6. A Meeting in Muscat

Available for over a year

Josh uncovers a hidden world of secret negotiations, backchannels, and high-level talks. And, after years of failed promises, Austin’s mother Debra decides to go to Syria herself - alone. She believes the US government could have done more to get her son home. Josh finds the men who took part in covert talks between Washington and Damascus. Could Austin’s release have been possible? And what was Syria offered in return? Archive: NBC; NPR; CBS; CNN; BBC; Fox; The White House. Writer and showrunner: Josh Baker Investigative producer: Sara Obeidat Series producer: Simon Maybin Field producing: Ouday Al Hussein Additional producing: Lucy Burns Open source intelligence: Thomas Bordeaux & Gabor Friesen Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Series editor: Clare Fordham Head of BBC News Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon BBC Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke NPR producer: Monika Evstatieva NPR editors: Robert Little & Katie Simon NPR executive producer for Embedded: Irene Noguchi BBC World Service commissioning editor: Jon Manel Composer: Firas Abou Fakher Additional music: Karim Chehoury Theme music: Sam Slater Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell