The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson on Afghanistan: An American Catastrophe (Part Two)
Intelligence Squared
Intelligence Squared
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The world moves fast. Your workday? Even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, |
| 0:07.0 | analyzing data. Microsoft 365 copilot is your AI assistant for work, built into Word, Excel, |
| 0:14.0 | PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create, and summarize. |
| 0:22.2 | So you can cut through clutter and clear a path to your best work. |
| 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. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Intelligence Squared, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Intelligence Squared and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

