Hello from the Heartland.

My name is Jenna, and this is Smarter News, news when it matters and why it matters.

Our Smarter series features unique people who help us think and live smarter.

Well, we have a surreal moment, really, because we are sitting down with the one and only Holly McKay, who we have been corresponding with in Afghanistan for the last several months.

And so for five months, Holly's been one of the few independent journalists on the ground in Afghanistan.

And we've been lucky enough, Holly, for you to talk to us in smarter news.

And some of the most critical times, arguably, of the war in Afghanistan and now moving

forward, looking to what's next in Afghanistan. So it's so good to be able to reach out

and touch you in person and to see you. Thank you for your support. So it was back in mid-August. We spoke right before.

I think it was the night before Mazar fell, wasn't it? Because I was going out with the

commandos. So I think it was the night, I was in Mazar, and it was the night before it fell.

And I was going out with the commandos, the Afghan commandos. And I remember we talked

and then I went out with them all night and they convinced me that they were never, it was never

going to fall. And I, I believed them and how wrong I was. If you told me it was going to be

within 24 hours, I just wouldn't have believed you. But that was such a critical part of understanding what was going on with the war.

So to set the scene, you know, for many Americans, what was going on in the war in Afghanistan was sort of a faraway story.

And then all of a sudden, all of this information and energy started swirling around in August.

And this question about when was the United

States really going to leave? And could the Taliban actually take control? And that seemed to be

something that few people could consider. And that's why it was valuable to talk to you because you

were on the ground. How did you decide to go there? So originally I decided to go. So my photographer,

Jake and I talked about it earlier,

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