We call her Emma | Tortoise Investigates

Asma’s choice | We call her Emma Ep3

In 2011, the Arab Spring hits Syria and Asma has a decision to make: speak out in favour of the popular revolution or stay loyal to the regime. But what choice did she really have?  We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer. To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer [https://observer.co.uk/subscribe/audio] and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription. You'll get access to: * This series and all our podcasts before anyone else * Ad-free listening * Premium newsletters * Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword * Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape * Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads. Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou Producer - Gary Marshall Sound design - Karla Patella Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Diana of Damascus | We call her Emma Ep2

When Asma arrives in Syria, there’s a palpable sense of hope. People in the country and around the world dare to believe that she is a force for good. Chloe hears from people who worked with her in the early years who - despite everything that’s happened - still believe her intentions were genuine but that she became trapped by the regime. We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer. To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer [https://observer.co.uk/subscribe/audio] and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription. You'll get access to: * This series and all our podcasts before anyone else * Ad-free listening * Premium newsletters * Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword * Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape * Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads. Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou Producer - Gary Marshall Sound design - Karla Patella Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The girl from Acton | We call her Emma Ep1

Emma is a high achieving, middle class woman from West London - she’s destined for a successful career and a comfortable British life. But in 2001 she makes a decision that will come to define her - she marries the son of a dictator and becomes Asma al-Assad, the first lady of Syria. We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer. To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer [https://observer.co.uk/subscribe/audio] and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription. You'll get access to: * This series and all our podcasts before anyone else * Ad-free listening * Premium newsletters * Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword * Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape * Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads. Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou Producer - Gary Marshall Sound design - Karla Patella Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Introducing...We call her Emma

Emma is a high achieving, middle class girl from west London. She seems destined for a successful career in banking and a comfortable British life. Until she makes a decision that will come to define her. In 2001 Emma marries Bashar al-Assad - the now infamous dictator of Syria. In the early days, people inside and out of Syria dared to hope. Alongside his beautiful, progressive wife, Bashar promised to modernise the country. But when the Arab Spring reached Syria in 2011, Bashar's regime showed itself for what it really was: a brutal force, willing to capture and kill ordinary Syrians demanding change. And in all the years that a war raged on, Asma stood by her husband. She seemingly ignored the desperate pleas to stop her husband from killing his own people.  But what did she really know about the atrocities her husband’s government was carrying out? And what choices did she really have? Some people allege that she actually assisted the regime and cashed in on the war, that she herself is a war criminal. Others say she tried to run away but was trapped, held hostage by a regime who threatened her life and her children.  So, who is the real Emma? We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer. To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer [https://observer.co.uk/subscribe/audio] and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription. You'll get access to: * This series and all our podcasts before anyone else * Ad-free listening * Premium newsletters * Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword * Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape * Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads. Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou Producer - Gary Marshall Sound design - Karla Patella Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Under one roof | Foundling Ep 2

Jess does a DNA test. And she and Lucy travel to visit a house where Jess’s birth mother once lived, and try and work out how nobody noticed a thing. Foundling is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer [https://observer.co.uk/subscribe/audio] and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription. You'll get access to: * This series and all our podcasts before anyone else * Ad-free listening * Premium newsletters * Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword * Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape * Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads. Reporter - Lucy Greenwell Producer - Katie Gunning Original theme music - Tom Kinsella Sound design and additional music - Rowan Bishop Podcast artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorp Narrative editor - Gary Marshall  Editor - Jasper Corbett ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.