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The John Batchelor Show

TERRORISM GOES TO WAR WITH ISRAEL: #Syria: 3/4: Damascus Station: A Novel, by David McCloskey. .

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, Arts, News, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2023

⏱️ 15 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

TERRORISM GOES TO WAR WITH ISRAEL: #Syria: 3/4: Damascus Station: A Novel, by David McCloskey. .

CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad’s recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy.

But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad’s spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard. Set against the backdrop of a Syria pulsing with fear and rebellion, Damascus Station is a gripping thriller that offers a textured portrayal of espionage, love, loyalty, and betrayal in one of the most difficult CIA assignments on the plane

1910 DAMASCUS

Transcript

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0:00.0

Emily, do you remember when One Direction called it a day?

0:03.0

I think you'll find there are still many people who can't talk about it.

0:07.0

Well luckily, we can. A lot.

0:09.0

Because our new season of terribly famous is all about the first One Directioner to go it alone.

0:14.0

Zayn Malik.

0:15.0

We'll take you on Zayn's journey from Shylad from Bradford

0:18.0

to being in the world's biggest boy band and explore why.

0:22.0

When you reach the top, he decided to walk away.

0:24.0

Follow terribly famous wherever you get your podcast.

0:30.0

This is CBS I'm the World. I'm John Bouch with David McCloskey.

0:38.0

His novel, Damascus Station, a work of fiction.

0:42.0

A work of fiction about Syria in the early part of the second decade of the 21st century.

0:49.0

A state that is completely collapsed now, a failed state.

0:55.0

And yet David Texas Inside Syria, Inside Damascus,

1:00.0

and shows us what the CIA comes up against dealing with state security, Makabarad.

1:06.0

And the FSB shows up. That's right. The reawaken KGB shows up.

1:11.0

Other players include the Muslim brothers who have their own operation over the years

1:16.0

and then eventually the jihadist will show up.

1:19.0

There's a great deal of tradecraft in David's book.

1:22.0

And I recommend especially talking about it because David has passed his book

1:28.0

to General David Petrez, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency,

1:32.0

along with his other titles. And Leon Panetta, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency,

...

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