The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge
A Wednesday Special Encore ... with the BBC's Lyse Doucet
17 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
And hello there, welcome. Peter Mansbridge here on a special rebroadcast, a special encore edition of The Bridge. And we go back to last November when we had a pretty special guest in the studio, well, in the Zoom studio, and that was Lise Doucette, the chief international correspondent of the BBC, a Canadian, by the way, and one of the great journalists out there covering our world.
We hear Lise every once in a while. I've known her for quite some time, and we have an enormous amount of respect for each other. So Lise had big news just in the last little while. Her book that we talk about on this program, The Finest Hotel in Kabul, has won the 2026 Women's Prize for Nonfiction. So congratulations to Lise.
And this is an opportunity, if you didn't already know about the book, to learn a little more about it.
Chapter 2: Who is Lyse Doucet and what is her background?
because we're rebroadcasting our interview from last November. Enjoy. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. Welcome to Wednesdays. Wednesdays, as you know, is normally an encore day. But every once in a while this year, we've been doing something different on Wednesdays. And today is one of those days. We've got Lise Doucette joining us in a few moments' time.
Lise is the BBC's chief international correspondent. She's just written her first book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul. It's a fascinating read. She talks about it, and she talks about being Canadian. in one of the top journalistic jobs in Britain.
You know, let me tell you, when I started working for the CBC in the 1960s, it was a time when some of the top correspondents at the CBC were Canadian but carried a British accent because they'd come from Britain, you know, post-war. Well, it was also a time where Canadians were kind of shaking off the colonial ties and they sort of kind of looked at this as some Canadians that this was wrong.
How can you possibly have a Brit on the news? I always felt odd about this because, as some of you know, I was born in Britain. We came to Canada in the mid-1950s. But by the time I started working in the mid to late 60s at the CBC, I had long since lost my accent.
But I used to cringe when I heard these complaints about, you know, great correspondents like Ron Colister, who was the chief parliamentary correspondent in that day. Anyway, you'll understand why I say that when you hear from Lise Doucette in one of the top jobs of the BBC. with a Canadian accent, a particularly distinctive Canadian accent, I might add.
But you'll hear her talk about that in our conversation, which will be coming up in a few moments' time. Okay, I don't want to interrupt the conversation with Lise, so instead let's move our break out of the way right now, and then we'll get to the conversation with Lise Doucette later. Right after this. And welcome back. You're listening to The Bridge. The Wednesday, a special Wednesday edition.
Right here on Sirius XM, Channel 167 Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. We're glad to have you with us. Our guest today is Lise Doucette. If you've ever watched or listened to the BBC, you've almost certainly heard Lise Doucette.
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Chapter 3: What is the significance of 'The Finest Hotel in Kabul'?
She's the BBC's chief international correspondent. She's also a first-time author now with her new book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul. It's kind of a, well, it is a people's history of Afghanistan. She has a very unique way of telling it by telling the story of a hotel that she's been traveling to since 1988, whenever she stayed in Afghanistan.
As you're about to find out, she's been there many times. But she tells the story of Afghanistan through the lives and stories of many of the workers who were in that hotel. And I'll tell you, it's a great read. Obviously, if you've been to Afghanistan, a lot of Canadians have and have served there. That's one thing.
But if you're just fascinated and interested in the story of that country, then you're going to enjoy this book. Lee's will be coming to Canada in the next little while on a book tour. I'll tell you about that after you've heard the interview. So let's get right to it here. All right, here we go. My conversation with Lee's Doucette. Lee's, let me start by asking you this.
How many times have you been to Afghanistan?
Oh, I think I've lost count. The first time was Christmas 1988, and Afghanistan was in the grips of the harshest winter in decades. And as Canadians, we know what that means. But it was also in the grip of the Cold War, and it was in the crosshairs of what was then a global confrontation, a Soviet-backed government in Kabul, Western-backed Mujahideen. That war was tearing the countryside apart.
And I think, Peter, in a sense, that was the Ukraine war of our time, the most grievous war in the world, the biggest migration crisis, and it never left our headlines. And I'm sure it's the same way with you. I remember when I started traveling, people said, Lise, you're going to find that cities are like people.
You decide immediately whether or not you're going to have a relationship with them. And Kabul was like that for me, or perhaps I should say Afghans were like that for me. I was taken by the country and taken in a personal sense because I found that Afghans have a very strong sense of self. And I found...
That through the years, I've realized that people who have a strong sense of self, and I think this applies to Canadians, also have a very strong sense of humor. And it makes them very warm-hearted towards others. And of course, I landed there when, as a journalist, the eyes of the world were on Afghanistan. And
working there as a young BBC correspondent was not just a great privilege, it was a responsibility because it was said that 95% of Afghans were listening to the BBC, translated my dispatches. Remember that time there were no those telephones in our pockets time. There was like three, four international telephone lines out of Kabul, most of them going through Moscow.
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Chapter 4: How has Lyse Doucet's experience shaped her view of Afghanistan?
One of your fellow journalists who wrote about about this book included, you know, in those little, you know, what do they call them, blurbs on the back page, said we've been waiting a long time for Lise to write a book. And it's been worth the wait, and it certainly has. But is this going to be the only Lise Doucette book, or are you already thinking something else?
I was interested when you interviewed our great, great historian, Tim Cook, and he talked to you about how even on his 19th book, how he felt trepidation. And I thought, oh, my God, I'm on my first book and I'm still feeling trepidation. As you know, with the book, first of all, you have to decide, can you write a book? Do you like writing a book? And I loved writing.
And I think, Bobby Peter, you also found it. You've written two books, right? Is that right?
Or more? Five, actually.
Yeah.
But who's counting? But I mean, listen, when I, when I read your, when I read your book, I go like, why did I try to write a book? Oh, I mean, you're a beautiful writer. I mean, you take us into the lives of, of these various people that you met during your times at the, at the hotel. And as a result of being at the hotel, but you, And that part of it, for you, is a given. It's an art you have.
But you still need an inspiration for a book. I mean, you thought of a great way of telling the story of Afghanistan through these lines.
You need a conceit. And if I may, since we're talking Canadian to Canadian, let me tell you when it all started. And I still remember, we often have visual memories of moments that stay with us. And I can still remember. A Saturday morning in Toronto, in a cafe on Queen Street, I was a graduate student at the University of Toronto, wanting for all the world one day to become a foreign journalist.
And I was just finishing reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. And you notice when you read a book that really has an impact on you, I remember sitting there and savoring the deliciousness of a book which told a true story, but with the conventions of a not true story. In other words, using the conventions of a novel, of fiction. to write a non-fiction, a true story.
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