Portraits of Afghanistan Before the Fall

For centuries, the Northwest Passage, the long-sought sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through northern Canada, was a holy grail of Arctic exploration. Even now, sailing through it isn’t guaranteed. Mark Synnott, a National Geographic Explorer, writer, and adv ...  Show more

There’s a lost continent waiting to be explored, and it’s right below our feet. We’ll dig into the deep human relationship to the underground—and why we understand it from an instinctive point of view, but not so much from a physical one. (Hint: We’re afraid of the dark.) In an e ...  Show more

A vivid portrait of the everyday lives of girls and women at a turning point in Afghan history. Lyse Doucet visits Kabul to see how the lives of Afghan girls and women have changed since the fall of the Taliban 13 years ago, and to hear concerns that these hard-won gains are alre ...  Show more

One year after the Taliban took over Kabul, Afghan-Canadian author Nahid Shahalimi says the voices of Afghan women are not being heard. In her new book, We Are Still Here: Afghan Women on Courage, Freedom, and the Fight to Be Heard, Shahalimi collects the stories and struggles of ...  Show more

Since the Taliban returned to power some 18 months ago, women in Afghanistan have been removed from nearly all areas of public life. They are barred from secondary schools, universities and most workplaces and cannot even socialise in public parks. As Afghanistan faces a growing ...  Show more

This episode contains strong language. 

On Sunday, the president of Afghanistan fled the country; the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the capital; and the American-backed government collapsed.

One outspoken critic of the Taliban — a 33-year-old Kabul reside ...