“The World is a Carpet: Four Seasons in an Afghan Village”

Air Date: June 10, 2013

Guest: Anna Badkhen

The small, remote western Afghanistan village of Oqa is known for its beautiful carpets. Woven painstakingly and meticulously by hand, a carpet takes about seven months to make and its sale to a dealer for roughly $200 can sustain a family for a year. In her new book The World is a Carpet: Four Seasons in an Afghan Village, journalist ANNA BADKHEN chronicles the lives of one family as their daughter-in-law, the family’s sole breadwinner, completes one magnificent carpet. She follows them to weddings, funerals, and journeys to the market town as they struggle to survive in the harsh and dangerous environment. Badkhen has been traveling to Afghanistan since 2001 and has written extensively about her experiences and the lives of people she has encountered along the way.

The carpet Thawra wove in Oqa. Photo by Anna Badkhen

Boston weaves a pannier for her husbands donkey. Photo by Anna Badkhen

Thawra washes her son while her husband talks on a cell phone. Photo by Anna Badkhen

Author Anna Badkhen outside Mazar-e-Sharif’s fabled Blue Mosque. Photo by Naziha Ghamgusar

Men carry platters of food to a village wedding. Photos by Anna Badkhen

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