The State We're In, 30 July 2011. After a British man was taken hostage in Colombia, he becomes friends with one of his captors, surprising everyone - including himself - and we meet a Norwegian filmmaker who embedded himself with the Taliban to put (he says) a human face on them. Finally, some of your letters.

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My kidnapper, my friend
In 2003, Mark Henderson was taken hostage while trekking in the Colombian mountains. What had started as an innocent tourist adventure, ended up as 101 terrifying days of captivity. Yet Mark eventually was eventually freed and made his way back home to the UK where the unlikeliest of friendships awaited him.

Eleven months after his release Mark got an email. It was from one of his kidnappers in Colombia. What followed was a five year correspondence that eventually drew Mark and his fellow backpacker hostages back to Colombia for what turned out to be a surprisingly touching reunion.
 
Video - excerpt from Mark Henderson's film My Kidnapper - the hostages meet with the families that have been displaced from the mountains where they were held. As one of them tells her story, it becomes obvious they've met her before:

 

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"Behind the masks"
Norwegian journalist Paul Refsdal embedded himself with the Taliban as they carried out insurgency operations. He talks about how he wanted to counter received media images and put a human face on them. Show host Jonathan Groubert asks him why.

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