National Security Reporter, The Intercept | World Press Freedom Award Winner
Book this speaker: Ben Makuch
About This Speaker: Ben Makuch
From interviewing ISIS members to being on the ground during a political assassination in Russia, or sitting in a trench in Ukraine, Ben brings unprecedented access to many of the world’s most dangerous regions. Previously with the Canadian Press’s Parliamentary Bureau, Makuch was in contact with several terror suspects who travelled to Iraq and Syria during the rise of the so-called Islamic State. That reporting caught the attention of federal counterterrorism investigators who are trying to force Makuch to hand over all source materials connected to Farah Mohamed Shirdon, an alleged ISIS fighter from Calgary. Makuch refused and fought the order all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Makuch hosted the hit TV show Cyberwar on Hulu and the VICEtv network, an investigative documentary series examining the covert world of signals intelligence and hackers. He has since worked on the Emmy-award-winning show VICE News Tonight on HBO and Fringe Nation on VICEtv.
Makuch’s recent work on the global neo-Nazi terror group The Base set off a nationwide FBI crackdown that led to over a dozen of its members in jail on charges as wide-ranging as an assassination plot and derailing trains. In the Spotify/Gimlet series American Terror, Makuch took listeners inside the chilling story of The Base and exposed the inner workings of far-right extremism in America.
He is currently a contributor to The Intercept and is covering the ongoing war in Ukraine from the front lines.
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