About this episode
A young man from the San Francisco suburbs journeys to the Middle East and soon finds himself as the face of Islamist extremism in post-9/11 America. This is the story of John Walker Lindh, as explored in the recent Showtime hit documentary Detainee 001 . Emmy-winning director Greg Barker joins us to discuss this unlikeliest of stories. The film shows how America grapples with justice in the fog of war, and how narratives were built and destroyed in the aftermath of 9/11. We discuss the misconceptions people have about John Walker Lindh, the life of freelance war journalists, and how Greg has managed to gain access to high-profile subjects over the years. “They all either got totally hooked on the adrenaline of war reporting, or they had a moment where they thought, I don’t want to get killed.” - Greg Barker