Today's episode looks back at the Beslan school siege, which took place 15 years ago this month, and claimed the lives of 334 innocent people, including 186 children. Journalist Mike Eckel, now with Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, then a correspondent with The Associated Press, reported from on the ground in Beslan during the school siege. He kindly came on this show to talk about the experience, and look back at perhaps the worst terrorist attack in Russian history. Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mike_eckel Read his work at RFE/RL: www.rferl.org/author/96267.html Read some of his reports from September 2004 for AP: https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/2004/09-03/132_militants_may_be_holding_1_000_hos.html https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2004/sep/02/militants-hold-hundreds-at-russian-school-hostage/ https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/militants-at-school-release-at-least-31-hostages/ Other journalists remember Beslan: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/09/04/the-siege-through-journalists-eyes Support this very podcast here: www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock Music: Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7s Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ Henrik Lundkvist, “Kalinka on a Balalaika,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH5znHQ9QRY