I'm Not a Monster
Hosted by Josh Baker and Sara Obeidat and Naga Munchetty · BBC Sounds
4.9from 8,150 ratings
- 58
- Episodes
- 13
- Transcribed
- 8,150
- Ratings
- Weekly
- Cadence
- 2020
- First episode
About I'm Not a Monster
Josh Baker enters a dangerous world of fear, greed and betrayal as he sets out to uncover the truth behind one of the biggest missing-person cases of our time - the abduction of American journalist Austin Tice. Josh - creator of two of the BBC's most award-winning and widely listened-to investigative podcasts, I'm Not a Monster and The Shamima Begum Story - returns for his most ambitious chapter yet, in a major new series from BBC Radio 4 and NPR's Embedded. This is not the retelling of a closed case. It is a real-time investigation into a disappearance that has remained unsolved for more than a decade, conducted in close contact with Austin's family. What started out as a personal effort to help a mother find her son has turned into a multi-year journalistic investigation stretching from the corridors of power in Washington DC to the depths of the Syrian security state. Austin Tice is a journalist, law student and former Marine officer, who vanished in Syria in 2012. Since then, competing stories have emerged about his fate. In some, he is alive - held in a cell and waiting to be rescued. In others, he was smuggled out of Syria and hidden away. In the darkest versions, he died long ago. His disappearance has reached the highest levels of power - from presidents to popes - yet remarkably little is known about what happened to him. Investigative journalists Josh Baker and Sara Obeidat begin following Austin's trail long before the fall of the Syrian regime. Then everything changes. The regime collapses, and the black box of Syria's intelligence state opens. Sources step forward, unprecedented leaks arrive and doors to secret bases that had been sealed for years open. Josh and Sara speak to spies, search secret prisons and track down alleged war criminals in hiding, uncovering information that has never been made public and making discoveries that generate international headlines. The audience follows every breakthrough as the investigation closes in on those who may know the truth - while Syria is transformed and powerful interests compete to shape what happens next. Some claim Austin was working for the CIA. Others say he was simply a young journalist trying to make his name in war reporting. His fate has become entangled in secret negotiations and geopolitical power struggles that are still unfolding. At the centre of it all is his mother, Debra Tice, who has never stopped searching for her son. There are people who know exactly what happened to Austin. Some of them do not want the truth to come out. So where is Austin Tice?
- Publisher
- BBC Sounds
- Category
- society & culture · true crime
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 13 Nov 2020
- Latest episode
- 16 Oct 2026
Latest episodes
13 of 58 episodes have a transcript.
16 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
Where Is Austin Tice?: 9. “The Hardest Thing”
8 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
Where Is Austin Tice?: 8. Those Who Know
30 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
Where Is Austin Tice?: Episode 8 is coming soon...
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
- Apple Podcasts (US)
- 4.9 / 5
- 3,971 ratings
- Spotify
- 4.9 / 5
- 4,179 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 6 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
- Quality
- 1
- Social presence
- 0
- YouTube
- 0
- Engagement
- 27
Contact I'm Not a Monster
- Guest appearances
- Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
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Questions about I'm Not a Monster
Who hosts I'm Not a Monster?
Josh Baker and Sara Obeidat and Naga Munchetty host the show. Published by BBC Sounds.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does I'm Not a Monster take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
Where can I read transcripts?
13 of 58 episodes have a transcript on Pod Engine. Full transcripts are available with a Pod Engine plan.
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