How 'Night of the Lovers' is changing Afghan dating culture

Radio call-in shows for the lovelorn are common in North America, but in Afghanistan the concept is shaking up a generation. The wildly popular show Night of the Lovers gives Afghan youth a chance to share their romantic stories -- a national revelation as arranged marriages give way to love connections.

Station manager Sameem Sadat join guest host Rachel Giese to explain where the idea came from and why the host listens but doesn't dole out advice. Journalist Mujib Mashal also weighs in, explaining how smartphone-toting teenagers are changing courtship and how the show might become an unlikely catalyst for change. 

"I just want to hear your voice once": An Animated Love Story from Matter on Vimeo.

"We don't care about [critics] ... If you don't want to listen to this, please don't listen. But if you are listening to it, it means you are interested." - Sameem Sadat to critics of the show

"Because [Afghanistan has] seen such extremes of pain, the pain of heartbreak is considered nothing ... what the radio show is doing is scratching the surface. Breaking with the past a little bit to give this very public platform for some of the suppressed pain to come out. " -Mujib Mashal