Afghanistan: The Center of the World

Throughline

NPR

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.7 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2021

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Afghanistan has, for centuries, been at the center of the world. Long before the U.S. invasion - before the U.S. was even a nation - countless civilizations intersected there, weaving together a colorful tapestry of foods, languages, ethnicities and visions of what Afghanistan was and could be. The story of Afghanistan is too often told from the perspective of outsiders who tried to invade it (and always failed) earning it the nickname "Graveyard of Empires." In this episode, we're shifting the perspective. We'll journey through the centuries alongside Afghan mystical poets. We'll turn the radio dial to hear songs of love and liberation. We'll meet the queen who built the first primary school for girls in the country. And we'll take a closer look at Afghanistan's centuries-long experiment to create a unified nation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	All this world is like a tale we hear, men's evil and their glory disappear.
0:22.4	Long, long ago, at the center of the world, a tale was written of a father and a son.
0:28.4	They were called Rostam and Sohrab.
0:31.2	Give ear onto the combat of Sohrab against Rostam, though it would be a tale replete with tears.
0:42.4	Rostam was a great warrior, lauded by kings, feared by many.
0:47.2	And on his travels, he met a beautiful woman, a princess from another kingdom,
0:52.0	while looking for his horse who had run off.
0:55.0	The princess told him if he helped her bear a child, she would return his horse to him.
1:00.1	He agreed, and Rostam prepared to leave.
1:04.2	But before going, he gave her a beautiful jewel and said,
1:07.8	If heaven caused thee to give birth unto a daughter, fasten it within her locks, and it will
1:13.5	shield her from evil.
1:16.1	But if it be granted unto thee to bring forth a son, fasten it upon his arm that he may
1:22.4	aware it, like his father.
1:25.4	And with that, Rostam left.
1:32.0	Years passed.
1:34.0	He never returned home, never met his child, and did not even know whether he had
1:38.4	born a daughter or a son.
1:40.7	Until one fateful day on the eve of a battle between two great civilizations, their paths
1:46.5	crossed.
1:47.8	Rostam and Sohrab, father and son.
1:51.8	Angels, and soon to be mortal enemies.
	...

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