Episode 023 - Afghanistan

Machan Vs The World

We begin season 2 with Afghanistan. We are joined by Paiman (@paiman007) as we go through one of the most talked about countries of the last few months. We learn about the rich history which is often ignored due to the narrative about Afghanistan. We talk about the geo-politics and what Afghans feel about the regime change and the Taliban. And many other interesting things too. I was really fortunate to have found a very articulate and well read guest who explained the nuances of a very complex topic. Thank you Bhaijan :D.

00:00 Paiman's experience in Russia.

00:09:46 Paiman's origins in Afghanistan

00:19:31 History of Afghanistan

00:35:34 Buddhist period

00:38:14 We start talking about Zoroastrianism

00:43:01 Sultan Ghazni

00:46:01 The Sunni Shia question

00:52:42 The different ethnicities in Afghanistan

00:56:21 The languages of Afghanistan

00:59:20 Paiman speaks Hindi

01:10:45 The connections with India

01:31:40 The relationship with Pakistan

01:49:20 The communist Afghan period

01:52:02 The origins of the Taliban

02:00:04 The question of girls education

02:03:14 The role of the opium trade

02:09:55 Did Afghans expect the Taliban to come back to power so quick ?

02:16:39 Is Paiman afraid of going back to Afghanistan ?

02:21:00 The hope for the future.

RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

1. This is what winning looks like ( 2013, Ben Anderson, Vice)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja5Q75hf6QI2.

2.Making sense podcast #258 - The fall of Afghanistan ( 2021, Sam Harris, Guest - Peter Bergen - https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/258-fall-afghanistan)

3. Indo- Greek kingdoms ( Kings and Generals, 2019) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxJk4KHZxi8