ASSASSINS

Magistrate Giovanni Falcone should have been too scared to take on the Sicilian mafia.After all, many of his colleagues had died trying to bring the Cosa Nostra to justice.So how did he do it? And why was victory, when it came, so bittersweet?This is the second in a two-part series about mafia assassinations in Italy.Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: Tegan NichollsVideo Producers: Eve Cogan, Dylan Behan, Tejas BhatSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchSupervising Producer: Kyla SlavenExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

Would-be assassins have tried to kill or abduct Masih Alinejad at least three times. Somehow, she's still alive.The former Iranian journalist fled her home country over 15 years ago.From America, she started a hugely popular global campaign against Iran's hijab laws.But why do people want her dead? Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: Tegan NichollsVideo Producers: Dylan Behan, Eve Cogan, Tejas BhatSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchSupervising Producer: Kyla SlavenExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end

Who wins in a feud between a Washington Post journalist… and his own Crown Prince?Saudi Arabian columnist Jamal Khashoggi ran monthly op-eds about how Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was ruining his country.But MBS is not a man who's known for his tolerance.And something snapped.Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: Tegan NichollsVideo Producers: Dylan Behan, Tejas BhatSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchSupervising Producer: Kyla SlavenExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

Bombings. Break-ins. Setting fire to abortion clinics. The extremist wing of the anti-abortion movement in the United States has actively targeted clinics that provide abortions to women. But it has also attacked the humans working there, sometimes with deadly consequences. This week, the 2009 assassination of Dr George Tiller, a high-profile abortion provider in Kansas. Host: Aslan Pahari Producer: Hannah Jose Audio Engineer: Tegan Nicholls Video Producers: Dylan Behan, Tejas Bhat Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research Supervising Producer: Kyla Slaven Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world’s most shocking assassinations – from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you’ll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

At the 1970 Academy Awards the movie "Z" won the Oscar for best foreign film.The film opens with this line: "Any similarity to actual persons and events is not coincidental. It is INTENTIONAL".You see, it was inspired by the real-life assassination of Greek athlete turned activist, Grigoris Lambrakis.Released just 6 years after his killing, the film was immediately banned in his homeland.Film podcaster and proud Greek Australian, Alexei Toliopoulos loves this movie and tells us why this classic film is still so important today.Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: Tegan NichollsVideo Producers: Dylan Behan, Tejas BhatSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchSupervising Producer: Kyla SlavenExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

There aren't many Russians who can get away with insulting their president, Vladimir Putin.But for most of his career, Alexei Navalny did.This week, the story of Russia's most famous dissident, and the lengths it took to kill him.Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: Tegan NichollsVideo Producers: Tejas BhatSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchSupervising Producer: Kyla SlavenExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

When Indigenous woman Berta Cáceres helps organise a months-long blockade against multinationals in Honduras she immediately becomes a target.It's 2016, and Honduras is the deadliest country per capita for environmental activists.But Berta and the Lenca people refuse to back down.Their sacred river is at stake.Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: Tegan NichollsVideo Producers: Chloe Farrington, Tejas BhatSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchSupervising Producer: Kyla SlavenExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

It's said that Rasputin, the so-called 'mad monk', had supernatural abilities, could hypnotise people, and was quite the philanderer…It's also said that he was incredibly tricky to assassinate.But how much of that is true?And what's with people claiming to have preserved his severed penis in a jar?Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: John JacobsVideo Producer: Tejas BhatSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchSupervising Producer: Kyla SlavenExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

Each week on If You're Listening, host Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins (not us!) and authoritarian regimes.In this episode, Matt brings you the story of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.In the early hours of July 31 this year, Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran. It's presumed Israel was behind the killing, with reports detailing a complex operation by its spy agency Mossad. So if it was Israel that did this, why did they do it in such an extraordinary manner, and in Iran of all places? The answer tells us a lot about the complex political situation Israel finds itself in, where it feels the need for revenge, but only in a way that doesn't alienate its allies.Subscribe to If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app, or check out the series on YouTube.

Editor's note (22/12/2025): In this episode, we discuss how, under Gandhi's leadership, the spinning wheel became a symbol of rebellion in India. We then say, "Which is why, to this day, that wheel appears on the Indian flag." This is incorrect. Although it is true that the spinning wheel featured on an earlier version of the Indian flag, in 1947 it was replaced by the Ashoka Chakra.Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian activist who helped topple the British Empire, wasn't killed by colonisers, but by one of his own.When the struggle against the British was won, and India gained its independence, the ghosts of Partition lingered.And finally caught up with the man of peace.Why did Mahatma Gandhi, a man known for non-violence, meet such a violent end?Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseSound: John JacobsVideo Producer: Tejas BhatSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.

July 2024. Donald Trump is speaking at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania when his speech is interrupted by a volley of gunshots.Trump instinctively touches his right ear and drops to the ground where he's swarmed by his security detail — who quickly move to get him out of the firing line.Surrounded by security, blood streaming down the right side of his face, Trump raises a fist to the crowd in what becomes the iconic shot of the campaign.But did you know that this wasn't the first attempt on Trump's life?Today, the many attempts to assassinate Donald Trump, from Ricin to rifles.Host: Aslan PahariSpecial co-host: Hannah JoseProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: John JacobsVideo Producer: Tejas Bhat, Lewis IsaacsSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.

Tupac Shakur was a poet. A performer. A radical. He might have only been alive for 25 years, but in that time, he became the voice of his generation. And then one night, after a fight in Las Vegas, he was shot four times and left for dead. This is his story.How he lived. How he fought. And how, nearly three decades later, his murder is still being untangled and interrogated.Host: Aslan PahariProducer: Hannah JoseSound: John JacobsVideo Producer: Tejas BhatResearcher: Mateo BaskaranSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac and Gandhi met their end.

For over 3000 years, the death of Pharaoh Ramses III was one of history's great mysteries.Then, in 2012, scientists cracked the case, revealing that Ramses III, the last of Egypt's Great Pharaohs, had been assassinated.But how did they do it?Science journalist Maddie Massy joins Aslan Pahari to dig deep into this discovery, and how scientists use cutting edge technology to reveal secrets from the past.Host: Aslan PahariSpecial co-host: Maddie MassyProducer: Hannah JoseAudio Engineer: John JacobsVideo Producer: Tejas Bhat, Lewis IsaacsSpecial thanks: Michael Osmond for archives researchExecutive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica RadburnTo binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.