Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Pinned

Why I Wrote “The Daughters of Kobani”

The untold story of the women who fought to defeat ISIS. Every great story starts with an unanswerable question. The question I set out to answer with the book The Daughters of Kobani: How on earth did one of the most far-reaching experiments in women’s equality anywhere in the world…

Syria

4 min read

Oct 22, 2019

On the women who fought the Islamic State’s territory — and won.

The story of America’s partners in the ISIS fight cannot be told without talking about the role of the women who led in battle against men who bought, sold and enslaved women. Talk to them and they will tell you they are not just battling ISIS, but the entire mindset…

ISIS

4 min read

On the women who fought the Islamic State’s territory — and won.

Sep 25, 2017

Remembrance: Writing Advice From An American Who Made a Difference.

Remembrance: Writing Advice From An American Who Made a Difference. In 2009 Nancy Dupree and I sat across a Kabul table filled with tea cups and a plate of poundcake she liked. “You know what Louis said,” she told me, her white hair stacked in a bun atop her head…

Afghanistan

3 min read

Published in Galleys

·Apr 12, 2016

Patriotism, Feminism, and the Way We Think About Our War Stories

I have spent the last three years reporting, writing, and sharing a military story. A story of war. A story of love. A story of friendship. And above all, a story of unrelenting grit. Writing Ashley’s War has showed me three things I did not fully understand before tripping across…

Military

5 min read

Patriotism, Feminism, and the Way We Think About Our War Stories

Published in Galleys

·Apr 30, 2015

The New Face of Special Ops: Women

A story of friendship, courage, and valor — “You are my MOTIVATION.” That is the first sign I saw when I walked into the bedroom in Marlboro, Ohio, that once belonged to 24-year-old Ashley White to speak with her mother Debbie. And the first sign that this was a story I had to tell. That sign led me…

6 min read

Dec 10, 2014

Malala’s Message

Why the world should care about Malala — and all the girls like her, all around the world — A year ago I sat in a New York City public high school and listened to a girl from West Africa tell me about her own personal and years-long fight to stay in school. She wanted to stay in the classroom, even go to college, but her father wanted her…

4 min read