Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi
Episodes
Tom Tugendhat: The pain and costs of our defeat in Afghanistan (E69)
10 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Tugendhat is a British Member of Parliament and former Security Minister who served multiple tours in Afghanistan in various civilian and military...
Charlie Gammell: How I fell in love with Herat (E68)
20 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Charlie Gammell is a former British diplomat, author and historian who has worked extensively in Afghanistan and Iran. Speaking fluent Farsi and Pasht...
James Cowan: From Helmand to HALO - a British commander’s remarkable Afghanistan story
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Cowan has seen Afghanistan at its most intense: the frozen, “medieval” Kabul he first stepped into after the Taliban’s fall in 2001, the b...
Al Carns: Afghanistan captures your soul
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this profoundly personal and powerful interview, the UK's Minister for the Armed Forces, Al Carns MP, tells his story of Afghanistan from the eyes ...
Fred Smith: Songs, diplomacy and falling in love with Uruzgan
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fred Smith is an Australian diplomat, author, singer and songwriter who served alongside Australian forces in Uruzgan, as well as in Kabul. He didn’...
Zalmay Khalilzad: My life, my story, my mission (From Bonn to Doha Talks) - Part 2
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Born to a mid-level government official and an illiterate mother in Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Zalmay Khalilzad has a remarkable...
Zalmay Khalilzad: My life, my story, my mission (From Kabul to the White House) - Part 1
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Born to a mid-level government official and an illiterate mother in Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Zalmay Khalilzad has a remarkable...
Alexander Matheou: Afghanistan's humanitarian emergency
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alexander Matheou, Regional Director for Asia Pacific of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC). In this interview he u...
Taliban anniversary special: Four years of madness | Fereshta Abbasi
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On 15 August 2021, the Taliban captured Kabul, reclaiming power after 20 years of war. Despite promises to the contrary, they have imposed severe rest...
Heidi Meyer: Time to recognise the Taliban?
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Heidi Meyer is a former NATO, Pentagon, and US State Department official with over a decade of experience in Afghanistan, including time spent working...
Nathalie Paarlberg: A cultural history of Afghanistan
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nathalie Paarlberg is an art historian and the Chief Operating Officer at Turquoise Mountain. In this interview, she takes us on a journey through Afg...
Mary Beard: Taliban, women and lessons from history
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this exclusive and gripping interview, acclaimed historian Professor Mary Beard explores how the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghan...
Pascal Maitre: Afghanistan through my lens
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pascal Maitre is a world-renowned French photojournalist whose decades of work from around the world, particularly in Afghanistan, have produced some ...
David Tyson: A CIA spy's story in Afghanistan (Part 3)
18 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Tyson is a retired CIA officer who served for 25 years, much of it in Central and South Asia. He cultivated relationships with anti-Taliban lead...
David Tyson: A CIA spy's story in Afghanistan (Part 2)
11 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Tyson is a retired CIA officer who served for 25 years, much of it in Central and South Asia. He cultivated relationships with anti-Taliban lead...
David Tyson: A CIA spy's story in Afghanistan (Part 1)
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Tyson is a retired CIA officer who served for 25 years, much of it in Central and South Asia. He cultivated relationships with anti-Taliban lead...
Sir Rodric Braithwaite: Inside the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Part 2)
27 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Rodric Braithwaite is a former British diplomat and author who served as ambassador to the Soviet Union. He has written extensively on Russia and ...
Sir Rodric Braithwaite: Inside the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Part 1)
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Rodric Braithwaite is a former British diplomat and author who served as ambassador to the Soviet Union. He has written extensively on Russia and ...
Steve MacBeth: Inside Canada's Afghan war
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Steve MacBeth is a former soldier in the Canadian Army and the author of 'No Names, No Packdrill - An Oral History of Canadians at War in Afghanistan'...
Gen. Joseph Votel: My lessons from Afghanistan (Part 2)
22 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
General Joseph Votel is a retired U.S. Army four-star general and was the Commander of U.S. Central Command from 2016 to 2019. He led multiple operati...
Gen. Joseph Votel: My lessons from Afghanistan (Part 1)
15 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
General Joseph Votel is a retired U.S. Army four-star general and Commander of U.S. Central Command from 2016 t0 2019. He led multiple operations in A...
Jonathan Lee: What is Afghanistan? (Part 3) Hazara Genocide
23 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Jonathan L. Lee is a social and cultural historian and a leading authority on the history of Afghanistan. He lived in Afghanistan and travelled wid...
Jonathan Lee: What is Afghanistan? (Part 2) Drinking Blood
15 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Jonathan L. Lee is a social and cultural historian and a leading authority on the history of Afghanistan. He lived in Afghanistan and travelled wid...
Jonathan Lee: What is Afghanistan? (Part 1) The Hippies
08 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Jonathan L. Lee is a social and cultural historian and a leading authority on the history of Afghanistan. He lived in Afghanistan and travelled wid...
Toby Harnden: Inside the CIA's first combat team in Afghanistan (Part 2)
01 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Toby Harnden is an award-winning journalist and author of 'Dead Men Risen' and 'First Casualty'.In this second part of the interview, we continue the ...
Toby Harnden: Inside the CIA's first combat team in Afghanistan (Part 1)
25 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Toby Harnden is an award-winning journalist and author of Dead Men Risen and First Casualty. In this first part of the interview, he sh...
رضا سرور: چگونه بورسیه بگیریم (Farsi Special)
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
رضا سرور یکی از دانشآموختگان برنامهی تحصیلی فولبرایت و مدیر پیشین پذیرش در دانش...
Shaharzad Akbar: The Taliban have a vision for Afghanistan
12 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shaharzad Akbar is the Executive Director of Rawadari and the former Chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. In this interview, ...
Saad Mohseni: The extraordinary life of a media visionary
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Saad Mohseni is the Chairman and CEO of Moby Group, and the author of 'Radio Free Afghanistan'. Born in London, raised in Kabul, Tokyo and Melbourne, ...
Gen H.R. McMaster: Trump 2.0, Afghanistan and the Taliban
09 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
General H.R. McMaster served as Donald Trump's National Security Advisor for 14 months during his first term and he formulated America's South Asia St...
Sune Rasmussen: Afghanistan is a part of me
20 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sune Engel Rasmussen is a Danish journalist and author who lived in Afghanistan, reporting extensively for several international outlets, including Th...
Andrew North: My 20 years in Afghanistan
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew North is an award-winning British journalist and former BBC correspondent in Afghanistan, Iraq, India, and the United States. He lived and repo...
Rahmatullah Nabil: The story of an Afghan spymaster (Part 2)
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rahmatullah Nabil is an Afghan politician and former intelligence chief. Having lost his father at the age of one, he was raised by his mother, who de...
Rahmatullah Nabil: The story of an Afghan spymaster (Part 1)
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rahmatullah Nabil is an Afghan politician and former intelligence chief. Having lost his father at the age of one, he was raised by his mother, who de...
Sir William Patey: The Taliban cannot turn Kabul into a Pashtun village
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sir William Patey is a retired British diplomat with extensive experience in Middle Eastern and South Asian geopolitics. He served as the UK Ambassado...
Mark Urban: Marching onto Kabul with Ahmad Shah Massoud
23 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Urban is a British journalist, broadcaster, and best-selling author of many books, including War in Afghanistan and The Skripal Files. He has cov...
Sir Laurie Bristow: Why did we get it so badly wrong for 20 years?
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Laurie Bristow, the UK's last ambassador in Kabul, witnessed the disintegration of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul into ...
Thomas Barfield: Time to break up Afghanistan? (Part 2)
10 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Thomas Barfield is one of the preeminent experts on Afghanistan, having spent over five decades studying and writing on the country. He is t...
Thomas Barfield: Time to break up Afghanistan? (Part 1)
18 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Thomas Barfield is one of the preeminent experts on Afghanistan, having spent over five decades studying and writing on the country. He is t...
Artemis Akbary: The costs of being gay in Afghanistan
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Artemis Akbary is an LGBTIQ rights activist and the co-founder and Executive Director of the Afghan LGBT Organization (ALO), and a producer/presenter ...
Thomas Ruttig: The untold story of Germany in Afghanistan (Part 2)
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Ruttig is a co-founder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network. He has worked on and in Afghanistan since he graduated in Afghan Studies from Humbo...
Thomas Ruttig: The untold story of Germany in Afghanistan (Part 1)
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Ruttig is a co-founder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network. He has worked on and in Afghanistan since he graduated in Afghan Studies from Humbo...
Fereshta Abbasi: I am lucky to be alive
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fereshta Abbasi is the Afghanistan Researcher at Human Rights Watch and a Chevening Scholar. Born a refugee in Iran, she was taken to Afghanistan as a...
Llewelyn Morgan: The Buddhas of Bamiyan
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Llewelyn Morgan is a professor of Classics at the University of Oxford. He is the author of "The Buddhas of Bamiyan", a book that explores the long an...
Franz-Michael Mellbin: Afghans were not good allies
23 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ambassador Franz-Michael Mellbin is a former EU Special Representative and Danish ambassador in Afghanistan. He played a central role in the implement...
Andrew Quilty: August in Kabul
16 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Quilty is a multi-award-winning Australian photojournalist and the author of "August in Kabul". He lived and worked in Afghanistan for almost a...
Pashtana Durrani: Afghanistan is not accepting its daughters
09 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born in a refugee camp in Pakistan, Pashtana Durrani is an Afghan human rights activist and the founder of LEARN Afghanistan, an NGO through which she...
Question Time: Your questions answered!
02 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this first Q&A episode, I attempt to answer some of your questions...🌏 Get 10% discount on your first month of BetterHelp. BetterHelp is the...
Zahra Nader: My mother begged schools to let me in
24 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Bamiyan, Zahra Nader is an award-winning journalist and the Editor-in-Chief of Zan Times, a media outlet focused on women and marginalised com...
Sima Samar: Telling my story
17 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Renowned for her decades of humanitarian work, providing health and education services to millions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sima Samar discusses h...
Craig Whitlock: America and the lies of the Afghan War
10 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Craig Whitlock is an investigative journalist at The Washington Post and the author of 'The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War'. The book...
Mir Tamim Ansary: I will never see Afghanistan again
03 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mir Tamim Ansary is an Afghan-American author who left Afghanistan in the early 1960s. He has written many books, including "West of Kabul, East of Ne...
Larisa Brown: The Gardener of Lashkar Gah
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Larisa Brown is a British journalist and author. She is currently the defence editor at The Times newspaper. In this interview, she talks about her bo...
Tobias Ellwood: We should engage with the Taliban in Kabul
20 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tobias Ellwood is a Conservative member of the British Parliament and a former chair of the House of Commons' Defence Select Committee. In July 2023, ...
Heather Barr: How dare we give up on Afghan women and girls
13 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Heather Barr is associate director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. She worked in Afghanistan for over a decade for the UN and Hu...
Wendy Chamberlain MP: There are concerns Afghanistan is growing the next generation of terrorists
06 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wendy Chamberlain MP is a Liberal Democrat member of the British parliament. She is the co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Afghan Women...
Johnny Mercer: Afghanistan is deeply intoxicating
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Johnny Mercer is Britain's Minister for Veterans' Affairs. He served three tours in Afghanistan as an army officer. In this interview, he talks about ...
David Loyn: Engagement has failed, the West should support alternatives to the Taliban
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
David Loyn is a renowned British journalist and author who specialises in Afghanistan, with decades of experience in the country and the region as a B...
Charlie Herbert: Persecution of the Hazaras is the untold story of Afghanistan
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Major General Charlie Herbert served multiple tours in Afghanistan and led British forces in Helmand province. He also served in other capacities, wor...
Stephan Jensen: I cried in an Oslo cafe when Kabul fell to the Taliban
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Stephan Jensen is a former Norwegian army officer who served in Afghanistan's northern provinces of Faryab and Balkh (Mazar-i-Sharif). Currently, he i...
Habiba Sarabi: How I made history
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Habiba Sarabi is the former Minister of Women's Affairs in Afghanistan and was the first woman to hold a governorship in the country, serving as th...
Jason Criss Howk: Time is running out for Afghanistan
18 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Criss Howk has spent 21 years focused on Afghanistan in defence, diplomacy, academic, humanitarian, and intelligence roles. He is the director o...
Mohsin Dawar: Pashtuns who support the Taliban are harming Afghanistan
11 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mohsin Dawar is a Pakistani politician who leads the political party called the National Democratic Movement. He previously served as a member of the ...
Fawzia Koofi: My bags are still packed
04 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fawzia Koofi has been a prominent figure in Afghanistan's politics and a women's rights activist. She served a member and the first female Deputy Spea...
Refugees in Indonesia: Betrayed and forgotten
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hussain Shah Rezai fled Afghanistan when he was a teenager almost ten years ago. He is one of over ten thousand refugees from Afghanistan stuck in app...
Sir Laurie Bristow: We are utterly wrong to think Afghanistan's story is over
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Laurie Bristow was the British ambassador to Afghanistan during the Taliban's takeover in August 2021. In this interview, he talks about liv...
Mozhdah Jamalzadah: I am a rebel and I can't be told to shut up
13 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mozhdah Jamalzadah is a singer, actor and campaigner. In this interview, she talks about leaving Afghanistan as a young child, the challenges of settl...
Levison Wood: Afghanistan has a special place in my heart
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Levison Wood is a British a writer, explorer and photographer. He first walked through Afghanistan in 2004 and then served as a soldier in southern Af...
Shakardokht Jafari: Not trying is the biggest sin
30 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Shakardokht (Shakar) is a medical physicist and multi award-winning innovator, based in the UK.Born in Afghanistan's central highlands of Hazarajat, S...