After 9/11, George W. Bush launched a global War on Terror. What followed was an unprecedented expansion of American power, from Guantánamo Bay to drone strikes, mass surveillance to the weaponisation of the financial system. Asked when it would end, Vice-President Dick Cheney replied: ‘Not in our lifetime.’ Two decades later, we’re still living in its shadow.
Aftershock: The War on Terror is a new six-part podcast from the London Review of Books. Daniel Soar, a senior editor at the paper, revisits the magazine’s coverage and reflects on the ways 9/11 has changed the world we live in.
First episode released 20 November.
From the Archive: ‘The War on Terrorism: Is There an Alternative?’
In May 2002, six months after the invasion of Afghanistan
but before the Iraq war, the London Review of Books held a debate: ‘The
War on Terrorism: Is There an Alternative?’ The panel comprised Tariq Ali,
Christopher Hitchens, Jacqueline Rose, Anatol Lieven and Onora O’Neill.
President Bush’s ultimatum set the tone: either you’re with
us or you’re with the terrorists. The Guardian described it as ‘a battle
for the soul of the left’. Hitchens argued for military action and said that ‘theocratic fascists must be crushed.’ Others on the panel questioned the premise of the War on Terror and where such a doctrine might lead.
More from the LRB:
The Belgrano Diary: https://lrb.me/belgranowotpod
Subscribe to the LRB: https://lrb.me/subswotpod
Close Readings podcast: https://lrb.me/crwotpod
LRB Audiobooks: https://lrb.me/audiobookswotpod
Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: https://lrb.me/storewotpod
Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk
23 Jan 2026
Episode 6: Aftershock ‘Live’
For the final episode, host Daniel Soar is joined by Patrick Cockburn, Laleh Khalili and Tom Stevenson for a live discussion on the War on Terror and its aftershocks.
They consider the powers and techniques established after 9/11 and now being deployed by the US — in Venezuela, Minneapolis and beyond. What is the legacy of America’s ‘forever wars’ in the Middle East, and does Donald Trump’s chaotic foreign policy really mark a break from what came before?
More from the LRB:
The Belgrano Diary: https://lrb.me/belgranowotpod
Subscribe to the LRB: https://lrb.me/subswotpod
Close Readings podcast: https://lrb.me/crwotpod
LRB Audiobooks: https://lrb.me/audiobookswotpod
Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: https://lrb.me/storewotpod
Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk
18 Dec 2025
Episode 5: In Dollars We Trust
‘Follow the money.’ That was George W. Bush’s directive to the US Treasury after 9/11. Choking off al-Qaida’s finances proved complicated — but what happened next went far beyond that. A small team of Treasury bureaucrats weaponised the global economic system itself, and built a financial nuclear bomb.
More from the LRB:
The Belgrano Diary: https://lrb.me/belgranowotpod
Subscribe to the LRB: https://lrb.me/subswotpod
Close Readings podcast: https://lrb.me/crwotpod
LRB Audiobooks: https://lrb.me/audiobookswotpod
Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: https://lrb.me/storewotpod
Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk
Archive in this episode:
‘Indictment of Islamic Charity Leader’/C-Span
‘UN declares famine in southern Somalia’/AFP News Agency
‘September 11 Commission Report’/C-Span
‘Book Discussion: Treasury’s War with author Juan Zarate’/Center for Strategic & International Studies
‘Juan Zarate: Treasury’s War’/Politics and Prose
‘Horn of Africa Crisis: Somalia's Famine’/Fault Lines/Al Jazeera
‘Former Afghan president slams unjust U.S. plan for frozen assets, urges return’/CGTN
‘Trump: BRICS was setup to degenerate our dollar’/CNBC
‘Obama Lauds N.Korea Sanctions’/CBS News
12 Dec 2025
Episode 4: More than a Million Names
The events of 9/11 exposed cracks in the US intelligence apparatus. In response, the National Security Agency built the most extensive surveillance system in history. What was sold as a counterterrorism measure was turned on American citizens and the line between security and privacy all but disappeared. The data captured fed the Pentagon's international kill list and the surveillance industrial complex was born.
More from the LRB:
The Belgrano Diary: https://lrb.me/belgranowotpod Subscribe to the LRB: https://lrb.me/subswotpod Close Readings podcast: https://lrb.me/crwotpod LRB Audiobooks: https://lrb.me/audiobookswotpod Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: https://lrb.me/storewotpod
Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk
Archive in this episode:
‘Khaled El Masri at the National Press Club’/ACLU
‘The Johns Hopkins Foreign Affairs Symposium Presents: The Price of Privacy: Re-Evaluating the NSA’/John Hopkins University
‘911 Forced Change in US Intelligence, al-Qaida’/Voice of America
‘Pine Tree Foundation Endowed Lecture: Michael V. Hayden’/Free Library of
Philadelphia
‘All the News Unfit to Print’/The Intercept Briefing/The Intercept
‘America's Surveillance State: Inside the NSA’/ENDEVR
‘NSA Whistleblower William Binney interviewed by Richard Grove’/Peace Revolution Podcast/Tragedy & Hope
‘Mike Rounds And John Ratcliffe Explain The Importance Of Renewing FISA Section 702’/Forbes Breaking News/Forbes
‘Making Sense of FISA Section 702’/Inside the FBI Podcast/FBI
4 Dec 2025
Episode 3: Dr. Yes
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq created a dilemma for the Bush administration: what to do with the thousands of detainees captured during the War on Terror. John Yoo, a White House lawyer, came up with a new legal argument that allowed detainees to be held indefinitely without trial. Habeas corpus was suspended, the Constitution upended and Guantanamo Bay became a judicial black hole.
More from the LRB
The Belgrano Diary: https://lrb.me/belgranowotpod
Subscribe to the LRB: https://lrb.me/subswotpod
Close Readings podcast: https://lrb.me/crwotpod
LRB Audiobooks: https://lrb.me/audiobookswotpod
Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: https://lrb.me/storewotpod
Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk
Archive
‘Video of Mahmoud Khalil’s Arrest’/ACLU
‘Bush defends administration detention, interrogation policies’/Associated
Press
‘Abu Ghraib hearing’/C-SPAN
‘Rumsfeld on detainees treatment, Amnesty criticism in UK.’/Associated Press
‘Trump: “we will load up Guantanamo Bay”’/ Associated Press
‘More detainees arrive from Afghanistan at US naval base’/Associated Press
‘A DAY IN GUANTANAMO BAY’/Naval Station Guantanamo Bay
‘Judge at Guantanamo throws out second case against prisoner’/Associated Press
‘9/11 TEN YEARS AFTER: TORIE CLARKE WITH JOHN WOO’/WMAL Newstalk
‘Conversations with History’/UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies
‘Navy Lawyer Discusses Hamdan, Guantanamo’/Talk of the Nation/NPR
‘Hardball’/MSNBC Live/MSNBC
27 Nov 2025
Episode 2: The Frog and the Scorpion
After the Twin Towers fell, Donald Rumsfeld reportedly told President Bush: ‘Now we can do Iraq.’ The neo-conservatives said it would be easy: American troops would be greeted with flowers and sweets. But the occupation quickly unravelled, leaving Iraq in chaos. Welcome to the Forever Wars.
More from the LRB
The Belgrano Diary: https://lrb.me/belgranowotpod
Subscribe to the LRB: https://lrb.me/subswotpod
Close Readings podcast: https://lrb.me/crwotpod
LRB Audiobooks: https://lrb.me/audiobookswotpod
Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: https://lrb.me/storewotpod
Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk
Archive in this episode:
‘American Policy in the Middle East: Options and Limitations’/Garfield Institute
‘Wolfowitz questioned on Iraq developments’/Associated Press
‘The Republican Presidential Debate’/CBS News
‘Pentagon Briefing’/C-Span
‘Inside the Pentagon's "Office of Special Plans"’/National Press Club
‘Wolfowitz: Iraqis Will "Greet Us As Liberators"’/C-Span
‘Presser by US administrator’/Associated Press
‘News conference by top US official in Iraq’/Associated Press
‘US Deputy Defence Secy on whirlwind tour’/Associated Press
‘Bremer announces Saddam capture, Sanchez, Pachachi’/Associated Press
‘WRAP Sovereignty handed over, ceremony, Bremer leaves’/Associated Press
‘Solemn Duty – Campaign Ad’/The Republican Party/Maverick Media
‘Excerpt of al-Sadr's presser’/Associated Press
‘Fox News’/Fox
Parliamentary Recording Unit
20 Nov 2025
Episode 1: With Us or Against Us
In the days after 9/11, George W. Bush declared a state of emergency and initiated what would become an unprecedented expansion of US power. Public debate narrowed: there were new limits on what was acceptable, and not acceptable, to say. The London Review of Books published a number of pieces that challenged this consensus, forcing its editor, Mary-Kay Wilmers, to defend the paper on national radio.
More from the LRB
The Belgrano Diary: https://lrb.me/belgranowotpod
Subscribe to the LRB: https://lrb.me/subswotpod
Close Readings podcast: https://lrb.me/crwotpod
LRB Audiobooks: https://lrb.me/audiobookswotpod
Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: https://lrb.me/storewotpod
Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk
Archive in this episode:
Rutgers Law Review‘CNN Live’/CNN‘Good Morning America’/ABC‘Good Day New York’/FOX5 New York/FOX‘SmackDown’/USA Network/WWE‘Meet the Press’/NBC/NBC News Productions‘Broadcasting House’/BBC Radio 4/BBC
14 Nov 2025
Aftershock: The War on Terror – Trailer
After 9/11, George W. Bush launched a global War on Terror. What followed was an unprecedented expansion of American power, from Guantánamo Bay to drone strikes, mass surveillance to the weaponisation of the financial system. Asked when it would end, Vice-President Dick Cheney replied: ‘Not in our lifetime.’ Two decades later, we’re still living in its shadow.
Aftershock: The War on Terror is a new six-part podcast from the London Review of Books. Daniel Soar, a senior editor at the paper, revisits the magazine’s coverage and reflects on the ways 9/11 has changed the world we live in.
First episode released on 20 November.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
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20 ratings
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