Global News Podcast The Global Story: Is ISIS having a resurgence in Syria?
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Feb 8, 2026 
Josh Baker, investigative journalist and filmmaker who has reported on ISIS since its rise, shares on-the-ground reporting and personal frontline experience. He discusses why ISIS has reappeared in headlines, conditions and radicalisation risks inside camps and prisons, the politics of detainee transfers to Iraq, and shifting Syrian and US security dynamics.
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ISIS Persisted Off The Headlines
- ISIS never fully disappeared even after losing its caliphate; it persisted as a lower-scale insurgency on the ground in Syria.
- Josh Baker says the group remained active and carried out attacks and prison escapes despite fading from headlines.
Scale And Propaganda Of The Caliphate
- At its height ISIS controlled territory the size of England and governed roughly 10 million people.
- Josh Baker highlights the group's polished propaganda that attracted tens of thousands from over 100 countries.
Frontline Reporting In Mosul
- Josh Baker described embedding with Iraqi forces during the Mosul offensive amid debris and ambush risk.
- He recalled sleeping, eating and riding in battered armoured Humvees with soldiers during intense urban fighting.