Jan 21, Fighting ISIS & The Taliban (Encore)

Air Date:
Heard On Route 51
Taliban fighters patrol a neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan
Taliban fighters patrol in Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. Rahmat Gul/AP Photo

In August, more than 122,000 people were airlifted from Afghanistan, marking the end of a decades-long war and the rise of the Taliban, a fundamentalist political and military organization. With the Taliban now firmly in control, the entire region is undergoing significant change with potentially-far reaching implications. And the Taliban’s rapid takeover is prompting fears that the country will once again become a safe haven for Islamic militants, including ISIS.

Shereen Siewert welcomes Wausau native Anne Speckhard, one of the world’s top experts on international terrorism and the psychology of terrorists, to discuss her latest work with ISIS defectors and the spread of ISIS around the world.

Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. is Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University in the School of Medicine and Director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) where she heads the Breaking the ISIS Brand—ISIS Defectors Counter Narrative Project. She has written many books including “Talking to Terrorists,” “Bride of ISIS” and coauthor of “ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate.” Speckhard has interviewed nearly 500 terrorists, their family members and supporters in various parts of the world.

Episode Credits

  • Shereen Siewert Host
  • Rick Reyer Producer
  • Joy Ratchkramer Producer
  • Kate Spranger Producer
  • Dr. Anne Speckhard Guest