In the first of a two-part look at the mass shooting at the office of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2015, we learn about the controversy surrounding the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammed. The images, originally published in a Danish newspaper and added to by the illustrators at Charlie Hebdo, upset many Muslims, who said some of the depictions were both disrespectful and racist. As protests grew, some Islamist groups threatened bloody retribution for those who had published the cartoons.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

In Part 2 of our two-part look at the case of Anna Politkovskaya, we learn about the official investigation into her death, which bore the hallmarks of a carefully planned contract killing. We also ask - who might have commissioned the hit on this journalist and human rights campaigner? She was a prominent critic of the administration of Vladimir Putin, and many people blamed the Russian president for her death. But there were others who might have been responsible, including people she had confronted during her work in Chechnya.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

Do you like wine? Check out Winc! Winc recommends personalized bottles and sends them direct to your door. For $22 off your first box, use code assassinations.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

In Part 1 of a two-part study of the life and death of Anna Politkovskaya, we look at her work as a journalist covering the brutal Chechen wars in Russia in the 1990s and early 2000s. She exposed war crimes and gave voice to the many civilian casualties of the conflict between separatists and the federal government. She also sought to expose corruption and criminality elsewhere in Russia, in the process making powerful enemies. Her assassination in 2006 led some people to point the finger of blame at President Vladimir Putin; but as we shall hear, Ms Politkovskaya kicked several hornets' nests in the dangerous world of Russian politics and big business.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

Do you like wine? Check out Winc! Winc recommends personalized bottles and sends them direct to your door. For $22 off your first box, use code assassinations.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

Born in China in 1932, Henry Liu fled to Taiwan after the Communist Revolution in 1949. He worked as a journalist before moving to the United States, where he became a prominent critic of the Taiwanese government. Lui had written a controversial book that criticized the rulers of Taiwan, and at the time of his death he was working on a new project that threatened to expose more secrets. In 1984, Liu was shot to death in his home in California by a triad gang with links to the government in Taipei.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

This episode is sponsored by Quavaro, makers of high quality bags inspired by a passion for military aviation. Use code assassinations10 through June 15th for 10% off.

This episode features a promo for Beyond Bizarre True Crime Podcast, available on iTunes.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

Martin O'Hagan went from being a Republican militant, fighting the British in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, to a well-respected journalist. Even though he had put down the gun, his investigative work meant that he still risked death at the hands of the IRA and Loyalist groups. In 2001, he was assassinated in his hometown of Lurgan, the victim of a paramilitary gang that wished to silence him.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

This episode features a promo for Murder Mile Podcast, available on iTunes.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

In this episode, we conclude our two-part investigation into the life and assassination of Ruth First. A journalist working in South Africa during the era of apartheid, Ruth exposed the brutalities of life for blacks living in the country. With her husband, Joe Slovo, she became a leading member of the South African Communist Party and a supporter of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

This episode features ads for Free Your Tea and Shaker & Spoon. Get 10% off a subscription to Free Your Tea by visiting freeyourtea.com and entering code ASSASSINATIONS at checkout. You can also get $20 off a cocktail box subscription by visiting shakerandspoon.com/assassin.

This episode features a promo for Presidencies of the United States Podcast, available on iTunes.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

This is the first installment of our two-part investigation into the life and assassination of Ruth First. A journalist working in South Africa during the era of apartheid, Ruth exposed the brutalities of life for blacks living in the country. With her husband, Joe Slovo, she became a leading member of the South African Communist Party and a supporter of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

This episode features ads for Free Your Tea and Shaker & Spoon. Get 10% off a subscription to Free Your Tea by visiting freeyourtea.com and entering code ASSASSINATIONS at checkout. You can also get $20 off a cocktail box subscription by visiting shakerandspoon.com/assassin.

This episode features a promo for French History Podcast, available on iTunes.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

As a journalist working for the anti-corruption website Tiger Eye Private Investigations, Ahmed Divela helped expose a multi-million dollar corruption scandal in the national soccer association of Ghana. The exposé led to resignations and criminal proceedings, and it implicated a powerful Ghanaian politician named Kennedy Agyapong. Agyapong denounced the team at Tiger Eye as "troublemakers" and indicated that he wished his supporters to attack or kill Divela. A few months later, the journalist lay dead, gunned down on a street in Accra.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

This episode features ads for Free Your Tea and DreamCloud Luxury Mattresses. Get 10% off a subscription to Free Your Tea by visiting freeyourtea.com and entering code ASSASSINATIONS at checkout. You can also get $200 off any size DreamCloud mattress by visiting DreamCloudSleep.com and using code ASSASSINATIONS.

This episode also features a promo for the podcast Nordic True Crime, available on iTunes.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

We take a break from our season on journalists in order to look into the murder of Sergio Rojas. A leader of the indigenous rights movement in Costa Rica, Rojas was shot to death in his home in March. Land disputes between tribal peoples and non-indigenous farmers have been ongoing for decades, and violent incidents have occurred in the past. The perpetrator of the killing of Rojas remains unknown; however, those who knew him believe this was an assassination. The case was brought to our attention by Russell Davis, a bar consultant who has worked on the TV show Bar Rescue. Davis is also the Chief Cocktail Officer for our program sponsor, Shaker & Spoon. Russell was studying drinking culture with indigenous peoples in Costa Rica when he heard about the killing of Rojas, and we interview him to get his insight into the situation.

A special thanks this week to Russell Davis, as well as the Costa Ricans who spoke with us off the record to provide their knowledge and insight into this case.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

This episode is sponsored by Shaker & Spoon. Get $20 a subscription to Shaker & Spoon by visiting shakerandspoon.com/assassin

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

In the final installment of our three-part investigating into the death of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, we find out what the US Central Intelligence Agency knew about the gruesome events that took place inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he was killed. In January of this year, eleven men were put on trial in Saudi Arabia for their alleged involvement in the crime. But other people who might have been involved - indeed, those who may have organized the assassination - seem to have escaped justice. Meanwhile, we ask what, if anything, will change as a result of the international furore over the killing of Khashoggi?

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, a monthly livestream, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast You can also interact with us on Twitter. You’ll find us @AssassinsPod.

This episode featured ads for Shaker & Spoon and DreamCloud Luxury Mattresses. Get $20 a subscription to Shaker & Spoon by visiting shakerandspoon.com/assassin and get $200 off any size DreamCloud mattress by visiting DreamCloudSleep.com and using code ASSASSINATIONS.

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.