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    Intrigue

    Twenty-five years on from the deadliest terror attack in history, BBC investigative journalist Jane McMullen asks why thousands of grieving families are still fighting for answers.

    In early 2000, two young Saudis arrived in San Diego. They had never been to America, spoke almost no English, and had no idea how to open a bank account or rent a flat. Within weeks they had done all of it. Twenty months later they hijacked a plane and crashed it into the Pentagon.

    McMullen investigates the hidden story of a man who helped two of the hijackers – and reveals a story that the US and Saudi governments have fought to keep secret.

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    Copyright: © (C) BBC 2023

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    Latest Episodes:
    To Catch a King: 3. Stormy Weather May 27, 2026
    Show notes

    A pause in small boat crossings and a coincidence that reveals how boats are delivered.

    A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

    They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

    Sue and Rob know what he looks like from social media posts advertising his crossings and lifestyle. Their search takes them across Europe and to the Middle East, where they discover a network of powerful smugglers operating from a town in Northern Iraq.

    It’s two years since Sue and Rob located a gang leader in their podcast Intrigue: To Catch a Scorpion and the illegal business of migrant journeys is more dangerous and ruthless than before.

    Their investigation reveals the inner mechanics of the smuggling trade and shows in close focus the people who currently control it as they search for a kingpin behind dangerous crossings to the UK by boat and lorry.

    A secret meeting, a missing person and a worried family. Who is the man connecting them?

    The series is recorded and presented by Sue Mitchell

    It’s produced by Joel Moors

    Original music is by Mom Tudie and sound design and mix is by Tom Brignell


    To Catch a King: 2. The Bullet Train May 20, 2026
    Show notes

    Gangs exert power through fear, but where are they getting weapons from?

    A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

    They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

    Sue and Rob know what he looks like from social media posts advertising his crossings and lifestyle. Their search takes them across Europe and to the Middle East, where they discover a network of powerful smugglers operating from a town in Northern Iraq.

    It’s two years since Sue and Rob located a gang leader in their podcast Intrigue: To Catch a Scorpion and the illegal business of migrant journeys is more dangerous and ruthless than before.

    Their investigation reveals the inner mechanics of the smuggling trade and shows in close focus the people who currently control it as they search for a kingpin behind dangerous crossings to the UK by boat and lorry.

    A secret meeting, a missing person and a worried family. Who is the man connecting them?

    The series is recorded and presented by Sue Mitchell

    It’s produced by Joel Moors

    Original music is by Mom Tudie and sound design and mix is by Tom Brignell


    To Catch a King: 1. Kardo May 12, 2026
    Show notes

    A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

    They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

    Sue and Rob know what he looks like from social media posts advertising his crossings and lifestyle. Their search takes them across Europe and to the Middle East, where they discover a network of powerful smugglers operating from a town in Northern Iraq.

    It’s two years since Sue and Rob located a gang leader in their podcast Intrigue: To Catch a Scorpion and the illegal business of migrant journeys is more dangerous and ruthless than before.

    Their investigation reveals the inner mechanics of the smuggling trade and shows in close focus the people who currently control it as they search for a kingpin behind dangerous crossings to the UK by boat and lorry.

    A secret meeting, a missing person and a worried family. Who is the man connecting them?

    The series is presented by Sue Mitchell

    It’s produced by Joel Moors

    Original music is by Mom Tudie and sound design and mix is by Tom Brignell


    Ransom Man: 6. Nameless, Faceless People Feb 24, 2026
    Show notes

    Crossing the road between interviews, Jenny receives the opportunity she has been waiting for. A chance to meet Julius Kivimäki and finally seek answers from him.

    She heads to Turku prison in Western Finland, where Kivimäki is serving his sentence.

    Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman. Producer: Sam Peach. Executive Producer: Georgia Catt. Sound Design: Sam Peach Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective: Neil Leiter, Margaret Hermant and Fabien Leseure. A BBC Studios Production Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke


    Ransom Man: 5. 635 Years of Suffering Feb 17, 2026
    Show notes

    Within a month of the Vastaamo data breach, Tomi Haustola, a Finnish stand up comedian, is on stage making jokes about it.

    But Tomi himself is one of the thousands of victims. He tells Jenny how he went to Vastaamo because he was burnt-out and anxious and couldn’t tell anyone - except his therapist.

    When he discovers a hacker had stolen his therapy notes, Tomi decides to share his story with the audience. Many of them are victims themselves.

    But he doesn’t expect a letter to arrive for him, years after the hack, inviting him to view the trial of Julius Kivimäki, the man authorities suspected of being the extortionist ransom_man.

    Bringing the case against him is the Prosecutor Pasi Vainio.

    Kivimäki is defended by the lawyer who has been with him since the beginning - Peter Jaari.

    Also present is Jenni Raiskio, the lawyer representing victims of the hack, making sure they are not forgotten amidst the TV cameras and photographers.

    As Jenny follows the unfolding of the court case and the trial nears its conclusion, something happens that puts everything in jeopardy.

    Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman. Producer: Sam Peach. Executive Producer: Georgia Catt. Sound Design: Sam Peach Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective: Neil Leiter, Margaret Hermant and Fabien Leseure. A BBC Studios Production Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke


    Ransom Man: 4. The Zen Garden Feb 10, 2026
    Show notes

    Authorities think Julius Kivimäki could be responsible for the Vastaamo data breach and the leaking of patient records.

    They want to bring him in for questioning, but he’s disappeared. Kivimäki is known to brag about his international lifestyle. He could be anywhere.

    Jenny meets Pasi Vainio, the prosecutor who places Kivimäki on Europol’s Most Wanted List. Pasi takes Jenny through the evidence that he and his colleagues have painstakingly gathered, trying to figure out who is ransom_man.

    What they find is shocking and surprising, and takes Jenny closer to home than she ever expected.

    Through all of this, one man has stood by Kivimäki’s side - his lawyer, Peter Jaari. Jenny heads to Peter’s Helsinki office to see if he can provide any answers.

    The search for Kivimäki leads to a confrontation that no one saw coming.

    Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman. Producer: Sam Peach. Executive Producer: Georgia Catt. Sound Design: Sam Peach Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective: Neil Leiter, Margaret Hermant and Fabien Leseure. A BBC Studios Production Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke


    Ransom Man: 3. For the LOLz Feb 03, 2026
    Show notes

    ransom_man’s final post contained clues to his identity. In those clues, former cybercrime detective Antti Kurittu recognises similarities to of the biggest hacker he ever investigated, a Finnish teenager called Julius Kivimäki.

    So who is Julius Kivimäki, and could he be the person who held a nation’s darkest secrets to ransom?

    Jenny’s search for answers leads her away from Finland, to meet a man in Illinois named Blair. Blair grew up in the hacking scene, and his time in the same circles as Kivimäki would shape his life forever.

    Blair found himself at the centre of a vicious online feud that spilled into the real world. It began with an unexpected takeaway delivery and ultimately put his and his family’s life in danger.

    Jenny explores how Julius Kivimäki became a globally notorious hacker - his name has been linked to grounding of a plane with a hoax bomb threat, the targeting of elite universities and multinational corporations, and perpetrating tens of thousands of hacks. But was Vastaamo among them?

    Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman. Producer: Sam Peach. Executive Producer: Georgia Catt. Sound Design: Sam Peach Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective. A BBC Studios Production Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke


    Ransom Man: 2. Whoopsie :D Jan 27, 2026
    Show notes

    After a shocking data breach at the Finnish psychotherapy service Vastaamo, a nation’s secrets are being held to ransom by a faceless hacker. Jenny Kleeman traces the story.

    After negotiations with Vastaamo fail, ransom_man begins publishing 100 patient records a day on the dark web. He posts a link to the records on popular sites like Reddit and Ylilauta, Finland’s version of 4chan.

    He ends the post with one word. “Enjoy!” .

    Finland is a nation in panic.

    One victim, Meri-Tuuli, heads to the dark web to find out if her notes are among those published, and is appalled by what she sees.

    But after a few days, the hacker does something that no one could have foreseen.

    Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman. Producer: Sam Peach. Executive Producer: Georgia Catt. Sound Design: Sam Peach Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective. A BBC Studios Production Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke


    Ransom Man: 1. Naked Jan 16, 2026
    Show notes

    A shocking data breach at a Finnish psychotherapy service. Jenny Kleeman traces the story of a nation’s secrets held to ransom by a faceless hacker. We all have some thoughts we’d never write down. Now, just imagine that someone had got hold of those thoughts, and was threatening to publish them for all the world to see - if you didn’t pay to stop them.

    This is what happened to Tiina, a Headteacher living near Helsinki. When decades of stress and anxiety overwhelmed her, she sought support through a therapy service called Vastaamo.

    Vastaamo was accessible, affordable, and a national success story. But in September 2020, the company received an email from a hacker claiming to have stolen their entire patient database - including therapy notes.

    Antti Kurittu is the cybersecurity specialist tasked with saving the secrets of 33,000 patients, but can he and the police find a way to stop this hacker, who calls himself ransom_man?

    Before long, Antti, Tiina and a whole nation learn just how far he is willing to go.

    Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman. Producer: Sam Peach. Executive Producer: Georgia Catt. Sound Design: Sam Peach. Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective: Neil Leiter, Margaret Hermant and Fabien Leseure. A BBC Studios Production Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke


    Word of God: 6. Higher Powers Mar 19, 2025
    Show notes

    A dark, cold morning in February 2025. Hundreds are filing into the Museum of the Bible - evangelical leaders, gospel singers, and over 30 members of Congress including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. They've gathered just three blocks from the US Capitol for an annual event of fervent prayer about what they see as America's most pressing problems.

    Meanwhile, journalist Ben Lewis explores how an institution that once dreamed of becoming a centre for biblical scholarship has transformed after losing some 17,000 artefacts - nearly 40% of its entire collection.

    Through revealing interviews with museum officials and its critics, Ben traces the extraordinary journey of the Museum of the Bible - from the Green family's ambitions to make Washington, DC a centre for biblical scholarship, to the devastating revelations of forged Dead Sea Scrolls fragments and thousands of problematically sourced artefacts. Yet despite these setbacks, the museum has found new purpose as a convening space for a movement that wants to make evangelical protestantism the moving spirit of America’s future.

    As Ben explores exhibits that present a selective view of religious and American history, he discovers how the museum bridges faith and politics. While its staff insist there's no religious agenda, events hosted within its walls blend prayer with political messaging. Through conversations with scholar Roberta Mazza and journalist Katherine Stewart, Ben examines how museums shape our understanding of history through what they choose to display - and what they leave out.

    This final episode reveals how the Museum of the Bible has quietly evolved into something more significant than just a repository of ancient artefacts - a platform for reimagining America's past to shape its future.

    Presented by Ben Lewis Produced by Martha Owen Series producer: Clem Hitchcock Executive producers: Philip Abrams and Jago Lee Story editor: Andrew Dickson Sound design by Richard Courtice Original music by Max de Wardener Additional sound effects courtesy of Freesound

    A TellTale production for BBC Radio 4


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