Way back in 1982, Syria's dictator, Hafez al-Assad, brutally crushed an uprising in the city of Hamas.

He sealed the city, he cut off food and electricity, and then his army started shelling, and then he sent in troops.

This was long before Twitter, so while thousands of people died, it took time for that massacre to be fully understood.

There were only a few journalists there.

But it was a huge death toll, and the smoke hung over the city.

It was a very frightening place. I did see it.

I guess I'm sorry I saw it in many ways.

As dictators do, Hafez handed Syria over to his son, Bashar al-Assad.

Like his dad, he crushes dissent with violence.

But earlier today, Syrian rebels entered Hamas.

They say they've taken that city back from al-Assad.

In the past week, this rebel group has changed the course of a 13-year civil war.

And the story of how they did that is coming up on Today Explained.

Hey, everybody.

I'm Ashley C. Ford, and I'm the host of Into the Mix, a Ben and Jerry's podcast about joy and justice, produced with Vox Creative.

And in our new mini-series, we're talking about voter fraud.

For years now, former President Donald Trump has made it a key talking point,

despite there being no evidence of widespread fraud.

But what impact do claims like these have on ordinary voters?

People like Olivia Coley Pearson, a civil

servant in Douglas, Georgia, who was arrested for voter fraud because she showed a first-time

voter how the voting machines worked. Hear how she fought back on the latest episode of Into the

...