A strange letter appears on a city councillor’s desk in Birmingham, England, laying out an elaborate plot by Islamic extremists to infiltrate the city’s schools. The plot has a code name: Operation Trojan Horse. The story soon explodes in the news and kicks off a national panic. By the time it all dies down, the government has launched multiple investigations, beefed up the country’s counterterrorism policy, revamped schools and banned people from education for the rest of their lives. To Hamza Syed, who is watching the scandal unfold in his city, the whole thing seemed … off. Because through...
Latest episodes
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18 sec
Where To Find Parts 3-8 Of The Trojan Horse Affair
To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts. To find out about new…
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3 min
Trailer - Question Everything
A new podcast from Brian Reed. Subscribe here: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/question-everythingTo get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York T…
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48 min
Part 8: An Appointment in Perth
A man banned from working in education in the aftermath of the Trojan Horse letter inspires Brian and Hamza to track down one last witness with him – in Australia. And all three tr…
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50 min
Part 7: The Detail of the Deputies
Birmingham authorities struggle to explain why they disavowed their own findings about the Trojan Horse plot. But when Brian and Hamza make a discovery deep inside some court docum…
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1 h 04
Part 6: Cucumbers and Cooker Bombs
Hamza takes a long, hard look at what the government found when it investigated more than 20 majority-Muslim schools in Birmingham. And our two reporters have a confrontation – wit…
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1 h 00
Part 5: A Study in Scarlett
Hamza and Brian learn that the Trojan Horse letter wasn’t the only unsigned letter alleging an extremist operation was afoot in Birmingham. An interview with a couple who lodged co…
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45 min
Part 4: The Meeting and the Mole
A series of frustrating interviews with Birmingham politicians leaves Brian and Hamza wondering if crucial information about the Trojan Horse letter was kept from officials in Lond…
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38 min
Part 3: Sir Albert and the Missing “H”
In a state of surprise, Hamza and Brian leave a meeting with the man the Trojan Horse letter was first sent to. And they learn about an internal investigation report that local off…
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55 min
Part 2: The Case of the Four Resignations
Hamza and Brian think the source of the Trojan Horse letter might be hiding in plain sight. After learning about the petty personnel dispute that probably gave rise to the letter,…
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60 min
Part 1: The Letter in the Brown Paper Envelope
A strange letter appears outlining a plot by Islamic extremists to infiltrate Birmingham schools. Hamza and Brian visit the supposed mastermind of the plot, and he tells them he di…
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3 min
Trailer
A mysterious letter detailing a supposed Islamist plot to take over schools shocked Britain in 2014. But who wrote it? From Serial Productions and The New York Times, “The Trojan H…