The Debrief

Dubai Eye 103.8

The Debrief with Dane is your daily dose of entertainment and information! The show brings you the day's magazine news, quirky stories from around the world, and big interviews with fascinating guests. Catch up with the latest news updates from the ARN news centre, while enjoying a mix of entertainment and insightful conversations.

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100 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes100

Newest first

Thursday · 20 min
Guido De Wilde: 3,333 Kilometres and a Fight for Life
The Debrief is joined by Guido De Wilde, fresh off an extraordinary journey across Europe. Over 25 days, Guido and 14 other riders cycled 3,333 kilometres from Barcelona to Paris, climbing more than 54,000 metres along the way, all in support of the Al Jalila Foundation’s cancer research and patient care programmes. Guido takes the team inside what a day on the road really looked like, and how tough this challenge was on his body. He also goes into the deeply personal side to this challenge: a stage 4 colon cancer survivor himself, Guido reflects on what cycling gave him when so much felt out of his control. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tuesday · 30 min
Dr. Christine Marie: Going Undercover to Take Down a Cult Leader
The Debrief is joined by Dr. Christine Marie, cult psychology expert and author, who did something almost no one would dare: she went undercover inside a dangerous cult to help bring down its leader. Christine reveals how she worked her way into the FLDS group led by Sam Bateman, winning the trust of its members under the cover of filming a documentary. She breaks down the psychological control tactics Bateman used to hold his followers in his grip, and how she quietly gathered the evidence and confessions that would eventually condemn him. It all builds to the tense, high-stakes day the FBI finally moved in, and Christine takes the team right into the heart of it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 27 · 24 min
Finding The Lost Plane That Changed Aviation Forever
The Debrief is joined by Russ Matthews and Idee Matthews Montijo to tell the extraordinary story of how they found the Pan Am Clipper Endeavor aircraft, 74 years after it crashed and sank off the coast of Puerto Rico. Russ and Idee trace the years of painstaking archival detective work that led them to the site, and the moment they finally found the wreck. They detail the unforgettable legacy left by this tragedy that reshaped air travel forever. The safety briefing every passenger hears before takeoff exists in part because of what happened that Friday in 1952, which means every person who has ever flown has been touched by this plane, and almost none of them know it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 23 · 48 min
Edna Cowell Martin: Growing Up With Ted Bundy
The Debrief is joined by Edna Cowell Martin, cousin of infamous serial killer Ted Bundy, and Megan Atkinson, who helped her tell her story in print. Edna takes the team back to a childhood spent alongside a boy nobody suspected, and answers the question that has followed her for decades: were there ever glimpses of what lay beneath? She describes what it was like to remain close to him while the murders were happening, how the family absorbed the news when the truth finally broke, and what passed between them in their final exchanges before he escaped prison for the second time. Megan explains how the writing process forced Edna to revisit trauma she had buried for years, and what it revealed about the toll it had taken on her whole life. It leaves one unsettling question hanging over the whole conversation: if someone close to you was living a double life, would you really see it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 22 · 25 min
Dr. Adeel Khalid: How Rescue Drones Find What Humans Can't
The Debrief is joined by Professor of Aerospace Engineering Dr. Adeel Khalid, to unpack the technology that recently found two lost hikers in a matter of hours, a search that could have taken human teams days. Dr. Khalid explains exactly what he has been building, and what one of these drones is actually seeing when it sweeps over a forest below. The team uncovers the accuracy difference between these machines and old school rescue tech like helicopters or dogs. They also find out how long these machines can stay airborne, and just how much ground they can cover on a single flight. Then the conversation lifts off into the future: what these life-saving systems will look like five to ten years from now, and how many more people they might bring home. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 14 · 42 min
CeCe Moore: How Your DNA Can Catch a Killer
The Debrief is joined by CeCe Moore, the pioneering genetic genealogist who helped turn a hobbyist's tool into one of the most powerful weapons in modern policing. CeCe explains what those consumer DNA tests are really telling you, how far back your family tree can genuinely be traced, and why some parts of the world are far better represented in the databases than others. The conversation digs into the hurdles of unpicking someone's ancestry, and how the same technology that reunites adoptees with birth parents is now cracking cold cases that sat untouched for decades. Then comes the harder question: where does personal privacy end and the pursuit of justice begin, when a distant cousin's spit sample can put a killer in handcuffs? CeCe also looks ahead to where AI takes this next, and reflects on how a career spent inside other people's DNA has reshaped the way she thinks about family, identity and truth itself. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 13 · 35 min
Dr. Steven Hassan: Inside the Mind of a Mind Control Survivor
The Debrief is joined by Dr. Steven Hassan, one of the world's leading experts on cults, mind control and undue influence, and a man who knows the subject from the inside. Recruited as a young college student, Steven spent years inside a high-control group before getting out and dedicating his life to understanding how it happened. He explains exactly how skilled recruiters operate, the small steps that pull a person in long before they realise it, and why the people most vulnerable are almost never who you would expect. The conversation turns to the long road back, what it takes to rebuild a life, relationships, and learn to trust your own thoughts again. And with the internet doing the recruiting now, Steven has a warning about how much easier it has become - especially for the younger generation to disappear into one of these groups. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 9 · 37 min
Alex Baber: AI Versus Two of America’s Darkest Crimes
The Debrief is joined by independent cold-case investigator Alex Baber, who believes he may have unmasked the man behind two of America’s most infamous unsolved crimes: the Black Dahlia murder and the Zodiac Killer. Alex makes the extraordinary claim that both were the work of the same man, and explains how he ended up chasing two cases that have haunted investigators for decades. Using AI, historical records, handwriting analysis and a fresh crack at one of the Zodiac’s shortest and most mysterious codes, he lays out how he arrived at his suspect. Alex even reveals the chilling moment he approached the son of the man he believes did it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 3 · 30 min
Paul Brodsky: The Hidden Cables That Run the World
The Debrief is joined by Paul Brodsky, a senior analyst at TeleGeography, to pull back the curtain on the physical guts of the internet. Paul explains how the whole system actually works, what people really mean when they talk about “the cloud,” and what happens in those split seconds when you send a simple message. The team gets into how much of the world’s internet traffic runs through undersea cables, what those cables actually look like - especially m just how startlingly thin they are for something the entire planet depends on. Then comes the big one: what happens when it all goes down? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 3 · 36 min
The Empire State Climbers and GTA 6 Breaking Every Record
The Debrief is joined by Michael Pachter, one of the most respected analysts in the video games industry, as the countdown to GTA 6 hits fever pitch ahead of its November 19 launch. Michael breaks down just how enormous this release is in pure financial terms, why Rockstar has leaned so heavily into a digital-first approach, and whether fans should brace for the console shortages already being predicted. Plus, the team unpacks the stunt that stopped New York in its tracks, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus scaling the Empire State Building! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 2 · 30 min
Roman Axelrod: Inside the World’s First Smart Contact Lens
The Debrief is joined by Roman Axelrod, founder of Dubai-based deep tech company XPANCEO, which is building what could be the world’s first fully integrated smart contact lens. Roman explains how the lens can merge augmented reality, health monitoring and biosensing into a single device that sits directly on your eye. The team digs into who this technology is actually for, from continuous glucose tracking for diabetics to hands-free data for surgeons and pilots, and how something so small manages to power itself. And with tech that literally touches the eye, the conversation turns to the big question hanging over it all: what does this mean for privacy, and are we ready for it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 30 · 38 min
Paul Holes: Cracking the Golden State Killer Case
The Debrief is joined by Paul Holes, the investigator who helped crack one of the most notorious cold cases in American history. Paul takes the team inside the world of cold case work, where an investigation actually begins, and what Hollywood consistently gets wrong about it. He explains how he became involved in the Golden State Killer case and why the killer managed to stay hidden in plain sight for so long. Then he reveals how a brand new kind of forensic science finally caught up with him, and what really happened on the day it all came crashing down. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 23 · 34 min
Barbara Butcher: Inside the Life of a Death Investigator
The Debrief is joined by Barbara Butcher, who spent more than two decades as a death investigator in New York City, witnessing thousands of crime scenes over her career. Barbara explains exactly what the job involves, how someone ends up in that line of work, and how she mentally prepared to walk into a crime scene. She opens up about the difficulty of delivering devastating news to strangers, and even the times she clashed with police and homicide detectives. It left Dane and Shaan asking: what does our fascination with death really say about us? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 18 · 28 min
If Money Was No Object: The Truth About Franchises
The Debrief tackles a tempting question: if money was no object, which franchise would you open, and could you actually make it work? Dane and Shaan dig into the surprising rules, hidden costs and wildly different definitions of "ownership" behind some of the world's biggest names. McDonald's owner-operator Paulina Kostecki joins from Detroit to reveal what it actually costs to run one, what owner really means in her world, the truth about Hamburger University, and the biggest misconceptions people have about life behind the golden arches. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 16 · 23 min
Sima Taparia: Compromise, Adjust and Get Off the Dating Apps!
The Debrief is joined by Sima Taparia, the celebrated Indian matchmaker known to millions from her hit Netflix show. Sima shares the inner workings of her business, why she believes dating apps are failing a generation, and where she sees the matchmaking industry heading next. The conversation digs into how young people are finding love today and even her famous philosophy of "compromise and adjust”. What role does romance play in a modern relationship? Sima aunty says, important, but not as front-and-centre as you think! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 15 · 28 min
SpaceX Goes Public: Would You Live on Mars?
The Debrief breaks down SpaceX's record-breaking Nasdaq debut, the biggest IPO in history, and what it actually means. Why did this IPO matter so much? What does SpaceX even do beyond rockets? The conversation then drifts off-planet, into what living on Mars or the Moon would really involve: shelter and infrastructure, water, oxygen and food, power systems, and even what sunrise and sunset would look like in outer space. It all comes down to one question the hosts put to themselves: would they actually do it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 13 · 25 min
Kshitish Koorapaty: One Pack, Seven Summits
It all kicks off with the big question: if you were in a survival show, would you pick fire, hunting, or shelter? The Debrief is joined by UAE-based explorer Kshitish Koorapaty, who is on a mission to climb the legendary Seven Summits. With three already conquered, Elbrus, Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro, Kshitish takes the team through his journeys, the training behind each climb, and what it really takes to reach the top. He opens up his adventure pack to reveal the essentials he carries (he picked fire!), even challenging Dane and Shaan to lift it! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 11 · 21 min
Is Technology Improving Sport, or Ruining It?
The Debrief is joined by Segolene Stephenson to explore how Hawk-Eye Innovations and the technology behind it has transformed the world of sport. Segolene breaks down how the technology actually works, the precision it delivers, and the ways it has reshaped officiating across tennis, football, UFC and beyond. They even cover controversies in how the tech has slowed down sports and watching experiences. Dane and Shaan also dig into the odd ways the next generation is changing the way sport is watched, followed and consumed… See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 10 · 25 min
Mark Blundell: Le Mans, F1 and Beyond
The Debrief is joined by Le Mans winner Mark Blundell ahead of the 2026 race. Mark takes the team through what it feels like to win the iconic 24-hour race, the physical and mental demands of endurance racing, and even all the drama behind his time in Formula 1. With the current F1 season in full swing, Mark also shares his take on this year's grid and where the championship is headed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 9 · 27 min
The World Cup is Almost Here!
The Debrief digs into the FIFA World Cup and why things haven't exactly gone to plan even before kickoff - from chaos to the complaints, and the new rules shaking up the tournament. The team get into the chants: Dane’s flying the flag for England while Sana has been handed the unenviable task of rooting for the USA! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.