Every Saturday, we revisit a story from the archives. This originally aired on July 8, 2020. None of the dates, titles, or other references have been changed.

Syria’s inner circle of power was dominated by the al-Assad family for more than 50 years, but over a decade of war exposed its cracks. Journalist Sam Dagher was based in Damascus in the early years of the war, and after the government kicked him out, he used his access to write the inside story of the family that’s become synonymous with Syria.

In this episode, we pull the curtain back on the inner circle to hear the story of President Bashar al-Assad who wasn’t meant for power, but was lifted up by the family name that consumed him.

In this episode:

• Sam Dagher (@samdagher), Journalist and Author of ‘Assad or We Burn the Country’

Episode credits:

This episode was updated by Sarí el-Khalili. The original production team was Alexandra Locke, Dina Kisbeh, Priyanka Tilve, Ney Alvarez, Amy Walters, Natalia Aldana, Stacey Samuel, Graelyn Brashear, and our host, Malika Bilal. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube