{"podcast":{"title":"The Daily Heretic","slug":"the-daily-heretic-7574275","podcast_index_feed_id":7574275,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/OTEP5129963398","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/7f545bee-9fa0-11f0-a599-47a70b15bc27/image/1f6e9d9b1618c8bcba18f3b943bb5e15.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"On the Edge Productions Ltd.","episode_count":1033,"summary":"All the best clips to remind you of some of you favourite episodes. Catch the full episodes here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2NiFf7pGB4pqkvbrnS1b9X?si=a682a36c0f6841bd","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T22:17:15.550962+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-daily-heretic-7574275"},"episode":{"title":"Stella Assange - They Tried to BREAK Julian Assange in Belmarsh Prison","slug":"stella-assange-they-tried-to-break-julian-assange-in-belmarsh-prison","published_at":"2026-06-30T15:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-daily-heretic-7574275/stella-assange-they-tried-to-break-julian-assange-in-belmarsh-prison","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-daily-heretic-7574275","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/OTEP9345663864.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/OTEP9345663864.mp3","summary":"Before Julian Assange was released, Stella Assange feared that Britain’s Belmarsh Prison was slowly destroying her husband physically and psychologically. In this emotional and deeply unsettling conversation, Stella explains why she believed the WikiLeaks founder was being systematically broken by years of confinement, isolation, and legal pressure. 👉 Subscribe to The Daily Heretic now for fearless conversations: https://www.youtube.com/@hereticsclips/videos This podcast was recorded BEFORE Julian Assange’s release and reflects the fears, uncertainty, and political tension surrounding his imprisonment and extradition battle at that time. Stella Assange joins Andrew Gold to discuss the brutal reality of Julian Assange’s years inside Belmarsh Prison, Britain’s highest-security prison, where the WikiLeaks founder remained while fighting extradition to the United States. In this focused discussion, Stella reflects on the physical and emotional toll imprisonment was taking on Julian as his legal battle intensified. Why did supporters fear his health was deteriorating so rapidly? And how did a publisher and journalist end up housed alongside some of Britain’s most dangerous criminals? She explores the years of pressure Julian faced after publishing classified military and diplomatic documents through WikiLeaks. Why did governments react so aggressively to the release of information exposing war crimes, surveillance programs, and secret diplomatic activity? And why did so many journalists and civil liberties groups view his imprisonment as a major threat to press freedom? The conversation also examines the psychological burden of isolation and uncertainty. Stella opens up about visiting Julian inside prison, raising their children largely separated from their father, and tryi…","meta_description":"Before Julian Assange was released, Stella Assange feared that Britain’s Belmarsh Prison was slowly destroying her husband physically and psychologically.…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":579,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-daily-heretic-7574275/episodes/stella-assange-they-tried-to-break-julian-assange-in-belmarsh-prison/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-daily-heretic-7574275/stella-assange-they-tried-to-break-julian-assange-in-belmarsh-prison.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}