In this episode of VICE Inside, as trials tied to the brutal Assad regime begin this week, Shane Smith sits down with former VICE correspondent Isobel Yeung to look back on their reporting in Syria and the experience of working there.
They revisit moments from Aleppo and Damascus, where active frontlines and everyday life existed side by side — and reflect on the strange disconnect between what was happening on the ground and what people were allowed to say on camera.
Isobel shares what it was like reporting under constant oversight, navigating government minders, and trying to capture reality inside a system built to control the narrative — along with what didn’t make it into the final cuts.
A conversation about memory, perspective, and the lasting impact of reporting from a place defined by conflict and contradiction.
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Chapters
00:00 Welcome, Isobel Yeung
01:00 Shane Smith Reunites with Isobel and the Madagascar Dynamite Fishing
03:24 Confronting an Afghan MP on Marital Rape Laws
04:44 Inside Aleppo Under Mortar Fire and the Surreal Russian Beach
07:57 The Government Minder Who Lived in 1984 and Hated the Regime
10:00 Syrian Morning TV with Unanswered Questions
14:30 Maintaining Vulnerability as a War Correspondent
16:31 How Parenthood Changes Everything for Journalists
17:40 The Addiction to War Reporting
18:51 Isobel Yeung Vice’s Biggest Star
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VICE Inside Syria | Looking Back ft. Isobel Yeung
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