Editor's note (22/12/2025): In this episode, we discuss how, under Gandhi's leadership, the spinning wheel became a symbol of rebellion in India. We then say, "Which is why, to this day, that wheel appears on the Indian flag." This is incorrect. Although it is true that the spinning wheel featured on an earlier version of the Indian flag, in 1947 it was replaced by the Ashoka Chakra.

Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian activist who helped topple the British Empire, wasn't killed by colonisers, but by one of his own.

When the struggle against the British was won, and India gained its independence, the ghosts of Partition lingered.

And finally caught up with the man of peace.

Why did Mahatma Gandhi, a man known for non-violence, meet such a violent end?

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Sound: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.

In 2020, Iran's top nuclear scientist, Professor Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was gunned down on a remote stretch of road outside Tehran.

But as the dust settled, one thing stood out as being particularly strange.

Apart from the victim, his wife, and their security detail, there was no one else around.

No assailants, no witnesses, and no collateral damage.

Israel was the prime suspect.

Had they just enacted one of the most technologically advanced assassinations of all time?

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Sound: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.

July 2024. Donald Trump is speaking at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania when his speech is interrupted by a volley of gunshots.

Trump instinctively touches his right ear and drops to the ground where he's swarmed by his security detail — who quickly move to get him out of the firing line.

Surrounded by security, blood streaming down the right side of his face, Trump raises a fist to the crowd in what becomes the iconic shot of the campaign.

But did you know that this wasn't the first attempt on Trump's life?

Today, the many attempts to assassinate Donald Trump, from Ricin to rifles.

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Special co-host: Hannah Jose
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Audio Engineer: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat, Lewis Isaacs
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.

The ABC’s biggest investigative true crime podcast Unravel has just dropped their new season, Huntsman. It’s not about an assassination – that's our area - but it does focus on a convicted murderer. And we think you’re going to love it. 

As the longest serving Prime Minister in Japan's history, Shinzo Abe deserved a relaxing retirement. Instead, he was out on the campaign trail for a colleague when an assassin's bullet struck.

But this wasn't a politically motivated kill.

It was actually connected to a global cult-like religion. And a young man whose mother was in too deep.

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Audio Engineer: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Supervising Producer: Kyla Slaven
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

Tupac Shakur was a poet. A performer. A radical. He might have only been alive for 25 years, but in that time, he became the voice of his generation. And then one night, after a fight in Las Vegas, he was shot four times and left for dead. This is his story.

How he lived. How he fought. And how, nearly three decades later, his murder is still being untangled and interrogated.

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Sound: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat
• Researcher: Mateo Baskaran
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

You'd never expect to see an assassination broadcast on live TV.

But that's exactly what happened in 2023.

In the badlands of India's most populous state, a gangster-turned-politician met his end while millions watched.

So what did the notorious Atiq Ahmed do to get himself publicly executed? How did his assassins get through a police escort to reach him?

And who was powerful enough to give the order?

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Audio Engineer: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

For over 3000 years, the death of Pharaoh Ramses III was one of history's great mysteries.

Then, in 2012, scientists cracked the case, revealing that Ramses III, the last of Egypt's Great Pharaohs, had been assassinated.

But how did they do it?

Science journalist Maddie Massy joins Aslan Pahari to dig deep into this discovery, and how scientists use cutting edge technology to reveal secrets from the past.

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Special co-host: Maddie Massy
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Audio Engineer: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat, Lewis Isaacs
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.

Is Ancient Egypt's 3000-year-old murder mystery history's coldest case?

Ramses III was the last of Egypt's Great Pharaohs; a saviour of the empire, a military genius, a god-king.

But for over 3000 years, his death remained a mystery. Then, in 2012, scientists uncovered the truth.

They found a wound nobody had noticed before — the type of wound that could only have one explanation: Pharaoh Ramses III had been assassinated.

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Audio Engineer: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.

How long do you remain conscious for after having your head chopped off?

For centuries, people thought that a severed head might be aware of what's going on for up to 30 seconds after decapitation — or even longer!

That folklore has its origins in the assassination of revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday, the French Revolution's "Angel of Assassination".

You might know that in the early days of the revolution, most of the people who faced the razor-sharp guillotine were from the aristocracy or were supporters of the monarchy.

But once the revolutionaries were victorious, years of terrifying infighting began, and thousands more heads would roll.

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Script consultant: Sophie Townsend
• Audio Engineer: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat, Lewis Isaacs
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.