Popular Reviews of The Trojan Horse Affair

This is a cracking story with some great journalism, and worth listening to for anyone who’s read British news in the last decade However, the podcast fails to use the best aspects of itself -the Intricacies of local government and school politics (TAs being miserable and schools being full of moaners is universal) are discussed yes, but without the nuance or context that they deserve. This podcast would have benefitted from a third journalist, or even script writer, with knowledge in these areasFurthermore, I understand that this was made with an American audience in mind, but half the explanations made failed to communicate what they actually mean. This meant that the series was one I enjoyed but only cause i already had the context of Birmingham and education. I can’t imagine someone from outside the UK who couldn’t place brum on a map would enjoy this Overall I will be recommending this podcast to anyone interested in politics, education or local government with gusto. The rest however, I won’t

What could have been a great podcast of investigative journalism and an important one was made pretty much unlistenable by the novice Hamza Syed. His co-host brain Reed is brilliant and it sounds as though he did pretty much all of the leg work. Syed's contribution only seems to have been to bring the story to Reed in the first place and to be aggressive and obnoxious with everyone they meet. To be fair some of the people interviewed may have deserved it but it also made for some deeply uncomfortable listening. When they interview a couple in episode five who highlighted some very reasonable concerns about the school in question, Syed just attacked them. I had to switch off at that point. Syed, it seems, clearly had the narrative already set in his mind from the beginning of the story. It may or may not have turned out to be true in the this particular case but I feel it is going to be a problem with other investigations in the future. Without Reed as a co-host, counteracting Syed's personality this whole story would never have got off the ground. Which would have been a shame for such an important topic.

Just like with the other Serial investigations, The Trojan Horse Affair should be taken as what it is, entertainment. Except that, it is so one-sided and intended in proving a hypothesis that feels like light propaganda. Any evidence that does not fit their hypothesis is dismissed, anyone who does not says what they want them to say is dismissed. As entertainment, it is something to listen in a long drive, but no more than that.

I had the same feeling when listining this podcast as when watching 'The Wire' and that is a big compliment. The account of the research (which took years) just blows you offguard at certain moments and it makes you feel uneasy when thinking about school boards or city councils. What is going on in there when the cameras are off and when the reporters are gone? The two hosts build a very good case and I got really hooked to found out if they cracked it. I can imagine a lot of people will be annoyed with the approach of Hamza but for me, he represents the damage and perspective from a whole community. As a listener, you can feel his frustration with every new element and revelation. Top podcast, I recommend it to listeners of true crime.

Serial's journalism has always been (and continues to be) important, but it hasn't been entertaining for a long time.

While there is much to enjoy about this podcast (in particular the jousting between Brian Reed and his co-host Hamza Syed), it palls as storytelling because it gets bogged in the weeds of dreary details, relies heavily on unrelieved narration and does not deliver key interviewees as three-dimensional characters. Syed is variously cheeky, funny and furious, but his mission is clear: to overturn the Trojan Horse letter’s cascading effects, which saw British Muslims demonised and conflated as terrorists. Reed is a generous mentor and the pair’s increasingly heated exchanges on their very different cultural and professional approaches are raw and revealing. Their arguments illuminate the role of advocacy in journalism: a newly urgent topic since #BlackLIvesMatter and other social justice movements.But perhaps because it was built over four years on different continents, the podcast has uneven narrative force. Crucial figures decline to be interviewed – which the hosts note with increasing irritation and at times, what feels uncomfortably like entitlement. The Trojan Horse Affair makes clear that Islamophobia thrives in the UK and that it suits certain establishment figures to keep things that way. One episode, in which the pair dismantles the testimony of husband-and-wife teachers Steve and Sue Packer, whose threadbare “evidence” had fuelled anti-Muslim hysteria, is a knockout. But as with other enthralling narrative podcasts (Wind of Change, West Cork), Trojan Horse is more about savouring the journey than reaching the destination.

Astounding, well-researched investigative journalism. Wonderful narration, scoring, and overall storytelling. The Trojan Horse Affair sheds light on lots of nuances within the incident, many of which the public clearly wasn't supposed to discover. One of my favorite podcasts I've listened to to date.

The kind of journalism that is sadly lacking in most media outlets, especially in the UK. An absolute must for journalism and media students.

First, I want to say that I absolutely loved the first three Seasons of Serial and S-Town. Absolutely fascinating stories laid out by great investigative journalism. There's such a huge drop off between those seasons and this one.Almost the entirety of this season was a great example of everything that's wrong with journalists these days. True investigative journalism should at least attempt to come from a non-biased pov and go where the facts lead them. By Episode 5, I basically had to force myself to go through the motions and finish the remainder of the season. This was not journalism. This was blatant activism trying to prove a theory from the very beginning.

I found this to be a good podcast. The story presented shows what hate and fear will drive people to do. An important story that must be heard to be believed.

I'm not sure there's much I can add here to the reviews already present, which delve deep into both the reasons you might like this, and the reasons you might not. It's not a podcast that starts from 'we go where the facts take us'. It's 'we have a theory, and we're investigating from this standpoint'. It's a difficult listen for this reason; that's not to say it's a bad listen. Confronting racism, prejudice, and Islamophobia and the effects they have on people's lives is not a comfortable thing and never will be. I'd suggest listening to it, but with a critical mind.

Awful show about how the two guys got together to make a show, with a complete back story of how they met, how they decided to become journalists, and continued filler throughout the series where these guys very clearly want you to know how important they are as individuals who took on this story. What’s crazy is, the show actually has a story, but this was the takeaway after episode one.It reminded me of “A Very Fatal Murder”, a satire investigative journalism podcast by The Onion. It’s almost a carbon copy of the first episode, except these guys are trying to be serious. why do we need to hear about how you took over a bedroom at your moms house for your headquarters, and how funny it is. This show is filled with 5 minute sections of this crap, I’m telling ya it’s terrible. Even worst how everyone’s acting like this is the next “serial”. This one is absolutely trash

Oh, so infuriating! Where do I start? The 2 hosts make everything about themselves? Their sense of entitlement? It's reassuring to see that also excellent professionals sometimes mess it up big time. 🎧 🤨