Mubin Shaikh was “bit by the jihadi bug” when he was 19. Born and raised in Canada, he traveled to Pakistan to study Islam — and there found himself captivated by a group of extremists who encouraged him to embrace a violent and skewed interpretation of the religion. In his talk, Shaikh shares the story of how he was de-radicalized, and eventually became an undercover counterterrorism operative for the CIA.

TEDArchive presents previously unpublished talks from TED conferences.
Enjoy this unedited talk by Mubin Shaikh.
Filmed at TEDWomen in 2015