SHAPIRO: Mohammed al-Refai was a 22-year-old refugee from Syria. In 2015, millions of Syrians fled the civil war in their country. Mohammed's family went across the border to Jordan, but something strange happened.

As Syria's economy collapsed during the long civil war ... Hi, Greg. GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hey, Ari. SHAPIRO: What is Captagon? MYRE: Well, Captagon was created as a legal pharmaceutical drug in Germany in the 1960s. It gives users a rush of energy.

The brutal regime of Bashar al Assad fell over the weekend with dizzying speed. Syrians within the country and around the world burst into celebration. Now, the rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al Sham, or HTS has to govern.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Steven Heydemann, Middle East Studies director at Smith College, about how Syria might avoid replicating Arab countries that are worse off after overthrowing dictators.

As Syria's economy collapsed during the long ... GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hey, Ari. SHAPIRO: What is Captagon? MYRE: Well, Captagon was created as a legal pharmaceutical drug in Germany in the 1960s.

HEYDEMANN: Well, I think Syria faces significant headwinds, and they arise in part from the identity of HTS as an Islamist movement. SHAPIRO ... Thank you very much, Ari. Transcript provided ...

Travis Timmerman, a U.S. citizen found wandering barefoot in Damascus after being freed from a Syrian prison following the fall of the Assad regime, was handed over to U.S. forces in Syria on Friday.

Senior U.S. diplomats on Friday held their first formal talks in Damascus with the leader of the Islamist rebels who overthrew the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a discussion they later characterized as “good” and “thorough.”

Geir O. Pedersen’s comments come as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham officials, Syria’s de facto leaders, work to attain international legitimacy.

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Syrians in the United States are grappling with the implications of the end of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and what it means for Syria’s future.

Last week, after 50 years of tyranny and repression, the government of Bashar Assad fell in Syria. It fell thanks ... reality is dangerous and stupid. Ben Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard ...