#200. Escaping the Life of a Taliban Fighter

Maiwand Banayee grew up in the 1980s and 90s in war-torn Afghanistan during the war against the Soviets and the civil war that followed. He left for the UK at 22 years old in the opening years of the U.S. war on the Taliban. His recently published memoir, Delusions of Paradise: Escaping the Life of a Taliban Fighter recalls these harrowing years, as well as the next couple of decades after his emigration to the UK and Ireland. In crystal clear, direct and forthright, English prose, not his native language, the book poignantly explores the complicated, interwoven themes of gender, religion, trauma, immigration, and more. Currently, Maiwand works as a physiotherapist and diabetes-remission coach in the UK.

Recorded 9/7/26.