An essential treatise on 9/11, Blindspot traces the origin of al-Qaeda back to the Soviet–Afghan war and the U.S. funding of Afghan freedom fighters. Host Jim O'Grady examines history as a complicated narrative of cause and effect, yet he zooms in on critical moments so we can see the dominoes as they fall. The tale begins in 1990, when a man named El-Sayyid Nosair assassinated a rabbi in midtown Manhattan. This event, like so many depicted in the podcast, predicts a growing radicalization against Western democracies. O'Grady methodically details the players and the plots—including an Egyptian security expert who goes undercover for the FBI, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and a fire in Manila—that lead to Osama bin Laden. Blindspot is an incredible achievement. However chaotic and unpredictable 9/11 felt in real time, the series shows that the United States’ misinterpretation of intelligence and involvement in foreign wars had been building up for a while.