We’ve released all eight episodes at once, so prepare to get sucked into the weirdness of this story. Which is great, by the way. I know because I edited it, which means I spent a ton of time arguing (and laughing) with the two hosts who reported it.
One of them you might already know: Brian Reed. He was the host of our groundbreaking podcast S-Town. The other guy you probably haven’t heard of, because he’s a brand new talent: Hamza Syed.
Hamza was a doctor before he decided to go to journalism school, and he brought this incredible story to Brian a few years ago during a chance meeting. Hamza told Brian about a scandalous letter that surfaced in Birmingham, England, back in 2013. It appeared to be written from one co-conspirator to another, describing a plot by Muslim extremists to infiltrate local schools.
The letter led to multiple investigations, caused a bunch of educators to lose their jobs, and inspired a strict new counter-terror law in Britain. Yet no one ever answered the most basic question about the letter: Who wrote it? No one even really tried.
So Brian and Hamza set out to solve this mystery. And like all good mysteries, the solution is far more interesting than they could have imagined. Their reporting unraveled the stranger-than-fiction story of this ruinous letter. And I’m left still thinking about what it means to be Muslim in the West, how journalism can help or hurt groups of people, and the limits of friendship. (Plus I got to hear Brian sing on tape.)
