Rebecca Blumenstein & Diana Kapp — The Last Free Women: A Daring Escape from Afghanistan and Coming of Age in America - with Andrea Mitchell & Mursal Rahim
Rebecca Blumenstein and Diana Kapp present *The Last Free Women*, an account of the New York Times’ effort to evacuate more than 200 Afghan employees and their families after the Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021. The book follows four young women—Marwa, Maryam, Mursal, and Samira—as they leave Afghanistan, adapt to life in the United States, learn English, resume their education, and work to shape new identities while women and girls back home lose fundamental freedoms.
Blumenstein and Kapp will discuss the book with Andrea Mitchell and Mursal Rahim. The conversation explores the risks faced by Afghans who worked with Americans, the responsibilities owed to people seeking freedom, and the women’s efforts to rebuild their lives in America.
When: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Showtime: 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Politics and Prose at 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Format: In-person event with a livestream option indicated on the event page.
Tickets: Free
Seating: First come, first served.
Authors: Rebecca Blumenstein is President, Editorial, of NBC News. She previously served as a senior editor at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, where she led the team that won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. Diana Kapp is a journalist whose work focuses frequently on women and modern culture. She has reported from Afghanistan on girls’ education and has written the books *Girls Who Run the World* and *Girls Who Green the World*.
Conversation: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News’ Chief Washington and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, will moderate or join the discussion. Mitchell has covered every U.S. presidential campaign since 1980, reported extensively on national security, and hosted *Andrea Mitchell Reports* on MSNBC from 2008 through 2025. Mursal Rahim, an Afghan law graduate and Cornell Master of Public Administration graduate, works in immigration and refugee services, with a focus on human rights, refugee protection, and advocacy for Afghan women and girls.
Subject: The event covers the fall of Kabul, the evacuation of Afghan staff and families by the New York Times, the refugee experience in the United States, women’s rights, education, displacement, and the rebuilding of lives after forced migration.
Accessibility: Accommodation and accessibility requests should be sent to events@politics-prose.com, ideally at least one week before the event. The organizers will try to accommodate requests made up to the event time.
Related book: The featured hardcover edition of *The Last Free Women: A Daring Escape from Afghanistan and Coming of Age in America* is listed at $30 and is scheduled for publication on September 8, 2026. It is identified as a new release and may require shipping if not in stock.
Run time: Not specified.
Age guidance: Not specified.