How It Happened

This episode tells the previously unreported story of how a desperate attempt to stop Israel from annexing part of the occupied West Bank led to the most significant Middle East peace agreement in a generation.

Dive in: In the finale of our two-part season, Axios Middle East correspondent Barak Ravid tells national political correspondent Jonathan Swan how Trump's failure to make peace between the Israelis and Palestinians led to an unexpected success.

• In episode 1, we explored the dramatic collapse of Trump's plan to broker "the deal of the century." Listen here or on your favorite podcast provider.

In this episode, Axios Middle East correspondent Barak Ravid and national political correspondent Jonathan Swan explore the dramatic collapse of Donald Trump's plan to broker "the deal of the century" between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Dive in: In an exclusive interview, Trump tells Barak that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bears much of the blame. He also reveals that their supposed bromance is over, saying of Netanyahu: “F--k him.” 

• In part 2, hear how a surprise breakthrough emerged from the wreckage of Trump's peace plan: the Abraham Accords. Listen here or on your favorite podcast provider.

Axios’ Jonathan Swan is back with a sneak preview of How It Happened’s third season, arriving on Monday. Subscribe here.

Why it matters: With exclusive reporting, Swan and Axios’ Barak Ravid go behind the scenes on the gripping, chaotic events that led t0 the Abraham Accords — the deals between Israel and four Arab states that are changing the Middle East.

Go deeper:

• Trump blasts Netanyahu for disloyalty: "F**k him"
• Season 1: Off the Rails
• Season 2: The Next Astronauts

In part five of How it Happened: The Next Astronauts, Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer follows the Inspiration4 crew to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, 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.

Subscribe to How It Happened wherever you listen to podcasts.

• For more of Miriam Kramer's space reporting, subscribe to Axios Space.

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.

In part four of How it Happened: The Next Astronauts, 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 part three of How it Happened: The Next Astronauts, 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.

In part two of How it Happened: The Next Astronauts, 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.

In part one of How it Happened: The Next Astronauts, 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.

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 Sept. 15.

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.