In early 2003, we first brought you the audio diaries of a California teenager, Hyder Akbar, who traveled to Afghanistan, his family's homeland, for the first time. His father had moved back to work for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In this program, Hyder returns to Afghanistan, to the rural province of Kunar where his father is now governor. Hyder has amazing access to all sorts of things few reporters get to see: U.S. forces interrogating a suspected terrorist, soldiers trying to mediate between the new Afghan government and local people, and more. Hyder's book on his experiences, Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager's Story, is just out. His recordings were produced for radio by Susan Burton, with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; this program won a Third Coast International Audio Festival Silver Award in 2003.
Learn more or listen again to this week's episode.