On the 8th December 2024 Bashar al-Assad boarded a Russian bound plane as rebel forces overran Damascus. After 13 years of civil war and 5 decades of brutal rule, the house of al-Assad had come to an inglorious end. The Jihadi now turned statesman, Ahmed al-Sharaa has since faced immense challenges from unifying a fractured Syria, dealing with constant Israeli incursions and attracting foreign investment. So how is Syria without the al-Assads? Have things improved under the new regime? These are just some of the questions we explore in this podcast.