear how a single moment coming under attack in Colombia changed Guillermo forever.

     

    Ramita and Guillermo’s conversation is interrupted by a text message Guillermo receives with some shocking news. Listener discretion is advised. 

     

    Show Notes:

    • If you want to learn more about Guillermo’s work, check out his page on the Channel 4 News website. 
    • You can watch Guillermo’s film about the history of the Colombian conflict El Testigo on Netflix. 
    • Follow Guillermo on Twitter: @GuillermoGaldos 

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    1 h y 6 m
  • Guillermo Galdos (part one) : This guy was shooting his gun.... And suddenly they hit him in the head, right in the forehead. And I remember thinking, what the hell am I doing here?

    Guillermo Galdos (part one) : This guy was shooting his gun.... And suddenly they hit him in the head, right in the forehead. And I remember thinking, what the hell am I doing here?
    Jun 15 2022

    This week on The Line of Fire, Ramita’s guest is the Peruvian journalist and BAFTA-nominated documentary maker Guillermo Galdos. Guillermo is the Latin America correspondent at Channel 4 News and is known for his work investigating drug cartels.

     

    In the first of a two-part interview, Guillermo describes how his family was forced to flee Peru, and why he gave up his safe newsroom job in London to cover conflicts in Latin America. 

     

    Guillermo discusses the risks of investigating drug cartels and how he has learnt to deal with some of the world’s most dangerous men - including hitmen. 

     

    He also speaks candidly about dealing with the violence around him, including the murders of many of his friends and colleagues, and how he turned to Amazonian tribes and the powerful hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca to heal his trauma. 

    Show Notes:

    • If you want to learn more about Guillermo’s work, check out his page on the Channel 4 News website. 
    • You can watch Guillermo’s film about the history of the Colombian conflict El Testigo on Netflix. 
    • Follow Guillermo on Twitter: @GuillermoGaldos 

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    58 m
  • Anas Aremeyaw Anas : We don’t care you are journalists. The rule is simple. We will kill you

    Anas Aremeyaw Anas : We don’t care you are journalists. The rule is simple. We will kill you
    Jun 8 2022

    Ramita interviews Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Africa’s most famous journalist whose work has been cited by former US President Barack Obama, calling Anas “a courageous journalist who risked his life to report the truth".

     

    Anas discusses the extraordinary lengths he takes working undercover in order to expose high-level corruption - in fact, few people know Anas’s true identity, as he lives in constant fear of being killed for his work. 

     

    Anas talks about the murder of his closest partner, Ahmed Suale, following their investigation into corruption within African football. He also recounts posing as a brothel cleaner for seven months to bring down a Chinese sex mafia, and being hospitalised as a psychiatric patient while investigating a drug cartel. 

     

    Anas has escaped death many times, including when villagers in Malawi mistook him for a witch doctor who had been killing locals for body parts, and having his cover blown in the Ivory Coast. 

     

    Show Notes:

    • Watch Anas’s BBC documentary Betraying the Game  
    • Also watch Anas’s BBC documentary Malawi’s Human Harvest  
    • Follow Anas on Twitter @anasglobal

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    1 h
  • Mais Al-Bayaa (part two) : I kept screaming “is anyone alive?” but I did not hear anyone. I genuinely thought I was dead

    Mais Al-Bayaa (part two) : I kept screaming “is anyone alive?” but I did not hear anyone. I genuinely thought I was dead
    Jun 1 2022

    The second part of Ramita’s interview with Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award-winning Iraqi journalist and documentary producer Mais Al-Bayaa.

     

    After surviving a targeted suicide bombing, Mais recounts how she discovered she was on a militia hit list, finally prompting her to leave Iraq. 

     

    She also describes why, despite fleeing her motherland, she decided to return, and how the birth of her daughter has given her the courage to continue reporting on dangerous stories.  

     

    Show Notes:

    • Watch Mais’s documentary Undercover with the clerics: Iraq secret sex trade BBC2 and also available in the US via PBS Frontline website 
    • Mais and Ramita worked together on Iraq’s Assassins and Iraq Uncovered and US listeners can watch it on the PBS Frontline website 
    • Follow Mais on Twitter @maisalbayaa 

     

     


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    47 m
  • Mais Al-Bayaa (part one) : I was asleep in my bed, three bullets came just above my head and the curtain was burned

    Mais Al-Bayaa (part one) : I was asleep in my bed, three bullets came just above my head and the curtain was burned
    May 25 2022

    Mais Al-Bayaa is an Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award-winning Iraqi journalist and documentary producer. Mais has covered her home country and events in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

    In part one of this fascinating interview, Mais explains how her family were exiled by Saddam Hussein, the horrors of both Gulf wars and how she became a journalist by accident. We also hear what it was like to live on the ‘road of death’, and what happened when her father was kidnapped by a Shia militia. 

    Show Notes:

    • Watch Mais’s documentary Undercover with the clerics: Iraq secret sex trade Apple iTunes and also available in the US via PBS Frontline website 
    • Mais and Ramita worked together on Iraq’s Assassins and Iraq Uncovered and US listeners can watch it on the PBS Frontline website 
    • Follow Mais on Twitter @maisalbayaa

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    45 m
  • Sam Kiley : It wasn’t a question of talking your way out of it, it was all over, it was just waiting for the bullet

    Sam Kiley : It wasn’t a question of talking your way out of it, it was all over, it was just waiting for the bullet
    May 18 2022

    CNN’s Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley survived an attempted execution in Iraq in 2003 when he and his team were kidnapped while reporting on the US invasion.

    Sam joins Ramita this week as one of Britain's most experienced and prolific war reporters - he has covered nearly every conflict in the world since 1991. In fact, it's easier to name the wars he hasn't covered than the ones he has. He's also the only journalist who's completed a full combat tour with NATO in Afghanistan, spending six months in Helmand in 2008.

    Sam talks about how he started in journalism with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, how he learned to cover war in Somalia and surviving being shot in Lesotho. He also discusses reporting on the horrors of the Rwandan genocide, and why it is the conflict that has most affected him.

    Show Notes:

    • Sam’s book Desperate Glory: At War in Helmand with Britain's 16 Air Assault
    • Follow Sam on Twitter @kileycnn

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    48 m
  • Shoaib Sharifi (part two) : Your head will be chopped after 4 o’ clock today. I felt, tasted and smelt death, and I cried

    Shoaib Sharifi (part two) : Your head will be chopped after 4 o’ clock today. I felt, tasted and smelt death, and I cried
    May 11 2022
    Part two: Shoaib talks about being captured by the Taliban, surviving two near executions, forming a bond with his captors, and how and why he stopped his fellow prisoners from killing their Taliban jailers.

    Shoaib has been covering his home country for the last 22 years. He's a former BBC World Service Kabul bureau chief who launched the acclaimed political debate program Open Jirga (a co-production between BBC Media Action and BBC World Service).

    Shoaib is one of the few Afghan journalists who decided to stay on after the Taliban took power in August, 2021, and he's currently the country director for BBC media action, the BBC’s international development organisation.    Show Notes:
    • Watch Shoaib’s BAFTA winning documentary My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan on ITV Hub
    • The film won BAFTA Single Documentary award 2022 and is produced by Seventh Art Productions
    • Follow Shoaib on Twitter @shoaibsharifi1 

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    1 h y 9 m