The Afghanistan Project Podcast

Welcome to Episode 123 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 guest is veteran Joe Burdick, who has spent much of the last four and a half years making sure that we remember the sacrifices of the 13 U.S. service members who died at Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport o...

Welcome to Episode 122 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 guest is incredible filmmaker Brishkay Ahmed, who is discussing her documentary film, 'In the Room,' which tells the stories of five tremendous Afghan women whose activism has forced them to flee their homeland....

Welcome to Episode 121 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 guest is James Seddon, who has joined me for a third time to dive into another article from Center for Immigration Studies' Phillip Linderman that casts aspersions on Republicans who support Afghans, belittles the po...

Welcome to Episode 120 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 Canadian veteran Nathan Kehler, discussing Project Athena, his effort to map participation in the Afghan war through a living map. Nathan talks about his deployment to Kandahar in 2009, and how his participati...

Welcome to Episode 119 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 director Ankita Kumar, discussing her new documentary, 'Far From Home,' which tells the story of an Afghan family living in India, where they seek refugee status and a path to rebuilding a life. Ankita...

Welcome to Episode 118 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 guest is Jenn Noonkester, a retired senior Air Force NCO who has been helping to shepherd multiple U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants, and some Afghan Christians, to safet...

Welcome to Episode 117 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 guest is Sarina Faizy, formerly a Provincial Council member in Kandahar province. Sarina talks about her journey to being elected to the Provincial Council, the cultural difficulties of performing her job, and traveling...

Welcome to a special mini-episode 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 co-founder of Massachusetts Afghan Alliance John Moses and #afghanevac president Shawn VanDiver. We discuss the inaccuracies and concerns raised by a piece by "Civis Legatus" in the Benjam...

Welcome to Episode 116 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 guest is #afghanevac president Shawn VanDiver providing an overarching update on the various programs supporting Afghan SIV and USRAP applicants and the legislative efforts underway to support our allies. About Shawn Van...

Welcome to "The case that broke my heart," a special series within The Afghanistan Project Podcast where volunteers, advocates, and veterans speak out about the case or cases that had the greatest impact on them over the course of four years (sometimes more, rarely less) of supporting Afghan allies. Today's episode features Geeta Bakshi of nonprofit Famil. Geeta talks about being int...

Welcome to Episode 115 of The Afghanistan Project, where wecover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, my guest is Fahim Abed, an investigations editor with Lighthouse Reports and 2023 Nieman fellow at Harvard. Fahim was a reporter for The New York Times in Afghanistan until the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021....

Welcome to Episode 114 of The Afghanistan Project, where wecover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, my guest is Dr. Amna Mehmood, a molecular biologist who has turned her skills to helping Afghans in their homeland and the diaspora. Dr. Mehmood recently conducted a survey of the impact of the Taliban’s internet ban, and sh...

Welcome to Episode 113 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 guest is Shabir Kabiri, who has in-depth understanding of the internet infrastructure inside Afghanistan. We discuss the growth of the internet inside Afghanistan during the past twenty years, and the likely scenario whi...

Welcome to Episode 112 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 guest is Mina Sharif, author of the new shortstory collection Your War, Our Lives. Mina discusses the book’s reception among Westerners,Afghans in the diaspora, and Afghans who remain in the Taliban’s Afghanistan. We tal...

Welcome to Episode 111 of The Afghanistan Project, where wecover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, my guest is Army veteran Rebekah Edmondson, CEO of NXT Mission, a nonprofit which serves Afghan women who were part of the elite Female Tactical Platoon. Rebekah talks about how the FTP came to exist, and what she witnessed...

Welcome to Episode 110 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war inAfghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal. Today, my guest Andrew Walker, who has been helping Afghans in a volunteer capacity for several years. Andy talks about the case of a 16-year ANASOC commando whom he helped find safety, who was recently forced to depart Pakistan an...

Welcome to "The case that broke my heart," a special series within The Afghanistan Project Podcast where volunteers, advocates, and veterans speak out about the case or cases that had the greatest impact on them over the course of four years (sometimes more, rarely less) of supporting Afghan allies. Today's episode features No One Left Behind Executive Director Andrew Sullivan. Andre...

Welcome to Episode 109 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 have three incredible guests, Hosna Jalil, AnniePforzheimer, and Jason Howk, joining me to talk about the gender apartheid and terrorist regime in place inside Afghanistan four years following the collapse of the former Af...

Welcome to "The case that broke my heart," a special series within The Afghanistan Project Podcast where volunteers, advocates, and veterans speak out about the case or cases that had the greatest impact on them over the course of four years (sometimes more, rarely less) of supporting Afghan allies. Today's episode features TAPP host Beth Bailey talking about the cases that were most...

Welcome to Episode 108 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 guest is Army veteran Mikael Cook, my formerco-host and the author of Life and Death at Abbey Gate. Mikael and I finally tell the story of how this podcast cameto be – which includes some embarrassing tears (mine), and t...

Welcome to "The case that broke my heart," a special series within The Afghanistan Project Podcast where volunteers, advocates, and veterans speak out about the case or cases that had the greatest impact on them over the course of four years (sometimes more, rarely less) of supporting Afghan allies. Today's episode features Megan, who asked to be identified by first name only.

Welcome to Episode 107 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 Chris Robinson of the Last DeploymentProject to bring listeners back to the immediate consequences of the Taliban takeover for Americans and Afghans converging on Hamid Karzai InternationalAirport between Augu...

Welcome to "The case that broke my heart," a special series within The Afghanistan Project Podcast where volunteers, advocates, and veterans speak out about the case or cases that had the greatest impact on them over the course of four years (sometimes more, rarely less) of supporting Afghan allies. Today's episode features John Moses of the Massachusetts Afghan Alliance and Kate Kov...

Welcome to Episode 106 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 guest is Geeta Bakshi, founder of nonprofit Familand 14-year veteran of the CIA. Geeta and I talk about the CIA-trained National Strike Units,more commonly known as the Zero Units, and the challenges they faced as our mo...

Welcome to a special episode 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 guest is Sonia Norton, the Director of Advocacyfor nonprofit No One Left Behind. Sonia delivers details about the two bipartisan acts that have been put forward in the last week by House and Senate, and how they wou...