Radio free Afghanistan A twenty-year odyssey for an independent voice in Kabul

Review by Booklist Review

Everyone is familiar with the hero's journey: that narrative trope of one who goes on an adventure, is tested and survives, achieves victory, and returns home forever changed. It may seem an overstatement to call a book about a radio station a hero's journey, but that is how this memoir by Mohseni, chairman and CEO of Moby Group, Afghanistan's largest media company, reads. After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Mohseni, who was born in London to an Afghan diplomat, moves to Kabul and, with American assistance, establishes Arman FM, the country's first privately owned radio station. Westerners who can't imagine what it's like not to have a plethora of music choices available at all times would do well to read Mohseni's descriptions, which remind readers that progress is not evenly distributed around the world. Mohseni is also an excellent observer of small details, such as when he describes soft-shell Afghan almonds, which he grew up loving. With the Taliban now back in control of Afghanistan, Mohseni's fascinating tale is more relevant than ever.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Mohseni discusses founding and running Afghanistan's largest independent media company in this engrossing memoir. When Mohseni was 12, he and his family fled Afghanistan for Japan after the 1978 Saur Revolution. In 2002, after an interim government was established following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Mohseni abandoned his banking career to return home with his three siblings. While the four initially considered launching an almond exporting business, a meeting with a former colleague of their father's convinced them to start a radio station instead. In 2003, Mohseni and his siblings launched Arman FM, which played pop music banned during Taliban rule, then parlayed its success into a media company called the Moby Group that included TV networks airing news programs and soap operas. While running down Moby's programming, including hit man-on-the-street radio show Cleaning up the City, Mohseni highlights the issues facing average Afghans, ranging from garbage collection to concerns about corruption in the country's post-Taliban government. In 2022, after U.S. troops withdrew and the Taliban regained control, Moby was forced to curtail its news coverage. Throughout, Mohseni nimbly balances moving reflections on his connection to his homeland with fascinating insider information on running a media empire. It's a fascinating firsthand lens on 21st-century Afghanistan. Agent: Amanda Urban, CAA. (Sept.)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

The founder of an intrepid Afghan media company recalls its 20-year run as a source of independent news. Mohseni was part of the Afghan diaspora fleeing Afghanistan after a communist coup d'etat in 1978. His father, a diplomat, moved the family to Japan, then to Australia, where the author grew up and became a banker before venturing back to his native country after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2002. He and his siblings hit on the daring idea to start one of the first independent radio stations in Afghanistan; they called it Arman, the Dari word forhope. Its launch in spring 2003 was followed by TOLO TV the next year. The parent company, which they named Moby, hired women for the first time, offered content of public interest, and aired entertainment that had been previously banned, all the while navigating the tricky shoals of growing corruption and sectarian violence in the country. Their forthright news coverage earned them harassment from the Hamid Karzai government numerous times, including a 2007 police raid ordered by the attorney general. In 2008 the author brought on board Tom Freston, formerly of MTV and Viacom. His connections, and the financial backing of Rupert Murdoch, spurred Moby to international heights. However, the "brazenly fraudulent election" that brought Ashraf Ghani to power as president in 2014 eroded any hope of democracy. In 2016 a Taliban attack on the Moby offices killed seven employees. America's withdrawal and the return to power of the second Taliban regime in 2021 spelled the demise of many of the shows Mohseni and company had created, and he writes with sorrow about the loss of gifted colleagues and their programming. He was out of town when Kabul fell and hasn't returned since. A moving account of light brought to the Afghan audience, tragically eclipsed. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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