Inside the minds and chat rooms of IS

Available for over a year

Rukmini Callimachi is an American journalist who has to get into the minds of members of so-called IS and win their trust. She's uncovered many secrets about the group for the New York Times, and has even been fat-shamed by IS members. She tells Emily Webb about her career and how it all started when she covered Christmas tree lighting ceremonies in small-town America. When Mats Steen was a young child in Oslo, he was diagnosed with a degenerative disease. His parents Robert and Trude were told it was unlikely he would survive long into his 20s. The physical restraints of his illness meant that Mats spent more and more time at home, playing online games, and he had a whole other persona in the game World of Warcraft. When he died at the age of 25, his parents, who had worried that his life had been lonely and friendless, were amazed when many of his close friends from the game started to gather for his funeral. Image: Rukmini Callimachi Credit: Andy Mills