I am a huge fan of the podcast This American Life.
A few months ago, I decided to go back to the beginning (1995!) and listen to every single episode in order. I’m now up to 2004, and I feel like I am experiencing time travel.
One episode that I particularly enjoyed was this one, from January 2003. Hyder Akbar is a 17 year old boy living in the US when his father decides to move back to his homeland, Afghanistan. Akbar visits him and is given extremely intimate access to some very powerful and influential individuals in the country through his father.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/230/come-back-to-afghanistan/act-one-1
There is also a follow up episode one year later, which I also enjoyed.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/254/teenage-embed-part-two
When I looked up the links for this post, I noticed that they recorded two more updates in 2011 and 2012, respectively, but I haven’t gotten there yet.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/445/ten-years-in/act-one-2
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/481/this-week/act-one-4
It seems that Hyder turned his stories into a book in 2005. I haven’t read it, but I imagine it is a fascinating account of what it was like in Afghanistan at the turn of the century through the eyes of a young man who straddles two very different cultures.
