Utopias with Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan
The Utopias Podcast with Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan
In the wake of an era where alarmism and crisis branding sells - whether in relation to climate change, new technologies, or polarization, we have a huge opportunity to embrace our capacity for innovation, empathy, and compassion towards one another. To get there it is high time to have creative, productive, and truly progressive conversations about our planetary future, and approach such from every discipline and perspective we can.
Hosted by UCLA professor and public intellectual Ramesh Srinivasan, the “Utopias” podcast presents a new narrative, a vision of life futures based on a set of conversations that celebrate the work and perspectives of “dreamers”, or those who represent and care deeply for the endless potential for human creativity, expression, and optimism. We share the stories of those who believe in the potential for our planet, and are doing the important work to try to empower our tomorrow in a way that we can all benefit from.
This podcast brings back the realms of the scientific, emotional, artistic, legal, poetic, musical, ecological, and spiritual into conversation with one another as together, we imagine and advocate for futures for our planet and species that lift us all up. Dr. Srinivasan’s guests shall run the gamut, bringing artists, journalists, politicians, scientists, environmentalists, monks and religious practitioners, and scholars together. Utopias shall inspire listeners to imagine new futures defined by compassion, an appreciation of diversity alongside unity, and the recognition that we live in an extraordinary time where we are all in ‘it’ together.
Produced by Tulin Chang Maltepe. Music by Albert Ortega
Utopias with Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan
32. Understanding Afghanistan's Past, Present and Future with Journalist Habib Khan Totakhil
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Habib Khan Totakhil is an Afghan journalist who has reported on the Afghan conflict for more than a decade with the Wall Street Journal, becoming one of the few reporters to have embedded with both government forces and the Taliban. His reporting has come at a steep personal cost, including being abducted and held by the Taliban. Totakhil was honored for "Courageous Journalism" by the East West Center in 2016 and won the Rumi Award for "Best International Reporter in Afghanistan" in 2014.
Beyond journalism, Totakhil is also the founder of the non-profit Afghan Peace Watch, which aims to deliver reliable research and information on what’s happening on the ground in Afghanistan. Notably, he was also a restaurant owner. His first business was a Mexican restaurant in Kabul’s green zone, and his other restaurant was the Cabul Meat House, a popular steakhouse in the Shahr-e-Naw neighborhood.
Join us for a conversation with Habib Khan Totakhil and Ramesh Srinivasan on the realities of living and reporting from inside a decades-long conflict, the ethics and risks of embedded journalism, and what two decades of war have meant for Afghanistan's future.
This episode was recorded in December of 2023.
Follow Habib Khan Totakhil on X.
Questions or comments? Email podcastutopias@gmail.com.