In Northern Ireland, from the late 70s to the early 90s, the IRA killed over 40 alleged informers.

But the man who often found, tortured and sometimes killed these people on behalf of the IRA

was himself an informer, a secret British army agent with the codename Stakeknife.

Who gets to play God? And why me? Why my family?

When lies are still being told to this day, who do you believe?

I wouldn't even know where to start, and I'm with the IRA.

Steakknife.

Listen first on BBC Sounds.

Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies,

and I commissioned podcasts for BBC Sounds. As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the

very highest quality, featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you

may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things, like pop stars,

poltergeists, cricket and conspiracy theories, and that's just a few examples. If you'd like

to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

Hello, from Finland to the pharaohs. we offer surrealist storytelling from the far north.

And best-selling author Elizabeth Kostovar shares her love of Shakespearean sonnets.

But we start with a devastating vision of the future from Omar L. Akkad,

a journalist-turned author who's witnessed more than his fair share of present-day traumas,

from Afghanistan to Syria, Guantanamo to the Arab Spring.

His debut novel, American War, is shaped by those scenes of destruction and human despair,

but shifts the action to the United States in the latter part of the 21st century.

...