How It Happened

National political correspondent Jonathan Swan tracks the unfolding of the Capitol insurrection on January 6, revealing what happened in the Senate and at the White House — and what it means. Swan brings listeners into the secure room where senators sheltered in place, heard remarks from both President Trump and President-Elect Biden, and deliberated how to resume the vote certification process. Swan also reports on the reaction inside the Trump administration, where officials were rapidly resigning, and the ones who remained were strenuously pressuring the President to discourage and disavow the mob of his supporters. Note: This episode contains some explicit language. Credits: This show is produced by Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is the executive producer. Additional reporting and fact checking by Zach Basu. Margaret Talev is managing editor of politics. Sara Kehaulani Goo is Axios’s executive editor. Sound design by Alex Sugiura and theme music by Michael Hanf. For more on this series and our sourcing, click here.

In this bonus story for How It Happened: Trump's Last Stand, Axios political correspondent Jonathan Swan details a botched attempt, made during President Trump's final days in office, to rapidly withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Trump desperately wanted ending America's longest war to be part of his legacy. Instead, it will be Joe Biden's. Nonetheless, in a recent interview with Swan, Trump took credit for Biden's announcement, insisting he set in motion a plan that could not be stopped. Swan provides listeners the full story of what Trump tried to do, how, and why it ultimately didn't happen. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you don't miss our second season coming later this year. Credits: This episode is produced by Amy Pedulla and Naomi Shavin. Dan Bobkoff is our executive producer. Mixing by Alex Sugiura. Theme music by Michael Hanf. Margaret Talev is Managing Editor of Politics. Sara Kehaulani Goo is Executive Editor. Additional writing, reporting and research by Zach Basu. Special thanks to Nuria Marquez Martinez, Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Jimmy Shelton, and to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei, and Roy Schwartz. Note: This episode has a brief moment of profanity

In How it Happened: The Next Astronauts, Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer follows the first space flight to orbit without professional astronauts. Kramer will take listeners inside the story of the Inspiration4 mission, which SpaceX aims to launch on September 15. The podcast will chronicle the selection of these four civilians and their training at SpaceX headquarters. Kramer will go behind the scenes, bringing listeners into conversations with the crew as they grapple with challenges, the risks inherent in space travel and preparing their families for the launch. The mission has high stakes for the crew and for SpaceX, but it's also pivotal for the industry and could influence the future of private space travel. First, in this prologue, Kramer brings listeners into the current moment for the space industry and why so much is riding on this particular mission. Credits: The Next Astronauts is reported and produced by Miriam Kramer, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is Executive Producer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Fact checking and research by Jacob Knutson. Alison Snyder is a managing editor at Axios and Sara Kehaulani Goo is Executive Editor. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer traces how a multi-day orbital mission to space without professional astronauts came together in just a matter of weeks. Kramer takes listeners back to February of 2021, to a press call where SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made a stunning announcement. She brings listeners into her conversations with billionaire benefactor and mission commander Jared Isaacman to learn how he commissioned and designed the mission. She chronicles how the other three crew members were selected — one by raffle, one by contest, and one as an ambassador for her employer — and how they felt watching the last crewed launch before their own. Credits: The Next Astronauts is reported and produced by Miriam Kramer, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is Executive Producer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Fact-checking and research by Jacob Knutson. Alison Snyder is a managing editor at Axios and Sara Kehaulani Goo is Executive Editor. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer unpacks who historically has been able to go to space and why the selection of Inspiration4 crew members Sian Proctor and Hayley Arceneaux is a break from the status quo. Kramer shares what she asked Elon Musk in 2020 as the Dragon capsule flew humans for the first time on the same day of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests — and how he answered. She learns Proctor's story, from her birth in Guam where her father was a contractor for the Apollo 11 mission to becoming a NASA astronaut finalist and to her chance to make history as the first Black female pilot of a spacecraft. Kramer also explores Arceneaux's story, told by Hayley and her mother, of Hayley overcoming childhood cancer, becoming a physician assistant for the hospital that treated her and getting the opportunity to be the first person in space with a prosthesis. Credits: The Next Astronauts is reported and produced by Miriam Kramer, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is Executive Producer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Fact-checking and research by Jacob Knutson. Alison Snyder is a managing editor at Axios and Sara Kehaulani Goo is Executive Editor. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer goes inside SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, to see the factory floor, the Inspiration4 crew's training regimen and how this mission fits into SpaceX's broader goals. Kramer speaks with SpaceX senior leadership and tours the facility, culminating in a chance to see a brand new bubble window built specifically for the Inspiration4 crew. She gets to sit in on the crew training in a cockpit simulator and learn about the various scenarios they are learning to anticipate. She also peers inside the Dragon capsule simulator — a mock-up of the capsule they'll fly in — and hears the crew's testimony of a harrowing 30-hour simulation of their mission as the capstone of their training. Credits: The Next Astronauts is reported and produced by Miriam Kramer, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is Executive Producer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Fact-checking and research by Jacob Knutson. Alison Snyder is a managing editor at Axios and Sara Kehaulani Goo is executive editor. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer learns how the Inspiration4 crew is grappling with risk, something every company in the space industry and all astronauts must confront. Kramer speaks with the crew, the parent of a crew member, and a former NASA safety expert about how memories of the Challenger explosion have shaped the way the space industry prepares astronauts for risk. In conversations with crew members Jared Isaacman and Chris Sembroski and with their spouses, Kramer explores how uniquely challenging it is for the parents of young children to prepare their families for a mission to space. Kramer travels to Bozeman, Montana to watch the Inspiration4 crew fly in fighter jets over the course of a festive weekend, intended to bring the crew's families together, where they all celebrated the upcoming launch and confronted the reality of its approach. Credits: The Next Astronauts is reported and produced by Miriam Kramer, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is Executive Producer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Fact-checking and research by Jacob Knutson. Alison Snyder is a managing editor at Axios and Sara Kehaulani Goo is executive editor. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer follows the Inspiration4 crew to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. to cover their launch and catches up with each of them after their return. Kramer takes listeners to the press center at the Kennedy Space Center and inside of a pre-launch press conference with the four civilian astronauts the day before launch. Kramer reports on the launch from on the ground and analyzes the livestream hosted by SpaceX, including the abrupt termination of real-time access to the crew once they reached orbit. She tracks the crew during their three days in orbit, their high-risk descent back through the Earth's atmosphere, and what the safety and success of the mission means for the entire industry going forward. Credits: The Next Astronauts is reported and produced by Miriam Kramer, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is Executive Producer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Fact-checking and research by Jacob Knutson. Alison Snyder is a managing editor at Axios and Sara Kehaulani Goo is executive editor. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

Axios’ Jonathan Swan is back with a sneak preview of How It Happened’s third season, coming later this month. With exclusive reporting, Swan and Axios’ Barak Ravid tell us the surprising story of the Abraham Accords — the deal between Israel and four Arab states which is changing the Middle East.

After Donald Trump’s peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians failed, there was a desperate attempt by the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates to stop Israel from annexing part of the occupied West Bank. That effort led to the most significant Middle East peace agreement in a generation. With exclusive reporting, Axios Middle East correspondent Barak Ravid tells national political correspondent Jonathan Swan what led to Trump’s success and its effects.  Note: This episode contains some explicit language. Credits: The senior producer is Ariana Gharib Lee. The senior editor is Ted Robbins. Dan Bobkoff is the executive producer. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the editor-in-chief. Our managing editors include Alison Snyder and Margaret Talev. Dave Lawler is the world editor. Sound design and mixing by Jeanne Montalvo and Alex Sugiura. Our series theme music is by Michael Hanf. Fact checking by Jacob Knutson.

Axios Middle East correspondent Barak Ravid and national political correspondent Jonathan Swan tell how Donald Trump’s grand plan to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians was doomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to compromise and a series of bizarre choices that alienated the Palestinians. Through exclusive reporting and a new interview with Trump and others closely involved, Ravid also reveals that the supposed bromance between Trump and Netanyahu is a myth. When Ravid asked Trump, the former president said about Netanyahu, “F--k him.”  Note: This episode contains some explicit language. Credits: The senior producer is Ariana Gharib Lee. The senior editor is Ted Robbins. Dan Bobkoff is the executive producer. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the editor-in-chief. Our managing editors include Alison Snyder and Margaret Talev. Dave Lawler is the world editor. Sound design and mixing by Jeanne Montalvo and Alex Sugiura. Our series theme music is by Michael Hanf. Fact checking by Jacob Knutson.

In How it Happened: Putin's Invasion, Axios World editor Dave Lawler curates the best of Axios' reporting and analysis on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, explaining how the conflict played out in slow motion across eight years and then suddenly escalated. Lawler will share insights from a career covering global affairs and dozens of interviews with experts and high ranking officials about how Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power and how the autocrat has wielded it. The podcast will also feature Jonathan Swan, Axios national reporter and host of the first season of How It Happened, speaking about his exclusive interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Reporters and editors from across the Axios newsroom including Sara Fischer, Emily Peck and Margaret Talev will unpack how this conflict is playing out in the media and on social media and why it's so hard to push back against Putin and Russia. The podcast will break down what happened on the ground in the early hours of February 24, 2022 in Ukraine and how this war is changing the world around us in real time. Listen now to the trailer and subscribe to hear the new season when it launches on Mar. 5, 2022.

In part one of How it Happened: Putin's Invasion, Axios world editor Dave Lawler presents reporting and analysis from the Axios newsroom on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Lawler shares insights from a career covering global affairs and dozens of interviews with experts and high ranking officials about how Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power and how the autocrat has wielded it. The podcast also features Jonathan Swan, Axios national reporter and host of the first season of How It Happened, speaking about his exclusive Axios on HBO interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Credits: Putin's Invasion was reported by Dave Lawler in collaboration with the Axios newsroom and produced by Naomi Shavin with help from Sabeena Singhani. Julia Redpath is executive producer. Alison Snyder is the series editor. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Additional mixing by Jayk Cherry. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

In part two of How it Happened: Putin's Invasion, Axios world editor Dave Lawler explains how Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine catalyzed a chain of events that are reshaping our world. Lawler is joined by Axios managing editor Margaret Talev to discuss President Biden's decades of political experience with Russia and the sanctions the U.S. and Europe have brought against the country. Energy and climate reporter Andrew Freedman explains why it's so hard for the West to cut ties with Russia when it comes to energy, and why the Biden administration chose to do so even if it would send gas prices soaring. Credits: Putin's Invasion was reported by Dave Lawler in collaboration with the Axios newsroom and produced by Naomi Shavin with help from Sabeena Singhani. Julia Redpath is executive producer. Alison Snyder is the series editor. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Additional mixing by Jayk Cherry. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.

In part three of How It Happened: Putin’s Invasion, Axios World editor Dave Lawler examines a difficult reality — that the only clear path to peace in Ukraine is a deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but the red lines drawn by the Russian and Ukrainian leaders do not intersect. This episode features interviews with Zelensky’s chief of staff, a member of Parliament in his party, two close observers of Putin and the Kremlin, and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine with decades of diplomatic experience in the region.  Across these interviews, Lawler tries to determine the end games for Putin and Zelensky and the likeliest scenarios for how this conflict could end.  Credits: This episode of Putin's Invasion was reported by Dave Lawler in collaboration with the Axios newsroom and produced by Naomi Shavin. Barak Ravid contributed reporting. Julia Redpath is executive producer. Alison Snyder is the series editor. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief. Ben O'Brien is the mix engineer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.