The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson on Afghanistan: An American Catastrophe (Part One)

Intelligence Squared

News, Society & Culture, Arts, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jon Lee Anderson is considered one of the great foreign correspondents of our time. Since the late 1980s, his on-the-ground reporting in Afghanistan has provided invaluable insight into decades of conflict and political upheaval. For The New Yorker magazine he covered the US-backed Mujahideen’s insurrection in Kabul, was an eyewitness to the new war launched by the US against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies within days of the 9/11 attacks, and reported on the supposed quick and easy victory of America while Osama bin Laden was still in hiding. On February 10, Anderson joins us in person to reflect on his decades-long career, throughout which he has traced the missteps of the US-led war in Afghanistan, now widely regarded as one of the greatest foreign policy failures of the modern era. Join us live at the Kiln Theatre and ask your questions in the audience Q&A. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:00.0	Welcome to Intelligence Squared where great minds meet. I'm producer Mia Serente.
1:05.0	Today's episode is part one of our recent live event with John Lee Anderson, staff writer at The New Yorker
1:11.7	and one of the great foreign correspondents of our time.
1:15.0	Anderson joined us at the Kiln Theatre to reflect on decades of reporting from Afghanistan,
1:20.2	from the US-backed Mujahideen's insurrection in Kabul to the American invasion launched
1:24.8	in the days after 9-11 and the long war that followed.
1:28.8	Drawing on his years on the ground, he explored how the conflict evolved into what many now
1:33.0	regard as one of the greatest foreign policy failures of the modern era and what it can teach us
1:37.6	about global relations today. He was in conversation with journalist Clarissa Ward. Let's join them now
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