Skip to content
TrackPodcasts
historyJun 13, 202351:00pending

Finding Imad Mughniyeh

About this episode

Note: Clips of 'Ghosts of Beirut' are courtesy Showtime. Audio of Lebanon at war is from the Associated Press archive.

As Lebanon sank into the abyss in the 1980s, few people noticed a teenager who had worked as a bodyguard for Yasser Arafat's PLO. But his deeds would soon start making international headlines. Long before Osama bin Laden became a household name, this unknown young man began a decades-long crusade of bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations that would leave hundreds of people dead in dozens of attacks across the globe. Few knew what he looked like or his actual name. Known as "the ghost," Imad Mughniyeh was a founding member of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Mughniyeh remains a mysterious figure, but he made an enduring impact on history. His rise and fall are the focus of the new Showtime dramatic series "Ghosts of Beirut." In this episode, director Greg Barker discusses why he made a film about the terrorist whose mark on global events far surpassed his notoriety, a shadowy figure whom the CIA and Mossad hunted for a quarter-century.

Subscribe today to support our important work! Subscriptions begin at only $5 per month.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Get every episode summarized

Each time History As It Happens publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.

Email me new episodes

Free for 3 shows. No card needed.

Hosts & guests

No transcript yet

This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.

Finding Imad Mughniyeh

History As It Happens

0:00
51:00

More episodes

More from History As It Happens

View all episodes →