logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2021
18m 5s

Boko Haram survivors, Mellissa Fung and ...

TORONTO STAR
About this episode

In 2008, Canadian journalist Mellissa Fung was abducted while on assignment in Afghanistan. She survived 28 days of torture and captivity inside a hole in the ground. In her new documentary "Captive," she makes the rare and difficult move to use the lens of her trauma to revisit the story of the Nigerian school girls who were kidnapped and brutalized by Boko Haram militants. Fung speaks to "This Matters" host Saba Eitizaz about the survivors, their struggle to move on and the strange complexity of shared trauma.

Correction – The audio has been updated to reflect that Mellissa Fung was kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2008, not five years ago as stated in the original version of this podcast.

If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can subscribe at thestar.com/subscribingmatters.

Up next
Nov 21
If Canada went to war, could our hospitals cope? A simulation in Toronto revealed alarming gaps
<p><strong>Guest:</strong> Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star columnist</p> <p>In a high-stakes war games exercise held in Toronto, top military officials, health-care leaders, and government representatives gathered behind closed doors to game out a scenario few Canadians can ever imagi ... Show More
29m 36s
Nov 18
Behind the scenes of a narrow budget win for Mark Carney's Liberal government
<p><strong data-stringify-type="bold">Guest</strong>: Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa bureau chief<br aria-hidden="true" />  <br aria-hidden="true" /> Canada avoided a snap election Monday night as the Liberal government pushed its federal budget through by a two-vote margin, 170 to 168 ... Show More
24m 14s
Nov 14
Dispatches from Texas: Trump's America up close
<p><strong>Guest</strong>: Richard Warnica, Senior Opinion Writer</p> <p>In this episode, we explore Richard's recent visit to Texas as a vivid microcosm of Trump's current America. He reports on cratering trust in vaccines, increasingly aggressive ICE arrests that are cleaving f ... Show More
33 m
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2022
Kimberly Dozier on war reporting, deadly attacks, and what may happen next in Ukraine
Kimberly Dozier is one of the only people in the world who can relate to what wounded Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall is going through. When Dozier was reporting for CBS in Baghdad in 2006, she survived a bomb blast that left two colleagues dead. Dozier reflects on the traum ... Show More
43m 52s
Oct 2021
‘The Decision of My Life’
<p><i>This episode contains descriptions of violence and a suicide attempt.</i></p><p>When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August, our producer started making calls. With the help of colleagues, she contacted women in different cities and towns to find out how their lives ha ... Show More
44m 42s
Oct 2023
What’s life like when you live under the constant fear of Boko Haram attacks?
Over the past 14 years Boko Haram has wreaked havoc in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. The group gained international notoriety with the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria in 2014 which sparked the ‘Bring Back Our Girls campaign’. Their attacks also spread to ... Show More
18m 37s
Mar 2024
Rare access inside Sudan's forgotten war
Since conflict broke out in April 2023, it has been almost impossible for international media to report from Sudan. In that time, stories of horrific violence and sexual violence have been told by hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the country.Feras Kilani, the BBC Ara ... Show More
26m 58s
Dec 2023
The Kill List: Living Ghosts
As her native Balochistan mourns activist Karima Baloch's death, we dive deeper into what Karima was fighting for and why – and learn about the intense history of the Baloch people and the state of Pakistan. Also – the story of what happens to dissidents who disappear... and then ... Show More
1h 4m
Oct 2022
'The Decision of My Life': Part 3
<p><i>This episode contains mention of suicide.</i></p><p>A year ago, Lynsea Garrison, a senior producer on The Daily, started telling the story of N, a teenager in Afghanistan.</p><p>N’s family tried to force her to marry a member of the Taliban, but she resisted. When she tried ... Show More
38 m
Oct 2021
Amanpour: Kaiya McCullough, Yvens Rumbold, Orlando von Einsiedel, Hassan Akkad and McKay Coppins
Former professional soccer player Kaiya McCullough discusses the allegations of emotional abuse she levelled against Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke - claims he denies. Yvens Rumbold, Director of Communications at Policité, talks about the abduction of American and Canadian ... Show More
56m 50s
May 2022
Resilience, inherited trauma and living with the Holocaust
<p>Even 75 years after the Holocaust, anti-Semitic crimes are still happening in Canada. And their presence highlights why education is still important, and uncovering family history is a powerful way to learn about the past.</p><p>The Globe’s western arts correspondent, <a href= ... Show More
19m 18s
Aug 2021
Afghanistan: Questions, Doubts and Fears
It’s been a week of searing and surreal images from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s lighting takeover of Kabul. The spectacle of an official Taliban news conference, televised live from the capital on Tuesday, was proof of how just how fast events have moved. The Taliban leadersh ... Show More
28m 38s
Jun 2023
The New Afghanistan, Through the Eyes of Three Women
<p><i>This episode contains descriptions of violence.</i></p><p>In the two years since the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, the Taliban has shut women and girls out of public life.</p><p>Christina Goldbaum, a correspondent in the Kabul bureau for The New York Times, trave ... Show More
40m 19s