Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi

Fred Smith is an Australian diplomat, author, singer and songwriter who served alongside Australian forces in Uruzgan, as well as in Kabul. He didn’t just take his diplomatic skills to the country, but his guitar too. He wrote songs and held concerts there. He has released two albums, Dust of Uruzgan and The Sparrows of Kabul, and two books of the same titles, which tell the stories behind his songs, as well as his personal memoirs and reflections.In this interview, he shares his story and reflections on the complexities of Afghanistan, particularly Uruzgan — how he came to love the place despite his initial reservations about the campaign before accepting the assignment, and the grief he feels over what has happened to the country since.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Fred Smith & Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born to a mid-level government official and an illiterate mother in Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Zalmay Khalilzad has a remarkable and, in many ways, inspiring story. As a teenager, he travelled to America through a cultural exchange programme in 1996 – an experience that had a profound, life-changing impact on him. After completing a PhD at the University of Chicago, he joined the US government and rose through the ranks, working for Reagan, the Bushes and Trump. The 9/11 attacks and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan gave him the opportunity to become America’s all-powerful fixer in the country. He later served as US ambassador to Iraq, then to the United Nations, and returned to Afghanistan, where he negotiated America’s withdrawal deal with the Taliban – a deal that paved the way for the group’s recapture of power in August 2021.In this tell-all interview, he recounts his story. Part 1 covers his childhood, teenage years in Kabul, his falling in love with America, and his path into the US government.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 15 August 2021, the Taliban captured Kabul, reclaiming power after 20 years of war. Despite promises to the contrary, they have imposed severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, ethnic minorities, free speech, and all civil liberties.Marking the fourth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power, Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, shares her reflections and thoughts on the future.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nathalie Paarlberg is an art historian and the Chief Operating Officer at Turquoise Mountain. In this interview, she takes us on a journey through Afghanistan’s rich cultural history and art, as well as sharing her personal story of living and working in the country for several years. Her book, 'Je Ogen Zijn Mooi' (Your Eyes Are Beautiful), has been published in the Netherlands.Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friendsCover photo: © Jeanette Huisman📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pascal Maitre is a world-renowned French photojournalist whose decades of work from around the world, particularly in Afghanistan, have produced some of the most iconic images of people, war, culture, nature, and more.He first travelled to Afghanistan in the 1970s and has since covered the Soviet–Afghan War and the Mujahideen civil war; he travelled through Bamiyan and Hazarajat, capturing breathtaking photos of the Buddhas in 1996, and spent two weeks with Ahmad Shah Massoud, during which he took some of his most iconic photographs. His lens documented the looting of the Kabul Museum in July 2000, the Pashtun communities of the east, Kabul in 2018, Buzkashi in northern Afghanistan, and life under the Taliban after the group's return in August 2021.In this interview he shares his and the stories behind his photographs. Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Tyson is a retired CIA officer who served for 25 years, much of it in Central and South Asia. He cultivated relationships with anti-Taliban leaders and commanders in northern Afghanistan prior to the 9/11 attacks, making multiple trips into the country and meeting figures such as Ahmad Shah Massoud. A member of Team Alpha - whose story was told in a previous episode with Toby Harnden - David played a key role in organising forces behind Taliban lines. After taking Mazar-i-Sharif in November 2001, he faced a violent uprising of over 400 al-Qaeda fighters in Qala-i-Jangi, where he had to fight for his life. For his actions, he was awarded the CIA’s Distinguished Intelligence Cross, the Agency’s highest award for valour, as well as the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal.In this interview he shares his story in detail. In this Part 2, we carry on his story from Part 1, David's pre 9/11 relationships and engagements with anti-Taliban commanders, joining Team Alpha, joining General Dostum behind Taliban line, the capture of Mazar-i-Sharif and...Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Rodric Braithwaite is a former British diplomat and author who served as ambassador to the Soviet Union. He has written extensively on Russia and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, including in his acclaimed book Afgantsy.In this interview, he offers a rare insight into how Soviet leaders came to the decision to invade Afghanistan, why the country became strategically significant, the role of communism and Afghan leadership at the time, how the Soviet intervention differed from the British and later NATO-led invasions, the legacies they left behind, witnessing the fall of the Soviet Union and more.📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.