Afghanistan
The Other Side of the Coin
Nearly 200 years ago, an East India Company agent in Central Asia started collecting ancient coins. Now kept in the British Museum, they reveal a time when Afghanistan was wealthy, cosmopolitan and culturally confident.
The Night the Drones Returned
Pakistan says its drone strikes are targeting militants operating from Afghan soil. On the ground, nearly all strikes have hit homes, villages and markets, killing children and other civilians — and fueling anger and a retaliatory cycle that diplomacy has so far failed to break.
An Afghan Woman’s Ascent of Everest
A survivor of a 2014 Taliban ambush in Afghanistan who feigned death to live, River Ahmad fled the country in 2019 and is now climbing Everest for the women and girls back home — and for her brother, who died by suicide.
Iran’s Afghan Refugees Flee Homeward
As Afghans travel across the Islam Qala border crossing, they are trading one form of desperation for another, leaving behind discrimination and economic survival in Iran for a homeland that offers little hope, especially for women and girls.
Pakistan’s Strikes Tear Open the Afghan Sky
Pakistan’s strikes on Afghanistan are spreading from contested border areas to the cities, and Afghans are uniting in response.
What the Epstein Files Reveal About How Elites Operate
Sarah Chayes and Emran Feroz join Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast to discuss the Epstein files, transnational networks of kleptocracy from Afghanistan to Washington, and what elites do when they think we’re not watching.
How an Afghan Commando Brought America’s Shadow War to Washington
An elite Afghan commando trained by the CIA ended up opening fire near the White House. An interview with a former national security adviser under the Afghan republic lays bare the parallel state the U.S. built and then abandoned, which helped to forge the shooter’s path.