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The Arts Intel Report

I'm Not a Monster, Season 2: The Shamima Begum Story

Shamima Begum and her newborn baby, Hawl, in Syria, 2019.

Shamima Begum was 15 when she left her home in London to join Isis. Four years later, she is fighting a legal battle to return to the U.K. while remaining doggedly unremorseful about her decision to leave in the first place. Begum now exists in a sort of purgatory, living in a tent in Syria with nowhere to go and no clear timeline ahead. She is one of the most divisive figures in British history, but much of her story is still a mystery—until now. During the second season of the BBC’s I’m Not a Monster, journalist Josh Baker speaks one-on-one with Begum in a series of in-depth interviews. He doesn’t take her at face value. Baker is an empathetic interviewer, yet he pushes back on many of her answers, which makes for very interesting listening. Meticulously thorough, Baker describes his method as “investigating what she’s told me and what she hasn’t.” Prepare to be shocked, intrigued, and faced with moral shades of gray. —Clara Molot

Photo: ANL/Shutterstock