I'm Brian Lerer. This is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Tuesday, August 17th.

Our coverage of the situation in Afghanistan continues, how much displacement is there within the country and at the borders

because of the anticipation of what's going to happen to women and girls.

Last Friday, the AP reported the UN Refugee Agency says nearly 250,000 Afghans have fled their home since the end of May, amid fears the Taliban

would reimpose their strict and ruthless interpretation of Islam, all but eliminating women's

rights. 80% of those displaced are women and children, said the AP on Friday. Joining me now to discuss the past, present,

and future of women's rights in Afghanistan is Sarah Shea's, former NPR reporter, who covered

the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan. She went on to advise the topmost levels of the U.S.

military, serving a special advisor to two commanders of the international forces in

Kabul, and then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, and she's the author

of most recently, on corruption in America. And what is at stake? Sarah, it's been a long time.

Welcome back to WNYC.

Brian, it's a pleasure to be speaking to you except for the context. Absolutely. Sarah, I'm sure you're seeing in the global headlines today, the Taliban are saying women's rights will be respected and girls can go to school. Do you believe them?

Well, no. and girls can go to school. Do you believe them?

Well, no.

But I think our view of all of this, as always, is a little bit complex.

And let me say that prior to working for those generals and the admiral

that whom you mentioned, I lived in Kandahar. And I think it's important to make that distinction.

I lived in the Taliban's former capital of Kandahar.

And most of my friends and members of my cooperative,

both male and female, were villagers.

And so my picture, frankly, of women's rights over the past 20 years has been rather different from a lot of what we're getting on the media. And I'm not trying to denigrate

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