First Person

"First Person" is On Point's radio diary series. Pitch your own story about life during the pandemic at onpoint@wbur.org.

Women gather to demand their rights under the Taliban rule during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon)

First Person: What Young Afghans Want

People under the age of 25 make up more than 60% of the population of Afghanistan. What do young Afghans want for the future of their country?

On Point

05:15Sep 10, 2021

25-year-old Fanoos Basir. She’s a civil engineer and former member of the Afghan women’s national soccer team. (Courtesy)

First Person: Former Afghan Soccer Player On Life As A Refugee, Her Country's Future

Former Afghan soccer player Fanoos Basir is living in a refugee camp. Yet she hasn't given up hope for the nation whose jersey she wore on the world stage.

On Point

11:51Sep 7, 2021

Birds and other wildlife move through a wetland in the Klamath River Basin in Tulelake, Calif. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

First Person: How Drought Along The Klamath River Impacts Migratory Birds

'The decisions that we're making now are putting at risk the birds that make their remarkable annual migration through this area. And this is a clear signal that the arteries...

On Point

04:29Sep 2, 2021

An applicant, left, is assisted by a volunteer with filling out the paperwork needed at a rental assistance fair. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

First Person: A Renter Reflects On How Delayed Rental Assistance Shaped Her Life

Charmayne was among the millions of Americans who were behind on their rent. So she turned to emergency rental assistance programs for help.

On Point

05:20Aug 26, 2021

First Person: How Western Droughts Impact Navajo Farmers

"We've been conserving for so long. But at this point, this drought is just going to make it harder to survive out here."

On Point

04:18Aug 25, 2021

Mogli lifts a paw to touch the palm of his owner Eva Kullmann as facility residents, who both suffer from dementia, look on during the cat's weekly visit at the Lutherstift senior care facility. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

First Person: After Loss, A Cat's Companionship Got This Doctor Through 'Dark Times'

In 2006, Fumiko Chino was just beginning to find her way in life when everything came crashing down. Fumiko shares how an unlikely small furry companion ended up as a...

On Point

05:48Aug 23, 2021

Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini watches Afghan boys fly kites during a United Nations sponsored visit in Kabul on September 14, 2009. Hosseini, the Afghan-American author of bestselling novel "The Kite Runner", flew kites with boys on a Kabul hilltop, hailing development as the key to crushing Taliban rebels. (David Furst/AFP via Getty Images)

First Person: Novelist Khaled Hosseini Reflects On How Afghanistan Changed

Novelist Khaled Hosseini remembers the Afghanistan of his childhood and calls on help for those left behind.

On Point

04:36Aug 20, 2021

Residents take part in a "clap for carers" to show thanks for the work of Britain's NHS (National Health Service) workers and other frontline medical staff around the country as they battle with the novel coronavirus pandemic, outside her home in Streatham, south west London on May 28, 2020. (Niklas Halle'n/AFP via Getty Images)

First Person: Stress Scientist Elissa Epel On Where She Finds Hope

'When we each do our bit together, it will make a difference,' stress scientist Elissa Epel says. 'And I consciously decided to hold that positive view and work toward that.'

On Point

06:18Aug 19, 2021

A man holds a newspaper displaying front page news about Afghanistan, at a stall in Islamabad on August 16. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images)

First Person: Afghan Translator Reflects On The Collapse Of The Afghan Military

Ali Rasouly spent four years working with the U.S. Marines to rebuild his country. He shares his thoughts on the collapse of the Afghan military.

On Point

05:26Aug 18, 2021

Father Christopher WIlliams walks down the aisle in the Basilica of San Albino on May 2, 2020 in Mesilla, New Mexico, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Paul Ratje / AFP via Getty Images)

Rev. Joshua Lazard On How COVID Helped The U.S. Appeal 'To Our Better Angels'

'I believe that as a whole, as a country, we have appealed to our better angels. And I think that us as a country, we will be better for it.'

On Point

04:19Jul 14, 2021

Ken Gloss, the proprietor of the Brattle Book Shop. (Photo: Jeffrey Dunn)

First Person: Brattle Book Shop's Ken Gloss On How Family Got Him Through The Pandemic

Ken's positive attitude and perseverance helped his store stay open. But it was not without its struggles.

On Point

03:35Jun 25, 2021

A woman smiles under the sunset. (RunPhoto via Getty Images)

First Person: Adrienne Maree Brown Finds Joy In Finding Her People

Author adrienne maree brown reflects on a year-plus of COVID, and finding joy in the midst of overwhelming world events.

On Point

06:06Jun 18, 2021

A medical worker administers a test for COVID-19 at a facility in Camden, N.J., April 1, 2020. (Matt Rourke/AP)

First Person: Virologist Stanley Perlman Reflects On A Year Of COVID

Dr. Stanley Perlman is a professor of microbiology, immunology and pediatrics at the University of Iowa. He walks through what the past year has been like for him.

On Point

04:38Jun 8, 2021

Supporters of former President Donald Trump protest outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images)

First Person: A Reporter's Recollections Of The Capitol Riot

How do we find the truth about what happened on the day of the Capitol insurrection? CBS reporter Grace Segers reflects on what she remembers from Jan. 6.

On Point

10:23May 19, 2021

First Person: The Sounds, Tastes And Biology Of Cicadas

Cicadas have been an inspiration to researchers well beyond the world of entomology. We hear three stories on the remarkable things humankind has learned from these insects.

On Point

13:23May 7, 2021

Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft Corporation Bill Gates speaks at an Antitrust press conference in 1998. (Photo by Porter Gifford/Liaison)

First Person: Litigator David Boies On Antitrust, Tech And The Government V. Microsoft

We speak with the litigator the government brought in back in the 1990s for the U.S. v. Microsoft.

On Point

10:27Apr 26, 2021

The John Elliot Bible, from 1661, inscribed with language of the native American Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, who inhabited the area where the Mayflower pilgrims landed in 1620, at the Box Museum in Plymouth south west England, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. (Alastair Grant/AP Photo)

First Person: Keeping The Wampanoag Language Alive

We speak with Melanie Roderick of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. She's a teacher with the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project.

On Point

05:47Mar 23, 2021

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Radio Diary: A Walk Through The History Of The Filibuster

There's a sense that the filibuster has been part of the procedures of the U.S. Senate since time immemorial. We asked a historian whether or not that's true.

On Point

06:43Mar 10, 2021

Times Square area near 42nd Street in New York City. This photo is circa 1920s. (AP Photo)

'People Will Bounce Back': How COVID-19 Parallels Past Pandemics

Clinical psychologist Steven Taylor discusses his book "The Psychology of Pandemics" and shares how the COVID-19 pandemic parallels past pandemics.

On Point

05:21Feb 12, 2021

Supporters of U.S. President Trump enter the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

First Person: The Consequences Of America's 'Stupid Coup'

"This is actually a chance for Americans ... to rejoin the rest of the world. But God knows, it's going to be a painful awakening."

On Point

12:06Feb 5, 2021