Sean Langan: Kidnapped by the Taliban | P1: meeting the Taliban

Summary

What I Survived — Sean Langan: Kidnapped by the Taliban

Episode Title: P1: Meeting the Taliban
Host: Jack Laurence
Guest: Sean Langan (British journalist, filmmaker)
Release Date: March 17, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of What I Survived plunges listeners into the transformation of Sean Langan — from a carefree lifestyle journalist and “acid house rave correspondent” in 1980s and ’90s London, to one of the world’s most fearless war journalists. Part 1 focuses on Langan’s early life, his unlikely start in journalism, his first encounters with militant groups, and his journey into Afghanistan to meet the Taliban. The discussion sets the context for his eventual kidnapping, laying bare the allure and dangers of seeking true stories in the world’s most perilous places.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Life and Unexpected Path into Journalism

• Background: Langan grew up in North London to immigrant parents (Irish father, Portuguese mother). He credits his “outsider’s perspective” as key to his later success in journalism.

  "Having an Irish father, you didn't take all the media stuff for granted about England when it came to the Northern Ireland issue... it gave me perspective I think I might not have had." (Sean Langan, 06:19)

• Youth and Rebellion: Not studious, describes himself as a rebel more interested in punk music, football, and social life.

  "At 16, 17, I'm dying my hair, wearing bondage trousers, going to see the Clash...I was sort of borderline more interested in social life than study." (Sean, 07:07)

• Career Beginnings: Journalism wasn’t his dream. He fell into “lifestyle” writing — reviewing clubs, restaurants, music, even becoming the “acid house rave correspondent.”

  "I had a column on a paper...I mean, my God, for a guy in his early 20s, I was now basically getting paid to have fun." (Sean, 09:12)

• Notable Moment: Worked as the London correspondent for Australia’s Countdown Revolution, interviewing pop stars and convincing ABC to send him to cover the 1990 World Cup in Italy for a music show (11:00-12:00).

2. The Pivot: From Nightlife to Geopolitics

• Turning Point: Became disillusioned with lifestyle journalism. The fall of the Berlin Wall (12:23) inspired a shift toward serious “real news.”
• First Foray Abroad: Langan covered the collapse of the Soviet Union, reporting from the Baltics, finding the international news scene refreshingly meritocratic.

  "They don't care who you are; it's where you are when you're calling someone...you call from Berlin and the Wall is coming down..." (Sean, paraphrased, 12:53-13:50)

3. The Allure and Peril of War Reporting

• Desire for Deeper Stories: Langan disliked daily news’ superficiality; he wanted to capture the essence and humanity behind headlines.

  "It's exciting, but you capture the news but not the essence and the people...I didn't think filing news stories was the way to do that." (Sean, 16:09)

• First Brush with Militants: Assigned to Kashmir in the late ‘90s to track the kidnapping of Western backpackers by Islamic extremists — before “al-Qaeda” or “extremist Islam” were household terms (16:09-18:55).
• Realization of Risk: Sean admits to naiveté regarding the danger of seeking out militants as a Western journalist.

  "At any point did you think...I might become another hostage?"
  "No. Yeah, I'm laughing at my own stupidity and the fact that that hadn't occurred to me..." (Jack & Sean, 18:55-19:05)

4. An Inevitable Path — From Reporting on Kidnappings to Being Kidnapped

• Reflection: Langan only realized after his own kidnapping how closely his path paralleled that of his earliest subjects — Westerners captured by militants in the Hindu Kush.

  "My first documentary is about some Western backpackers kidnapped and killed by Islamic extremists. And there I am...having been kidnapped..." (Sean, 19:05-20:20)

5. Meeting the Taliban — Before 9/11

• Pre-Fame Taliban: Langan was among the first journalists to document the Taliban in Afghanistan in the late ‘90s, before they became a global byword for extremism after 9/11 (21:34-24:46).
• Open Terrorist Camps:

  "I saw Osama bin Laden in Jalalabad. It was an open terrorist training camp...If an idiot like me can see...thousands of Arabs meeting, training, and they weren't there on a holiday." (Sean, 24:46)

• Unique Access: His documentaries “Tea with the Taliban” and “Carbon Vice” provided rare insights, covering both Taliban governance and the insurgency after the US invasion (24:46-27:12).

6. Confronting Extreme Danger

• Taliban Interview Process:

  "I was with a group of Taliban in Helmand Province...about 60, 70 Taliban roll into this compound and jump. I'm surrounded and it's pretty sketchy...I also, for some reason, become like the English gentleman abroad, when I think someone's going to kill me. So I start apologizing and saying I'm terribly sorry." (Sean, 27:28) “The commander...said, before you came down, we took a vote on whether to kill you, kidnap you, or let you do the interview...this time, the vote went your way, but you'll never know until it's too late.” (Sean, 27:28)

• Memorable Moment: In a near-fatal misunderstanding, he’s put against a wall by Taliban, laughs in shock, and asks the interpreter if this is a firing squad as the man prays for survival. The commander discovers he’s a journalist, and the execution is called off.

  “My fixer...was giving himself the last rites...being English, I didn't want to interrupt his prayer, but I had a pressing question...I said, 'Is this a firing squad?'...and we both start laughing at how I'd asked the stupidest question in the world. The Taliban...clicks his finger and they all put their guns down...” (Sean, 29:29-32:23)

7. Foreshadowing Kidnapping

• Full Circle: After several near-misses and renowned documentaries, Langan eventually is kidnapped himself — but survives to tell the tale.

  "Hello, Channel four switchboard? Sorry, bit weird. Call this. My name's Sean Langan. I work for Channel 4. I've been kidnapped by the Taliban." (Sean, 32:42)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Being an Outsider:
  "Having an Irish father, you didn't take all the media stuff for granted about England...it gave me perspective I think I might not have had." (Sean, 06:19)

• On War Journalism’s Allure:
  "The lovely thing about war journalism or foreign journalism, it's the only journalism, they don't care who you are. It's where you are when you're calling someone." (Sean, 12:53)

• On Naiveté and Risk:
  "At any point did you think...I might become another hostage?"
  "No. Yeah, I'm laughing at my own stupidity...that hadn't occurred to me..." (Jack & Sean, 18:55-19:05)

• On Surviving a Taliban Execution Vote:
  "Before you came down, we took a vote on whether to kill you, kidnap you, or let you do the interview...this time, the vote went your way, but you'll never know until it's too late." (Taliban commander, recounted by Sean, 27:28)

• On Escaping Firing Squad by Sheer Luck:
  "Being English, I didn't want to interrupt his prayer, but I had a pressing question...I tap him. I said, 'Is this a firing squad?'...as we're both now laughing...the commander...clicks his finger and they all put their guns down." (Sean, 29:29-32:23)

• On Calling for Help After Kidnapping:
  "Hello, Channel four switchboard? Sorry, bit weird. Call this. My name's Sean Langan. I work for Channel 4. I've been kidnapped by the Taliban." (Sean, 32:42)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:49 — Host’s introduction to war journalism and Sean Langan
• 06:19 — Sean discusses family background and outsider’s perspective
• 09:12 — Sean becomes “acid house rave correspondent”
• 11:54 — On getting paid to party and cover the 1990 World Cup
• 12:23 — Motivation shift: The fall of the Berlin Wall
• 13:50 — Early experiences covering the end of the Soviet Union
• 16:09 — Langan seeks deeper stories, not just news flashes
• 18:55 — Kashmir kidnapping case and naiveté about risks
• 19:05 — Realization of the “full circle” from reporting to experiencing kidnapping
• 21:34 — Pre-9/11: Meeting the Taliban, Osama bin Laden sighting
• 27:28 — First tense, face-to-face encounter with dozens of Taliban
• 29:29-32:23 — Survival during a mock execution/firing squad
• 32:42 — The phone call after being kidnapped by the Taliban (cliffhanger)

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Tone & Style

Sean Langan and Jack Laurence approach these heavy topics with a mix of sobering honesty and streaks of dark British humor. Langan’s “ridiculously English” responses in times of peril, coupled with his self-deprecation, give the episode a grounded, human edge despite the gravity of the stories.

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Closing

This episode ends on a cliffhanger: Langan’s kidnapping, which will be detailed in the next installment. The journey from raves to war zones is painted as both wild and inevitable, with Langan’s wit and vulnerability making this extraordinary tale as relatable as it is harrowing.

Next Episode Preview: The details of Sean Langan’s kidnapping, survival, and the psychological cost of reporting from the world’s most volatile frontlines.

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Transcript

[Hayden]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[Stephen]

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[Hayden]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[Stephen]

That's right.

[Sean Langan]

Hey.

[Jack Lawrence]

Hey.

[Stephen]

So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[Hayden]

And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[Stephen]

Newsflash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy Fan Fellows wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Jack Lawrence]

Journalists. It's fair to say the profession can get a bad rapid, and in some cases, rightfully so. But I believe that not all journalists are created equal. And there truly are some incredible people that seek out important stories that need to be told. As someone who myself has been telling stories for most of my professional career, there are a handful of these journalists that I look up to for their work and for different reasons. One man, for instance, is called Michael McIntyre, someone who I grew up watching. A man who inserted himself undercover into the underworld of the United Kingdom, including with football hooligans of the late 90s. The bravery and skill it takes to go undercover is one thing, but to also make a documentary about it at the same time is another level entirely. Then there's a man I'm sure most of you, if not all of you, will know. A man, my wife likes to joke, is my hall pass, Louis Theroux. I've watched, listened and read everything this man has done over the years. And his skill of being able to drop himself into such varying situation and extracting incredible stories is, in my opinion, second to none. And then, well, then there's a breed of journalists who I think embodies both of what Michael and Louis do, and then some. And that's war journalists. But not just any war journalist. There is one in particular that I hold in very high esteem.

[Sean Langan]

Hey, here we go. Oh, sorry, Jack.

[Jack Lawrence]

There we go. All good, mate.

[Sean Langan]

How are you? I'm very good. Belated Merry Christmas.

[Jack Lawrence]

Yes, and to you, sir. I was going to say, how was your. How was your Christmas? Was it all right? British journalist and documentary filmmaker Sean Langan, in my opinion, though, is more than just a war journalist. Because going to a war zone with a camera crew to report on conflicts around the world is one thing. But Sean doesn't just go to war zones, he embeds himself in them. He travels alongside men and women fighting on the front lines. He sleeps where they sleep, patrols alongside them, and of course, gets shot at alongside them as well.

[Sean Langan]

Just stop filming and a rocket hit our position.

[Jack Lawrence]

But not only does he do all of these, but he does it alone. No camera crew, no sound guys, no lighting, no producers. Just him, a camera, and an often highly volatile and unpredictable war zone. However, yet again, there is something else that sets what Shaun does apart from anyone else. Because Shaun, much like myself, is very interested in the other side of the story. Story. The side that many deem, in a lot of cases, the wrong side. In 2022, I made the decision to create a crime podcast that focused on what many deemed to be that wrong side as well. As I set out to interview the men and women convicted of crimes to find out what they had to say, what their version of the chaos was. However, of course, I did this from the safety of my own home. Sean. Well, Sean has on more than one occasion, flown to war torn countries to get the stories from those on the wrong side, placing himself in incredibly dangerous situations. He's been transported through remote rural areas blindfolded. He's been held at gunpoint, threatened with death, and in 2008, was kidnapped by the Taliban and would spend 12 weeks not knowing if he would live or die.

[Sean Langan]

I said, look, if you're going to execute me. Cause slight problem over my throat cut. Do you mind if I'm shot? And they discussed that with the Muller.

[Jack Lawrence]

My name's Jack Lawrence. Welcome to what I survived.

[Sean Langan]

Moon in the sky I'm looking at the moon in the sky this shouldn't come as a surprise But I can't sleep War in my mind I'm trying to fight a war in my mind I don't know who's the winner tonight but it ain't.

[Jack Lawrence]

Chapter 1 the Acid House Rave Correspondent so where. Where were you born and grew up?

[Sean Langan]

So born in London. Grew up in London, North London with immigrant parents. So I. Which I always think was a great advantage because I'm born and bred London. Went to a sort of grammar school with an Irish father from Dublin and a mother from Portugal, from Lisbon. So they met in London. So there was always the outsider's perspective. You know, having an Irish father, you didn't take all the media stuff for granted about England when it came to the Northern Ireland issue. So I always think it was. It was a great advantage for me later on in life, becoming a journalist, having those sort of outside influence, it allowed me to. It gave me perspective I think I might not have had.

[Jack Lawrence]

So. So were you a studious kid?

[Sean Langan]

Was.

[Jack Lawrence]

Was journalism something, Something you always wanted to do? I see the answer straight away, no.

[Sean Langan]

I was naturally talented. Just looking around, there's no one in my family listening. Otherwise you would have heard some laughs on that one. No, I was quite rebel teenager. But before that, you know, as a young kid, loved football, crap at cricket. And then teenage years in London, you know, it was just. I was a little bit too young for the original explosion, but loved punk. So, you know, at 16, 17, I'm dying my hair Wearing bondage trousers Going to see the Clash, love Johnny Ross and the Sex Pistols. Got it. Never got expelled. But I was, you know, I was sort of borderline more interested in social life than study, I think is the answer.

[Jack Lawrence]

Well, would you say you were a risk taker as a kid?

[Sean Langan]

So it's weird. I went to the 40th anniversary of my school recently and a lot of the kids there now, old men were saying, you know, they kind of knew I was going to end up doing that sort of thing. Which is odd because I didn't at that stage of my life, had no idea. And I asked one of them why. He says, I remember school assembly once, you Stre naked through the school assembly. Now, I don't know how he saw in that that I would end up as a journalist, war journalist. But it didn't. It surprised other people less so.

[Jack Lawrence]

Sean had no ambitions to be a journalist growing up. But eventually, in his final year of school before university, he meets a guy who would become his best mate. And that mate was heading off to Oxford to become a journalist, a career again Sean hadn't even thought of. So with that, he decided why not not?

[Sean Langan]

It wasn't war journalism, but it was what they call lifestyle journalism. Writing about cultural pieces, lifestyle pieces. And it was a great time, you know, to be in London. That's when journalism was well paid. So I was getting paid to review movies, restaurants and then nightclubs. You know, I became the Acid House rave correspondent. I had a column on a paper. I mean, my God, for a guy

[Jack Lawrence]

in his early 20s, Sean is now basically getting paid to have fun, going to Barcelona, Ibiza, clubs in London, interviewing DJs and just having the time of his life. And when he thought it couldn't get any better, he lands himself a side hustle with Australian TV broadcaster abc.

[Sean Langan]

Now. It's so weird. This may not mean anything to anyone outside Australia, but I think you might understand, depending on your age. So I was given the gig from Heaven, which was the London correspondent for Countdown Revolution. I was interviewed by Molly Meldrun.

[Jack Lawrence]

Oh, no way. The Molly Meldron. Thanks very much, Gavin. Welcome to Countdown. Looks as if Mrs. Finn's sons are in dire trouble there. Almost like a Friday the 13th.

[Sean Langan]

That's the new single Dirty Creatures.

[Jack Lawrence]

We've got a great Countdown tonight.

[Sean Langan]

We've got the tour dates of Shaken

[Jack Lawrence]

Stevens, Elton John, the Jam and. Ok, so just quickly, for anyone not from Australia, Molly Meldrum is a household name here. He was a music critic, journalist, record producer and music entrepreneur, and a mainstay of Australian television for several decades, hosting many shows, but most notably the music show Countdown, which is the TV show that Sean was being interviewed for by the Molly Meldrum.

[Sean Langan]

Now, I didn't know who the Molly Meldrum was, and this interview took place at nine in the morning in a hotel in London. You know, I'm about 22 years old, open the door, opens this hotel room, there's a guy in box of shorts, an Australian, sort of Stetson and a bottle of champagne. And he invited me in. I. I got the job. It was all completely above board. I'm sure it was, it was. But, you know, you're 24, so ABC that point had money and also all the big rock stars and pop, you know, bands in London and around the world. Australia is quite far to go to if you're just promoting one album. But if you've got ABC guy in London with a camera crew, I just was getting put in limos to do, you know, Simple Minds flown to Spain. So. And the best one I ever did during the 1990 World Cup, I rang ABC. Now it's a music show countdown. And I said to them, look, I really think you should send me to Italy to cover the World Cup. And they were like, wait a minute, we're not a sports program. And they're like, what's the angle? And I said, there's lots of Italian Australians in Melbourne, Italy. I'll do the youth things. And they went, okay. So I never forget, I spent two weeks in Italy going to football games, covering the World Cup.

[Jack Lawrence]

Sean's really having the time of his life getting paid great money to write about music, clubs, football and the social scene. So how on earth or why on earth does a man go from that to war zones and meetings with the Taliban? Well, Sean had had enough of interviewing DJs about beats per minute and was jaded and looking for a new challenge. And it just so happens that that new challenge presented itself on the news in November of 1989.

[Sean Langan]

I'm Peter Jennings in New York. Just a short while ago, astonishing news from East Germany, where the East German authorities have said, in essence, that the Berlin Wall doesn't mean anything anymore. The wall that the East Germans put up in 1961, from the Berlin Wall, specifically. Take a look at them. They've been there since last night. They are here in the thousands. They are here in the tens of thousands. Occasionally they shout, die maumus veck the Wall.

[Jack Lawrence]

The city erupted in a frenzy of celebration. East German border guards watched as jubilant crowds danced on the infamous Berlin Wall that's divided.

[Sean Langan]

The Berlin Wall collapsed and I started going off to East Europe. I covered a bit, you know, and just pitching the newspapers I'd previously been writing about nightlife for. And they were like, hang on. The lovely thing about war journalism or foreign journalism, it's the only journalism, they don't care who you are. It's where you are when you're calling someone, if you call from Berlin and the war is coming down, doesn't matter who you are, who you know. And it was really a meritocratic, refreshing, and I think my first proper gig as a foreign journalist. I covered the collapse of the Soviet Union I was in the Baltics, latvia, Lithuania in 1990 when the Soviet Union was collapsing and I was getting writing for newspapers and it just loved it. Foreign.

[Hayden]

Howdy ho and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fan Girls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[Stephen]

And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball. But you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[Hayden]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic myth Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[Stephen]

That's right.

[Jack Lawrence]

Hey hey.

[Stephen]

So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[Hayden]

And along the way we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[Stephen]

News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find Fantasy Fan fellows wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Jack Lawrence]

Chapter 2 Meeting the Taliban so he had his new bug. Gritty real news. That was those life changing events happening around the globe. However, he wanted to move beyond the daily bulletins and dig deeper into these stories.

[Sean Langan]

I didn't like that pressure of just filing news stories. It's exciting, but it didn't really. You capture the news but not the essence and the people. I was hanging out in the Soviet Union. It was just amazing seeing this thing collapse around you and it was falling apart. And you're something we'd never, my generation thought would never fall apart. You know, like the Berlin Wall was like the pyramids, it was a permanent fixture. Germany was divided. The Soviet Union here, it was just falling apart around you. And what. I found that amazing. And I didn't think the news, filing news stories really was the way to tell that. So when I came back, I had this girlfriend at the time when I was dipping my toe into foreign journalism and she dumped me. And because I had a broken heart, suddenly being in London, London media, the whole freelance rat race didn't seem so important, you know, because I'd just been dumped and broken hearted. And it was coincidentally I was going to Kashmir and I was doing a story for a Squire magazine about four British families and a Norwegian and an American tourist. They'd all been kidnapped. Backpackers. I am okay that we have walked many days as many nights over the mountains. And I am, I'm tired. The nuja hadeen has been okay to me. Jane, I want you to know that I am okay. But I do not know if today I will die or tomorrow I will die this before anyone. Before 9 11, Al Qaeda, no one really knew about Islamic extremists. And Kashmir is a sort of state in the north of India. It's got sort of Islamic movements and there was fighting. So these five tourists have been kidnapped. And the BBC said they had something called video diary where they handed out small cameras, which has just come out of the market to members of the public to film their lives. To film a video diary. They normally don't give it to journalists, but they realize I'm such a journalist, I might as well have been a member of the public because they were journalists to be editing themselves, filming a certain way. No, I didn't know how to do anything. So. But the cut along story short, because I didn't have anything to come home to at the end of the two weeks the families were going back to London. The parents of these poor kids who'd been kidnapped, we found out later they were killed. Someone came into their hotel saying, I can introduce you to the kidnappers. I know them.

[Jack Lawrence]

At any point did you think like they just, they've taken these four Western hostages. I am just another Westerner, Maybe I might become another hostage.

[Sean Langan]

No. Yeah, I'm laughing at my own stupidity and the fact that that hadn't occurred to me. Kind of gives you your answer, doesn't it? I'm like, oh, that's a good question. I'll answer it by telling you something. Kashmir is in the north of India and it's in the Hindu Kush mountains. So in fact, Afghanistan and the Pakistan tribal areas is literally a short hop. So in 98, there I am in Kashmir trying to track down Islamic extremists who kidnapped and beat, beheaded some Western backpackers. Ten years later, when I'm kidnapped myself by the Taliban, I'm in the tribal areas of Pakistan. I'm lying in my cell and I suddenly, like I'd forgotten, you know, 10 years before. My first documentary is about some Western backpackers kidnapped and killed by Islamic extremists. And there I am lying in a cell, having been kidnapped. And I thought my journey had literally gone from a kidnap case to a kidnapping case. And I traveled only a few hundred miles. I mean, it's literally was not a long journey. With hindsight, my trajectory, it, one might say it was inevitable. You know, my first documentary up in the mountains, risking, as you say, taking great risks. And then 10 years later I'm kidnapped. And some have said, you know, it's amazing it didn't happen much sooner. I was really determined to get to the kidnappers. You had real gold, clear gold, meaning in life. And Kashmir is just the most magical place in the world. I mean, it's just stunning. And I spent eight months, the BBC thought I'd gone mad, forgot about me. And I came back and I had this like amazing footage. It became a three part documentary series. And literally, as things happen in the media the next year, they were like, wow, you did this great film with these guys with beards and AK47s, these Islamic extremists that no one had really heard of. Why didn't you go to Afghanistan? There's a group called the Taliban. And people had only kind of vaguely heard of the Taliban as these rumors and myths of their sort of extreme group who banned all TV and radio who were then in running Afghanistan. And I went off. And that was the year before 9, 11.

[Jack Lawrence]

The Taliban say that name today. And everyone knows instantly who they are and what they're capable of. But of course, that wasn't always the case. They would eventually become a household name after an attack on the United States that was beamed around the world into every single household globally. And we do have some breaking news that we want to bring you right now. We're going to go to a picture,

[Sean Langan]

a live picture from New York City.

[Jack Lawrence]

Apparently a plane has crashed into the World Trade center in New York 852 with limited information at this point today,

[Sean Langan]

our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.

[Jack Lawrence]

When 911 happened, the Taliban would actually condemn what had happened. However, would soon be thrust alongside those who were said to have committed this atrocity. Anyone alive that day will know exactly where they were when they heard the News. I was 16 at the time and was walking home from school with a friend when we stopped into his house. As we walked in, his mum was fixated on the tv. She simply turned to us and said, America is under attack. Of course at the time no one was really sure what was going on or what this all meant other than the fact that this was a life changing event. Immediately after 9 11, no one claimed responsibility for the attack, but focus was placed on Al Qaeda as interceptor communications pointed to a man named Osama Bin Laden as the mastermind. Following 9 11, then President Bush told the American public and the world that the Islamic militant group Al Qaeda were indeed responsible for the devastating attacks and the Taliban regime of Afghanistan were providing a safe haven for this terrorist organization. And of course we all know the story from there.

[Sean Langan]

On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against Al Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations.

[Jack Lawrence]

Operation Enduring Freedom was launched and troops entered Afghanistan with the initial invasion aimed to oust the Taliban and dismantle Al Qaeda. It was a war that would last 20 years until the final withdrawal of American troops in August of 2021 when the Taliban simply regained control of the country. However, before the 20 years of bloodshed, before those planes flew into the towers, the Taliban were by no means mainstream news. However, their strict rule and archaic views had piqued the interest of some in the media. And so Sean was on a flight arriving soon in Jalalabad where he says Al Qaeda were anything but discreet about what it is they were up to.

[Sean Langan]

I saw Osam bin Laden in Jalalabad. It was an open terrorist training camp going on. And I remember thinking our intelligence agencies must know all about this. If an idiot like me can see, I mean literally, you'd be in Jalalabad, thousands of Arabs meeting, training, and they weren't there on a holiday. And somehow it took the world by surprise. So when 911 happened, I then, you know, my career just, you know, took off because I was filming in that part of the world with Islamic extremists. So My original film was when the Taliban were running Afghanistan before 9 11, you know, 98, 99 2000. And the film I made then with them, it's the only. I think it was the first, it was the first documentary ever made about the Taliban. And I called that Tea with the Taliban. And I made two, another one called Carbon Vice. Then after 911 and the US invaded the occupation, it actually became more dangerous for Western journalists going back to Afghanistan. So now the Americans were running it or you know, there was an Afghan government, pro American. The Taliban now were insurgents, terrorists, fighting. Whereas when I originally went, they were the government. When I went back in 2005, I mean I was back every. My marriage didn't last long. You know, the woman I who dumped me, I then married, funny enough, but she left me because I, as she said I spent more time to mud citine, you know, working on my marriage. But the meeting the Taliban was incredibly dangerous because now they were an insurgency fighting Australians, British, Americans, Canadians. And that film I made in 2007 and it was incredibly risky to dangerous to try, even attempt to meet them. And no one now had made at that point there was lots of journalists covering the Western NATO forces, ISAF they were called. And I'd met, you know, Canadians, Australians, British, Americans, but no one has interviewed the Taliban who were already in my mind clearly gaining a supremacy, you know, in the battlefields. It was never battles, but it hit and runs. So that was the point of the film, to try and see things from their perspective.

[Jack Lawrence]

So meet the Taliban he did. And as he sat down with the leader of the group, he was given a warning, a warning that would later echo through his mind as he would sit in captivity having been told this very thing could end up happening.

[Sean Langan]

I was with a group of Taliban in Helmand Province. Normally you'd interview a group of five or six or even two or three men, but about 60, 70 Taliban roll into this compound and jump. I'm surrounded and it's pretty sketchy. And I remember one guy with a big butcher's knife. I do two things when I'm in shock and I'm pretty sure my life could end is I. I slow down, which is very good. The shock, no fast movements, helps when people are carrying guns and knives. So I go into a kind of shock. I tend to laugh inappropriately. I also, for some reason I become like the English gentleman abroad, the idiot abroad, when I think someone's going to kill me. So I start apologizing and saying I'm terribly sorry. So at this Point when the guy's got a big knife, I'm saying, you know, I'm like, oh, is that for me or for a goat? You know, because they often sat, and he's waving in the camera. No, no, it's only. I only kill Americans with this. And we laugh, and I keep apologizing and saying, I'm terribly so sorry. The commander, who'd clearly taken pity on me, sits me down by the side of this river, the Helmand river, and he says, look, you don't want to try to do this too often, interviewing Taliban, he said, because before you came down, we took a vote on whether to kill you, kidnap you, or let you do the interview. And he sort of waved around. All his men were kind of looking at me, and he said, this time, the vote went your way, but you'll never know until it's too late. And it kind of hit me, you know. You know, because that's his point was, if they vote to kill you or kidnap you, they're not gonna.

[Jack Lawrence]

You'll.

[Sean Langan]

You'll know that when you arrive thinking you're doing an interview.

[Jack Lawrence]

Before Shawn's eventual kidnapping, there would be a number of times that he would, in fact, come close to death, death at the hands of these men. And it was only by sheer luck that he escaped with his life.

[Sean Langan]

I was in a really dangerous part. I mean, it's all pretty dangerous, but really, because they always invited you into their territory, so. And checked you weren't being followed either high in the mountains or in the desert. So I was spending a lot of time with a shawl, Shaw Al Khamees, local clothes, in the back of a car, had a beard in. In no man's land. It was very dangerous. And another occasion, we were put up against a wall, and six Taliban came in and raised their rifles. This is, I was telling you earlier, where I. In shock, I sort of laugh. I get a fit of the giggles. And I also become ridiculously English. So I'm up against the wall, and these men are just there with guns, right? Really close, like a couple of, you know, less than two feet, a foot or so away from my face, not saying anything. And their commander walks in behind, and I'm like. Because I thought I was there to interview them. And I look at my fixer, and he's doing the Islamic prayer. The lot is giving himself the last rites. Now, being English, I didn't want to interrupt his prayer, but I had a pressing question, so I'm leaning in, tapping gently, but like, oh, God, I'm so sorry. And he's. He's really not. He's in his own world, praying. So finally I'm like, I. I tap him. I said, look, I'm so sorry. I don't mean to interrupt your prayer. He's like, what? What is it? I say, is this a firing squad? And he. He drops his hands and he looks at me like he. And he. He was dumbfounded, as rightly. And he was like, what? What else could this be? And I look at them and I start laughing because, well, obviously it's a. Well, what a stupid question. And as we're both now laughing at the how, I'd ask the stupidest question in the world. The Taliban commander is looking at this, and this is clearly not the reaction he's normally seen when they're about to shoot someone. So he clicks his finger and they all put their guns down, and he says, why is this foreigner laughing? You know, we're about to shoot him. And my fixer, my Afghan fixer says, this stupid foreign journalist has just asked the most ridiculous question. You know, he asked, is this a firing squad? And the commander went, you know, yeah, obviously, and then went, hang on. Oh, he's a foreign journalist. We weren't told that. We were only told a foreigner was coming to this village to meet us, so we thought he could be a foreign spy. And then they said, that's fine, we like journalists. Let's do an interview. And I remember at that point, I couldn't speak. I was now in total shock, and we had to do an interview.

[Jack Lawrence]

The documentary called Meeting the Taliban would be so well received by the public and TV bosses alike that it would in fact be suggested that he go back again. However, this time there were no warnings, there were no pleasantries, and there was no escape.

[Sean Langan]

And then I suddenly hear the connection and a voice. Hello, Channel four switchboard? Sorry, bit weird. Call this. My name's Sean Langan. I work for Channel 4. I've been kicking kidnapped by the Taliban.

[Jack Lawrence]

Next time on what I Survived.

[Sean Langan]

War in my mind. I'm trying to fight a war in my mind. I don't know who's the winner tonight, but.

[Hayden]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan.

[Sean Langan]

Fellas.

[Hayden]

I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[Stephen]

And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[Hayden]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[Stephen]

That's right.

[Jack Lawrence]

Hey hey.

[Stephen]

So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[Hayden]

And along the way we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[Stephen]

News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.

[Howie Mandel]

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[Sean Langan]

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