The Scheherazade Foundation Mini Podcast Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-scheherazade-foundation-mini-podcast Hosted by Tahir Shah, the Scheherazade Foundation Podcast brings you conversations with thinkers, artists, and changemakers working at the intersection of culture, justice and the human imagination. The Foundation takes its name from the great storyteller of the Arabian Nights — and like Scheherazade herself, we believe that stories have the power to transform the world. Our conversations begin with the Foundation's Azada Women project, supporting Afghan women and girls at a moment of profound crisis, and reach outward from there to wherever the most important work is being done. Short, focused, and always worth your time. ©The Scheherazade Foundation 2026 6e429686-b4b8-509f-90a8-6861b24e1b09 yes en Fri, 29 May 2026 16:53:09 +0100 Fri, 29 May 2026 16:53:23 +0100 https://www.sf.charity/ https://img.transistorcdn.com/FjcggG1-zPvlx8qCeBJGmH6HtmQ4mSPBTwAUwh0YVC0/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zMjgz/MWZiZTAzM2NjMGE0/MjcxZTY1MzZlOGUw/ODA2ZC5qcGc.jpg The Scheherazade Foundation Mini Podcast https://www.sf.charity/ episodic The Scheherazade Foundation Hosted by Tahir Shah, the Scheherazade Foundation Podcast brings you conversations with thinkers, artists, and changemakers working at the intersection of culture, justice and the human imagination. The Foundation takes its name from the great storyteller of the Arabian Nights — and like Scheherazade herself, we believe that stories have the power to transform the world. Our conversations begin with the Foundation's Azada Women project, supporting Afghan women and girls at a moment of profound crisis, and reach outward from there to wherever the most important work is being done. Short, focused, and always worth your time. Hosted by Tahir Shah, the Scheherazade Foundation Podcast brings you conversations with thinkers, artists, and changemakers working at the intersection of culture, justice and the human imagination. storytelling, humanitarian, interview, folklore, Afghan women, charity The Scheherazade Foundation No No We Asked Afghan Women What They Needed. The Answer Surprised Us. 4 4 We Asked Afghan Women What They Needed. The Answer Surprised Us. full 7b9f0fbd-8c24-443d-87bd-5c02267f4560 https://share.transistor.fm/s/fe5cf76a When we asked Afghan women what they most needed, we expected many things. What came back, clearly and consistently, was a single answer: an internet connection.

In this conversation, Tahir Shah and Jason Webster — co-founders of The Scheherazade Foundation — talk about Azada Women, the Foundation's campaign to fund mobile internet access for women living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. They discuss how the project began, how it operates, and why something as simple as a data connection has become, for millions of women, the difference between isolation and the world.

Today, 20 million women and girls in Afghanistan live under more than 250 Taliban edicts restricting their freedom to work, study, move, and speak. One hundred dollars connects a woman for a year — including secure access tools to keep her safe online.
Azada — from the Dari word for free.

🔗 Support the campaign: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: https://www.sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity

The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.

#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> When we asked Afghan women what they most needed, we expected many things. What came back, clearly and consistently, was a single answer: an internet connection.

In this conversation, Tahir Shah and Jason Webster — co-founders of The Scheherazade Foundation — talk about Azada Women, the Foundation's campaign to fund mobile internet access for women living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. They discuss how the project began, how it operates, and why something as simple as a data connection has become, for millions of women, the difference between isolation and the world.

Today, 20 million women and girls in Afghanistan live under more than 250 Taliban edicts restricting their freedom to work, study, move, and speak. One hundred dollars connects a woman for a year — including secure access tools to keep her safe online.
Azada — from the Dari word for free.

🔗 Support the campaign: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: https://www.sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity

The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.

#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 15:01:14 +0100 The Scheherazade Foundation The Scheherazade Foundation 899 When we asked Afghan women what they most needed, we expected many things. What came back, clearly and consistently, was a single answer: an internet connection.

In this conversation, Tahir Shah and Jason Webster — co-founders of The Scheherazade Foundation — talk about Azada Women, the Foundation's campaign to fund mobile internet access for women living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. They discuss how the project began, how it operates, and why something as simple as a data connection has become, for millions of women, the difference between isolation and the world.

Today, 20 million women and girls in Afghanistan live under more than 250 Taliban edicts restricting their freedom to work, study, move, and speak. One hundred dollars connects a woman for a year — including secure access tools to keep her safe online.
Azada — from the Dari word for free.

🔗 Support the campaign: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: https://www.sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity

The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.

#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> storytelling, humanitarian, interview, folklore, Afghan women, charity No 'Gender Apartheid': Safia Shah on Her Father's Stories, Hoopoe Books, and Afghanistan Today 3 3 'Gender Apartheid': Safia Shah on Her Father's Stories, Hoopoe Books, and Afghanistan Today full 44ed1d30-f8a6-46a4-8e15-bb2aac613368 https://share.transistor.fm/s/aac20eeb Safia Shah grew up with the same tales her brother Tahir did — teaching stories passed down by their father, the writer and thinker Idries Shah. Those stories, she says, work differently at every stage of a life. As a child you understand one thing. As an adult, decades later, you find something else entirely waiting inside them.
In this conversation, Tahir and Safia talk about what it meant to grow up in that tradition, how Hoopoe Books has distributed over five million illustrated editions of those stories in Afghanistan alone — and millions more in dozens of languages worldwide — and why that work feels more urgent now than ever.
The UN has called the situation facing Afghan women today "gender apartheid." Safia doesn't flinch from the phrase. This conversation doesn't either.
Hoopoe Books & Hoopoe Share: hoopoeshare.org
Support Azada Women — the Scheherazade Foundation's campaign to fund internet access for women inside Afghanistan: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> Safia Shah grew up with the same tales her brother Tahir did — teaching stories passed down by their father, the writer and thinker Idries Shah. Those stories, she says, work differently at every stage of a life. As a child you understand one thing. As an adult, decades later, you find something else entirely waiting inside them.
In this conversation, Tahir and Safia talk about what it meant to grow up in that tradition, how Hoopoe Books has distributed over five million illustrated editions of those stories in Afghanistan alone — and millions more in dozens of languages worldwide — and why that work feels more urgent now than ever.
The UN has called the situation facing Afghan women today "gender apartheid." Safia doesn't flinch from the phrase. This conversation doesn't either.
Hoopoe Books & Hoopoe Share: hoopoeshare.org
Support Azada Women — the Scheherazade Foundation's campaign to fund internet access for women inside Afghanistan: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 14:44:25 +0100 The Scheherazade Foundation The Scheherazade Foundation 1230 Safia Shah grew up with the same tales her brother Tahir did — teaching stories passed down by their father, the writer and thinker Idries Shah. Those stories, she says, work differently at every stage of a life. As a child you understand one thing. As an adult, decades later, you find something else entirely waiting inside them.
In this conversation, Tahir and Safia talk about what it meant to grow up in that tradition, how Hoopoe Books has distributed over five million illustrated editions of those stories in Afghanistan alone — and millions more in dozens of languages worldwide — and why that work feels more urgent now than ever.
The UN has called the situation facing Afghan women today "gender apartheid." Safia doesn't flinch from the phrase. This conversation doesn't either.
Hoopoe Books & Hoopoe Share: hoopoeshare.org
Support Azada Women — the Scheherazade Foundation's campaign to fund internet access for women inside Afghanistan: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> storytelling, humanitarian, interview, folklore, Afghan women, charity No She Burned Her Art on a Rooftop in Kabul. Then She Found a Way Back. 2 2 She Burned Her Art on a Rooftop in Kabul. Then She Found a Way Back. full 56967ce1-6811-4e50-aa83-a0fc44b43584 https://share.transistor.fm/s/1bd34cbf Darya grew up in Afghanistan, became an artist, and eventually had to burn everything she had made — on a rooftop in Kabul — when the Taliban returned to power. Creating art had become a crime.
She made it out. Most of the women she knows did not.
Today, from Canada, Darya runs online art therapy sessions for women still living inside Afghanistan. In this conversation with Tahir Shah, she talks about her journey from refugee life in Pakistan to Kabul, the reality of women's lives under Taliban rule today, what it cost her to leave, and what it means to stay connected — however tenuously — with the women she works with.
At the heart of it is a simple truth: for Afghan women, internet access is not a convenience. It is a lifeline.
Azada Women is a project of The Scheherazade Foundation that funds mobile data connections for women inside Afghanistan. A connection costs around $100 a year. 
🔗 Support the campaign: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
Darya's website: https://soulwomen.org/
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #SteveMcCurry #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> Darya grew up in Afghanistan, became an artist, and eventually had to burn everything she had made — on a rooftop in Kabul — when the Taliban returned to power. Creating art had become a crime.
She made it out. Most of the women she knows did not.
Today, from Canada, Darya runs online art therapy sessions for women still living inside Afghanistan. In this conversation with Tahir Shah, she talks about her journey from refugee life in Pakistan to Kabul, the reality of women's lives under Taliban rule today, what it cost her to leave, and what it means to stay connected — however tenuously — with the women she works with.
At the heart of it is a simple truth: for Afghan women, internet access is not a convenience. It is a lifeline.
Azada Women is a project of The Scheherazade Foundation that funds mobile data connections for women inside Afghanistan. A connection costs around $100 a year. 
🔗 Support the campaign: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
Darya's website: https://soulwomen.org/
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #SteveMcCurry #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 14:38:19 +0100 The Scheherazade Foundation The Scheherazade Foundation 2146 Darya grew up in Afghanistan, became an artist, and eventually had to burn everything she had made — on a rooftop in Kabul — when the Taliban returned to power. Creating art had become a crime.
She made it out. Most of the women she knows did not.
Today, from Canada, Darya runs online art therapy sessions for women still living inside Afghanistan. In this conversation with Tahir Shah, she talks about her journey from refugee life in Pakistan to Kabul, the reality of women's lives under Taliban rule today, what it cost her to leave, and what it means to stay connected — however tenuously — with the women she works with.
At the heart of it is a simple truth: for Afghan women, internet access is not a convenience. It is a lifeline.
Azada Women is a project of The Scheherazade Foundation that funds mobile data connections for women inside Afghanistan. A connection costs around $100 a year. 
🔗 Support the campaign: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
Darya's website: https://soulwomen.org/
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #SteveMcCurry #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> storytelling, humanitarian, interview, folklore, Afghan women, charity No Steve McCurry: Afghanistan Then and Now — and Why He Supports Azada Women 1 1 Steve McCurry: Afghanistan Then and Now — and Why He Supports Azada Women full 495c4b72-19ed-4e70-8ccc-1e606d302703 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5abcb936 Steve McCurry first went to Afghanistan just before the Soviet invasion. He was there when the Soviets were driven out. Over decades, he fell in love with the country and its people — hospitable, funny, generous, alive.
He has watched what has happened since 2021 with horror.
In January 2026, the Taliban passed a law making it legal for an Afghan man to beat his wife — provided he doesn't break her bones. McCurry's response is unequivocal: "You wouldn't even do that to a dog. That kind of behaviour is unacceptable."
In this conversation, one of the world's great photographers talks about Afghanistan across half a century — the country he knew, the people he loved, and the women now living under more than 250 Taliban edicts stripping them of the right to work, study, move, and speak.
He also talks about Azada Women — The Scheherazade Foundation's campaign to fund internet access for women inside Afghanistan. One hundred dollars connects a woman for a year.

🔗 Support the campaign: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #SteveMcCurry #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> Steve McCurry first went to Afghanistan just before the Soviet invasion. He was there when the Soviets were driven out. Over decades, he fell in love with the country and its people — hospitable, funny, generous, alive.
He has watched what has happened since 2021 with horror.
In January 2026, the Taliban passed a law making it legal for an Afghan man to beat his wife — provided he doesn't break her bones. McCurry's response is unequivocal: "You wouldn't even do that to a dog. That kind of behaviour is unacceptable."
In this conversation, one of the world's great photographers talks about Afghanistan across half a century — the country he knew, the people he loved, and the women now living under more than 250 Taliban edicts stripping them of the right to work, study, move, and speak.
He also talks about Azada Women — The Scheherazade Foundation's campaign to fund internet access for women inside Afghanistan. One hundred dollars connects a woman for a year.

🔗 Support the campaign: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #SteveMcCurry #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 14:58:49 +0100 The Scheherazade Foundation The Scheherazade Foundation 1204 Steve McCurry first went to Afghanistan just before the Soviet invasion. He was there when the Soviets were driven out. Over decades, he fell in love with the country and its people — hospitable, funny, generous, alive.
He has watched what has happened since 2021 with horror.
In January 2026, the Taliban passed a law making it legal for an Afghan man to beat his wife — provided he doesn't break her bones. McCurry's response is unequivocal: "You wouldn't even do that to a dog. That kind of behaviour is unacceptable."
In this conversation, one of the world's great photographers talks about Afghanistan across half a century — the country he knew, the people he loved, and the women now living under more than 250 Taliban edicts stripping them of the right to work, study, move, and speak.
He also talks about Azada Women — The Scheherazade Foundation's campaign to fund internet access for women inside Afghanistan. One hundred dollars connects a woman for a year.

🔗 Support the campaign: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/azada-women
🌍 Learn more: sf.charity/azada-women
📧 Contact: info@sf.charity
The Scheherazade Foundation is a UK-based cultural organisation harnessing the power of traditional stories and wisdom to address modern global challenges.
#AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #AzadaWomen #SteveMcCurry #WomensRights #HumanRights #Crowdfunder

]]> storytelling, humanitarian, interview, folklore, Afghan women, charity No