How It Happened

How It Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter Part V: Cracks in the Empire explores whether Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter has made his cross-industry empire too big for one billionaire to run.

Credits: This series was reported by the Axios newsroom including Erica Pandey, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, Sara Fischer, Dan Primack, Miriam Kramer, Joann Muller, Javier E. David, Jonathan Swan, Ina Fried, Ashley Gold and Hope King. Fact-checking by Jacob Knutson. Erica Pandey hosts. Amy Pedulla is reporter-producer. Naomi Shavin is senior producer. Scott Rosenberg and Alison Snyder are the series editors. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief and executive producer. Mixing and sound design by Ben O'Brien. Music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz. Thanks to Zach Basu, Lucia Orejarena, Priyanka Vora, and Brian Westley.

How It Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter Part IV: Musk's Must-Do List features reporting from Axios media reporter Sara Fischer about the challenges at Twitter that Musk could inherit — and what he might do about them.

Credits: This series was reported by the Axios newsroom including Erica Pandey, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, Sara Fischer, Dan Primack, Miriam Kramer, Joann Muller, Javier E. David, Jonathan Swan, Ina Fried, Ashley Gold and Hope King. Fact-checking by Jacob Knutson. Erica Pandey hosts. Amy Pedulla is reporter-producer. Naomi Shavin is senior producer. Scott Rosenberg and Alison Snyder are the series editors. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief and executive producer. Mixing and sound design by Ben O'Brien. Music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz. Thanks to Zach Basu, Lucia Orejarena, Priyanka Vora, and Brian Westley.

Just days before a trial to determine if Elon Musk would be forced to buy Twitter was scheduled to begin, Musk sent a letter offering once again to buy Twitter for the same price he'd originally offered in April.

Credits: This series was reported by the Axios newsroom including Erica Pandey, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, Dan Primack, Miriam Kramer, Joann Muller, Javier E. David, Jonathan Swan, Sara Fischer, Ina Fried and Hope King. Fact-checking by Jacob Knutson. Erica Pandey hosts. Amy Pedulla is reporter-producer. Naomi Shavin is senior producer. Scott Rosenberg and Alison Snyder are the series editors. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief and executive producer. Mixing and sound design by Ben O'Brien. Music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz. Thanks to Zach Basu, Lucia Orejarena, Priyanka Vora, and Brian Westley.

How It Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter Part II: Empire of Risk explores how Musk's philosophy on risk brings people far beyond his consumers and employees into the experiments he runs.

Credits: This series was reported by the Axios newsroom including Erica Pandey, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, Dan Primack, Miriam Kramer, Joann Muller, Javier E. David, Jonathan Swan, Sara Fischer, Ina Fried and Hope King. Fact-checking by Jacob Knutson. Erica Pandey hosts. Amy Pedulla is reporter-producer. Naomi Shavin is senior producer. Scott Rosenberg and Alison Snyder are the series editors. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief and executive producer. Mixing and sound design by Ben O'Brien. Music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz. Thanks to Zach Basu, Lucia Orejarena, Priyanka Vora, and Brian Westley.

How It Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter Part I: Not A Chill Normal Dude tells the story of Musk's meteoric rise to become the world's richest man and a cross-industry mogul.

This episode contains explicit material that some listeners may find offensive.

Credits: This series was reported by the Axios newsroom including Erica Pandey, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, Dan Primack, Miriam Kramer, Joann Muller, Javier E. David, Jonathan Swan, Sara Fischer, Ina Fried and Hope King. Fact-checking by Jacob Knutson. Erica Pandey hosts. Amy Pedulla is reporter-producer. Naomi Shavin is senior producer. Scott Rosenberg and Alison Snyder are the series editors. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief and executive producer. Mixing and sound design by Ben O'Brien. Music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz. Thanks to Zach Basu, Lucia Orejarena, Priyanka Vora, and Brian Westley.

How it Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter is a first-of-its-kind newsroom collaboration featuring exclusive reporting on the rise of Elon Musk to become world's richest man, the parallel rise of Twitter as the global public square, and the collision of these two titans this year.

This documentary season is hosted by Axios business reporter Erica Pandey and features reporting from political reporter Jonathan Swan, media reporter Sara Fischer, business editor Dan Primack, space reporter Miriam Kramer, and others.

Subscribe to hear the new season when it launches in September.

How It Happened: Putin’s Invasion Part V: The Fight for the Donbas goes straight to the frontlines of the war, seen through the eyes of a journalist who has been covering the war there and a soldier who has been fighting there, both since 2014. 

Credits: This episode was reported and produced by Dave Lawler and Naomi Shavin. Alison Snyder is the series editor. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Ben O’Brien is the mix engineer. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz. Additional thanks to Zach Basu, Kristina Zelenyuk, Anastasiya Ringis, Igor Kazimirov, Tanya Zhukova, and Hiroaki Kuromiya. 

In part four of How It Happened: Putin’s Invasion, Axios World editor Dave Lawler digs into polling indications that Russians are rallying around their president even as Western sanctions and global condemnations escalate.

Credits: This episode of Putin's Invasion was reported by Dave Lawler, Alison Snyder, and Naomi Shavin. Sara Fischer and Emily Peck contributed reporting. It was produced by Naomi Shavin. Alison Snyder is the series editor. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief. Ben O’Brien is the mix engineer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

In part three of How It Happened: Putin’s Invasion, Axios World editor Dave Lawler examines a difficult reality — that the only clear path to peace in Ukraine is a deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but the red lines drawn by the Russian and Ukrainian leaders do not intersect.

Credits: This episode of Putin's Invasion was reported by Dave Lawler in collaboration with the Axios newsroom and produced by Naomi Shavin. Barak Ravid contributed reporting. Julia Redpath is executive producer. Alison Snyder is the series editor. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief. Ben O'Brien is the mix engineer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

In part two of How it Happened: Putin's Invasion, Axios world editor Dave Lawler explains how Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine catalyzed a chain of events that are reshaping our world.

Credits: Putin's Invasion was reported by Dave Lawler in collaboration with the Axios newsroom and produced by Naomi Shavin with help from Sabeena Singhani. Julia Redpath is executive producer. Alison Snyder is the series editor. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Additional mixing by Jayk Cherry. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.