Two Years Since The Taliban Takeover

SmartHERNews

Jenna Lee

News, Education

4.9 • 660 Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Journalist Hollie McKay joins us to discuss Afghanistan as we reflect on the nation now under Taliban control as we mark two years since the fall of the country and the U.S. withdrawal.

Hollie shares her experience reporting in a city suddenly taken over by the Taliban in August 2021, effectively trapping her with no escape. She eventually finds her way out of the country only to return and stay as one of the few western journalists to witness life under the "new" Taliban rule. She also returned in the fall of 2022 to observe the changes in the country and shares what she has now heard from friends and contacts still living in country.

Along with her important insight, Hollie also shares about her next adventure.

Here's a link to Hollie McKay's substack, website and links to her books:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello from the Heartland. My name is Jenna, and this is Smarter News, news when it matters and why it matters.
0:10.3	Our Smarter series features unique people who help us think and live smarter.
0:18.0	Hi, everybody. Welcome to Smarter News for a truly unique conversation on an anniversary of sorts and an important time to reflect on a key part of U.S. history. So let me just start off with this question. Where were you two years ago? Do you remember where you were August of 2021? It may feel like a million
0:41.0	years ago or it may feel like yesterday. As I was reflecting on this time period, I was going
0:45.8	through different newspapers at the time to see what exactly we were covering in early August
0:51.2	of 2021. And there were a few stories you'll likely remember.
1:00.1	There, of course, was the pandemic. We were still talking a lot about COVID-19 and masking and social distancing. That was still very much the topic of conversation. Another topic of conversation
1:04.7	was the New York governor resigning in controversy. That was a big political story. Of course, the Biden administration
1:12.2	was about eight months in to their administration at that point. And one of the big stories that was
1:17.9	on the horizon in early August of 2021 was Afghanistan. We knew that there was news to come on
1:25.3	Afghanistan. There was an expectation that the United States was going
1:30.2	to be withdrawing from Afghanistan completely. And we were coming upon the 20th anniversary of 9-11,
1:38.8	the worst terrorist attack in American history. We were still part of the longest war in American
1:44.0	history in Afghanistan.
1:46.2	And so this time period was going to be important no matter what. But in early August 2021,
1:52.5	we weren't quite sure what that looked like. Just about mid-August, things started to change.
1:58.6	I want to show you a newspaper from the New York Times. This is
2:02.6	the cover story from August 13th. US sends troops to aid evacuation as Taliban surge. And I remember
2:11.6	this news cycle where suddenly we got an unexpected announcement from the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon.
2:20.7	And what you're about to hear right now are the spokesman from the State Department and from the Pentagon making this very key announcement.
2:29.3	Take a listen.
2:29.9	The increased tempo of the Taliban military engagement and the resulting increase in violence and instability across Afghanistan is of grave concern.
	...

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