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Serial

The Trojan Horse Affair - Part 2

Serial

Serial Productions & The New York Times

Society & Culture, News, True Crime

4.582.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2022

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hamza and Brian think the source of the Trojan Horse letter might be hiding in plain sight. After learning about the petty personnel dispute that probably gave rise to the letter, they’re even more bewildered about how it ever could have been taken seriously. Our newest podcast, “The Retrievals, Season 2” is out now. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts, or follow it here: lnk.to/retrievals2  To get full access to this and other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts. To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter. Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

These first two episodes of the Trojan Horse Affair are free.

0:06.5

But to hear the whole series, you'll need to subscribe to the New York Times,

0:10.0

where you'll get access to all the serial productions and New York Times shows.

0:14.2

And it's super easy.

0:15.7

You can sign up through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

0:18.8

And if you're already a time subscriber, just link your account and you're done.

0:25.1

Hamz and I are sitting behind two children's school desks. We're in the covert classroom at the

0:31.0

front of Tahir alam's house talking about the Trojan horse letter, those four pages that painted

0:36.8

Tahir as the ringleader of an extremist

0:38.7

plot. To Hear clearly has strong suspicions about who wrote it. The motive was quite an interesting

0:47.2

one. Even though the plot wasn't real, the Trojan Horse Letter still prompted authorities to investigate

0:52.5

and ultimately dismantle the

0:54.4

education movement to hear was leading. A successful movement, outcomes for Muslim students,

0:59.4

had improved dramatically. The national government also beefed up counter-extremism policy

1:04.1

and tried to prevent Tahir and his colleagues from ever working or volunteering in schools again,

1:09.4

all in the aftermath of the letter.

1:15.3

To hear believes, if they'd ever bothered just to investigate who wrote the thing,

1:18.9

it would have been very difficult for the government to justify its actions.

1:21.6

Because he says, it would have been obvious.

1:25.0

The letter had nothing to do with a conspiracy or with him.

1:31.4

He's sparse on details with us this first day, but he does give us that tantalizing hint that the letter came from someone close to him.

1:34.6

But whoever wrote a letter, they knew, you know, they knew me, I think.

...

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