A podcast exploring the hidden afterlife of war.

After a war, what happens to all the things that get left behind? On Things We Left Behind is an award-winning story-driven podcast that explores the hidden afterlives of war.

This podcast intimately traces the aftermath of conflict by exploring how refugees and migrants deal with the past, reconstruct their present, and find new ways to imagine the future.

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“Their podcast is perceptive, poetic and deeply personal […] The departure from sensationalising a person’s story brings a new narrative that is intimate and nuanced.”

— The Guardian

“Two sisters are using their award-winning podcast to share their family’s stories as Somali refugees. Their goal is to humanize and empower refugees in the process.”

— Global Citizen

“It was important to them to create an archive of memories and a platform for people to tell their own stories with dignity, and validate the experiences of those affected by the war.”

— VICE

The pair wanted to create a “coherent and centralised place” for stories: a deep dive into the experiences of refugees and their children.

— The Evening Standard

Featured Episodes

Episodes
Episode 05: The Architect
Episode 05: The Architect

In this episode we speak with our mother, Shukri, about her experience of rebuilding the city of her youth, Mogadishu. In this episode we follow her path from a student to a refugee and her journey to achieving her dream of becoming an architect in Mogadishu.

Episode 03: The Parts We Don’t Share
Episode 03: The Parts We Don’t Share

For most of her adult life, Alice felt like her story wasn’t her own. In this episode, Alice shares how she makes sense of her story, and the consequences of sharing her past.

Episode 01: The Tapes That Bind pt. I
Episode 01: The Tapes That Bind pt. I

Letter tapes are cassette tapes recorded with messages from families and friends. In this episode, we discover how these tapes became a window into the world before a war.

Episode 00: Pilot
Episode 00: Pilot

This episode explores Surer and Saredo’s father’s journey after losing his career as a pilot after the Somali Civil War. The former Somali Airlines pilot was forced to reimagine his future after on-going conflict destroyed his industry, and eventually his home.

On Things We Left Behind is created by Surer and Saredo Mohamed.

The podcast creators, Surer and Saredo Mohamed, are the descendants of refugees from the Somali civil war. They offer intimate, nuanced portrayals of conflict that center the voices of forced migrants in a media landscape that rarely does.