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PODCAST

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi

Keeping Afghanistan in the spotlight through the stories of its people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

society & culture politics

All Episodes

33:34

How the CIA Defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan |...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2026/04/03

Milton Bearden was the CIA officer tasked by Director William Casey in 1986 with using $1 billion and Stinger missiles to help drive Soviet forces out of Afghanistan, one of the most consequential covert operations of the Cold War.In this first part of a remarkable conversation, Bearden takes us inside the secret machinery of Operation Cyclone. He recounts how Washington shifted from simply "bleeding" the Soviets to pursuing outright victory, how the covert war was run through Pakistan's ISI, and

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40:16

Inside The Secret CIA Mission that Toppled the...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2026/03/08

Former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) and Team Alpha member Justin Sapp recounts his role in the clandestine CIA mission that landed behind Taliban lines immediately after 9/11. He describes working alongside General Dostum and later travelling to Bamiyan to meet Karim Khalili and help organise forces to retake the region.Justin details witnessing the aftermath of Taliban savagery against Hazara communities. After Team Alpha, he served multiple deployments in other theatres, and through

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32:22

Inside the Secret CIA Mission That Toppled the...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2026/02/16

Former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) and Team Alpha member Justin Sapp recounts his role in the clandestine CIA mission that landed behind Taliban lines immediately after 9/11. He describes working alongside General Dostum and later travelling to Bamiyan to meet Karim Khalili and help organise forces to retake the region.Justin details witnessing the aftermath of Taliban savagery against Hazara communities. After Team Alpha, he served multiple deployments in other theatres, and through

en

28:00

Inside the Secret CIA Mission That Toppled the...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2026/02/08

Former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) and Team Alpha member Justin Sapp recounts his role in the clandestine CIA mission that landed behind Taliban lines immediately after 9/11. He describes working alongside General Dostum and later travelling to Bamiyan to meet Karim Khalili and help organise forces to retake the region. Justin details witnessing the aftermath of Taliban savagery against Hazara communities. After Team Alpha, he served multiple deployments in other theatres, and through

en

1:02:45

Tom Tugendhat: The pain and costs of our defeat in...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2026/01/10

Tom Tugendhat is a British Member of Parliament and former Security Minister who served multiple tours in Afghanistan in various civilian and military capacities.In this exclusive interview, Tom speaks with unusual bluntness about the war’s outcome, rejecting euphemism and insisting that the West was decisively defeated. He argues that this was not the product of inevitability or fate, but of political choices, strategic incoherence, and a failure to take responsibility for loss. Alongside this

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47:13

Charlie Gammell: How I fell in love with Herat (E68)

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/12/20

Charlie Gammell is a former British diplomat, author and historian who has worked extensively in Afghanistan and Iran. Speaking fluent Farsi and Pashto, with Herati and Khosti accents, Charlie reflects on his time in Afghanistan, how he fell in love with Herat and its history, and why he wrote 'The Pearl of Khorasan: A History of Herat'.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat

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46:47

James Cowan: From Helmand to HALO - a British...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/11/29

James Cowan has seen Afghanistan at its most intense: the frozen, “medieval” Kabul he first stepped into after the Taliban’s fall in 2001, the brutal peak of the NATO campaign in Helmand, and the country’s stunning collapse two decades later. He later took on a very different mission as head of the Halo Trust, working to clear the country of the deadly remnants of its wars. In this interview, he retraces that journey — from fighting the Taliban on the front lines to now negotiating with them so his

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45:28

Al Carns: Afghanistan captures your soul

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/11/01

In this profoundly personal and powerful interview, the UK's Minister for the Armed Forces, Al Carns MP, tells his story of Afghanistan from the eyes of a soldier who fought there. Al recounts his first tour as a 26-year-old commando in the hellish frontline of Helmand, from the dust of Camp Bastion and countless relentless gun battles in different parts of the country. He shares harrowing near-death experiences and the heavy responsibility of leading men in combat, offering a raw reflection on war,

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57:39

Fred Smith: Songs, diplomacy and falling in love with...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/10/14

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 UruzganandThe 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

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57:17

Zalmay Khalilzad: My life, my story, my mission (From...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/09/27

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

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55:26

Zalmay Khalilzad: My life, my story, my mission (Part 1)

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/09/18

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

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50:33

Alexander Matheou: Afghanistan's humanitarian emergency

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/08/25

Alexander Matheou, Regional Director for Asia Pacific of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC). In this interview he unpacks the scale of Afghanistan’s humanitarian emergency. In the past year, over two million people have been forced back from Iran and Pakistan - returning to drought, collapsing livelihoods, and shrinking international aid. Matheou shares first-hand accounts from the borders, the daily struggles of returnees, and why long-term investment, not just

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40:05

Taliban anniversary special: Four years of madness |...

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/08/14

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📺

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1:00:11

Heidi Meyer: Time to recognise the Taliban?

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/08/04

Heidi Meyer is a former NATO, Pentagon, and US State Department official with over a decade of experience in Afghanistan, including time spent working inside the Arg Palace. In this interview, she shares candid reflections on her time in the country — from witnessing widespread corruption and travelling across Afghanistan, to whether the Taliban should be recognised, along with some weird and wonderful stories.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on

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48:56

Nathalie Paarlberg: A cultural history of Afghanistan

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/07/08

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

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41:47

Mary Beard: Taliban, women and lessons from history

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/06/12

In this exclusive and gripping interview, acclaimed historian Professor Mary Beard explores how the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan reflects enduring patterns of patriarchal control throughout history. Drawing on examples and stories of ancient Greek and Roman history, Professor Beard examines how societies have historically silenced women, excluded them from public life, and regulated their behaviour through coercion, custom, and control.Support the show: Leave stars,

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57:37

Pascal Maitre: Afghanistan through my lens

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/06/05

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

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42:04

David Tyson: A CIA spy's story in Afghanistan (Part 3)

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/05/18

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

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30:18

David Tyson: A CIA spy's story in Afghanistan (Part 2)

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/05/11

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

en

37:25

David Tyson: A CIA spy's story in Afghanistan (Part 1)

Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi ·

2025/05/03

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

en

73 results

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