Aug 16, 2021

The new reality of Afghanistan’s economy

Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images

Also on today's show: how house hunting can be like an endurance sport, a look at how farmers are dealing with California's drought and how China's tutoring industry is responding to Big Tech crackdowns.

Segments From this episode

From taxes to the drug trade, how the Taliban paid its way

by Sabri Ben-Achour

Aug 16, 2021

The Taliban has taxed everything from government projects to international trade.

An Afghan opium poppy farmer at work in 2011. While the Taliban receives income from taxing opium, most of its recent income has come from taxes on legal goods.

Bay Ismoyo/AFP via Getty Images

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Military contractors and the profits of war

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer

Aug 16, 2021

DynCorp International, KBR and Fluor Corp. often operated under no-bid military contracts, which granted them monopolies on huge deals.

Soldiers and civilian contractors sort through supplies near Gardez, Afghanistan, in 2014.

Scott Olson via Getty Images

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Buying a house has become an endurance sport

by Amy Scott

Aug 16, 2021

"This is not a sprint, this is a marathon," one real estate broker tells her clients. But for some homebuyers, the race is just too long.

Luxury apartments are advertised at a Manhattan real estate office. In this seller's market with limited inventory, trying to buy a home can feel like running a marathon.

Spencer Platt via Getty Images

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Humanitarian groups scramble as Taliban takes power in Afghanistan

by Kimberly Adams

Aug 16, 2021

The hardline government might need the groups to provide basic social services. But it's also likely to fear their human rights advocacy.

Afghan women stand with items received from a charity in Herat in December 2019.

STR/AFP via Getty Images

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Is China’s multibillion-dollar tutoring industry coming to an end?

by Jennifer Pak

Aug 16, 2021

Top Chinese education stocks dipped by 70% within hours last month. But what does it feel like on the ground in China?

"A Love for Dilemma"

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Drought has California farms destroying crops, rather than pay for water

by Caroline Champlin

Aug 16, 2021

The Woolf ranch in California’s Central Valley is scaling down its almond orchards to focus on less water-intensive crops, like tomatoes.

Stuart Woolf stands near piles of almond tree wood chips that will get spread out on his ranch.

Caroline Champlin

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Music from the episode

Antenna Bonobo

Jungle Tash Sultana

Days To Come Bonobo, Bajka

Tell Me Groove Theory

Reality. chromonicci

Same Old Lie Jim James

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Daisy Palacios Senior Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer

Sean McHenry Associate Producer

Richard Cunningham Associate Producer

Dylan Miettinen Associate Digital Producer

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