This is The Illuminator - out now, from Brazen. Subscribe to get early releases and listen ad-free. http://brazen.fm/plus

Mark Lombardi, a conceptual artist on the cusp of international success, had everything to live for. So why was the 48-year-old found hanged and deemed suicidal? Was his death the ultimate conceptual art, an afterlife laugh at those who doubted his brilliance? He did, after all, carry business cards eerily portending "death defying acts of art and conspiracy." 

Or was he ultimately overwhelmed by the subject of his work: the financial networks connecting some of the most powerful and corrupt people on earth? 

His intricate drawings traced hot money, from Cold War funding to the heroin trade. But his most dogged scrutiny fell on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, a global money laundry bankrolling fraudsters, smugglers, and CIA operations abroad. Since his death, Lombardi's masterwork on the rogue bank has been held at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Could it be responsible for his demise? The answer can only be found within Lombardi himself.

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Reporter Neha Wadekar interviews Mohsin Mohi Ud Din, leader of Me We International, an organisation that uses art to help refugees around the world heal from trauma, reframe their narratives, and author their futures.

To follow Me We International and learn more about their work, please visit www.meweintl.org. You can find them online at @meweinternational on Instagram and @meweintl on Twitter.

Kabul Falling is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at brazen.fm/plus and get exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening and early access to new podcasts. 

For more fearless storytelling visit brazen.fm, home to all our podcasts, documentaries and newsletters. At Brazen, we show you how the world really works – from espionage and corruption to deal-making and organised crime, we’ll take you inside stories from hidden worlds.

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Project Brazen is excited to announce Arson Fahim, the composer of Kabul Falling’s main theme music, has been nominated for an Ambie award for Best Original Score and Music Supervision.

Arson Fahim is a pianist, composer, and conductor from Afghanistan, In 2021, only two weeks before the Taliban took control and once again banned music, Arson arrived in the US and started his studies at the Longy school of music, where he was awarded a scholarship.

The Podcast Academy will announce the winners at its third annual Awards for Excellence in Audio, a.k.a. The Ambies, on 7 March 2023.

Kabul Falling is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at brazen.fm/plus and get exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening and early access to new podcasts. 

For more fearless storytelling visit brazen.fm, home to all our podcasts, documentaries and newsletters. At Brazen, we show you how the world really works – from espionage and corruption to deal-making and organised crime, we’ll take you inside stories from hidden worlds.

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Neha Wadekar, Associate Producer of Kabul Falling, speaks with Rahman, a former acting general in the Afghan army, and Carly Sparkes, operations manager at Azadi Charity, about what it’s like to leave behind the only life you’ve ever known and resettle in a foreign country to rebuild anew.

In this exclusive audio interview, Rahman talks about his high-profile military job, his last days fighting on the frontlines as the Taliban closed in, and his months living in hiding with his young children as they waited for assistance to escape. Carly Sparkes shares how the UK-based Azadi Charity helped Rahman’s family travel overland to a neighboring country before eventually settling into their new lives as refugees in Brazil.

Kabul Falling is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at brazen.fm/plus and get exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening and early access to new podcasts. 

For more fearless storytelling visit brazen.fm, home to all our podcasts, documentaries and newsletters. At Brazen, we show you how the world really works – from espionage and corruption to deal-making and organised crime, we’ll take you inside stories from hidden worlds.

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Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://brazen.fm/plus/