Fellow at Harvard University’s Carr Center on Human Rights and a leading expert on the Taliban, the Pashtun tribes and Afghan politics; author of Reconciliation in Afghanistan; UN envoy to Kabul during the Taliban regime
Michael Semple on KCRW
More from KCRW
Measure G would remake LA County government
PoliticsA ballot initiative would expand the number of LA County supervisors and create a new executive job, in the biggest change to local governance in generations.
US legislators harden stance on China, Brazil bans Musk’s X
PoliticsThe U.S. continues to take a firm stance on China. When does censorship go too far? Plus, California’s gas inventory may hurt its neighboring state, Nevada.
Can Israel decide who qualifies as Jewish?
PoliticsThe genocide in Gaza has brought the issue of Israel — and what it represents for Jewish people — into the forefront of Jewish communities worldwide.
Chasing the Watermelon Man
Food & DrinkAn audio folk story examining the tradition of Black watermelon long-haulers, who drive to farms in the South for watermelon and sell them in Black neighborhoods around the US.
These 10 companies run our ‘democracy’
Business & EconomyAmidst the hype, excitement and nervousness of the election, the bigger picture of what the United States is and how it operates often gets lost on people.
Everything your kids won’t learn in school about our democracy: Can parents fill the void?
Child developmentAt a time of book bans and the withholding of critically important struggles in our history, our education system has increasingly failed to provide our young with the tools to become…
Will a Viet American Democrat unseat GOP in Little Saigon?
Race & EthnicityLittle Saigon’s Vietnamese community has long leaned Republican. Now local Democrat Derek Tran is trying to peel away votes in an OC swing district.
Will Trump-Harris debate change voters’ minds?
PoliticsDid voters learn anything new from the Trump-Harris debate? Are live fact checks useful or fair? Plus, disinformation muddies the discourse on immigration.
SoCal Dems head to swing state Nevada to turn out votes
Election 2024SoCal Democrats anxious to help win the presidential election for Kamala Harris are road-tripping to swing states where they can make a bigger impact.