May 29, 2024 • 36 mins
As the sole breadwinner for his family, Shakib Hamdard struggles to provide for his mom and sisters. But everything changes when the young taxi driver finds himself at the very first audition for Afghan Star.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Previously on Afghan Star, the Taliban takeover Afghanistan.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
What Taliban bring with them pure religious fanaticism.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
They ban music, TV, dancing.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Music, instruments like guitar, tabla, rubob, these things, TVs, VCRs.
They will break them and hang them above their checkpoints.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
But finally, after five years the regime is topled.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
People are running toward freedom.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
I'm John Legard and from Kaleidoscope and ihearten. This is
Afghan Star Chapter one, Hope f M. Welcome back to
(01:34):
armand f M, Afghanistan's number one radio station. Today we're
doing something a little different. Last time we heard about
how a small group of cultural rebels fought back against
the Taliban and brought music back to Afghanistan. Now we
want to tell you about what happened next, how the
(01:54):
cultural revolution that led to Afghanistar began. And so for
this very special episode of the show, we've got the
big Boss, Sad Mussni and his siblings Zayed, Jayed and
Wasjma in the studio. Everything around us was built by
the Mosnes, the company and the studio we're sitting in.
(02:17):
So we're going to interview them and hear how they
became accidental media moguls in Afghanistan. The story starts on
a day a lot of us remember dot.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Some breaking news just through and CNN is reporting tonight
that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Sad. You were working as a businessman at the time
in Australia and you were sitting on your couch watching
this news come through. What do you remember thinking this.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Is all about Afghanistan. Things are going to change. So
it was almost immediate in terms of knowing that this
was going to happen. And I it sounds a good corny,
but you know it was like a calling to.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Go back now. Your family had fled Kabble when you
were a child, So how did you manage to convince
your siblings that you should all go back to Afghanistan
and that it's a good business idea.
Speaker 6 (03:08):
Yeah, I'll give the censored vision. I think my mom
might otherwise get upset, said, I guess he's like the visionary.
Speaker 7 (03:17):
He don't like excealing with anyone, including people who don't
agree with him, like completely don't agree with him, including
people who may say that he should be killed. He'll
happily go and have a conversation with him not have
an argument to.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
What have you? And was he always telling you guys
what to do?
Speaker 8 (03:31):
Even when we were playing games, So say, you know,
we're playing with toys, So Jiad and I would play
with toys, Sod would say, hold on, hold on, I'm
going to play. You guys watch, so he'd make us watch.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
You wouldn't let us touch anything.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
So side, Bearing in mind that Afghanistan is a country
that has endured decades of war, how did you even
manage to get a flight there? In two thousand and.
Speaker 5 (03:55):
Two, Ariana Airlines had I think a single seven two
seven was constantly booked out because people are so keen
to get back.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And you are an insane networker, so naturally, you know,
the head of the airline.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
He must have been in his eighties, but he looked
like he was one hundred and twenty. He was pretty
frail and fragile looking, and we just hassled him, you know,
and rang them constantly.
Speaker 8 (04:19):
Well, Sad was doing the charm offensive on the sky.
I think he talked about how young the guy looked. Anyway,
he's somehow Sad managed to become his best friend in
about two days, and right until the last minute, he's
saying to us, now there's no seats, and then he said, okay,
you three come up.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Now. This plane is packed with Afghans returning home after
years of dreaming about their country. So what was it
like when they made the announcement that you were entering
Afghan airspace?
Speaker 5 (04:56):
All the conversations stopped. There are people who are crying
on the plane. It's a weird feeling because it's I mean,
we always expected to go back, but we didn't think
it was going to take us twenty odd years to
get back.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
What was your first glimpse of the country, Like.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
The airport had potholes all over the runway, damaged aircraft.
Bits of the city had been completely and totally destroyed,
completely worn out. It was like a city of zombies.
And I think that was the most striking thing that
the people seemed so out of it, with the sort
(05:44):
of blank looks on their faces.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Okay, so the four of you get here this bombed
out city and you try something. I think you try
and set up a phone book company. Yeah, and then
you come up with Arman FM. Can you explain the idea?
Speaker 5 (06:07):
You know, there's a mix of fun jokes, music, weather,
the news and so.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Forth, kind of like a mix of MTV and drive
time morning radio with music that's what you wanted it
to sound like, which for Afghans in two thousand and
three was a pretty radical idea, right.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
Yes, we didn't know what the hell we were doing.
I mean, it was like, well, we'll just start this
and see how it goes.
Speaker 6 (06:31):
We were literally working out of a house.
Speaker 7 (06:33):
We started knocking down walls and made it into like,
you know, build windows.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
And we had the radio station downstairs, and there are
people upstairs and people barging. This guy was living with us.
He always used to forget to lock the bathroom door
and people would always walk in on him, you know.
And we had a time of let listen, you gotta
learn to lock the door.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
And what about hiring? How'd you find people?
Speaker 5 (06:55):
We conducted these interviews and met lots of people, but
most people were unfamiliar with the idea of a modern
pop radio station. It was all alien to them.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
I remember joh had a nice sitting down and showing
producers clips of stand up comedy like Jerry Seinfeld, kind
of to get them to get a taste of what
it is stand up comedy.
Speaker 9 (07:19):
Have you ever called someone up and you're disappointed when
they answered the phone you wanted the machine.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
People would laugh, I think out of obligation if they
meant I have found funny.
Speaker 7 (07:32):
We had kids that were working with us. It wasn't
just that they didn't have media experience. A lot of
them wouldn't even know how to use a computer. So
you're going back into real basics.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I have to be honest. It feels like so many
things could have gone wrong. I am dreading the launch.
Tell me what happened.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
As a matter of fact, I was on holidays in Australia,
but we launched, and I recalled my brother calling me
and saying you'd better get back. This is getting out
of hand. What was extraordinary was give me in a taxi,
listen to a program, get out, you know, and in
a particular part of time, and as you walk past
every shop or stall, you keep following the program.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
This is our radio station.
Speaker 6 (08:16):
People are listening to it and they love it.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
So Arman f M was a huge success. But you
didn't stop there, did you. Side You don't have.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
The opportunity to take stock and say, hey, wow, we've
done this great thing. You're scrambling basically to keep moving forward.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So Sad and his siblings want to keep pushing forward,
and pretty soon they set up a TV station called
toll O TV. They changed the media landscape of Afghanistan,
but their ambitions were bigger, much bigger, and that story
is coming up after the.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
News Afghanistan Winner Is My Heart was beating the.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Chapter two diamond in the rough. From the beginning, Sad
knew that Afghan Star wasn't going to be a slam dunk.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
There were huge risks because I think Afghan's rural conservative
Afghans are very sensitive to people performing, in particular females.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
He wanted to rush it to air to make sure
he was first to market, and he needed someone to
run it, someone he could trust to host and produce
it not only well but quickly. So he leaned on
his ACE radio producer Daoud.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
That was a big expectation, Like I knew, this is
not a small show, this is something big. I didn't
know how to start, what to.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Do, and somehow they pulled it off. Episode one was
a hit, way bigger than anyone could have predicted.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yesterday I was driving in the streets and no one
noticed me, But today everyone is talking about my show
and me and ever even recognized me.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
But that just scratches the surface of season one story
because what happens next transforms the lives of ordinary Afghans,
people who had no concept of what it was like
to be successful, to be famous.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Zindigiicasafer, Heyasafer.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
This is Shakib Hamdan. We met him in episode one,
the guy who wowed the judges with his beautiful voice.
He's just twenty years old, but he doesn't have the
life of a young, carefree boy. He wakes up every day,
goes to work, driving a van around Cobble, picking up
customers and dropping them off. He's like an uber driver.
(11:14):
When he has a spare moment, he goes shopping for
food for his family. Then he gets back to driving
all day and all night. There isn't time for anything else.
There isn't even much time for sleep.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
I always struggling to work good, make money, bring you know,
like fruits, meats or rise like that things the bread.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
The rest of his time is spent caring for his
mother and his sister.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
To make them you know, happy, always like hey, you
have everything, don't worry, your son is alive.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Like that you know, as we heard in episode one,
he's and then the man of the house since his
father was killed by a suicide bomber.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
No one deserved that as a human, and his brother
was killed by a rocket during halftime. The rock had
come dead and you know, boom.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
So when Shakiv heard about the auditions for Afghanistar, he
just dismissed it. I mean, sure he liked to sing,
but he was busy driving, trying to provide for his family.
It was his mom who told him, Shakib, get down there,
show them what you've got. So he did and it
(12:37):
went well, very well.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Everyone was gloving, you know, and they was like, who
make noises like that?
Speaker 1 (12:48):
After that first audition, Shakiv started moving through the rounds
Dundee from the thousands to the top one twenty position
until he reaches the top twelve.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He was like excited to see myself.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
His family doesn't know it, but Shakiev has been planning
his whole week around this episode.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
And on that time there wasn't electricity. You know, I
was going to get loan from my cousin, you know,
like borrow some money to buy a generator to watch
the TV. Everyone was excited, like my mom didn't eat
on that night.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
The show opens on Dowd. He's on stage, one hand
in his soup pot, the other holding a microphone. As
he introduces the show. He's addressing a small audience who
are sitting in rows of red seats facing the stage.
(14:08):
One by one, the contestants performed.
Speaker 9 (14:12):
Hurg Is, hur Is, Lusty, dart, Shu, hav Man, Nikki, ni.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Nig, have you.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Nomah Yeah, And finally it's shak Keep's turn. He's dressed
(14:53):
in a black pin striped soup that's too big for him,
a large stripey shirt collar poking out over the top,
and his head is parted down the middle.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
So when I see that skinny guys singing guy, I
was like, I keep you do it?
Speaker 10 (15:10):
Oh no, he.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Looks so young, but he's confident, moving around the stage
one hand outstretched to the audience, emphasizing the words as
he says. The crowd gets so into it that Dude
even grabs a mic and starts dueting the last few lines.
(15:40):
Holds that up, Okay, get in there. Then Daude reads
out the safe contestants and Shaked survives for another round
(16:04):
at home. Shakiv is grinning so wide, his mom is
clutching his hand, and the family is cheering in disbelief.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
And my cousins was hugging me, leg you did it. Oh,
you did it.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Just ten other contestants between him and first place. When
he first started, Shakib didn't think he had a chance.
After all, he was just a local cab driver, a kid.
But now he's in the final eleven and he's starting
to feel the pressure.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I was a poor guy. I didn't have that much money,
you know, to buy a good clothes on this stage.
What I had at home. I was waiting and go
on this stage.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
But Shakiv has become a fan favorite. He's the boy
next door, the contestant that has come to represent so
many of the viewers, and his fans start doing whatever
they can to support him. Even the guy that Shakib
buys vegetables from.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Him, he was like, hey, I'm going to vote for you.
I said, thank you so much. And on that day
he didn't charge me for the vegetable. You know, I said, no, no,
take this money. He said, no, no, no, this is
a gift for you.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
The little kindnesses from the community mount and with every
episode that passes, Shakeep's fan base grows, but Shaqim knows
in order to win the competition he needs more support,
so he enlists his sister.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
She was in this school on that time. She was
like talking about me with the class Smiths.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
You know, she's in math class, telling anyone she can
to vote for her brother. Because just like American Idol
or The Voice, in the end, it's not up to
the judges. The people at home decide why vote off.
This season officially closed and I have the results right
here in my hand, all based on your vote. Let's
(17:57):
do it, Tom Dim.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Chapter three, How to Win an Election. So hold up,
before we go on with the story, I want to
talk about audience voting for a second. For most of us,
it's no big deal. We're all familiar with the idea
of picking up your phone and calling or texting to
support your favorite contestant to keep them on the show.
(18:28):
On the Voice, hopefully you're all voting for Team Legend.
But what you probably don't realize is what a big
deal this is for people in Afghanistan, like that vegetable
seller or Shakiv's little sister. It's like a completely new
concept to them. They haven't seen a show like this before.
But also a lot of Afghans have never been able
(18:50):
to vote or have their voice heard or have a
say and who wins anything ever, But what's amazing is
how quickly people buy into the idea.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Honestly, I can say that it felt like a gender
election and am.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Oncestne contestants become like political candidates.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
People were so excited and so serious about it, like
if these guys will become presidents.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Bands print hundreds of posters and plaster them all over
the city. Supporters formed convoys of cars through cobble streets,
yelling at pedestrians through their megaphones.
Speaker 11 (19:29):
There was thousands of people standing on both sides of
the streets and they were cheering their favorite contestants.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Name that's super fan Ahmed Nazami. He loves the show
so much he has come up with a way of
gaming the system.
Speaker 11 (19:48):
I had around five hundred SIM cards.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
He knows you're only supposed to vote once, but he
quickly realizes if you manage to secure five hundred SIM cards,
then you can vote five hundred times.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
It was a tough job.
Speaker 11 (20:04):
Nokia double three one zero was a very famous telephone
at that time, no camera, just you need to remove
the battery, change the sim card, switch it on, vote
for your favorite contestant, and.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
He does that every week. Needless to say, the show
quickly becomes a major event in the lives of Afghans.
They arrange their whole week around it. They spend their
limited money to vote, and they use their spare time
to go out canvassing for their favorite contestants.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I can say billions of dollars were spent to have
elections and have one son, but we were the people
who taught Afghans how to be part of a democratic process.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Shakiv does not take his fan support lightly. For him,
winning is the difference between the daily struggle to provide
for his family and finally being secure. It's the difference
between him working multiple jobs and filling his body ache
at the end of each long day and finally being
able to enjoy his life. So he obsesses over every performance.
(21:27):
Every song choice he makes is deliberate, every lyric has
to be filled with meaning. As the weeks go on,
Shakiv gets through to the top ten, the top six,
and before he knows it, tomorrow is the finale.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I couldn't sleep that night. During night sometime I smoke
cigarettes so when I get stressed or a little bit nervous.
So on that time, I was smoking cigarette and I
couldn't sleep. I was watching on the sky. I was like, hey, God,
(22:07):
there is any store for me?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Please? You know, Shaki blows a final puff of smoke
into the sky and when it clears, he sees the
sign he's been waiting for him.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
So I saw like the shooting Star. I said, Oh,
I could have been this. I gonna have in this.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Hey, it's John legend. If you've been listening, you already
know that Afghanstar is a tale of resistance and hope.
For fifteen years, Afghanstar was a beacon, but when the
Taliban returned to power, they shut the sho show down
along with so many Afghan rights. They band music education
(23:05):
for girls and women, and they continue to clamp down
on everyone's freedoms. But there are ways to show your support.
We've teamed up with a WA Studios and their incredible
graphic artists to illustrate some of the most extraordinary moments
in this podcast. There is a unique print for each episode,
(23:27):
bringing to life powerful moments that are moving and inspiring,
and there's an unforgettable print based on a painting from
superstar artist Raza that represents the spirit of hope embodied
by the show. Art and music have the power to
uplift us all, and ordering a work for yourself or
(23:49):
as a gift help support Afghans. With every purchase will
be donating to the Nore Initiative, a nonprofit working to
ensure that every Afghan girl has access to education and opportunity.
For more information on our collaboration with AWA, the artworks
available to listeners, and to learn more about the Neer
(24:13):
Initiative's efforts to educate, support independent media, and transform lives
across the region, head to the link in our show
notes below. Chapter four The Finale. Tonight's the night, the
(24:35):
season one finale of Afghanistar is about to air and
the whole country is waiting anxiously to find out who
will be crowned the winner. Waj Ma, the younger sister
of sad Mosni, pulls up to the venue early.
Speaker 6 (24:55):
It was a very simple kind of concert set up,
very modest, not flash it all and if you look
at sort of today's set it's completely different.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
The set is makeshift, but they're trying to make it
as polished as possible, So Wijma does a couple of
checks and swings by the stage.
Speaker 6 (25:12):
I kind of wanted to have it like a slick
modern stage setup with you know, led lights, you know more,
sort of that style.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
She's going for Beyonce concert vibes, just lower budget. But
when she arrives, she discovers someone else has decided to
add their own creative vision to the set.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
I don't know who it was.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
Someone had decided to roll out the Afghan rug on
stage and ruin that vibe completely.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Not exactly what you think of when you think biggest
show in the country. It's giving Auntie's living room.
Speaker 6 (25:48):
I could even to imagine my dad doing something like that.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
So Wajma gets it removed, immediately warns the staff not
to put it back, and then starts handling the box office.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
I couldn't believe.
Speaker 6 (25:59):
It was way beyond what I expected.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
The line stretches up over the hills, hundreds of people,
Traffic can't get in or out. The crowd is so
big that wij Mah can actually hear them through the
venues walls.
Speaker 6 (26:13):
It was like going to a pop concert and having
crowds like waiting outside wanting to get in.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Everyone wants a ticket, but wasj Ma is sold out,
so she locks her office door and slips out into
the growing crop.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
Being in the audience was just like I've never experienced
something like that before. Men, women, young, old, different, you know, demographics,
It didn't matter and it was incredible, Like the energy
was incredible. For the final time, Let's welcome Shiqif handed
(26:52):
to the stage.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Could this be the end of the road for this
twenty two year old van driver.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
Does he have enough votes or is it to hang
out his khakis because tonight he's going home the very
first winner of Afghansta.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
That's her goord, that's Akord.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
Everywhere I had this stress. I think I was losing colories,
switting a lot.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Shakib is looking out into the faces of hundreds of people.
His stomach is turning, his hand is slipping around the mic.
He sings a love song from a Bollywood movie, his
(27:43):
words ring out to the audience.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Gull shan be abo.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Now the garden looks barren to me. My own people
look like strangers to me.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Coobegono, look at that.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
I'm lost in memories of you.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
I'm thirty, doly co longer name name, there e every no.
Speaker 10 (28:21):
Evy no in the head, in the gega guzarda, oh
the geg buzzarda.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
All of sudder.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
You don't need me to tell me. You can hear
it for yourself. That's the audience going. Why they're screamed
waving glow sticks in the air.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
I was like, oh, Shaki, now there is a chance
to win this one. Be confident you can make it.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Boy. Shakiv is elated. He thinks to himself, I could
actually win this. But then his rival steps onto the
stage to perform use of.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Sis used to say of people, make more noises. I
was like, you're gonna lose this one.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
He's wearing round sunglasses with brown limbses and he's dressed
in white with a black vest over the top. It's
very summer of love vibes and quite a contrast to
Shakib's black suit, red shirt and stripey tie.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
The crowd loves it, so that was copying a voice
of old singer. The voice was so heavy and it
was like, wow, oh, they're gonna get more votes than.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Yeah. And then it's time for the moment they've been
waiting for. Shakib stares up at the ceiling and back
down at the floor. H The seconds seemed to stretch
(30:47):
out into eternity.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Ko John Macomie story.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
And his star winner is and she just stopped there.
Speaker 9 (31:05):
What comes?
Speaker 4 (31:07):
My heart was beating, you know, dope do dope do dope,
dope do.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
How much you gave it an dars to go air one.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
I was on the knee to thank God, you know,
like thank you God. My fans was stand up and
give me a stand ovation and glopping and make noises.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
But when Shaquid looks up, he realizes that mixed in
with the cheers, our shouts and.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Grunts, fans start fighting with my friends.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
And then there's a flurry of swinging arms and flailing legs.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
Cool cal cal i was hitting the pinches noises when
they hit each other. Thank god, there was only panches.
You know, if there was knife, there was you know,
killing each other.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Shaquib doesn't watch for long before he knows it. He's
whisked off stage by security and rushed out of the building.
My boy's arm at the farm. Shakib makes a bee
line for his home all he wants to do is
see his mom to tell her, look, I did it.
(32:49):
It's all because of you. And when the car pulls up,
the front door opens and Shakib flies right into her arms.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
My mom, will you know, crying, hugging me and I
and what she was, you know, grabbing the head. She
was hugging me. She was looking in my face. Again.
I told you you're gonna win it. I told you.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Just like Daoud, she keeps life changes overnight.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
The happy life was started from that night. During the
time before competition, before this show, I was working day
and night to support my family. But after this, when
I became famous, you know, for one week, I was
only you know, like waking up doing my breakfast and
(33:43):
sleep waking up doing my launch. Didn't sleep. But after
this I am a person who is flying, you know,
in the sky. You know, like, hey, she keep your
flying right now. You're free completely, No one is there
(34:03):
to destroy you.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
The first season of Afghan Star is in the can.
Nothing in this country will be the same after this.
The people feel like they have a voice, they know
how to vote, they've learned to use their phones, they
have music again. Everyone can feel the change. But that
feeling won't last because pretty soon Afghan Star will come
(34:44):
under attack. It will become a lightning rod, and the producers,
the judges, the contestants will feel the world begin to
close in on them.
Speaker 11 (34:55):
If we're doing one, you're here. If you want to
walk into this province, you want to shut your day, that's.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Next time on Afghan Star. Afghan Star is a Kaleidoscope
production in collaboration with iHeart Podcasts, produced by Samidat Audio
(35:22):
and hosted by me John Legend. From Samizdat Audio, the
series producer is Meera Kumar. Our executive producers are Joe
Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina. Mix and sound designed by Jeff Emtman.
Story editing by Joe Sykes, with original composition by Kyle Murdoch.
(35:46):
Recording engineer Tim McClain. Chapter artwork by Awa Studios. From Kaleidoscope,
the executive producers are Kate Osborn, Mangesh Hattikudur Oz Woloshyn and
Costas Linos from iHeart. The executive producers are Ali Perry
and Katrina Norvell. Social Media by Dara Potts and Vahini Shori.
(36:12):
Special thanks to Tom Freston Lizzie Jacobs Will Pearson, Carrie Lieberman,
Nikki Ettore, Bob Pittman, John Sykes, Conal Byrne, Saad Mohseni,
and the Mohseni family, Matthew Anderson and Axel Alonzo
Previously on Afghan Star, the Taliban takeover Afghanistan.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
What Taliban bring with them pure religious fanaticism.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
They ban music, TV, dancing.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Music, instruments like guitar, tabla, rubob, these things, TVs, VCRs.
They will break them and hang them above their checkpoints.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
But finally, after five years the regime is topled.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
People are running toward freedom.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
I'm John Legard and from Kaleidoscope and ihearten. This is
Afghan Star Chapter one, Hope f M. Welcome back to
(01:34):
armand f M, Afghanistan's number one radio station. Today we're
doing something a little different. Last time we heard about
how a small group of cultural rebels fought back against
the Taliban and brought music back to Afghanistan. Now we
want to tell you about what happened next, how the
(01:54):
cultural revolution that led to Afghanistar began. And so for
this very special episode of the show, we've got the
big Boss, Sad Mussni and his siblings Zayed, Jayed and
Wasjma in the studio. Everything around us was built by
the Mosnes, the company and the studio we're sitting in.
(02:17):
So we're going to interview them and hear how they
became accidental media moguls in Afghanistan. The story starts on
a day a lot of us remember dot.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Some breaking news just through and CNN is reporting tonight
that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Sad. You were working as a businessman at the time
in Australia and you were sitting on your couch watching
this news come through. What do you remember thinking this.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Is all about Afghanistan. Things are going to change. So
it was almost immediate in terms of knowing that this
was going to happen. And I it sounds a good corny,
but you know it was like a calling to.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Go back now. Your family had fled Kabble when you
were a child, So how did you manage to convince
your siblings that you should all go back to Afghanistan
and that it's a good business idea.
Speaker 6 (03:08):
Yeah, I'll give the censored vision. I think my mom
might otherwise get upset, said, I guess he's like the visionary.
Speaker 7 (03:17):
He don't like excealing with anyone, including people who don't
agree with him, like completely don't agree with him, including
people who may say that he should be killed. He'll
happily go and have a conversation with him not have
an argument to.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
What have you? And was he always telling you guys
what to do?
Speaker 8 (03:31):
Even when we were playing games, So say, you know,
we're playing with toys, So Jiad and I would play
with toys, Sod would say, hold on, hold on, I'm
going to play. You guys watch, so he'd make us watch.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
You wouldn't let us touch anything.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
So side, Bearing in mind that Afghanistan is a country
that has endured decades of war, how did you even
manage to get a flight there? In two thousand and.
Speaker 5 (03:55):
Two, Ariana Airlines had I think a single seven two
seven was constantly booked out because people are so keen
to get back.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And you are an insane networker, so naturally, you know,
the head of the airline.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
He must have been in his eighties, but he looked
like he was one hundred and twenty. He was pretty
frail and fragile looking, and we just hassled him, you know,
and rang them constantly.
Speaker 8 (04:19):
Well, Sad was doing the charm offensive on the sky.
I think he talked about how young the guy looked. Anyway,
he's somehow Sad managed to become his best friend in
about two days, and right until the last minute, he's
saying to us, now there's no seats, and then he said, okay,
you three come up.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Now. This plane is packed with Afghans returning home after
years of dreaming about their country. So what was it
like when they made the announcement that you were entering
Afghan airspace?
Speaker 5 (04:56):
All the conversations stopped. There are people who are crying
on the plane. It's a weird feeling because it's I mean,
we always expected to go back, but we didn't think
it was going to take us twenty odd years to
get back.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
What was your first glimpse of the country, Like.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
The airport had potholes all over the runway, damaged aircraft.
Bits of the city had been completely and totally destroyed,
completely worn out. It was like a city of zombies.
And I think that was the most striking thing that
the people seemed so out of it, with the sort
(05:44):
of blank looks on their faces.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Okay, so the four of you get here this bombed
out city and you try something. I think you try
and set up a phone book company. Yeah, and then
you come up with Arman FM. Can you explain the idea?
Speaker 5 (06:07):
You know, there's a mix of fun jokes, music, weather,
the news and so.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Forth, kind of like a mix of MTV and drive
time morning radio with music that's what you wanted it
to sound like, which for Afghans in two thousand and
three was a pretty radical idea, right.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
Yes, we didn't know what the hell we were doing.
I mean, it was like, well, we'll just start this
and see how it goes.
Speaker 6 (06:31):
We were literally working out of a house.
Speaker 7 (06:33):
We started knocking down walls and made it into like,
you know, build windows.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
And we had the radio station downstairs, and there are
people upstairs and people barging. This guy was living with us.
He always used to forget to lock the bathroom door
and people would always walk in on him, you know.
And we had a time of let listen, you gotta
learn to lock the door.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
And what about hiring? How'd you find people?
Speaker 5 (06:55):
We conducted these interviews and met lots of people, but
most people were unfamiliar with the idea of a modern
pop radio station. It was all alien to them.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
I remember joh had a nice sitting down and showing
producers clips of stand up comedy like Jerry Seinfeld, kind
of to get them to get a taste of what
it is stand up comedy.
Speaker 9 (07:19):
Have you ever called someone up and you're disappointed when
they answered the phone you wanted the machine.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
People would laugh, I think out of obligation if they
meant I have found funny.
Speaker 7 (07:32):
We had kids that were working with us. It wasn't
just that they didn't have media experience. A lot of
them wouldn't even know how to use a computer. So
you're going back into real basics.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I have to be honest. It feels like so many
things could have gone wrong. I am dreading the launch.
Tell me what happened.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
As a matter of fact, I was on holidays in Australia,
but we launched, and I recalled my brother calling me
and saying you'd better get back. This is getting out
of hand. What was extraordinary was give me in a taxi,
listen to a program, get out, you know, and in
a particular part of time, and as you walk past
every shop or stall, you keep following the program.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
This is our radio station.
Speaker 6 (08:16):
People are listening to it and they love it.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
So Arman f M was a huge success. But you
didn't stop there, did you. Side You don't have.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
The opportunity to take stock and say, hey, wow, we've
done this great thing. You're scrambling basically to keep moving forward.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So Sad and his siblings want to keep pushing forward,
and pretty soon they set up a TV station called
toll O TV. They changed the media landscape of Afghanistan,
but their ambitions were bigger, much bigger, and that story
is coming up after the.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
News Afghanistan Winner Is My Heart was beating the.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Chapter two diamond in the rough. From the beginning, Sad
knew that Afghan Star wasn't going to be a slam dunk.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
There were huge risks because I think Afghan's rural conservative
Afghans are very sensitive to people performing, in particular females.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
He wanted to rush it to air to make sure
he was first to market, and he needed someone to
run it, someone he could trust to host and produce
it not only well but quickly. So he leaned on
his ACE radio producer Daoud.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
That was a big expectation, Like I knew, this is
not a small show, this is something big. I didn't
know how to start, what to.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Do, and somehow they pulled it off. Episode one was
a hit, way bigger than anyone could have predicted.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yesterday I was driving in the streets and no one
noticed me, But today everyone is talking about my show
and me and ever even recognized me.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
But that just scratches the surface of season one story
because what happens next transforms the lives of ordinary Afghans,
people who had no concept of what it was like
to be successful, to be famous.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Zindigiicasafer, Heyasafer.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
This is Shakib Hamdan. We met him in episode one,
the guy who wowed the judges with his beautiful voice.
He's just twenty years old, but he doesn't have the
life of a young, carefree boy. He wakes up every day,
goes to work, driving a van around Cobble, picking up
customers and dropping them off. He's like an uber driver.
(11:14):
When he has a spare moment, he goes shopping for
food for his family. Then he gets back to driving
all day and all night. There isn't time for anything else.
There isn't even much time for sleep.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
I always struggling to work good, make money, bring you know,
like fruits, meats or rise like that things the bread.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
The rest of his time is spent caring for his
mother and his sister.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
To make them you know, happy, always like hey, you
have everything, don't worry, your son is alive.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Like that you know, as we heard in episode one,
he's and then the man of the house since his
father was killed by a suicide bomber.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
No one deserved that as a human, and his brother
was killed by a rocket during halftime. The rock had
come dead and you know, boom.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
So when Shakiv heard about the auditions for Afghanistar, he
just dismissed it. I mean, sure he liked to sing,
but he was busy driving, trying to provide for his family.
It was his mom who told him, Shakib, get down there,
show them what you've got. So he did and it
(12:37):
went well, very well.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Everyone was gloving, you know, and they was like, who
make noises like that?
Speaker 1 (12:48):
After that first audition, Shakiv started moving through the rounds
Dundee from the thousands to the top one twenty position
until he reaches the top twelve.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He was like excited to see myself.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
His family doesn't know it, but Shakiev has been planning
his whole week around this episode.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
And on that time there wasn't electricity. You know, I
was going to get loan from my cousin, you know,
like borrow some money to buy a generator to watch
the TV. Everyone was excited, like my mom didn't eat
on that night.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
The show opens on Dowd. He's on stage, one hand
in his soup pot, the other holding a microphone. As
he introduces the show. He's addressing a small audience who
are sitting in rows of red seats facing the stage.
(14:08):
One by one, the contestants performed.
Speaker 9 (14:12):
Hurg Is, hur Is, Lusty, dart, Shu, hav Man, Nikki, ni.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Nig, have you.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Nomah Yeah, And finally it's shak Keep's turn. He's dressed
(14:53):
in a black pin striped soup that's too big for him,
a large stripey shirt collar poking out over the top,
and his head is parted down the middle.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
So when I see that skinny guys singing guy, I
was like, I keep you do it?
Speaker 10 (15:10):
Oh no, he.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Looks so young, but he's confident, moving around the stage
one hand outstretched to the audience, emphasizing the words as
he says. The crowd gets so into it that Dude
even grabs a mic and starts dueting the last few lines.
(15:40):
Holds that up, Okay, get in there. Then Daude reads
out the safe contestants and Shaked survives for another round
(16:04):
at home. Shakiv is grinning so wide, his mom is
clutching his hand, and the family is cheering in disbelief.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
And my cousins was hugging me, leg you did it. Oh,
you did it.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Just ten other contestants between him and first place. When
he first started, Shakib didn't think he had a chance.
After all, he was just a local cab driver, a kid.
But now he's in the final eleven and he's starting
to feel the pressure.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I was a poor guy. I didn't have that much money,
you know, to buy a good clothes on this stage.
What I had at home. I was waiting and go
on this stage.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
But Shakiv has become a fan favorite. He's the boy
next door, the contestant that has come to represent so
many of the viewers, and his fans start doing whatever
they can to support him. Even the guy that Shakib
buys vegetables from.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Him, he was like, hey, I'm going to vote for you.
I said, thank you so much. And on that day
he didn't charge me for the vegetable. You know, I said, no, no,
take this money. He said, no, no, no, this is
a gift for you.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
The little kindnesses from the community mount and with every
episode that passes, Shakeep's fan base grows, but Shaqim knows
in order to win the competition he needs more support,
so he enlists his sister.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
She was in this school on that time. She was
like talking about me with the class Smiths.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
You know, she's in math class, telling anyone she can
to vote for her brother. Because just like American Idol
or The Voice, in the end, it's not up to
the judges. The people at home decide why vote off.
This season officially closed and I have the results right
here in my hand, all based on your vote. Let's
(17:57):
do it, Tom Dim.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Chapter three, How to Win an Election. So hold up,
before we go on with the story, I want to
talk about audience voting for a second. For most of us,
it's no big deal. We're all familiar with the idea
of picking up your phone and calling or texting to
support your favorite contestant to keep them on the show.
(18:28):
On the Voice, hopefully you're all voting for Team Legend.
But what you probably don't realize is what a big
deal this is for people in Afghanistan, like that vegetable
seller or Shakiv's little sister. It's like a completely new
concept to them. They haven't seen a show like this before.
But also a lot of Afghans have never been able
(18:50):
to vote or have their voice heard or have a
say and who wins anything ever, But what's amazing is
how quickly people buy into the idea.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Honestly, I can say that it felt like a gender
election and am.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Oncestne contestants become like political candidates.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
People were so excited and so serious about it, like
if these guys will become presidents.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Bands print hundreds of posters and plaster them all over
the city. Supporters formed convoys of cars through cobble streets,
yelling at pedestrians through their megaphones.
Speaker 11 (19:29):
There was thousands of people standing on both sides of
the streets and they were cheering their favorite contestants.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Name that's super fan Ahmed Nazami. He loves the show
so much he has come up with a way of
gaming the system.
Speaker 11 (19:48):
I had around five hundred SIM cards.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
He knows you're only supposed to vote once, but he
quickly realizes if you manage to secure five hundred SIM cards,
then you can vote five hundred times.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
It was a tough job.
Speaker 11 (20:04):
Nokia double three one zero was a very famous telephone
at that time, no camera, just you need to remove
the battery, change the sim card, switch it on, vote
for your favorite contestant, and.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
He does that every week. Needless to say, the show
quickly becomes a major event in the lives of Afghans.
They arrange their whole week around it. They spend their
limited money to vote, and they use their spare time
to go out canvassing for their favorite contestants.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I can say billions of dollars were spent to have
elections and have one son, but we were the people
who taught Afghans how to be part of a democratic process.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Shakiv does not take his fan support lightly. For him,
winning is the difference between the daily struggle to provide
for his family and finally being secure. It's the difference
between him working multiple jobs and filling his body ache
at the end of each long day and finally being
able to enjoy his life. So he obsesses over every performance.
(21:27):
Every song choice he makes is deliberate, every lyric has
to be filled with meaning. As the weeks go on,
Shakiv gets through to the top ten, the top six,
and before he knows it, tomorrow is the finale.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I couldn't sleep that night. During night sometime I smoke
cigarettes so when I get stressed or a little bit nervous.
So on that time, I was smoking cigarette and I
couldn't sleep. I was watching on the sky. I was like, hey, God,
(22:07):
there is any store for me?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Please? You know, Shaki blows a final puff of smoke
into the sky and when it clears, he sees the
sign he's been waiting for him.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
So I saw like the shooting Star. I said, Oh,
I could have been this. I gonna have in this.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Hey, it's John legend. If you've been listening, you already
know that Afghanstar is a tale of resistance and hope.
For fifteen years, Afghanstar was a beacon, but when the
Taliban returned to power, they shut the sho show down
along with so many Afghan rights. They band music education
(23:05):
for girls and women, and they continue to clamp down
on everyone's freedoms. But there are ways to show your support.
We've teamed up with a WA Studios and their incredible
graphic artists to illustrate some of the most extraordinary moments
in this podcast. There is a unique print for each episode,
(23:27):
bringing to life powerful moments that are moving and inspiring,
and there's an unforgettable print based on a painting from
superstar artist Raza that represents the spirit of hope embodied
by the show. Art and music have the power to
uplift us all, and ordering a work for yourself or
(23:49):
as a gift help support Afghans. With every purchase will
be donating to the Nore Initiative, a nonprofit working to
ensure that every Afghan girl has access to education and opportunity.
For more information on our collaboration with AWA, the artworks
available to listeners, and to learn more about the Neer
(24:13):
Initiative's efforts to educate, support independent media, and transform lives
across the region, head to the link in our show
notes below. Chapter four The Finale. Tonight's the night, the
(24:35):
season one finale of Afghanistar is about to air and
the whole country is waiting anxiously to find out who
will be crowned the winner. Waj Ma, the younger sister
of sad Mosni, pulls up to the venue early.
Speaker 6 (24:55):
It was a very simple kind of concert set up,
very modest, not flash it all and if you look
at sort of today's set it's completely different.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
The set is makeshift, but they're trying to make it
as polished as possible, So Wijma does a couple of
checks and swings by the stage.
Speaker 6 (25:12):
I kind of wanted to have it like a slick
modern stage setup with you know, led lights, you know more,
sort of that style.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
She's going for Beyonce concert vibes, just lower budget. But
when she arrives, she discovers someone else has decided to
add their own creative vision to the set.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
I don't know who it was.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
Someone had decided to roll out the Afghan rug on
stage and ruin that vibe completely.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Not exactly what you think of when you think biggest
show in the country. It's giving Auntie's living room.
Speaker 6 (25:48):
I could even to imagine my dad doing something like that.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
So Wajma gets it removed, immediately warns the staff not
to put it back, and then starts handling the box office.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
I couldn't believe.
Speaker 6 (25:59):
It was way beyond what I expected.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
The line stretches up over the hills, hundreds of people,
Traffic can't get in or out. The crowd is so
big that wij Mah can actually hear them through the
venues walls.
Speaker 6 (26:13):
It was like going to a pop concert and having
crowds like waiting outside wanting to get in.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Everyone wants a ticket, but wasj Ma is sold out,
so she locks her office door and slips out into
the growing crop.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
Being in the audience was just like I've never experienced
something like that before. Men, women, young, old, different, you know, demographics,
It didn't matter and it was incredible, Like the energy
was incredible. For the final time, Let's welcome Shiqif handed
(26:52):
to the stage.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Could this be the end of the road for this
twenty two year old van driver.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
Does he have enough votes or is it to hang
out his khakis because tonight he's going home the very
first winner of Afghansta.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
That's her goord, that's Akord.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
Everywhere I had this stress. I think I was losing colories,
switting a lot.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Shakib is looking out into the faces of hundreds of people.
His stomach is turning, his hand is slipping around the mic.
He sings a love song from a Bollywood movie, his
(27:43):
words ring out to the audience.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Gull shan be abo.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Now the garden looks barren to me. My own people
look like strangers to me.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Coobegono, look at that.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
I'm lost in memories of you.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
I'm thirty, doly co longer name name, there e every no.
Speaker 10 (28:21):
Evy no in the head, in the gega guzarda, oh
the geg buzzarda.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
All of sudder.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
You don't need me to tell me. You can hear
it for yourself. That's the audience going. Why they're screamed
waving glow sticks in the air.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
I was like, oh, Shaki, now there is a chance
to win this one. Be confident you can make it.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Boy. Shakiv is elated. He thinks to himself, I could
actually win this. But then his rival steps onto the
stage to perform use of.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Sis used to say of people, make more noises. I
was like, you're gonna lose this one.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
He's wearing round sunglasses with brown limbses and he's dressed
in white with a black vest over the top. It's
very summer of love vibes and quite a contrast to
Shakib's black suit, red shirt and stripey tie.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
The crowd loves it, so that was copying a voice
of old singer. The voice was so heavy and it
was like, wow, oh, they're gonna get more votes than.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Yeah. And then it's time for the moment they've been
waiting for. Shakib stares up at the ceiling and back
down at the floor. H The seconds seemed to stretch
(30:47):
out into eternity.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Ko John Macomie story.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
And his star winner is and she just stopped there.
Speaker 9 (31:05):
What comes?
Speaker 4 (31:07):
My heart was beating, you know, dope do dope do dope,
dope do.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
How much you gave it an dars to go air one.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
I was on the knee to thank God, you know,
like thank you God. My fans was stand up and
give me a stand ovation and glopping and make noises.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
But when Shaquid looks up, he realizes that mixed in
with the cheers, our shouts and.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Grunts, fans start fighting with my friends.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
And then there's a flurry of swinging arms and flailing legs.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
Cool cal cal i was hitting the pinches noises when
they hit each other. Thank god, there was only panches.
You know, if there was knife, there was you know,
killing each other.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Shaquib doesn't watch for long before he knows it. He's
whisked off stage by security and rushed out of the building.
My boy's arm at the farm. Shakib makes a bee
line for his home all he wants to do is
see his mom to tell her, look, I did it.
(32:49):
It's all because of you. And when the car pulls up,
the front door opens and Shakib flies right into her arms.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
My mom, will you know, crying, hugging me and I
and what she was, you know, grabbing the head. She
was hugging me. She was looking in my face. Again.
I told you you're gonna win it. I told you.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Just like Daoud, she keeps life changes overnight.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
The happy life was started from that night. During the
time before competition, before this show, I was working day
and night to support my family. But after this, when
I became famous, you know, for one week, I was
only you know, like waking up doing my breakfast and
(33:43):
sleep waking up doing my launch. Didn't sleep. But after
this I am a person who is flying, you know,
in the sky. You know, like, hey, she keep your
flying right now. You're free completely, No one is there
(34:03):
to destroy you.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
The first season of Afghan Star is in the can.
Nothing in this country will be the same after this.
The people feel like they have a voice, they know
how to vote, they've learned to use their phones, they
have music again. Everyone can feel the change. But that
feeling won't last because pretty soon Afghan Star will come
(34:44):
under attack. It will become a lightning rod, and the producers,
the judges, the contestants will feel the world begin to
close in on them.
Speaker 11 (34:55):
If we're doing one, you're here. If you want to
walk into this province, you want to shut your day, that's.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Next time on Afghan Star. Afghan Star is a Kaleidoscope
production in collaboration with iHeart Podcasts, produced by Samidat Audio
(35:22):
and hosted by me John Legend. From Samizdat Audio, the
series producer is Meera Kumar. Our executive producers are Joe
Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina. Mix and sound designed by Jeff Emtman.
Story editing by Joe Sykes, with original composition by Kyle Murdoch.
(35:46):
Recording engineer Tim McClain. Chapter artwork by Awa Studios. From Kaleidoscope,
the executive producers are Kate Osborn, Mangesh Hattikudur Oz Woloshyn and
Costas Linos from iHeart. The executive producers are Ali Perry
and Katrina Norvell. Social Media by Dara Potts and Vahini Shori.
(36:12):
Special thanks to Tom Freston Lizzie Jacobs Will Pearson, Carrie Lieberman,
Nikki Ettore, Bob Pittman, John Sykes, Conal Byrne, Saad Mohseni,
and the Mohseni family, Matthew Anderson and Axel Alonzo
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