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.
February 21, 2024
Shally Zomorodi is one of the more well-known and incredibly prolific members of the Iranian diaspora. Her day job is as a news anchor of Fox 5 San Diego Morning News where she’s been waking up San Diego for more than a decade now. However, her journalism career spans over two decades at this point, including a two-year stint in Texas where I live. But over the years, she’s also been heavily involved in the greater Iranian community, through her show Bereez o bepaz, through the many lives she does on her Instagram page interviewing other Iranians, or giving glimpses into her embrace of Iranian traditions in her home, through her Iranian gher breaks on her morning news show, and so much more. I had a lot of questions to ask Shally after having watched her develop into such a force in the past few years, and especially over the last year.
February 07, 2024
Hollay Ghadery is is an Iranian-Canadian writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions (2021) and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box, came out Radiant Press in 2023 and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, is scheduled for release with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. Hollay is also a book publicist and the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township.
January 25, 2024
From the very beginning of this current stage of the conflict, after the horrific events of October 7th, the first person I turned to for an understanding of what was happening was Noam Shuster-Eliassi. I’d been following her for a long time because of her comedy about Israel and Palestine.
October 04, 2023
In this episode of Growing Up Irooni, host Leyla interviews Farnoosh Torabi, renowned podcast host and author of the book "A Healthy State of Panic." Leyla and Farnoosh delve into the world of finances, personal development, and the positive aspects of fear. Farnoosh shares her insights on fear and how it can be a powerful force in our lives when understood and harnessed correctly.
September 27, 2023
I am so excited to share with you my interview with Arya Shahi, author of the fantastic new debut novel, An Impossible Thing to Say. It’s coming out this week, September 26th 2023, so no matter when you’re listening to this interview, please drop everything and go buy it- you will love it.
September 13, 2023
So excited to share that Navied Mahdavian's incredible debut graphic memoir, This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America is NOW OUT and available for purchase! And to celebrate, I’m so excited to share with you all the conversation I had with Navied after reading his incredible his work.The book is set in rural Idaho where Navied moved with his wife and dog in November 2016- yes, the month Trump got elected. I could NOT put the book down and enjoyed reading it immensely- it brought up so many issues we all think about so much, like issues of identity, language, culture, and being “others”- I had so many questions for Navied and feel so lucky I got to sit down and ask him some of them. He’s delightful to talk to, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the conversation as much as I did.
September 08, 2023
In this episode, we dive into an enriching conversation with Samira Mohieddin, discussing her experiences growing up in a Persian family that migrated to Canada. We unpack the challenges and dynamics of navigating multiple cultures, languages, and political climates.
