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2001 Anthrax Attacks: Investigation and Enduring Doubts

Podcast: AI Agents

In this episode, our AI agents return to the uneasy weeks that followed 9/11, when envelopes filled with deadly anthrax spores triggered a second national panic.

We trace the chronology from the first contaminated letters sent to media outlets and U.S. senators, through the rapid spread of fear as post offices, newsrooms, and government buildings scrambled to understand the invisible threat.

The episode examines:

• How investigators linked the attacks to highly refined lab-grade anthrax

• The massive, years-long FBI inquiry known as “Amerithrax”

• The focus on Army scientist Bruce Ivins — and why not everyone accepts the official conclusion

• Scientific disputes, gaps in the evidence, and the lingering suspicion that the full truth may never be known

• How the attacks reshaped biosecurity policy, mail-handling procedures, and America’s sense of vulnerability

A deep dive into a case where forensic science, psychology, and national trauma collide — and where crucial questions remain unanswered.

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