Shows
DISPATCHES with Hollie McKayDispatches: Motherhood in the Crossfire. Stories from El Salvador to DarfurIn this special Mother’s Day episode of Dispatches, Hollie shares powerful, unfiltered stories of motherhood in conflict zones—from El Salvador’s post-civil war trauma to the ongoing horrors in Darfur. Through intimate accounts like that of Maria, a Salvadoran mother caught between guerrilla fighters and a U.S.-backed regime, and a Darfuri woman surviving unspeakable loss and injury, Hollie reveals the moral complexity, resilience, and heartbreak that define motherhood under siege. She contrasts these realities with the safety and privilege often taken for granted in developed nations, urging us to amplify the voices of mothers...2025-05-0835 minDISPATCHES with Hollie McKayDispatches: Media Censorship and America’s Motherhood CrisisHollie and Dennis peel back the curtain on corporate media, exposing the tangled web of ego, pressure, and politics that shape the stories we see—and the ones that quietly disappear. From firsthand experiences of censorship while reporting on ISIS to reflections on the vanishing independence of modern journalism, Hollie offers an unfiltered take on what it really means to tell the truth in today’s media landscape. The conversation then shifts to motherhood in America: from soaring childcare costs to the cultural blind spots holding families back. With insights shaped by her own experiences as a j...2025-05-0131 minDISPATCHES with Hollie McKayDispatches: Mexico’s Disappeared and the Mothers Who Won’t Stop SearchingWe journey to the heart of Mexico’s devastating crisis of the disappeared. With over 120,000 people officially missing — and experts estimating the number could be closer to 200,000 — the scale of human loss is staggering. Hollie recounts her recent reporting trip, where she met mothers who have dedicated their lives to finding their children, often at great personal risk and without any government support.From cartel kidnappings to government complicity, this episode dives into the painful realities of life just south of the U.S. border. We also explore the implications of the U.S. labeling Mexican cartels as ter...2025-04-2422 minDISPATCHES with Hollie McKayDispatches: Unmasking the Uyghur Crisis & Global ApathyThis episode of "Dispatches with Hollie McKay" delves into the forgotten crisis of the Uyghur Muslim minority in China, detailing their mass disappearances into re-education and labor camps and the global silence, largely due to economic interests. Dennis and Hollie then discuss a concerning trend of declining empathy worldwide, exacerbated by social media, where indifference is becoming normalized. Finally, they address the disturbing online hostility towards expressions of compassion for suffering children, particularly in conflict zones, highlighting the dangerous politicization of innocent lives. Support the showVisit holliesmckay.substack.com 2025-04-1024 min
Mike DropWarcrimes Correspondent Hollie McKay | Mike Drop Episode 227Hollie McKay is an Australian born journalist who formerly worked for Fox News. She is a national bureau correspondent covering national and international news from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Myanmar and Ukraine. She's also a return guest to the Mike Drop Podcast - previously Hollie joined the show on Episode 69 to talk about her time covering the war-torn Iraq/Syria region in the Middle East in her book 'Only Cry for the Living' along with Episode 81, where she walked us through daily happenings of the Taliban as they rapidly gained ground in the Middle East. 2025-02-182h 07
Battleline PodcastHollie McKay - From war reporter to motherhoodHollie McKay is a journalist, author, and war reporter. On this episode we get into how her life has gone through a major change since becoming a mother. Her latest book is a fiction novel, "The Dictator’s Wife," available now. She also now hosts her own podcast, Dispatches on Parenting Across Cultures. Follow Hollie on X & Instagram @HollieSMcKay Follow us:http://instagram.com/battlelinepodcasthttp://x.com/battlelinepod For 20% off your first order with Bubs Naturals go to https://www.bubsnaturals.com/?discount=BATTLELINE .. All purchases help...2025-02-041h 13
Ba Vojdaan با وجدانVoices Crying From the Wilderness: Reports From War-Torn Locales that DON'T Serve the Agenda of the Mainstream Media feat. Hollie McKayWe welcome to the show independent journalist Hollie McKay. In this interview, Hollie discusses her diverse career, starting from her beginnings in the U.S. after studying in New York, to her time at Fox News, and her eventual shift to independent journalism after becoming disillusioned with the “clickbait factory” her work environment had become (her words ha ha). Hollie shares her experiences reporting from global hotspots such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Sudan, emphasizing the challenges and importance of covering peoples around the world that otherwise are not given the time of day by the Gate...2025-01-0748 min
In The East WingThe Reality of War Reporting with Hollie McKayHollie Mckay, a war journalist, joins Abdullah Najjar for a conversation on passion, the realities of war, giving a voice to the voiceless, and much more. Hollie shares a few of the lessons learned from her experiences in different countries and the balance she has to draw between family and the work she's engaged in.Be sure to Get Hollie's recent publication, a novel called "The Dictator's Wife". Be sure to also check out her new podcast, "Dispatches on Parenting Across Cultures", which is available on all platforms.
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2024-12-1650 minDISPATCHES with Hollie McKayWhat I Saw in Africa: The Hell That is DarfurHollie McKay shares her firsthand experience from her recent trip to the Darfurian refugee camps on the Chad/Sudan border. She provides a heartbreaking and eye-opening account of the women enduring unimaginable hardship in the wake of wartime sexual violence, loss of loved ones, and the depletion of resources in the camps. Hollie delves into the devastating human toll of the ongoing conflict, offering insights into the real situation on the ground. From stories of resilience to the grim realities of survival in such extreme conditions, this conversation offers a rare and unfiltered perspective on one of the world’s...2024-11-2636 min
The Superhumanize PodcastDispatches from Humanity’s Depths with Hollie McKay: War Reporting, Psychedelics, Motherhood, and the Power of the Human SpiritHollie McKay is an extraordinary individual whose life and work have taken her to the front lines of some of the world’s most dangerous and complex conflicts. As a war reporter, geopolitical analyst, and international humanitarian, Holly has seen the very best and the very worst of humanity. Her journey through war zones, her powerful storytelling, and her ability to connect with people from every walk of life make her one of the most compelling voices of our time.Hollie's latest book, The Dictator’s Wife, is a stunning piece of fiction that weaves together the compl...2024-09-101h 16
One Moment Please#113 Beyond the Headlines: Hollie McKayHollie is a globally acclaimed investigative and international affairs war journalist with over 14 years of experience. She has focused on covering conflicts, te****ism, and crimes against humanity, working on the front lines of major war zones and covering humanitarian and diplomatic crises in war-torn countries. Hollie has spent time embedded with US and foreign troops and conducted extensive interviews with survivors of horrific events. Her columns have been featured in the Wall Street Journal and her writings referenced in mainstream publications and academic journals. Hollie has won numerous foreign press and humanitarian awards.Journalist and investigator...2024-07-111h 39
KianistanKianistan with Hollie McKay: US Withdrawal, Current and Future Prospects of AfghanistanIn this episode, war correspondent and author Hollie McKay shares her experiences reporting from conflict zones, including her time in Afghanistan during the American withdrawal and the rise of the Taliban. She discusses the complexities and challenges faced by the Afghan government and its people, and provides insights into her recent book on the subject. Additionally, McKay talks about her career path, her motivations, and how she manages her time as a journalist, author, and mother.
Hollie McKay's Twitter and IG is @holliesmckay
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holliemckayapp
W...2024-07-0851 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: "There was a lot of bullying, and I changed schools several times. But there were good people too..."When Eddy Newton was three years old, he developed a red blotch on his face. Then a lump under his right eye. His mother shuffled him from doctor to doctor, hospital to hospital, until a biopsy finally came back with a diagnosis.“The doctor pulled out a picture of [Joseph] Merrick and told me this is what I will look like,” Eddy Newton told me. “And that I probably wouldn’t live past my eighth birthday.”Joseph Merrick was the 19th-century British man who became the poster child for neurofibromatosis, better known as “Elephant Man” syndrome. Almo...2023-07-3103 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: “Never give in, never give up. You have to have hope for a better tomorrow.”Much like Manal, Ayesha also teaches me what it is to accept life’s curveballs, move forward, and fly in the face of stares and stigmas with a huge smile and an upbeat attitude.“I thought it was going to be weird and scary. At first, I was scared with everyone looking at me,” noted Ayesha, who had just turned nine and was burned almost into oblivion in blood-spattered Idlib when she was only four. But I learned never to judge a book by its cover. Be kind, and don’t judge.”Ayesha’s memories of Syria are...2023-07-2402 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: “You might not change the world, but you can change the world for one person.”While inexplicable numbers of children have been horribly seared in Syria, BCRF can only accommodate the most relentless burn cases to come to the United States for life-saving medical assistance. And of the severe, the file is overwhelming — at any given moment, more than 1700 burned children linger on the list. Subsequently, not a single day passes when BCRF chairwoman Susan Baaj isn’t flooded with new cases, desperate pleas, and requests.“I used to watch all the videos and images of the bombs falling and hospitals decimated,” recounted my dear friend Susan, a Syrian American businesswoman and philanth...2023-07-1902 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: “It is making me braver and made me feel other people’s pain, a feeling only people in this situation would know. I feel their pain and I want to help them.”After more than a decade of internal war – sparked by a peaceful revolution that soured into violence following brutal, heavy-handed retaliation by authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad – victims of government bombs are left to pick up the pieces of shattered lives. Many of the most gravely injured were children asleep in their beds when bombardment ripped through their homes and scorched their tiny faces and frames. For most Syrians, who were merely trying to get by and feed their families when adversity struck, there is a painful sense that they will never see justice or accountability for what was...2023-07-1003 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: “Tears are as necessary as rain. Both give life.”On a mountain tucked into the Mexican heartland, a Mayan leader sat with me on a jagged rock as I processed the pain and poignancy of a career spent running from heartache to heartache, unable to stalwart the flood of tears that would not stop.“Tears are as necessary as rain,” he whispered. “Both give life.”PURCHASE YOUR COPY OF “WORDS THAT NEVER LEAVE YOU” TO READ MORE REFLECTIONS AND ANECDOTESNow available on KindleNow available on Paperback** Short read of meaningful lessons gleaned from the ordinary for...2023-07-0300 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: “I have worked and slaved every single day of my life. And for what?”Chickens pecked at the dust and weathered faces trudged slowly through the makeshift displacement camp on the edges of Erbil, Iraq – their bodies hunched over as if wearing the weight of the world on their shoulders. Wasim, a painfully thin and wounded Iraqi man, crumbled to the floor of his decrepit prefabricated home, having been forced to run with his four children from the lair of terrorists. He pulled out a few crumpled Iraqi dinar notes and loose coins from his threadbare pocket and tossed them angrily onto the floor.“That is my fortune. That’s what I have...2023-06-2602 min
Profiles in HavokHollie McKayHollie McKay is a writer, war crimes investigator, and the author of “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield.” (Jocko Publishing/Di Angelo Publications 2021). She was an investigative and international affairs/war correspondent for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years, where she focused on war, terrorism, and crimes against humanity.Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas.Hollie was in Afghanistan in t...2023-06-201h 13
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: "How would you feel if I went to your homeland and started recruiting your countrymen to fight its own people? Wouldn't you want to fight us back?"TRANSCRIPT. PODCAST FEATURING HOLLIE MCKAY & DENNIS SANTIAGO. (Please excuse typos, edited for clarity)DS: Welcome back to another “Words that Never Leave You: Fifty Pearls of Wisdom and Reflection from Survivors Across the World” by Hollie McKay, Holly. Today we have a lengthy quote, but a poignant one: “How would you feel if I went to your homeland and started recruiting your countrymen to fight its own people? Wouldn't you want to fight us back?” Tell us about this one.HM: So this one is a tough one. I think for a lot of espec...2023-06-1906 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: "This is How She Came Into the Life."TRANSCRIPT. PODCAST FEATURING HOLLIE MCKAY & DENNIS SANTIAGO. (Please excuse typos, edited for clarity)DS: Hey, welcome to another “Words that Never Leave You by Hollie McKay.” It is Fifty Pearls of Wisdom and Reflection from Survivors Across the World. This is how she came into the life. Hollie, tell us about this quote.HM: Yes, well, I remember this was in a a tattered tent. It was a displacement camp that was on the corner between where Iraq, Turkey and Syria all converge. And it was for Yazidis and this was during the ISIS conflict. And...2023-06-1203 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: "A child just needs to be loved."TRANSCRIPT. PODCAST FEATURING HOLLIE MCKAY & DENNIS SANTIAGO. (Please excuse typos, edited for clarity)DS: “Words that Never Leave You” by Hollie McKay, featuring “Fifty Pearls of Wisdom and Reflection from Survivors Across the World.” Today, we are going to ponder the quote: a child just needs to be loved, Hollie. Tell us about why this quote has so much meaning.HM: This quote has stuck with me for a long time. I remember living in Los Angeles in my early 20s. You know, starting out as a journalist, well, I was young but had already been doi...2023-06-0505 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: "Only a pile of ashes is given to the family members. We cannot be silent."TRANSCRIPT. PODCAST FEATURING HOLLIE MCKAY & DENNIS SANTIAGO. (Please excuse typos, edited for clarity)DS: We're back with “Words that Never Leave You” by Hollie McKay, featuring “Fifty Pearls of Wisdom and Reflection from Survivors Across the World.”… Only a pile of ashes is given to the family members. We cannot be silent. What's this all about, Hollie?HM: So these very striking words were said to me by a man I interviewed by the name of Gao Yixi, and he endured deeply scarring oppression under the Chinese Communist Party when he lived there. He spent years watc...2023-05-3004 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: Meditation and Deep Breathing are the greatest gifts I could give myselfTRANSCRIPT. PODCAST FEATURING HOLLIE MCKAY & DENNIS SANTIAGO. (Please excuse typos, edited for clarity)DS: Welcome to another installment of Words that Never Leave You: 50 pearls of wisdom and reflection from survivors across the world by Hollie McKay. Today we have this quote: Meditation and deep breathing are the greatest gifts I could give myself. Hollie, tell us about this quote and why it has inspired you.HM: this came from a lovely woman that I met by the name of Jennifer Zeng, and she's sort of the kind of person that you meet with whom...2023-05-2205 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWords that Never Leave You: This is Not Your WarTRANSCRIPT. PODCAST FEATURING HOLLIE MCKAY & DENNIS SANTIAGO. (Please excuse typos, edited for clarity)DS: Welcome to a special series on Words that Never Leave You: Fifty Pearls of Wisdom and Reflection from Survivors Across the World. A book by Hollie McKay, where she has vignettes of things that she will never forget. Quote number one out of the book: This is not your war. Where did this quote come from and why is it so important to you?HM: This one of those phrases that never left me. This line was spoken to...2023-05-1506 min
Brace 4 ImpactHollie McKay: To The Ends of The EarthAuthor, journalist, writer and my former colleague at Fox News Hollie McKay joins us on this episode of Brace4Impact, to discuss potential fixes and accountability for the opioid and Fentanyl crisis, her experiences reporting abroad for many years, and how the personal story of just one person can change the world. Hollie, who is now an independent journalist, has reported from Afghanistan, Ukraine, parts of Europe and other locations abroad, to tell the stories of downtrodden people who’ve been trampled by tyranny, yet who still found a way to recover some semblance of normalcy and hap...2023-05-0645 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayMy controversial thoughts on "World Press Freedom Day"TRANSCRIPT Welcome to the World of War, Crimes and Crises with Hollie McKay. I am Hollie McKay. I am illuminating World Press Freedom Day, which is today, Wednesday, May the Third. To raise awareness and encourage governments to respect the free flow of information, and in light of journalists being constantly assaulted and press freedoms eroded around the globe, the United Nations established World Press Freedom Day thirty years ago.Three decades on, and there doesn’t seem too much to celebrate. Last year, 67 journalists and media workers were killed, according to the Co...2023-05-0310 min
The Brand Called YouDrawing Boundaries as a War Reporter | Hollie McKay | Author, Only Cry for the Living; Investigative War JournalistWe live in a highly volatile world where people and countries are getting into conflicts and wars based on ideologies, religions, and national security propaganda. With the recent Russia-Ukraine War and the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, we cannot even start to imagine the horrors that the victims of the war experience. A war reporter’s role becomes extremely critical to bring forward the many untold stories. In today’s episode, we talk to an investigative war journalist, who shares what goes behind responsible reporting.
[00:33] - About Hollie McKay
Hollie is an author of a book titled, “Only C...2023-03-3122 min
El PodcastE11 The Life of a War Reporter with Hollie McKay- El PodcastOur guest on this episode is Hollie McKay. She is a Foreign Affairs Expert, war crimes investigator, journalist, humanitarian and author. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over 14 years focusing on warfare, terrorism and crimes against humanity. She is a best selling author of the book “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield.
She shares with us her world from preparing for travel in conflict zones, her approach to reporting, her experience after being detained by the Taliban and why per passion drives her to continue to do th...2022-12-1146 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayBreaking News: Hollie Talks about Her Years of Tracking Al Qaeda Leader Ayman al-ZawahiriIn this 20-minute interview, Hollie McKay talks about Al Qaeda terrorist leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, whom the US killed in a CIA drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 31st at the home of a senior official of the Taliban government’s Haqqani Network faction.About where Zawahiri came from, Hollie says,Al Zawahiri is somebody that I've looked into a lot over the over the years. At the beginning of 2019, I spent a lot of time in Afghanistan, Pakistan, sort of in the area trying to kind of piece together whatever I could about him and...2022-08-0219 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDISPATCHES FROM MEXICO: Behind America’s failed War on DrugsPlease listen to the full interview to hear more about Hollie’s take on the War on Drugs.AMERICA’S FAILED WAR ON DRUGSThe United States is wrapped in the deadliest drug epidemic in history.Data released in May by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show a surge in overdose deaths involving fentanyl and methamphetamine. Nationwide, deaths from overdoses soared to unprecedented levels in 2021, following a 15 percent increase from 2020. This crisis claimed some 108,000 American lives. Chillingly, the number of drug overdose deaths has increased every year (except for...2022-06-1700 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDISPATCHES FROM IRAQ: What is really going on in Baghdad five years after ISIS defeatPlease listen to the full interview to hear more of Hollie’s insights about Iraq.“Intuition had to be grounded in lived experience.”― Zachary D. Carter, The Price of PeaceWHAT HAS REALLY BECOME OF BAGHDAD FIVE YEARS AFTER THE ISIS DEFEAT?Despite tangerine skies and a city where dust covers the ground as thickly as winter snow – a sign of the unprecedented dust storms engulfing much of the nation – Iraqis have remained upbeat.“It has been two years since a suicide bombing,” my good friend, a fellow journalis...2022-06-1612 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatch from Iraq: A Quick Report from BaghdadWelcome back to another dispatch from Hollie McKay. How are you doing?I'm doing well, thank you.Very good. Hey, first thing you're back in Iraq. What's changed there?So, I'm in Baghdad at the moment. Last time I was here was 2018. There is still a lot of ISIS fighting happening. It’s still a very tense situation in much of the country. Every country has its problems, and its security issues. Baghdad is certainly no exception to that. But, right now, it's not the war scenario that Baghdad had been for...2022-05-1900 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDISPATCH: Mohammad Wali, a Decorated Afghan Commando's JourneyLISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ABOUT MOHAMMAD WITH HOLLIEDECORATED AFGHAN COMMANDO FINDS SOLACE IN AMERICAN LIFE BUT STILL YEARNS FOR THE BATTLEFIELD OF FREEDOMWhenever Mohammad Wali, 37, speaks of Afghanistan, his gentle face softens into a map of memories: the suffering and loss, paired with the camaraderie and struggle for freedom that will never end. The United States is now his home, but it is clear that the rolling hills and frozen forests of the eastern Laghman province still holds his heart.“I was fighting for my family,” Wali recalls, staring out into the...2022-05-0910 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDISPATCH: Elaine Fischel, Lawyer for the Defense at the Japanese War Criminal TrialsLISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ABOUT ELAINE WITH HOLLIE“I always saw being a woman as an advantage. It made you stand out. I had my own way of doing things, and I’m pretty proud of that.”Elaine FischelThis week I am highlighting the work of two very prolific figures you probably won’t ever here or read about in mainstream news circles. But these are the sort of people who inspire me in my work, the type of stories and sources of inspiration, the sort of people who should be in the hist...2022-05-0808 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayAudio Episode: Hollie Shares Her Thoughts about World Press Freedom DayThe United Nations designates May 3rd as World Press Freedom Day. The UNESCO site notes,“3 May acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the pursuit of a story.”In t...2022-05-0318 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches: The challenges of prosecuting Russian war crimes in Ukraine, and why some U.S. allies refuse to condemn Moscow’s unprovoked war“Cowards will always commit war crimes.”― Anthony T. HincksListening note: This episode includes additional audio track discussion of the challenges of war crimes investigation, conflicting viewpoints about Russia, and upcoming work by Hollie.AS EVIDENCE OF WAR CRIMES MOUNTS, IT'S FAR FROM A SURE THING ANYONE WILL PAY THE PRICEIt’s the stuff of nightmares: hundreds of blistered corpses strewn across rubble streets, others tossed into mass graves with hands tied, crippled Russian tanks and armored vehicles decaying, hollowed homes and a scorched shell of the once...2022-04-0619 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayNew Afghanistan Coffee Table Book: The End of the U.S. Footprint and Rise of the Taliban RuleLISTEN TO HOLLIE DESCRIBE THE BOOK THE PRE-ORDER IT HERE.“I know you're still young but I want you to understand and learn this now. Marriage can wait, education cannot. You're a very, very bright girl. Truly you are. You can be anything you want Laila. I know this about you. And I also know that when this war is over Afghanistan is going to need you as much as its men maybe even more. Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated Laila. No chance.”― Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid...2022-03-2805 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatch from Hollie: A Journalist's Eye View of Kyiv and the Train Ride of Out of Ukraine*We recommend the raw interview audio as the best way to experience this dispatch. (approx. 40 min)Hello and welcome back to another dispatches from Hollie McKay. Hollie recently went to Ukraine and is now back in the United States. Today we're going to talk about what that experience was like, while she was there, and what it was like when she left Kiev and came back to the US. So, good morning, Hollie. And how are you today?I'm doing fine. So yes, I originally went to Kyiv as tensions were building at...2022-03-2240 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatch from Ukraine: Hollie Answers Internet Questions About People's Morale, Warfighting, and StrategyHello and welcome back to another edition of dispatches from Ukraine with Hollie McKay. Today, Hollie is going to be answering some questions that were posted on the Internet. How are you today, Hollie?Hi, I'm doing well. How are you?Quite good. Our first block of questions is from people that are asking about the morale of Ukrainians.What's the general feeling among men who have been forbidden to leave the country? Is morale suffering because of what is essentially conscription? Is there any animosity from the Ukrainian soldiers to those who...2022-03-1423 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Ukraine: Hollie Answers Question from Kyiv on Day 11 of the WarHello and welcome to another dispatch from Ukraine with Hollie McKay. Today, we're going to be asking Hollie some questions and that have come from people on the Internet. We are going to get some answers from the source herself. How are you doing today, Hollie?I'm not doing too bad, just day-by-day, sleeplessness.Yeah, I bet you know considering where you are in Kyiv. Alright, so here's the first question. What is the most concerning piece of war propaganda being pushed to the Western world?I don't know. I think there's just...2022-03-0716 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Ukraine: Chat from KyivWelcome to another dispatch, this time from Ukraine by Hollie McKay.Holly you were in Ukraine a couple of weeks ago left and came back to the United States and now you're back in in Kyiv. Tell us a little bit about that journey in terms of how you got back there.Yeah Dennis, so I spent a couple of weeks here. Obviously, doing a lot of reporting, going to Donbass. There was a lot of anticipation that an invasion may happen, but as weeks started to wear on, I think people generally sort of...2022-03-0112 minProfiles in HavokHollie McKayMy guest this week was Hollie McKay. Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas. She has written for Coffee or Die, the Wall Street Journal and many other publications where she has garnered a slew of foreign press and humanitarian awards for her writing. Today, I spoke with her about Afghanistan. She was in Mazar-e Sharif when it fell to the Taliban, she was evacuated by the Taliban to the Uzbek...2022-02-151h 30Battleline PodcastThe TRUTH on the ground in Afghanistan with Hollie McKayHollie McKay is a national bureau correspondent, human rights journalist, and global risk specialist. She frequently reports on affairs in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, and Myanmar from on the ground. Her work has been seen on Fox News. Additionally, she is an ambassador for Burnt Children Relief, who you can visit at http://helpbcrf.com . Her book "Only Cry for the Living: Memos From Inside the ISIS Battlefield" is available now, and her upcoming coffee table book "Afghanistan: The End of the US Footprint and the Rise of the Taliban Rule" with photographs taken by Jake Simkin...2022-02-141h 37
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Ukraine: Weekend Update with Hollie McKay from KyivOK. Here we go. Another dispatch, this time from Ukraine, with Hollie McKay. Hollie, where are you right now?I'm currently in the capital of Ukraine, which is Kyiv.Geez, well that's a little bit different from Kabul. How long have you been there?I can't remember because I I've been in Albania for the past week before this. Then I came I guess a week ago.This is right in the middle of a period where negotiations and diplomacy between the US and Russia are at a peak around the...2022-02-0711 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayWars for Oil+ War Crimes: Would the U.S. still invade Iraq today?“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” – Sun Tzu, Chinese General/Military Strategist/PhilosopherThe Swedish oil company Lundin Energy's executives have been under investigation for war crimes since 2010. Last November, Swedish prosecutors finally brought charges against the company's chairman and CEO for "complicity in war crimes committed by the Sudanese army and its allies in southern Sudan from 1999 to 2003."Lundin Energy (then Lundin Oil) began exploring in East/Central Africa more than 20 years ago, even as a vicious civil war raged. Specifically, the prosecution alleges that company executives request...2022-01-2712 min
Mike DropLiving Amongst the Taliban with Hollie McKay | Mike Drop Episode 81Shop https://www.mikeritlandco.com for Performance Dog Food, Treats, Apparel & more!
Hollie McKay is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years where she focused on warfare, terrorism, and crimes against humanity.
Hollie also saw an unfathomably important part of US History: America hastily withdrawing troops out of Afghanistan. Hollie McKay went behind the enemy lines, to live amongst them, and see the culture and changes that came as the Taliban rapidly took over the country. Hollie talks me through daily life...2022-01-212h 26
Mike DropEpisode 81: Living Amongst the Taliban with Hollie McKayShop https://www.mikeritlandco.com (https://www.mikeritlandco.com) for Performance Dog Food, Treats, Apparel & more!Hollie McKay is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years where she focused on warfare, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. Hollie also saw an unfathomably important part of US History: America hastily withdrawing troops out of Afghanistan. Hollie McKay went behind the enemy lines, to live amongst them, and see the culture and changes that came as the Taliban rapidly took over the country. Hollie talks m...2022-01-212h 33
Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast by Kyle ThompsonHOLLIE MCKAY | Living Under Taliban Control in Afghanistan (Ep. 270)In this episode, we welcome Hollie McKay back to the show. Hollie is a journalist, war correspondent, humanitarian, and bestselling author of the book Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield. She just returned home to the United States after spending the last several months in Afghanistan living under Taliban control. In this interview, we discuss what it was like on the ground when the Taliban took over Afghanistan, how she stayed under the radar during the takeover, why she fled the country only to come back quickly thereafter, how close she felt like she...2022-01-0455 min
The Freedom First Podcast#27 - Hollie McKay | Only Cry for the LivingEpisode 027 w/ @holliesmckay—Hollie McKay is an Australian born journalist who is a policy expert, correspondent, war crimes investigator, and best-selling author. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years where she focused on warfare, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. in 2021 she founded international geopolitical risk and social responsibility firm McKay Global. Her latest book, Only Cry for the Living: Memos From Inside the ISIS Battlefield, is now available.Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and di...2021-12-301h 09
The Kelsi Sheren Perspective#70 - Hollie McKayHollie Mckay joined the show this week to discuss what her life is like living in and out of war zones, covering some of the darkest our world has to offer. Hollie is a journalist and author who's written for publications like "Coffee or Die" and Wall Street Journal, her new book "Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield" is out now. Foreword by Jocko Willink.
@holliesmckay @helpbcrf @emergencyusa
https://www.amazon.ca/Only-Cry-for-the-Living/dp/1942549636
Watch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3opNURn
...2021-12-231h 11
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Perceptions of a War CorrespondentWelcome to another “Dispatches from Afghanistan” with Hollie McKay. Hollie is back in the US. This is a bit of a wrap up and I'm going to ask a few questions having to do with both the experience perspective on Afghanistan at this point. And, about being a war reporter in general. You ready for this one, Hollie?Let's do it.What is the biggest thing the American public believes about the war in Afghanistan that isn't true from your perspective?The biggest thing is that we tend to view the Taliban through the...2021-12-2322 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayReflections from Afghanistan: The Exit Interview with Hollie McKayWelcome to another episode of Dispatches from Afghanistan with Hollie McKay. This is a special one. We are welcoming Hollie back to the United States after four months in Afghanistan. We’re going to find out today how that experience went. First, welcome back Hollie.Thank you, thanks, thanks for your support.You've been here about a week now?Yeah, about that, yep.So, you know first question is of course how are you finding it back here as opposed to over there?It's always a little bit of an...2021-12-1433 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Part Two of Four Months In; Questions and Answers with Hollie McKayThis is part two of questions and answers with Hollie McKay from Kabul, Afghanistan.r.d.olsonWhat are some of the financial and economic hardships the Afghanistan civilians are currently experiencing?Well, that's a really loaded question. I think in every single sector there is just a huge economic and humanitarian crisis. One of the most flagrant is the health situation. In the health sector, most of the NGO's that were here were foreigners; and they all disappeared on August 15th when the Taliban came in. So now you have a situation where you have...2021-12-0713 min
Spies Like Us#1 - A Report from Kabul w/ Hollie McKayAs it has been over three months since the catastrophic withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Afghanistan, and with winter approaching for the Afghan people and the Taliban regime, Brandon and Mubin discuss what’s in store for the war-torn country. They also check in with war correspondent Hollie McKay for an on-the-ground report direct from Kabul as she discusses what life is like under Taliban rule and how western journalists like her are being treated. [FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA]TWITTER: https://twitter.com/SpiesPodINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/spiespod/*me...2021-11-3049 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayQ&A from Kabul. Three months into Taliban Rule, Hollie Continues to Answer More Questions from Internet UsersNovember 23, 2021 question and answer session with Hollie McKay in Afghanistan.The first question is from wissshyYour work is so important it feels so tense watching. How do you relax over there on your days off?It's always hard to relax because when I'm not out interviewing, I'm at home writing, researching, preparing, getting one story done, or preparing for something else. So, there isn't a lot of relaxation time. But I'm fortunate that I’m in a house with a couple of amazing local Afghans who work here and run the house. Th...2021-11-2911 min
Foreign Press Association USAReporting From Kabul with Hollie McKay #FPABriefingsFPA member Hollie McKay has been covering the transition in Afghanistan and shares her experiences of investigating crimes against humanity in a contested war zone and from inside Afghanistan and reports to members about the real situation after twenty years of Western intervention. Despite the gloomy foreboding, many of them justified, Hollie carries on reporting from within the Taliban state. Ian Williams, FPA president, moderates this briefing.2021-11-2459 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDISPATCHES FROM AFGHANISTAN: Special Convo with my combat photographer Jake Simkin“Good pictures. Tragedy and violence certainly make powerful images. It is what we get paid for. But there is a price extracted with every such frame: some of the emotion, the vulnerability, the empathy that makes us human, is lost every time the shutter is released.”- Greg MarinovichEditor’s Note: The audio track contains an in-depth conversation between Simpkin and Mckay. The recording is a mesmerizing 47-minute podcast.SOME HIGHLIGHTS BELOW:Today we are doing a special Substack audio with my photographer. It is Jake Simkin, my fellow Australian, who has...2021-11-1947 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Victims of U.S drone strike still have not received an apology, Taliban government luring tourists with glossy campaign and girls left behind battling depression“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”― VoltaireMonday marks three months since Kabul crumbled into the hands of the Taliban. It feels like a lifetime ago, but yesterday at the same time. The evening earlier – an especially sultry late summer night – my photographer Jake Simkin and I were working in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif when it fell at dizzying speed. We had just been out with some of the best-trained Afghan Special Forces, who assured us with great patriotism...2021-11-1212 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDISPATCHES FROM AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban Air Force, Life in the Korengal Valley Now and Female Taekwondo Stars Abandoned post US Departure“Never wash blood, with blood.”-Afghan ProverbAs the sun dips behind the towering, ancient rocks – spreading pinkish smears across the frozen sky – dozens of Taliban fighters pose for selfies. They’re poised in front of what is left of the Buddhas of Bamyan, which the Taliban blistered and blustered more than twenty years ago, much to the horror of the international community.The irony. Only now, the former insurgency – which stormed to Presidential Powers on August 15 – vow that they have no intention to erase history but rather protect the deep and abundant p...2021-11-1012 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDISPATCHES FROM AFGHANISTAN: BIRTH DEFECTS AMID ECONOMIC CRISIS, MMA FIGHTERS LEFT BEHIND AND THE ONGOING INJUSTICE OF GIRLS’ EDUCATION“Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.”― James Joyce, UlyssesThis week was predominated by hospital visits across Kabul. Thanks to the few international donors that have remained, children and victims of war and poverty have some semblance of adequate healthcare, although it is unclear how long such programs will be funded as Afghanistan falls from the twenty-four-hour news cycle.Nonetheless, I cannot stress what an honor it is to meet the hardworking medical professionals who have devoted their entire lives for years on-end to serve...2021-11-0411 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatch from Afghanistan: Hollie Answers a New Round of Questions from Instagram UsersThis dispatch will be answering questions that have been asked of Hollie on the Internet.esteban.j.nunezWhat are the primary concerns of everyday people? What are the main issues tribal leaders, government leaders, etc. are dealing with? Are the concerns of the leaders aligned with their people?I think at the end of the day, everybody is most concerned about the sort of the economic crisis and the humanitarian crisis that's really plaguing Afghanistan. Once the Taliban took over and the US left, all the aid was frozen, and so there...2021-11-0212 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Exclusive interview with an ISIS-K fighter to the “Mother of All Bombs” aftermathEditor’s Notes: A technical issue with the audio recording for this dispatch may cause it to cut off intermittently beginning at the 6:58 minute mark. Also, there is an additional link to a 52-minute podcast Hollie did with “The You Project” in Australia at the end of this edition.Dispatches from Afghanistan: Exclusive interview with an ISIS-K fighter to the “Mother of All Bombs” aftermath and latest on girls’ education“In 2001, Afghanistan was a totalitarian nightmare a land where girls could not go to school, where religious police roamed the streets, where women were publicly whipped, where...2021-10-2910 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Inside the mysterious Nuristan, a Taliban training camp and why Bowe Bergdahl is featured on a Khost billboard“Light will someday split you open; even if your life is now a cage.”― HafizThis week we traveled through Nangarhar, Kunar and the mysterious, hard-to-reach province of Nuristan. It truly is the land of light peppered with frozen hilltops and curious, kind faces emerging from the thick and untamed terrain.Indeed, getting there was no easy feat – entailing hours of spluttering through rocky mountain tracks, some steeped in snow and all of it coated in the unknown.My favorite moment in the off-grid adventure happened as we were hiking through the vall...2021-10-2511 min
The You Project#595 The Aussie Woman Living Under Taliban Rule - Hollie McKayThis episode is amazing and so is Hollie McKay. I can honestly say I have had no other conversation like this on TYP. Or off it. Ever. It starts out typically (a normal chat) but gets truly fascinating about a third of the way in. Hollie is a journalist, author, investigative reporter and former newspaper columnist and TV reporter, currently living and working in Afghanistan. Yes, Afghanistan. She is, in my opinion, extraordinarily brave (a woman living in a country under Taliban rule and putting herself in harm’s way) but I will warn you that parts of our conversation mi...2021-10-1652 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Why the Taliban won’t agree to international demands, the ongoing suicide training schools and plans to legalize the opium/heroin tradeDon’t put your hand in every hole, or a snake might bite you-Afghan ProverbEarly last week, I found myself becoming easily irritated, frustrated, even angry – and not quite able to figure out what was going on.And then it hit me.Weeks and weeks of being invisible almost every time I walked into an interview or waited outside a Ministry checkpoint takes a strange toll. I had, regrettably in many ways, somewhat accepted my place as a woman not to be seen under the deeply conservative Taliban rule.2021-10-1210 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKaySpecial Episode: Hollie Answers Questions About Afghanistan Asked by Instagram UsersThis time we are going to be answering questions about Afghanistan that were asked on Hollie's on her Instagram page. These questions were asked as part of a post for a giveaway of her book “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield”. This episode will answer questions picked from a list of forty -six that were asked. Hollie will answer them in her own words. Future episodes will answer more questions.xshooter58With the current younger generation of Afghans growing up outside of the Taliban influence how much chance is there for t...2021-10-1118 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: From opioid addicts in prison to extortion 17, how the Taliban ultimately won the war and what it is really like as a woman journalist working under the Taliban“Fly on, little wing.”-Jimi HendrixIt has been almost seven weeks since the Taliban stunningly took control of the Presidential Palace – and subsequently the entire country – and slowly life is returning to a new normal, except of course for girls’ education which sadly remains halted.In addition to that major injustice, is the crippling economy which I fear will have major repercussions on the safety and stability of Afghanistan.DISPATCH: NEWLY APPOINTED TALIBAN OFFICIAL CLAIMS ROLE IN EXTORTION 17 SHOOTDOWNIn a stuffy office covered with white-and-black Islamic Emirate of Afghani...2021-10-0613 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches: Being a Woman Journalist in AfghanistanHollie McKay’s introduction to the cultural minefields of the Fertile Crescent began in 2014 just after the Arab Spring when she literally covered a UN mission to remove land mines in Iraq, a mission first inspired by Princess Diana. Over the better part of a decade she covered the rise and fall of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and how it affected ordinary people, documented in her book “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield”. Hollie as known Afghanistan and its people for just as long. Change affects everyone it touches deeply. In this i...2021-10-0418 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Chasing the Supreme Leader and Visiting the Taliban birthplace, to the Freeze on Girls’ Education, Pakistan Tensions and Smuggling Routes“Surely, of all the wonders of the world, the horizon is the greatest.”– Freya Stark, explorerPerhaps one of the strangest realities since the Taliban takeover last month is that, unlike in years past where travel outside of Kabul was typically wrought with immense danger and often unthinkable, the whole country has seemingly opened up. The once unpaved roads ripe for kidnapping are open – albeit a danger in and of themselves – and yet I am able to traverse through the ancient ruins of Ghazni, the Taliban strongholds of Logar, the poppy fields of Helmand, and we even vi...2021-09-2912 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches: On the Ground in Western AfghanistanIn this dispatch, Hollie checks in for an interview. Listen to the audio.What’s the difference between Kabul and KandaharHollie compares the hustle and bustle of Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul with the more orderly atmosphere of the country’s second largest city of Kandahar. She describes “long grassy strips with Kandahari’s having picnics.” She also talks about the differences she encounters a a journalist in interviewing Taliban leadership in Kandahar versus Kabul.Spin BoldakWhile covering a humanitarian crisis on the Pakistani border, a crowd builds around Holli...2021-09-2407 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Driving down the most dangerous Afghan Road, U.S. kills kids in targeted strike, fake news, Panjshir women fighters and running government business from a mosque“May you rather die in fight, my son, than be disgraced before the enemy.”-Pashtun ProverbOh, Afghanistan. Still one of the most magical yet wounded parcels on the planet. It is a place where poppies grow wild and men in the mountains cradle guns like children. It’s a place where kites fly high, and everyone has a war story, even though most never chose to go to war.Welcome to a little more of Afghanistan after the cataclysmic fall. The band-aid over the bullet wound has been ripped off, and I hope s...2021-09-2215 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Panjshir and Poverty, the Return of Stoning and the Loss of Music“Whatever countries I conquer in the world, I would never forget your beautiful gardens. When I remember the summits of your beautiful mountains, I forget the greatness of the Delhi throne.”Ahmad Shah Durrani, Founder of the Afghan Empire, (1747-1773).It has been another whirlwind, heartbreaking and heart-rendering week documenting the “new epoch” that is Afghanistan. Yesterday marked one month since the Taliban took control of Kabul. While Afghans are some of the most resilient humans I have ever met, the state of the economy and the freefall into poverty is haunting to observe.While...2021-09-1713 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: From Protests to Panjshir, With a Taliban Suicide Squad and the War Wounded in Between“Our national unity is based on ensuring social justice.”-Ahmad Shah Massoud, Lion of PanjshirIt has been a wild week on the ground in Afghanistan, to say the least. It has been mayhem and madness, especially when it comes to the amount of misinformation I am seeing perpetuated across the mainstream media and social media. Images of fights that took place years ago, in countries that are not even Afghanistan, are being passed for fact and stories told three persons removed are also circulated without due diligence. It’s dizzying to wade throug...2021-09-1312 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayDispatches from Afghanistan: Returning to the Dungeon’s Lair“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”― Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban"You war reporters," one U.S. military contractor told me over dinner in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, a few nights ago. "You are a different breed."Certainly, there is something deeply twisted about trying to get back into a place where everybody who lives there is attempting desperately to flee. My photographer Jake and I sat restlessly for days inside the comforts of Afg...2021-09-0607 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayThe Moral Injury of Leaving Those We Love In Afghanistan Behind“Too much blood Too many tears shed Just how much before the madness turns our soul to dust Have you had enough?”-Joss Stone, Take Good CarePeople often ask me if I am ever scared working in hostile environments. The truth is, fear pales in comparison to the anxiety of what we have come to call moral injury. It's a gnawing in the pit of your stomach. It's the sleeplessness. It's the feeling that moments of levity are unacceptable; it's the sensation of being wasted and submerged in helplessness.It is the desp...2021-08-3007 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayExclusive: Top woman’s rights activist reveals Taliban taking girls into forced marriage“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”- Eleanor RooseveltFor almost all her adult life, my dear friend Fariha Easer has worked tirelessly not only to be the voice of embattled Afghan women but to be their vessel as well. She has roamed the volatile country and taken the podium wherever possible to bring the stories of Afghan women to light. Fariha takes it one step further and be a potent force for legal accountability and change.But the world i...2021-08-2304 min
Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast by Kyle Thompson222 – BOTCHING AFGHANISTAN | Hollie McKayIn this episode, we launch our series called Botching Afghanistan, where we give friends of the show the ability to give their brief thoughts on the situation currently going on in Afghanistan. There is no better place to start this series than with bestselling author, war correspondent, and humanitarian Hollie McKay. As of the release of this episode, Hollie is on the ground in Afghanistan with no way of escaping. This episode will give you a view from someone that actually watched the situation devolve on the ground in real time. Let’s get into it…
Episode notes and links: http...2021-08-1713 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayEpisode 10: THE BASICS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT INTERNATIONAL LAW“Why is the killing of a million a lesser crime than the killing of an individual?”— Raphael Lemkin, Polish lawyer best known for coining the word genocide The world of international law is a murky one with many contradictions and nuances. However, I hope that by addressing the fundamentals and the most frequently asked questions regarding its implementation, we can all get on the same page and delve a little deeper into these crimes and how/why they are perpetrated.WHAT DOES THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) DO?The ICC is design...2021-08-1308 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayEpisode 9 (Exclusive) Q+A: Minister Wael Al Hamdani, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Yemen to the United States speaks out on government corruption and what Biden needs to do to end the war“Spoken word poetry gives a traumatic experience humanity. People can look beyond the fact that there’s a massive war going on, but actually see the person.”- Amerah Saleh, Yemeni poet For more than six years, Yemen – already the poorest country in the Middle East – has been ravaged by a war between the Saudi-backed coalition and dislodged Yemen government and the Iran-supported Houthi insurgency that continues to control the capital, Sana'a.The United Nations has referred to Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis globally, leaving more than 80 percent of the 29 million people dependent on aid to...2021-08-1007 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayEpisode 8: WEEKLY WAR ROOM: CASES + CRISES + NUGGETS TO KNOW“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.”-Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S. Secretary of Defense 9 August 2021RAQQA STILL IN RUINSAlmost four years since the Syrian city of Raqqa, once deemed the “Caliphate Capital” was liberated from ISIS, the lives of survivors and returnees remains in rubble. According to a new report by humanitarian aid organization Save the Children, which estimates that between 270,000 and 330,000 people a...2021-08-0904 min
Dispatches with Hollie McKayEpisode 1: War Crimes and CriminalsWhat are war crimes? Crimes against humanity? Genocide? Crimes of Aggression? Unwrapping the complexities in easy speak.“There is a cyclone fence between ourselves and the slaughter and behind it, we hover in a calm protected world like netted fish, exactly like netted fish. It is either the beginning or the end of the world, and the choice is ourselves or nothing.”― Carolyn Forché, The Country Between UsWhy subscribe?The world is a beautiful, tragic, nuanced and profoundly complicated place. As a journalist and writer for more than fifteen years, I have...2021-07-2011 min
Kerwin Rae Podcast‘Real’ News | Hollie McKay | S2E11Hollie McKay, a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator, has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones, interviewing captured terrorists, as well as high-ranking government, military and intelligence officials from all sides. She has covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas of the world. In her time as a war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years, her exclusive and detailed interviews with a range of war victims surrounding the topics of torture, sex slavery, forced child jihadist training...2021-06-0151 minKerwin Rae Podcast‘Real’ News | Hollie McKay | S2E11Hollie McKay, a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator, has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones, interviewing captured terrorists, as well as high-ranking government, military and intelligence officials from all sides. She has covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas of the world. In her time as a war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years, her exclusive and detailed interviews with a range of war victims surrounding the topics of torture, sex slavery, forced child jihadist training...2021-06-0151 min
UNSTOPPABLE with Kerwin Rae‘Real’ News | Hollie McKay | S2E11Hollie McKay, a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator, has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones, interviewing captured terrorists, as well as high-ranking government, military and intelligence officials from all sides. She has covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas of the world. In her time as a war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years, her exclusive and detailed interviews with a range of war victims surrounding the topics of torture, sex slavery...2021-06-0151 min
Cleared HotEpisode 182 - Hollie McKayHollie McKay is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years where she focused on warfare, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas. Her globally-spanned coverage, in the form of thousands of print articles and essays, has included exclusive and detailed interviews with numerous captured...2021-05-242h 47
We Are LibertariansA Look Inside the ISIS Battlefield (Ft. Hollie McKay)Hollie McKay is the author of the recent book "Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield." Hollie is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years where she focused on warfare, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas. Her globally-spanned coverage, in the form of thousands...2021-05-1541 min
Starve the Ego Feed the SoulThere Are No Winners In War - Hollie McKayHollie McKay is a writer, journalist, and war crimes investigator. I first came across her work via the Jocko Willink Podcast and since hearing her speak about her new book "Only Cry For The Living" via that podcast I read more of her work and felt instantly compelled to get her on the show.Her depth of experience in war zones parallels the polarity of human experience. Painting pictures of the best and worst of our species. Our conversation revolves around compassion, understanding, asking the hard questions, and delving into being able to admit we are wrong. 2021-05-101h 17
Military History Inside OutWhy the battlefields of ISIS were so horrible with Hollie McKayWhy the battlefields of ISIS were so horrible with Hollie McKay Check out this book here https://amzn.to/2OJH1NJ Interview Timeline Hollie McKay is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. She has worked in many areas hit by political, humanitarian, and conflict crisis and has written numerous articles on these events. She recently published a…2021-04-131h 12
We Are LibertariansA Look Inside the ISIS Battlefield (Ft. Hollie McKay)Hollie McKay is the author of the recent book "Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield." Hollie is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years where she focused on warfare, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas. Her globally-spanned coverage, in the form of thousands...2021-04-0538 min
On The Run with Remso W. MartinezA Look Inside the ISIS Battlefield (Ft. Hollie McKay)
Hollie McKay is the author of the recent book "Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield." Hollie is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years where she focused on warfare, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas. Her globally-spanned coverage, in the form of...2021-04-0539 min