On the front lines of the Islamic State

Mike Giglio joins the show to discuss his new book, “Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the Caliphate.” Based on in-depth reporting with protagonists on all sides of the conflict, the book provides a ground-level view of events from the Arab Spring to the battle for Mosul.

We discuss how he became a correspondent and found himself in an ancient Turkish border town; his experiences interviewing jihadis, Syrian rebels, Kurdish nationalists, and elite Iraqi shock troops; and what lessons he’s drawn from him time covering the Syrian Civil War and the US-led war against ISIS.

Mike Giglio is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he focuses on intelligence and national security and has reported extensively on the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine. ​Mike spent five years based in Istanbul as a correspondent for Newsweek and BuzzFeed. His work has twice been a finalist for the Livingston Award and has won the Arthur F. Burns Prize. You can find him on Twitter @mike_giglio.

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Related material:

“Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the Caliphate”