6. Matin Maulawizada on How America Exports Propaganda

Matin Maulawizada was born and raised in Afghanistan and moved to the U.S. as a teenager. He argues that America now has two strategic exports: our military and Hollywood. Our armed forces intervene in conflicts around the world, and our entertainment industry makes those invasions palatable, even heroic, to the general public. Matin has been watching the Israeli genocide of Palestinians and sees a lot of parallels to his family’s own experiences in Afghanistan.Matin works as a celebrity makeup artist whose work has appeared on the covers of Vogue, In Style, and Vanity Fair. His client roster over the years has included  Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie, and Cynthia Nixon.Matin is also the founder of Afghan Hands, a nonprofit that helps Afghan widows increase their independence and literacy Get full access to The Connections at theconnections.substack.com/subscribe