Emily Feng: Uyghurs in Syria

A book talk with NPR journalist Emily Feng about her new book "Our Hearts Burned for Home: Uyghur Militants in Syria’s Civil War" (Columbia Global Reports, October 2026), an account of Uyghur families and militants who fled repression in Xinjiang and were drawn into the Syrian Civil War, where some helped reshape the conflict and contributed to the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime. The conversation, moderated by New York Times investigative reporter Michael Forsythe, explores how displacement, statelessness and repression can reverberate far beyond national borders and questions conventional narratives about extremism, migration and resistance. The event is presented by China Books Review, a digital magazine of reviews, essays and profiles. Copies of the book will be on sale and the author will sign them.