Aarti Shahani

And when he learns that you have now found out you're in on the secret, he calls you to his room.

And what happens?

You know, Lubna, as I came to that part of your memoir, what I honestly thought is, I thought about the Epstein files, which are coming out.

which continue to come out.

Again, the daughter was 12 years old.

You decide to leave your father's hometown and move to Damascus.

And there you experience a political awakening.

Describe the very first protest you joined.

Just a nice light and breezy afternoon.

Because you were raised to believe that Hafez al-Assad was the great protector of the Alawite people.

You say, you know, everything you were told was a lie.

Help us understand what you mean by that, that everything was a lie.

Your protest becomes known to your entire family.

And what happens to your mother, who all this time has been living in

in your dad's family's property, and your dad is part of the very government you're now protesting to overthrow.

What did your father do?

You wanted to show that members of the Alawite minority also supported the anti-government movement.

Okay.

Or that ruins the interview.

It doesn't ruin the interview now.