6 episodes

This story began with a mysterious gun in an airport bathroom and led to a German military officer facing trial on terrorism charges. It’s a story about national identity and reckoning, mirroring the story of Germany itself. And years later, it’s still unfolding — raising a question that democracies across the world are waking up to: What happens when the threat is coming from within?

See all episodes of Day X at nytimes.com/dayx

Day X The New York Times

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

This story began with a mysterious gun in an airport bathroom and led to a German military officer facing trial on terrorism charges. It’s a story about national identity and reckoning, mirroring the story of Germany itself. And years later, it’s still unfolding — raising a question that democracies across the world are waking up to: What happens when the threat is coming from within?

See all episodes of Day X at nytimes.com/dayx

    Day X, Part 1: Shadow Army?

    Day X, Part 1: Shadow Army?

    The mysterious story of a German soldier, a faked Syrian identity and a loaded gun in an airport bathroom cracks the door open to a network of far-right extremists inside the German military and the police. They are preparing for the day democracy collapses — a day they call Day X. But just how dangerous are they?

    See all episodes of Day X at nytimes.com/dayx

    • 33 min
    Day X, Part 2: In the Stomach

    Day X, Part 2: In the Stomach

    Franco A. visited the workplaces of two of his alleged targets. We meet both targets to hear the stories of two Germanies: One a beacon of liberal democracy that has worked to overcome its Nazi past, the other a place where that past is attracting new recruits.

    Today, we explore how Germany's history is informing the fight for the country’s future.

    • 37 min
    Day X, Part 3: Blind Spot 2.0

    Day X, Part 3: Blind Spot 2.0

    Franco A. is not the only far-right extremist in Germany discovered by chance. For over a decade, 10 murders in the country, including nine victims who were immigrants, went unsolved. The neo-Nazi group responsible was discovered only when a bank robbery went wrong.

    In this episode, we ask: Why has a country that spent decades atoning for its Nazi past so often failed to confront far-right extremism?

    • 38 min
    Day X, Part 4: Franco A.

    Day X, Part 4: Franco A.

    We meet Franco A., an officer in the German military who lived a double life as a Syrian refugee and stands accused of plotting an act of terrorism to bring down the German government.

    • 37 min
    Day X, Part 5: Defensive Democracy

    Day X, Part 5: Defensive Democracy

    In this episode, we get answers on just how bad the problem of far-right infiltration in the German military and police really is — and how Germany is trying to address it.

    We learn about Germany's "defensive democracy," which was designed after World War II to protect the country against threats from the inside. One of those threats, according to some German officials, is the Alternative for Germany, widely known by its German initials AfD. We meet intelligence officials who have put parts of the party under formal surveillance.

    • 38 min
    Introducing: Day X

    Introducing: Day X

    What starts with a mysterious gun in an airport bathroom and a fake refugee identity opens the door to a nationwide network of far-right extremists inside Germany’s military and police. It’s a story about a changing national identity — and the backlash against it — raising a question that democracies across the world are waking up to: What happens when the threat is coming from within?

    • 2 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
1.5K Ratings

1.5K Ratings

Honors historian ,

Remarkable and relevant

I’m a historian, with a double Ph.D. In American and German 20th century history. This podcast is incredibly well done, deeply researched, grippingly narrated (music is also terrific), and chillingly relevant to both Germans and Americans … today, right now. Listen!

Kimileo ,

Gripping

Seriously, once you start this pod, you won’t be able to stop. Scary real world we live in, isn’t it!?

Masonic Home ,

Garbage

NYT is garbage!

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