August 06, 2025
In this deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation, Daniel Nayeri, author of the acclaimed autobiographical novel Everything Sad is Untrue, talks about growing up as an Iranian refugee in Oklahoma, the mythic structure of memory, and the stories we inherit—true or not. He reflects on what it means to carry generational trauma, how he began writing the book in a Brooklyn bathroom, and the long journey of learning to tell his family’s story with emotional honesty.
July 16, 2025
In this laugh-out-loud and deeply personal conversation, Iranian Canadian actor, writer, and creator Tara Grammy joins Leyla to talk about growing up as an Iranian weirdo, navigating diaspora identity, creating her hit comedy series Soosi Lee, and embracing curiosity (aka being fusooli) as a cultural superpower. From getting discovered by Woody Harrelson in a tiny Toronto theatre to producing a DIY Iranian Borat-meets-Cribs series in LA, Tara's story is as inspiring as it is hilarious.She shares her journey through acting, motherhood, cultural expectations, language guilt, and the power of telling your own story—even when no one gives you permission.
May 27, 2025
Chelsea Fagan is best known for The Financial Diet, the wildly successful platform she founded to talk about money in a real, honest, and politically aware way. But in our conversation, we dive into a more unexpected side of her: Chelsea the romance novelist.
April 30, 2025
In this episode, Leyla talks with Gissou Nia, a leading international human rights lawyer and Director of the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council. Gissou shares her journey from growing up Iranian-American in New Jersey to taking on some of the world’s most urgent human rights cases. They discuss the tension between diaspora and homeland, how her name connects her to Persian poetry and protest, and why it’s more important than ever for those in the diaspora to speak up.
March 19, 2025
Babak Tafreshi is an incredibly inspiring Iranian photographer, science journalist and amateur astronomer. He got his start photographing in Iran, but has since moved to the United States. He is the creator and director of The World At Night, an international program in which photographers from around the world capture images of night skies as seen above notable landmarks of the planet.
March 05, 2025
In this interview with the wonderful author of the cookbook Bottom of the Pot, we learn how she started the tradition of growing sabzé for Nowruz (the Persian new year) along with her international group of followers. Growing sabzé is an integral part of the Nowruz tradition. It acts as the centerpiece for the table we need to set up for Nowruz. She'll be starting on March 7th, so listen to hear how you can join, and why it's important that you do so, no matter where in the world you are.
February 19, 2025
In 2018, Anna Eskamani became the first Iranian-American to serve in the Florida Legislature. She's a liberal politician in a sea of hostile Republican colleagues and now faces even more challenges at the federal level. Despite all this, she continues to fight for her values and is currently running for mayor of the city of Orlando. We talked about her immigrant Iranian parents and how her mother's values continue to lead her as she's making big waves in Florida politics.
December 31, 2024
Filmmaker Jasmin Mozaffari’s Motherland is a stirring reflection of identity, love, and resilience set against the backdrop of the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis. In our recent podcast, Jasmin shared how her father’s immigrant journey inspired this powerful short film, exploring the challenges of assimilation, intergenerational trauma, and cultural pride. Born to an Iranian father and a Canadian mother, Jasmin navigated a complex cultural identity, especially during post-9/11 tensions in North America. In our conversation, she opens up about reclaiming her heritage, connecting with the Iranian diaspora, and how movements like Woman, Life, Freedom have inspired her art. Dive into this episode to hear Jasmin’s moving story and her plans for future projects, including a new horror feature centered on Iranian-American experiences.
October 09, 2024
Kaveh Akbar is the Iranian-American author of the critically acclaimed and heavily lauded novel Martyr! In our long-awaited conversation we dive deep into the themes of his powerful book, Martyr, which explores the human cost of so-called “collateral damage” and the real-world trauma often reduced to mere statistics in Western media. I had so much I wanted to ask Kaveh about the deeply personal and timely relevance of his work, especially in light of ongoing global events.
