© 2026 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

'Our Hearts Burned for Home': How Uyghur exiles ended up in Syria's civil war

The cover of "Our Hearts Burned for Home" and author Emily Feng. (Courtesy of Columbia Global Reports and An Rong Xu)
Courtesy of Columbia Global Reports and An Rong Xu
The cover of "Our Hearts Burned for Home" and author Emily Feng. (Courtesy of Columbia Global Reports and An Rong Xu)

In her new book “Our Hearts Burned for Home,” Emily Feng tells the story of how thousands of Uyghur exiles who fled China’s repression and surveillance ended up fighting in the Syria civil war. She profiles a number of Uyghurs who became an important fighting force that helped bring down the Assad regime.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with Feng, who is an NPR White House correspondent and former China correspondent.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Related Content