Zak and Michelle

Criminal

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, True Crime

4.7 • 39.4K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2006, a group of young men and teenagers were arrested under the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act for planning to set off bombs in Toronto. They were known as the Toronto 18. One of the group’s leaders was a 20-year-old named Zakaria Amara. Michelle Shephard wrote about Zakaria Amara for The Walrus magazine. Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts. Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, special merch deals, and more. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Criminal comes from Better Help.
0:03.2	October 10th is World Mental Health Day, a chance to recognize and thank mental health professionals for what they do.
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1:06.7	There was this great fear that there was going to be another attack.
1:11.6	There was, of course, 9-11, then the anthrax scare,
1:15.5	but everyone was worried about the next big one.
1:19.5	In 2005, Michelle Shepard was a national security reporter for the Toronto Star.
1:25.7	She started hearing from sources that Canadian authorities were keeping an eye
1:30.0	on a group of young Muslim men in Toronto.
	...

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