A Wish for Afghanistan: The Talib and the president

A Wish for Afghanistan: The Talib and the pre...

Up next

Atomic crossroads: Poland's nuclear future

Forty years after Chernobyl, Poland aims to open its first nuclear power plant. Shortly after the disaster, only 30% of Poles supported nuclear power. In 2022, the support hit a record 75%, almost doubling just from the year before, according to public opinion polls. Poland’s nuc ...  Show more

Inside the Mugabe dynasty

Late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe died in 2019, but in the years before and since his death, his three children with his former wife, Grace, consistenly made headlines for all the wrong reasons. In April 2026 Bellarmine Mugabe pled guilty to a firearms offence in South Afri ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

Afghanistan: The Rise of the Taliban
Throughline

How did a small group of Islamic students go from local vigilantes to one of the most infamous and enigmatic forces in the world? The Taliban is a name that has haunted the American imagination since 2001. The scenes of the group's brutality repeatedly played in the Western media ...  Show more

2. The Talib
A Wish for Afghanistan

Founding member, ambassador, prisoner – in the Taliban’s inner circle at the very start. Abdul Salam Zaeef rose to prominence in the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan until Western forces overthrew it following 9/11. Handed over to the Americans, Mullah Zaeef spent three ...  Show more

The Fall of Afghanistan
The Daily

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 ...

  Show more

Afghanistan: The Rise of the Taliban (2021)
Throughline

How did a small group of Islamic students go from local vigilantes to one of the most infamous and enigmatic forces in the world? The Taliban is a name that has haunted the American imagination since 2001. The scenes of the group's brutality repeatedly played in the Western media ...  Show more