On Spec Podcast

Guest Nafisa Haji interviews Evgenia Baltatarova, a journalist and activist from Siberia, who fled Russia for Kazakhstan soon after the start of the war in Ukraine, when authorities ensnared her in a crackdown on critics of the war. Baltatarova had to move countries once again when Russia sought to have her extradited from Kazakhstan, and talks about the toll exile takes on one's life.

Guest Nafisa Haji interviews Emile Dirks, Research Associate and China expert at Citizen Lab, about Beijing's tactics for silencing critics abroad, and the controversy over TikTok.

Guest host Nafisa Haji interviews independent journalist and analyst Borzou Daragahi about what it was like covering the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, and what the case says about the growing problem of impunity and transnational repression.

Iranian protesters thought they were about to topple the regime during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, but once again the regime crushed the demonstrations despite some wins for women. Journalist Samira Mohyeddin talks about the weaknesses and strengths of the movement and why it’s not over. She also gets personal about navigating identity and journalism.

Host Nafisa Haji speaks with Nate Schenkkan, Senior Director of Research at Freedom House, about Transnational Repression. The term is familiar in policy circles and academics but what's the meaning behind these two words? Who's accountable for protecting dissidents targeted beyond their own borders by their own countries, and how is policy shaped in a global setting when sometimes countries are both protector and perpetrator?

Guest host Nafisa Haji interviews reporter Fariba Nawa about the adventures of reporting Lethal Dissent for two years, getting threats and the feedback the show received from listeners.

In the final episode, Mohammad Shabani's suicide note is analyzed by a handwriting expert and Fariba Nawa gets the results. She follows the ripple effects of the new information, and Mohammad's best friend tries to make sense of what it means.

Fariba Nawa is threatened. She steers her reporting to focus on impunity. The investigation into Iran's hunt for dissidents goes to the United Nations, inside a Turkish parliamentary hearing, and to the US State Department to find out if anyone will intervene.

The Sağlam family's kidnapping operation is caught in a police dragnet. The ensuing police investigation reveals an entire network of conspirators behind the Sağlams. When one conspirator is arrested and interrogated, he confesses. Fariba Nawa uses the confession to tell the story of Iran's behind-the-scenes involvement.

Rezaie gets into the car with the Sağlams. But he already knew he was being tricked. His suspicions had begun long before he climbed into the car, back at the kebab restaurant when the Sağlams introduced him to an American woman. Fariba Nawa tries to untangle the story of the American woman, and finds out how Rezaie foiled the kidnapping plot against him.

There's a convincing explanation for Mohammad Shabani's death, but the evidence is incomplete. While Fariba Nawa waits for a crucial piece of evidence to be analyzed, she tries to find out how far Iran will go to silence dissidents. A Turkish court case exposes an Iranian kidnapping ring and offers an answer. Fariba finds a source to guide her through some of the inner workings of the secret operation.

In the city where the dissident Mohammad Shabani died, Fariba Nawa finds evidence that points towards his cause of death.

The death of poet Mohammad Shabani, an Iranian dissident living in Turkey, catches his friends, family, and supporters by surprise. Fariba Nawa finds one of Mohammad Shabani's confidantes and learns new details about his life in exile before he died.

When two close friends who work for the Iranian government follow their conscience, it puts them at odds with the regime. Now one of them is dead. To figure out what might have happened, reporter Fariba Nawa goes back to the beginning.

Reporter Fariba Nawa introduces her investigation into Iranian plots against exiles in Turkey. She tells the story of Iran's history of violence against its citizens at home, and how that violence has grown to cross international borders today. The fate of a dissident in France becomes a blueprint for the questions she seeks to answer.

The Europeans podcast brings you a look at life as an undocumented migrant in Amsterdam.  Co-produced by Katz Laslo and Mohammad Bah, the story is also narrated by Mohammad, who is originally from Guinea, about his life as an undocumented migrant in Amsterdam. It’s tender, heart-warming, surprising, and just an all round great listen.

Host Nadene Ghouri talks with Alisa Reznick about her latest episode for On Spec.  For "Keeping the Colorado," Reznick traveled on the Colorado River in the southwestern US, and talked to people living in the area about what the river's drying up means for them.