The Iran Podcast

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Azadeh Shahshahani, Legal and Advocacy Director at Project South, about Donald Trump’s Travel Ban on Iranians and other nations, how political tensions between Washington and Tehran impact Iranians living in and traveling to the US, and FBI’s surveillance of Iranians and other Muslim communities in the US. *This episode was made possible with support from Heinrich Boll Foundation. Music by 127.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Nahid Siamdoust, visiting Assistant Professor at Harvard University, about music after the 1979 revolution in Iran through the Iran-Iraq war, the post-war era of pop music, political music inspired by the 2009 green movement, and today's musicians in the diaspora, in memory of legendary Iranian singer the late Mohammadreza Shajarian. (Music by Shajarian, Koveitipoor, Shabpareh, Parnaz&Ashkan). *This episode was made possible with support from Heinrich Boll Foundation. 

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Joe Cirincione, nuclear policy expert and former President of Ploughshares Fund, about the Iran nuclear deal as part of the global nonproliferation movement, why the JCPOA was a good deal, and how a potential Biden administration can revive this agreement.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Asieh Namdar, a news anchor at CGTN America and a former anchor at CNN, about immigrating to the U.S. as a child in the height of the 1979 revolution and the hostage crisis in Iran, being one of the first Iranian-Americans on television, and dealing with toxic attacks on journalists online. (Music by 127)

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Hadi Ghaemi, founder and Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, about the execution of a young wrestler named Navid Afkari in Iran, ongoing protests against the government, how the state is using violence to crack down on protesters, and human rights violations in the Islamic Republic since the eve of the 1979 revolution.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, about political participation in the Trump era and why the largest Iranian-American grassroots organization decided to endorse Biden for President. (Music by 127)

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Sussan Tahmasebi, Iranian-American feminist and Director of FEMENA, about a Me Too moment in Iran as a large number of women and men on social media are breaking taboos and sharing stories of sexual abuse. (Music by 127)

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Behdad Esfahbod, an Iranian-Canadian computer engineer who has worked for Facebook and Google. Behdad was arrested on a personal trip to Iran and was pressured by the IRGC to spy for them. He was imprisoned and put in solitary confinement for one week and asked about internet freedom and activists outside Iran who work to help Iranian users circumvent government censorship in Iran.  *This special episode was recorded live on Instagram.

We speak with Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute on how Obama’s diplomacy with Iran succeeded, why Trump has not been able to bring Iran to the negotiating table, and how a Biden administration should engage with Iran.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Michael Singh, Managing Director at the Washington Institute, about the Trump administration’s Iran policy and the future of the JCPOA under a second Trump term or a Biden presidency.  (Music by 127)