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Intelligence Squared

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

Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared

News Commentary, Arts, News, Society & Culture

4.21.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

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. ---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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0:00.0

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0:26.1

Learn more at Microsoft.com slash M365 copilot.

0:30.0

Welcome to Intelligence Squared, where great minds meet.

0:33.7

I'm producer Mia Serente.

0:36.0

Today's episode is part two of our recent live discussion with the New Yorker's John Lee Anderson and Clarissa Ward.

0:42.6

Live on stage at the Kielm Theatre, Anderson reflected on decades of reporting on the ground in Afghanistan, and particularly the American invasion there after 9-11.

0:52.1

Together with Ward, he traces the missteps, missed opportunities, and political

0:56.0

blind spots that shaped the conflict's trajectory. If you haven't heard part one, you may want

1:00.8

to jump back an episode to get up to speed. Let's rejoin their discussion now.

1:04.9

You know, one of the things I find so interesting reading the book are these moments where you kind of inject yourself into the narrative as well.

1:15.7

And they're usually like these kind of like, they're just these like small little incidents, and you don't really elaborate on them, but they kind of open a conversation.

1:25.4

There's one where you end up shouting at a shopkeeper

1:29.7

who has been cursing your translator

1:32.3

after you've been having a conversation with a woman.

1:34.4

There's another, which I really love,

1:36.6

for reasons I can't fully explain,

1:38.3

where you're at some kind of a press event,

1:40.4

and they give you a cold Pepsi, and you put it down,

1:43.6

and someone takes it, and you make note of the fact that you swipe it back.

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