Caliphate (podcast)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LanguageEnglish
ProductionAndy Mills
Larissa Anderson (managing)
Asthaa Chaturvedi (associate)
No. of seasons1
Caliphate
Cover of the podcast
LanguageEnglish
Cast and voices
Hosted byRukmini Callimachi
Production
ProductionAndy Mills
Larissa Anderson (managing)
Asthaa Chaturvedi (associate)
Publication
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes12
Original releaseApril 19 
June 21, 2018
ProviderThe New York Times
UpdatesEnded

Caliphate is a narrative podcast published by The New York Times in 2018 which covers the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It was hosted by reporter Rukmini Callimachi. The central figure of the podcast was Pakistani-Canadian Shehroze Chaudhry (using the name "Abu Huzaifa al-Kanadi"), who described in detail atrocities he claimed to have committed in Syria for ISIL.[1] Concerns were raised that his story was a fabrication or a grave misrepresentation, and in 2020 Chaudhry was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's O Division Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (OINSET) for lying about participating in terrorist activities. Following his arrest, The New York Times admitted to a severe editorial failing and retracted Chaudry's story.[2][1][3]

A large portion of the podcast is dedicated to following the story of a Canadian ex-ISIL fighter using the nom de guerre Abu Huzaifa al-Kanadi. Callimachi found Huzaifa through Instagram, and conducted an in-person interview in a hotel in Canada. The show details Huzaifa's radicalization and career as a member of ISIL's police, including an admission of carrying out executions on behalf of the ISIL.[4]

Initial reception

The podcast received a Peabody Award and the Overseas Press Club of America award in 2019.[5][6] Both would later be returned by the Times after doubts around Chaudry's story came to light.

Callimachi was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for her reporting on ISIL, which included the podcast and "The ISIS Files" database.[7] On December 22, 2020, the Pulitzer Prizes board indicated it would rescind the finalist status at the request of the Times.[8]

In 2018, Caliphate won International Documentary Association's (IDA) documentary awards for the year's best audio documentary. The audio documentary category was awarded for the best in stand-alone and episodic series nonfiction storytelling in radio & podcast.[9]

Abdul Huzaifa al-Kanadi controversy

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI