Series 2 - Episode 5

Terror in the State of Denmark - Conversations from a List of Resolutes

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of religious extremism, radicalization and plots of violence or terrorism. *

Joined by Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen, hosts Nicci and Tim discuss a counterterrorism investigation from Denmark. In this case, linguistic analysis proved vital in unraveling implied meanings in text messages between a young man of Kurdish background, suspected of planning to travel to Syria to join ISIS, and another man, suspected of trying to recruit him.

Through an analysis of 192 written chat messages from March 2015 between the two individuals, Tanya shares how themes of money, battle and war, and urgency in planning played a role in advancing a Danish police investigation. Listen to discover more.

For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

• https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
• https://www.helpguide.org/find-help

Production Team: Angela Walker, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Angela Walker

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Mark Round, Peter Kiddle

With our thanks to Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen

Resources

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen’s home page: Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen - Research Profile