NYT’s Serial Productions Launches New Investigative Podcast About a Supposed Islamic Plot to Take Over British Schools
Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSerial Productions, the company behind the true-crime show that helped trigger the podcast boom, is coming out with a new limited-series looking into a panic in Britain over an alleged Islamic plan to infiltrate the country’s schools — which may have all been a hoax.“The Trojan Horse Affair” is hosted by Brian Reed, known for his hit series “S-Town.” Reed teamed with Hamza Syed, a doctor-turned-reporter, to investigate what was dubbed Operation Trojan Horse. The story starts in 2014 with a mysterious letter detailing a supposed Islamic plot to take over schools in Hamza’s hometown of Birmingham.The letter appeared to be a secret communique between Islamic extremists who had been infiltrating the city schools, and it led to a crackdown on Muslim educators and harsh new British counterterrorism measures.