Is 9/11 still shaping America?

Americast

Wednesday, 9 September 2026 - 39 minutes

The journalist Peter Bergen also talks to us about meeting Osama Bin Laden before 9/11, and what happened during that interview. In this episode, Justin, Sumi and Marianna discuss America twenty five years on from 9/11 and to what extent it still shapes the United States, despite millions of Americans today having no lived experience of the attacks
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We also look at the politics, as families who lost loved ones in the attacks have petitioned New York mayor Zohran Mamdani not to attend the 25th anniversary ceremony. More than 100,000 people have signed the petition, objecting to specific members of the mayor’s team. Is this the biggest test yet of Mamdani’s standing in New York City? Peter Bergen, a national security analyst for CNN who produced the first television interview with Osama Bin Laden in 1997 joins us to give his reflections, and details how the interview came about. His latest book, All the Presidents' Wars, charts the quarter century of conflict that followed the attacks. He is also donating an archive of 150,000 documents on the rise of al-Qaeda to Georgetown University.He reflects on the legacy of 9/11 and argues that America, not Bin Laden, created the quagmire that came after. And he explains why the alleged mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is still awaiting trial at Guantanamo Bay, more than 20 years after his arrest.HOSTS:
• Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Senior Correspondent
• Sumi Somaskanda, BBC Chief Presenter
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenterGUEST:
• Peter Bergen, CNN National Security AnalystGET IN TOUCH:
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• Or use #AmericastThis episode was made by George Dabby with Alix Pickles and Nik Sindle. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
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