7. The doctor

10/13/21 • 26 min

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Living with the Taliban - the female doctor who celebrated the Taliban takeover in Kabul. Gynaecologist, ex MP, former refugee, Dr Roshanak Wardak welcomes the end of years of war which she says the Taliban's return to power has brought. War is the worst thing, she tells Lyse Doucet. But there is one important issue where she says the Taliban can’t be trusted – their assurances over the education of girls. She warns that uneducated women have uneducated children and Afghanistan will have no future without education for everyone.

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6. The journalist

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Holding the Taliban to account - Afghanistan’s top TV journalist was offered an interview with Taliban leaders within hours of them taking Kabul. But the editor of Afghanistan’s most popular private TV network, TOLO News, was already out of the country. Aged 33, Lotfullah Najfizada now hopes to return to carry on his work as the most successful interviewer and journalist of his generation.

A vibrant media is one of the great successes of the 20 years since the Taliban were last in power. But Lotfullah Najafizada tells Lyse Doucet the challenge now will be to maintain media freedoms and independence under Afghanistan’s new government.

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8. The musicians

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Keeping music alive under the Taliban - 21-year-old pianist, composer and conductor Arson Fahim and cellist Meena have both had to leave Afghanistan to continue studying and performing the music they love. Arson created the music for this series. The last time the Taliban were in power, in the 90s, music was banned; today Afghan musicians live in fear. But Arson and Meena, who have studied and composed together, tell Lyse Doucet they are a new generation - playing music is their way of protesting and they will not be silenced