It's important to understand that violent Islam is only one face of violent religion.

When I would ask women to tell me landays, and they were comfortable enough to do so, they'd tell me ones that reflected the state of their own lives.

We know what war means, and we know what poverty means. We need to develop a better model for reaching out to the world than we have.

I was examining what religious identity meant in Africa. Along the edge of the Islamic world, what patterns were shaping identity? And the truth is, when I looked at the rise of violent forms of religion, no single identity was prevalent. It's central to note that in Nigeria, that tree is rooted primarily in Christianity. It's not just Islamic militants in the Middle Belt.

In most of the world, poetry has such a different reputation than it does in Western culture.

You can't be wrong in journalism. Take a wrong turn in journalism, and you are writing fiction. You can take a wrong turn in poetry, and something wonderful can happen.

The future of Afghanistan is incredibly dark, and decisions are happening incredibly quickly.