Listen: Podcast with Lionel Gelber Prize-Winning Author Scott Shane

New York Times reporter Scott Shane’s latest book, Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone, won the prestigious Lionel Gelber Prize this week.

A US "Predator" drone passes overhead at a forward operating base near Kandahar on January 1, 2009.  France is the fourth-largest contributor to the international military force in Afghanistan with more than 3,000 troops deployed around Kabul and in forward bases in the east of the country.   AFP PHOTO/Joel SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)
A US "Predator" drone passes overhead at a forward operating base near Kandahar on January 1, 2009. France is the fourth-largest contributor to the international military force in Afghanistan with more than 3,000 troops deployed around Kabul and in forward bases in the east of the country. AFP PHOTO/Joel SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)
A US "Predator" drone passes overhead at a forward operating base near Kandahar on January 1, 2009. France is the fourth-largest contributor to the international military force in Afghanistan with more than 3,000 troops deployed around Kabul and in forward bases in the east of the country. AFP PHOTO/Joel SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

In 2011, American officials tracked U.S.-born al Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki as he drove through a rural part of Yemen, then killed him with a drone strike. Two weeks later, the U.S. killed his 16-year-old son in a separate strike.

In 2011, American officials tracked U.S.-born al Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki as he drove through a rural part of Yemen, then killed him with a drone strike. Two weeks later, the U.S. killed his 16-year-old son in a separate strike.

The elder Awlaki’s death marked the first time the U.S. government targeted an American citizen with a drone, without ever pressing charges or offering him access to a trial. New York Times reporter Scott Shane’s latest book, Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone, which won the prestigious Lionel Gelber Prize this week, explores Awlaki’s path from a moderate American cleric to a terrorist mastermind, and how U.S. President Barack Obama used American spy agencies to track and kill him.

Each year, Foreign Policy partners with the the Lionel Gelber Foundation and the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto to highlight the finalists’ works.

Shane will give a speech at the Munk School on Mar. 29. In the meantime, listen to this podcast, where Director of the Fellowships in Global Journalism at the Munk School Rob Steiner interviews him about his new book.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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