Kabul Falling: Recent Episodes
Brazen
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban regained control of Kabul, nearly 20 years after Coalition Forces had cast them out of power. The takeover sent shockwaves throughout the country and the international community. It forced thousands of Afghans to leave their old lives behind and embark on a hellish journey for survival.
In Kabul Falling, Afghans themselves tell you how it happened. You’ll hear how they maneuvered their way through panicked crowds; waded through sewage in a desperate attempt to get into the Kabul airport; withstood beatings and torture; and finally, if they were lucky, boarded a flight into the unknown. You’ll hear stories about big risks, close calls, and unexpected moments of kindness — or luck — that changed everything.
Kabul Falling is a Peabody nominated podcast that explores big questions: How does a war end, and who is accountable for the human wreckage left in its wake? How do those involved grapple with the aftermath of the fall and work to rebuild their lives?
Kabul Falling is a Project Brazen production. For more fearless storytelling, search for the Brazen channel on Apple Podcasts or visit brazen.fm, home to all our podcasts, documentaries and newsletters. At Brazen, we show you how the world really works – from espionage and corruption to deal-making and organised crime, we’ll take you inside stories from hidden worlds.
This week on Kabul Falling, we’re sharing a special preview of Spy Valley: An Engineer's Nuclear Betrayal. This new series uncovers Silicon Valley’s origins as a laboratory for espionage.
At the dawn of the hi-tech age, Moscow’s spies opened up shop in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. In this podcast, you’ll get to know the group of FBI spy hunters who assembled to stop them—and solve the case of a lifetime.
Hosted by national security journalist Zach Dorfman, Spy Valley will walk you through a maze of technology theft, double agents, and unbelievable events that put an American engineer at the center of it all.
There are new episodes of Spy Valley out now. To keep listening, search for Spy Valley: An Engineer's Nuclear Betrayal, wherever you get your podcasts.
To listen ad-free and get early access to new episodes, subscribe to Brazen+ in the Apple Podcasts app, or visit brazen.fm/plus to subscribe on other platforms.
This week on Kabul Falling, we’re sharing a special preview of the first episode of Ritually, a brand new Brazen podcast exploring what spirituality looks like for our secular world.
Join journalist-turned-guinea pig Nelufar Hedayat as she tries a new ritual in every episode. From sacred readings of Harry Potter to tarot cards, Nelufar dives in with the help of a different spiritual guide each week to see if these practices can actually make us feel better. In episode one, Nelufar struggles with patriarchal interpretations of Islam and decides to enlist the help of feminist spiritual practitioner Sarah Zaltash. She tries a new ritual to deepen her connection to Islam: following the daily call to prayer. It’s a practice that unites 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. But this version is different — radical, actually! — because it’s in a woman’s voice.
There are new episodes of Ritually out now. To keep listening, search for Ritually, wherever you get your podcasts. To listen ad-free and get early access to new episodes, subscribe to Brazen+ in the Apple Podcasts app or at brazen.fm/plus.
For more, visit ritually/fm.
This week on Kabul Falling, we’re sharing a special preview of the first episode of Gateway: Cocaine, Murder & Dirty Money in Europe, Project Brazen’s podcast that takes you inside the hidden world of cocaine.
In this six-part podcast series from Project Brazen, host Mitchell Prothero explores Europe’s cocaine crisis through the dramatic stories of cartel leaders, cops, journalists, and the victims caught in the middle. From RPG attacks on newspaper offices to the slaughter of entire families, the war on drugs has arrived on Europe’s shores. And a lot of people are making a lot of dirty money. Reporting from Antwerp and Amsterdam, Project Brazen goes deep inside this crazy under-reported story.
There are new episodes of Gateway out now. To keep listening, search for Gateway: Cocaine, Murder & Dirty Money in Europe, wherever you get your podcasts. To listen ad-free and get early access to new episodes, subscribe to Brazen+ in the Apple Podcasts app.
For more, visit brazen.fm/gateway.
Neha Wadekar, Associate Producer of Kabul Falling, speaks with Rahman, a former acting general in the Afghan army, and Carly Sparkes, operations manager at Azadi Charity, about what it’s like to leave behind the only life you’ve ever known and resettle in a foreign country to rebuild anew.
In this exclusive audio interview, Rahman talks about his high-profile military job, his last days fighting on the frontlines as the Taliban closed in, and his months living in hiding with his young children as they waited for assistance to escape. Carly Sparkes shares how the UK-based Azadi Charity helped Rahman’s family travel overland to a neighboring country before eventually settling into their new lives as refugees in Brazil.
Thanks for listening. You can find Kabul Falling on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.
For more from Kabul Falling, visit: www.kabulfalling.com
Make sure to subscribe to Brazen Presents for more – and, as always, you can follow Project Brazen’s latest reporting in our newsletter, Whale Hunting.
Neha Wadekar, Associate Producer of Kabul Falling, speaks with two Afghan women on their ongoing work in media – and the extreme dangers journalists face as they continue to report under the Taliban’s regime.
In this exclusive audio interview, Rukshana Media founder Zahra Joya talks about setting up the women-focused publication, and shares her own story of escaping Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. Shirin Yusofi, a Kabul-based journalist at Rukshana Media, shares her motivation for continuing to report from Kabul despite the risks – including terrifying close calls with Taliban enforcers.
Thanks for listening. You can find Kabul Falling on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.
For more from Kabul Falling, visit: www.kabulfalling.com
Make sure to subscribe to Brazen Presents for more – and, as always, you can follow Project Brazen’s latest reporting in our newsletter, Whale Hunting.
Lucy Woods, Managing Producer of Kabul Falling – Project Brazen’s series following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan – interviews an Afghan family torn apart by the chaos.
Hakim Shakib was separated from his wife Paimana, and his young daughters Neyo and Seto, in July 2021. In this bonus interview, the family charts the anxiety of their separation as Kabul fell to the Taliban – trapping Hakim, an employee at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs – in the city. The Shakibs describe the tireless work that went into reuniting them, the challenges of resettlement, and their fears and hopes for Afghanistan’s future.
Thanks for listening. You can find Kabul Falling on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure to subscribe to Brazen Presents for more – and, as always, you can follow Project Brazen’s latest reporting in our newsletter, Whale Hunting.
Siddhartha Mahanta sits down with composer Arson Fahim to chat about his soundtrack for Kabul Falling, the latest podcast from Project Brazen.
In this exclusive audio interview, recorded live at the PRX Podcast Garage in Boston, Arson talks about what drew him to the project, and what makes his connection to it—as an Afghan-born composer and musician—so personal and important.
He shares his own experiences of leaving Afghanistan just two weeks before the Taliban takeover last year, and how Afghan musicians around the world can use their craft as a form of resistance, ensuring that the nation’s music continues to flourish in difficult circumstances.
Thanks for listening. You can find Kabul Falling on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure to subscribe to Brazen Presents for more – and, as always, you can follow Project Brazen’s latest reporting in our newsletter, Whale Hunting.
In this episode, we catch up with Afghan refugees to hear about life after evacuation. How is the fall of Kabul still impacting them? Who do they feel is responsible for the Taliban takeover? What could have been done differently? You’ll hear how many Afghans feel abandoned as the world’s attention moves to Ukraine and the ensuing refugee crisis in Europe. Famine grips Afghanistan and the Taliban’s harsh reign faces little international scrutiny. But Afghans continue to fight: for their freedom, for the truth to be heard and for accountability from those who let them fall.
We want to hear from you. Please get in touch via our website, kabulfalling.com, where you can send a voice message, or tweet using hashtag #kabulfalling.
For a transcript of this episode and additional material, visit: https://www.kabulfalling.com
Correction: In this episode, we stated that an earthquake hit the provinces of Paktia and Khost in Afghanistan in June. This is an error. The earthquake occurred in the provinces of Paktika and Khost.
A young Taliban member, radicalized by the US invasion of Afghanistan, shares why he left social work and NGO employment to join the militant group. Obaidullah Baheer, a lecturer in transitional justice at the American University of Afghanistan and the grandson of a feared warlord, reflects on the possibility of reconciliation with the Taliban.
We want to hear from you. Please get in touch via our website, kabulfalling.com, where you can send a voice message, or tweet using hashtag #kabulfalling.
For a transcript of this episode and additional material, visit: https://www.kabulfalling.com
With the US Army and allied forces gone, Taliban fighters are consolidating control over Afghanistan. The regime’s leaders make assurances that there will be no retribution for their enemies, but the reality on the ground is different. With the help of journalist Danna Harman, Muhammad Javed Khan, who had worked for the Afghan government, reaches the Tajik border but must then turn around and make a last-minute journey back to Kunduz to retrieve a batch of passports. In order to escape, he must come face to face with the Taliban, members of whom had arrested and tortured him just weeks earlier.
We want to hear from you. Please get in touch via our website, kabulfalling.com, where you can send a voice message, or tweet using hashtag #kabulfalling.
For a transcript of this episode and additional material, visit: https://www.kabulfalling.com
With security now on high alert at the Kabul airport, it is nearly impossible for Afghans to fly out of the country to escape the Taliban takeover. Danna Harman, the journalist who profiled Rodaba Noori and her all-girls robotics team, comes up with a wild plan to evacuate the women to Tajikistan by bus, along with a group of female cyclists. Tajik journalist Anahita Saymidinova is waiting on the other side to receive them. But they have to work with the Taliban to bring the women out of Afghanistan and over the border — putting them face to face with the very men they’re afraid of. Meanwhile, Mohammed is turned away from one of the very last evacuation flights leaving Afghanistan and must say goodbye to his wife.
We want to hear from you. Please get in touch via our website, kabulfalling.com, where you can send a voice message, or tweet using hashtag #kabulfalling.
For a transcript of this episode and additional material, visit: https://www.kabulfalling.com
With the evacuation deadline looming, Afghans race to Kabul airport in hopes of getting on a flight and escaping the Taliban regime. With help from Jake, an ex-Marine Corps officer, Tariq and his family manage to get in and board their plane for evacuation, after spending a harrowing night outside in a desolate yard. Abdul and his family also make it out — just hours before a suicide bomber detonates his explosive belt, killing at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 members of the United States military. You’ll also hear from newlyweds Mohammed and Taara as they confront the possibility that they will be separated, as only Taara has the proper paperwork to flee Afghanistan and fly to the US.
We want to hear from you. Please get in touch via our website, kabulfalling.com, where you can send a voice message, or tweet using hashtag #kabulfalling.
For a transcript of this episode and additional material, visit: https://www.kabulfalling.com
As the US and NATO prepare to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by the deadline of August 31, the evacuation of Afghan allies and partners quickly spins out of the control of Western governments. There is chaos as desperate crowds try to enter the airport in Kabul, where final evacuation flights are departing. Those lucky enough to make it over the high cement walls wait for hours on the tarmac under the hot sun with no food or water. This includes Fatima Faizi, an Afghan journalist working for the New York Times. Informal networks of foreign volunteers quickly spring up to help their Afghan friends and colleagues navigate the chaos and evacuate the country. Ultimately, for many Afghans, getting out comes down to who is in their WhatsApp contacts list.
We want to hear from you. Please get in touch via our website, kabulfalling.com, where you can send a voice message, or tweet using hashtag #kabulfalling.
For a transcript of this episode and additional material, visit: https://www.kabulfalling.com
With the Taliban back in power, Kabul’s streets were mobbed with traffic as thousands rushed to escape, many heading towards the capital’s airport. At particular risk of retribution were Afghans who had worked with the US Army or the international community, those who'd served in Afghanistan’s government and women who had pursued full lives outside the home. In this episode, you’ll hear how quick thinking — and chance — helps former CIA interpreter Abdul and TV journalist Ogai Wardak evade Taliban fighters and pass through checkpoints towards Kabul airport. Amidst the chaos, Tariq, a young father and former US contractor, walks for 8 hours across the blisteringly hot city to get his son from kindergarten and then tries to take his family to the airport. But with huge crowds of desperate Afghans surrounding the gates, there is no easy way in.
We want to hear from you. Please get in touch via our website, kabulfalling.com, where you can send a voice message, or tweet using hashtag #kabulfalling.
For a transcript of this episode and additional material, visit: https://www.kabulfalling.com
Correction: In this episode, we stated that Muhammad Javed and his brother are from the Paktia Province. This is an error - they are from the Paktika Province.
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban regained control of Kabul, nearly 20 years after the US Army and Coalition Forces had cast them out of power. To many Afghans and observers watching from abroad, the fall of Kabul came as a shock. The news thrust thousands of Afghans into a terrifying journey to flee the country, leaving their old lives behind. In this episode, you’ll hear from Ogai Wardak, a young journalist at a women’s TV station, and Abdul, a former CIA interpreter and father of four, describing how they began planning their escape as Taliban fighters patrolled the streets.
We want to hear from you. Please get in touch via our website, kabulfalling.com, where you can send a voice message, or tweet using hashtag #kabulfalling.
For a transcript of this episode and additional material, visit: https://www.kabulfalling.com
Bradley Hope sits down with host Nelufar Hedayat to chat about Project Brazen’s latest podcast series, Kabul Falling.
In this exclusive audio interview, Nelufar talks about what it’s been like working on Kabul Falling, an eight-part series on the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last year, and what makes her connection to it — as an Afghan-born journalist—so personal and important.
She shares her own experiences of leaving Afghanistan with her family as a young child, and how the Taliban’s takeover has affected Afghans in the country and around the world.
Thanks for listening. You can find Kabul Falling on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure to subscribe to Brazen Presents for more – and, as always, you can follow Project Brazen’s latest reporting in our newsletter, Whale Hunting.
In August 2021, the Taliban regained control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The takeover sent shockwaves throughout the country. It forced thousands of Afghans to leave their old lives behind and embark on a hellish journey for survival. In this eight-episode podcast, Afghans themselves will tell you how it happened. You’ll hear stories about big risks, close calls, and unexpected moments of kindness — or luck — that changed everything. You’ll meet Afghan women and men from different walks of life, and even a young man who chose to fight with the Taliban — in his eyes, to protect the country he loves.
This is the story of a home ripped apart — and of a courageous new beginning.
Thanks for listening. You can find Kabul Falling on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure to subscribe to Brazen Presents for more – and, as always, you can follow Project Brazen’s latest reporting in our newsletter, Whale Hunting.