The Dissident's Mic

How can technology empower women and girls living under one of the world’s most repressive regimes?

Roya Mahboob, Afghanistan’s first female tech CEO and founder of the “Afghan Dreamers” All-Girls Robotics Team, shares how technology continues to empower women and girls and give them hope for a better future, even in a country that is known as “the worst place in the world for women.”

In this episode of The Dissident’s Mic, Roya shares how technology and education can create opportunities for Afghan girls to pursue their dreams and ambitions, despite the restrictions they face under Taliban rule.

Could the clothes we wear, the food we buy, or the products we use every day be connected to forced labor?

In this episode of The Dissident’s Mic, Uyghur human rights advocate Jewher Ilham joins us to discuss how forced labor in China has become embedded in global supply chains, why companies often struggle or fail to trace where their products come from, and what governments, corporations, and consumers can do about it.

Jewher also shares the story of her father, Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, who is serving a life sentence in China, and reflects on how her advocacy has shaped her own connection to Uyghur culture and identity.

Watch the full conversation to learn more about Uyghur forced labor, corporate responsibility, and the fight to preserve a culture and people facing genocide.

In this episode of The Dissident’s Mic, Casey Michel, director of HRF’s Combating Kleptocracy Program, sits down with Equatoguinean human rights lawyer and EG Justice Executive Director Tutu Alicante to discuss how authoritarian regimes use sports to launder their reputations, what soccer corruption reveals about the broader kleptocracy in Equatorial Guinea, and why players, journalists, and fans can still play a role in holding these networks accountable.

Félix Maradiaga knew Daniel Ortega would never allow a free and fair election in Nicaragua. He ran anyway.

In 2021, the former presidential candidate challenged Ortega’s dictatorship to expose the regime’s sham election to the world. Instead, he was arrested, tortured, imprisoned for 611 days, and ultimately stripped of his citizenship.

In this episode of The Dissident’s Mic, Casey Michel, Director of HRF’s Combating Kleptocracy Program, sits down with Nicaraguan political activist Félix Maradiaga to discuss his time as a political prisoner, why authoritarian regimes are increasingly working together to suppress dissent, and what gives him hope that democracy can still prevail.