Monuments Woman
Arts & Culture Podcasts
Indiana Jones was a woman.
Join host George Gavrilis as American archaeologist Laura Tedesco takes us on her 11-year journey to help save Afghanistan's cultural treasures from looters, earthquakes, and the Taliban.
The making and release of the podcast took place during an intense time, from Summer 2021 during the U.S. and NATO troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, through the August 2021 Taliban takeover and the subsequent months.
Location:
United States
Genres:
Arts & Culture Podcasts
Description:
Indiana Jones was a woman. Join host George Gavrilis as American archaeologist Laura Tedesco takes us on her 11-year journey to help save Afghanistan's cultural treasures from looters, earthquakes, and the Taliban. The making and release of the podcast took place during an intense time, from Summer 2021 during the U.S. and NATO troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, through the August 2021 Taliban takeover and the subsequent months.
Language:
English
Episodes
Q&A with Laura Tedesco and George Gavrilis
2/22/2022
Laura and George answer questions submitted by our listeners.
Duration:00:38:03
Ep 28: Kabul, Je T'Aime
2/8/2022
In this candid finale, Laura and George talk about the highs and lows of her decade in Afghanistan and an uncertain future. A mystery lover is revealed.
Duration:00:38:16
Ep 27: Like It or Not
2/1/2022
Laura shares a memory about a media appearance and George talks about his time as an election monitor in Kabul.
Duration:00:27:00
Ep 26: Matt Damon @ aol.com
1/25/2022
Before her first trip to Afghanistan, Laura "Jason Bournes" her way through a barricade of cars. Years later, she corners Matt Damon in a conversation about Kabul.
Duration:00:35:10
Ep 25: An Act of Defiance
1/18/2022
Laura investigates a loud crash on her roof and visits a close friend from Afghanistan, triggering memories of a project that aimed to fix what the Taliban destroyed.
Duration:00:35:51
Ep 24: Raggedy Ann Doll
1/11/2022
Continuing their discussion about Herat, George and Laura talk about a frightening day that marked Laura's last visit to Afghanistan's cultural capital.
Duration:00:27:17
Ep 23: I Heart Herat
1/4/2022
After unleashing a pent-up rant, George and Laura talk about Herat and the restoration of its legendary citadel.
Duration:00:26:28
Ep 22: He Loves Soup. I Love Soup.
12/14/2021
Laura and George discuss the work of a team of University of Chicago archaeologists who use satellite photos to track looting in Afghanistan and catch up on Laura's French husband.
Duration:00:18:51
Ep 21: Trust Fall
12/7/2021
If you had to leave your home with one suitcase, what would you take? That's a question that became real for many Afghans as the Taliban swept over the country.
Duration:00:19:50
Ep 20: The Architect
11/30/2021
The saga of the National Museum of Afghanistan continues as Laura and George talk with Toño Foraster Mariscal, the Spanish architect who in 2013 won the competition to design a new museum and who believes that architecture cannot be the protagonist of the story.
Duration:00:29:01
Ep 19: Zabul, not Kabul
11/16/2021
After channeling Redd Foxx while nearly choking to death, George talks to Laura about her jaunt to Zabul province and her quest to find historic sites to preserve.
Duration:00:28:43
Ep 18: It’s All about the Paper
11/9/2021
Laura hires an intrepid and seasoned photographer to shoot Afghanistan’s heritage sites. As it turns out, this is no easy mission, as Robert Nickelsberg tells us in his own words.
Duration:00:34:52
Ep 17: Punch in the D*ck
11/2/2021
After Armenia, Laura heads to a dig in Syria. In between stories of wild dogs and being detained by police, she teaches us a thing or two about Mesopotamian civilizations.
Duration:00:30:05
Ep 16: Not the Kardashians' Armenia
10/26/2021
After her cat survives a fight with a venomous snake in her front yard, Laura reminisces about an Urartian archaeological dig in Armenia in the 1990s and an unexpected marriage proposal.
Duration:00:28:38
Ep 15: Sift This
10/19/2021
So how does one exactly become an archaeologist? Laura’s answer transports us to the 1990s to graduate school in a gritty New York and digs in broiling Cyprus and a newly independent Armenia.
Duration:00:21:49
Ep 14: In the End, Love Wins
10/12/2021
With Kabul's internet at a slow drip and telecom companies losing staff and clients left and right, Laura and George manage somehow to connect with an Afghan colleague and friend. Jamal stayed in Kabul after the Taliban took over, and has a story to tell.
Duration:00:28:19
Ep 13: Troubletown II
10/5/2021
The Taliban are racing towards the gates of Kabul. Everyone is heading for the exits, even Afghan friends Laura and George thought would never leave. They reminisce about Laura's life in the confines of the US Embassy and the city just beyond the compound.
Duration:00:20:37
Ep 12: Silverback Gorillas
9/28/2021
The discussion of the atmospheric Afghan north continues as Laura takes us on a sweep of its archaeological history. She uses words like "silverback" and "tumuli" that George had to look up and has now added to his everyday vocabulary.
Duration:00:25:53
Ep 11: Balkh or Bust
9/21/2021
Laura and George head to the north of Afghanistan, where archaeological riches abound and challenges mount as the once rebellious north comes under Taliban control.
Duration:00:28:45
Ep 10: People, People, People
9/14/2021
Laura had an idea: a book on heritage work across Afghanistan, that tells the stories of how Afghans live and observe the archaeology and history around them. This book has become a document of what might be lost in the years ahead, now that the Taliban have taken over the country.
Duration:00:33:46