The Afghanistan Project Podcast

Welcome to Episode 158 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. My guest is Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder and president of War Child Canada and War Child USA. We talk about her longstanding work in Afghanistan, the issues that have faced children in the country over years of conflict, and other c...

Welcome to Episode 157 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I've got a familiar returning guest, #AfghanEvac president Shawn VanDiver. This time, he's giving updates on all the latest for Afghans, including the 9-month extension for Camp As Sayliyah, and the recent entry of...

Welcome to Episode 156 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. I'm excited to bring back Leslie Merriman, founder of nonprofit Our Culture is Giving, to talk about the last five years of support to Afghans following the Taliban takeover. Lovely Leslie dives into the hard topics - mental h...

Welcome to Episode 155 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. I'm excited to introduce Andres Caceres-Solari, a former U.S. Marine, to discuss his unheeded intelligence warnings about the Taliban's resurgence while at NATO HQ. We also address major shortcomings in our Afghanistan mis...

Welcome to Episode 154 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Lt. Gen. John Bradley talks about how the Lamia Afghan Foundation started with his wife Jan's incredible efforts to send needed items to Afghans overseas. We talk about how the organization grew and what it continues to do in...

Welcome to Episode 153 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Colin Smith returns to The Afghanistan Project Podcast to discuss the latest report from the U.N. Sanctions Monitoring Team on terror growth inside Afghanistan and around the world. About Colin:Colin Smith is the UK Threat Assessm...

Welcome to Episode 152 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today’s guest is retired U.S. Army Colonel Justin Sapp, a member of Team Alpha, the CIA’s original eight-man team of analysts, linguists, warriors, and tribal experts who went into Afghanistan to defeat al Qaeda in the days immedi...

Welcome to Episode 152 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, my guests are Sonia Norton, Director of Advocacy at No One Left Behind, and Daniel Salazar, a refugee and protection policy advisor at Global Refuge. We discuss Congressional efforts to restore Temporary Protected Status fo...

Welcome to Episode 151 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, we're talking about the ongoing effort to find permanency for members of the Female Tactical Platoon, Afghan women who served with their male Afghan National Army Special Operations Command counterparts on vital SOF mis...

Welcome to Episode 150 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I've got a familiar returning guest, #AfghanEvac president Shawn VanDiver. This time, we're talking about who we each were before the withdrawal from Afghanistan took place, and who we became as our allies needed as...

Welcome to Episode 149 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today starts a short series where we'll be diving into the withdrawal from Afghanistan, five years later. My first guest is Jon Singleton, a veteran whose work with Task Force Pineapple was instrumental in helping Afghans as t...

Welcome to Episode 147 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I am joined by Mashal Sherullah, who has spent years advocating for Afghan allies awaiting processing for the Special Immigrant Visa and U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in Pakistan. We discuss the plight of these Afghans wh...

Welcome to Episode 146 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I am joined by Robert Billard, an Afghanistan veteran and content writer at Military.com. We chat about his Afghanistan deployment as an IA in 2014-15, about his recent article on controversial Gen. Raziq, and about the str...

Welcome to Episode 145 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I am joined by Katharina Ritz, Head of the Afghanistan Delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Katharina just returned from Kabul, and talks about the various periods in which she has worked in Afghanis...

Welcome to Episode 144 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, former ANA Major Yaser Yarghal talks about his upbringing and education in Afghanistan, and how he made his way to the Afghan National Military Academy. We talk about his service, and his participation in Ranger School and...

Welcome to Episode 143 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I've got a familiar returning guest, #AfghanEvac president Shawn VanDiver. We talk about not only the Afghans at Camp As Sayliyah whom the administration was recently considering sending to the Democratic Republic of th...

Welcome to Episode 142 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, Gold Star Father Mark Schmitz shares the story of his son, Marine Corps Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, who perished on August 26, 2021 alongside 12 U.S. service members and 160 Afghans. Mark shares the story of The Freedom 1...

Welcome to Episode 141 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, Ellen Smith, the founder and Executive Director of Keeping Our Promise, brings a great news story about being able to reunite an Afghan ally and his wife with the baby they were forced to leave behind when making their way...

Welcome to Episode 140 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I'm talking about a project that I began over a year ago to preserve the stories of the volunteers, advocates, and other supporters who have been part of the effort to keep Afghans safe and supported in the leadup to an...

Welcome to Episode 139 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I'm thrilled to bring on two incredible experts on the expansion of terrorism in the Taliban's Afghanistan, Colin Smith, and Graham Aikin. We discuss how terror groups have found safe haven in the Taliban's Afgh...

Welcome to Episode 138 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce Spencer Sullivan and Abdulhaq Sodais, coauthors of 'Not Our Problem: The True Story of an Afghan Refugee, an American Promise, and the World Between Them.' We talk about the deployment...

Welcome to Episode 137 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I'm thrilled to bring back Daniel Salazar and Sonia Norton for a discussion on updates for Afghans in various U.S. programs and pathways, and the long-awaited discussion on how to write, pitch, and promote an op-ed on A...

Welcome to Episode 136 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, I'm thrilled to host Kieran Ramsey, Chief Investigative Officer at Global Reach. Kieran talks about the support Global Reach provides to the families of those wrongfully detained by overseas regimes, and discusses the T...

Welcome to Episode 135 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. This is the third segment in a special sub-series of the podcast in conjunction with The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living. Today’s guests are three Green Berets from ODA 595, Mark Nutsch, Paul Evans, and Mike Elmore, and three...

Welcome to Episode 134 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. This is the second segment in a special sub-series of the podcast in conjunction with The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living. Today’s guests are three Green Berets from ODA 595, Mark Nutsch, Paul Evans, and Mike Elmore, and three...