Join Investigative Reporter Molly Thomas as she lands on the ground in South Asia to uncover the heartbreaking story of a young Afghan girl, with a unique connection to Canada.  In the spring of 2023, The Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Reporting was awarded to then CTV W5 correspondent, Molly Thomas, for her special project on education in Afghanistan. Then, as part of a series of nation-wide cuts from Bell Media, Molly was laid off and the story was shelved. That’s where Canadaland stepped in. We’ve teamed up with Molly and the Michener-Deacon Fellowship to produce Dear Taliban, a new three-part investigation. Today we share episode two. Dear Taliban spans three continents, taking listeners from the vice-regal pomp and ceremony of Rideau Hall, to one of the toughest hostile-training programs in the world — all to prepare her for a complex and volatile area of South Asia. Host: Karyn Pugliese Credits: Molly Thomas (Reporter), Riley Nimens (Associate Producer), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Production Manager), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Additional music by Audio Network Sponsors:  Douglas: Canadaland listeners head to https://douglas.ca/canadaland to get a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. BetterHelp: Canadaland listeners head to https://betterhelp.com/canadaland to get started today and enjoy 10% off your first month. Discount code “canadaland" will be automatically applied. Squarespace: Canadaland listeners head to https://squarespace.com/canadaland for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch use code “canadaland” to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.