Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation

Poetry | Hafez's payāmé naseem, Part 4

In this lesson, we go over the following lines of the poem payāmé naseem by Hafez:  به صحرا رو که از دامن غبار غم بیفشانی bé sahrā rō ké az dāman ghobāré gham beafshānee به گلزار آی کز بلبل غزل گفتن بیاموزی bé golzār āy k’az bolbol ghazal goftan beāmoozee

Poetry | Hafez's payāmé naseem, Part 3

In part 3 of our discussion of Hafez's poem payāmé naseem, we go over the 3rd and 4th lines of the poem:  چو گُل گَر خُردِه‌ای داری خُدا را صَرفِ عِشرَت کُن کِه قارون را غَلَط‌ها داد سُودایِ زَر‌اَندوزی chō gol gar khordeyee dāree khodā rā sarfé eshrat kon ké ghāroon rā ghalat-hā dād sodāyé zarandoozee

Poetry | Hafez's payāmé naseem, Part 2

In this part 2 episode of Hafez's beautiful poem payāmé naseem, we look at the individual words and phrases in the first two lines of the poem, and learn how to use the words and phrases in current Persian conversation.

Poetry | Hafez's payāmé naseem, Introduction with Fared Shafinury

In this introduction to the poem payāmé naseem, we are joined by musician Fared Shafinury to discuss the full selection of the poem. In addition, we provide a detailed overview of Hafez, the poet, and his significance in Iranian culture. 

Poetry | Rudaki's shād zee Part 2

In this second part of the poetry lesson for Rudaki's poem shād zee, we go over the entire poem line by line, phrase by phrase so you can get a full grasp of the vocabulary in the poem. You'll then have a full understanding of how to use the vocabulary in everyday conversation.

Poetry | Rudaki's shād zee Intro

This is the introduction to our shabé shehr (night of poetry) series, where we go over short selections of poems in Persian, and their overall meanings in English. In this episode, we're joined by Yara Elmjouie to talk about a poem by Rudaki about living in the moment.

Shally Zomorodi, on Embracing Joy and Acceptance as a Form of Resistance

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...

Hollay Ghadery, on the perils of being half Iranian and her memoir, Fuse

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 P...

Noam Schuster-Eliassi, Israeli comedian and activist, on the current state of affairs in Israel, and her Iranian-Israeli identity

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.  I had so many questions to ask her, and was so incredibly grateful that she took the time to speak to me. There are no easy answers, and I will let the interview speak for itself. I thank you f...

Farnoosh Torabi, on Living in a Healthy State of Panic

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. Related Links: Podcast Website: www.chaiandconversation.com Book Mentioned: "A Healthy State of Pan...

Interview | Arya Shahi, author of An Impossible Thing to Say

I’m 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. So as a brief introduction, Arya Shahi is an Iranian-American multidisciplinary artist. He is a co-founder of PigPen Theatre Co., the award-winning theatre company and band. With PigPen, Arya has ...

Interview | Navied Mahdavian, author of This Country, Searching for Home in (Very) Rural American

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 immense...

Interview | Growing Up Irooni: Samira Mohyeddin on Navigating Culture, Identity, and the Reverberations of Politics

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. Highlights: Samira reflects on her sudden rise in Instagram followers and the oddity of newfound attention. A mention of Ari's project, Water Well, and its resonance post-George Floyd protests. Samira shares her early life ...

Interview | Growing Up Irooni: Gisue Hariri on Nurtured Imaginations and Building Bridges in a Male-Dominated World

In the latest episode of the "Growing Up Irooni" podcast series, I had the unique privilege of sitting down with the iconic Gisue Hariri, one half of the brilliant duo behind Hariri & Hariri Architecture. In this intimate conversation, Gisue delves into the intricacies of growing up in the southern part of Iran, where the environment fostered imagination, resilience, and a profound connection to nature. She candidly shares the challenges and triumphs she faced as a female architect,...

Poetry | Rumi's deevané shō Part 5

Poetry | Rumi's deevané shō Part 4

Interview | Growing Up Irooni: Sierra Urich

"Finding Joonam: A Dialogue with Filmmaker Sierra Urrich" - Immerse yourself in a candid and emotive conversation with Sierra Urrich, the talented director behind the striking documentary, 'Joonam'. In this episode, Sierra shares her heartfelt experiences of creating the film and navigating her Iranian identity through the process. She provides us with an intimate glimpse into her journey, spanning from her childhood in Vermont to her connections with Iran, sparked by the stories, c...

Poetry | Rumi's deevané shō Part 3

Continuation of our discussion of Rumi's deevāné shō

Poetry | Rumi's deevané shō Part 2

In this second part of the discussion for Rumi's deevāné shō, we go over the first two lines of the poem in detail.

Interview | Growing Up Irooni: Marjan Kamali

Host: Leyla Shams Guest: Marjan Kamali Introduction: Leyla Shams, host of Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation, introduces her guest Marjan Kamali, the award-winning author of the Stationary Shop. Topics Discussed: Marjan Kamali's The Stationary Shop Recommended by the founder of Ketab Club, Kimia, as the number one book by a middle eastern author. Leyla shares her experience reading the book with a dozen other women and the emotions it evoked. Setting and Historical Con...

Poetry | Rumi's deevané shō Intro

In this intro lesson for Rumi's deevāné shō, we go over the full poem with musician Fared Shafinury. In addition, we learn about Fared and his project "Radif Retreat". In this particular lesson, we also dive into the musicality of the poem and how to interact with it rhythmically.  Watch Fared's performance of Rumi's beautiful poetry on his Persian After Hours performance, live at the Guggenheim.

Interview | Growing Up Irooni: Kayvon Zand on inclusivity in the zan zendegee azadee era

Kayvon Zand is a nightlife personality and musician living in New York City, and goes by the pronouns he or they. I’ve been a fan for years, and love their extravagant and very extra style. In the past year, Kayvon has been turning their attention to Iranians in Iran, and holding live discussions with them about a variety of topics, most notably how life is like for members of the LGBTQ+ community in Iran. I sit in on them every once in a while, and the discussions are often quite f...

(124) Interview | Growing Up irooni- Kayvon Zand on inclusivity in the zan zendegee azadee era

Kayvon Zand is a nightlife personality and musician living in New York City, and goes by the pronouns he or they. I’ve been a fan for years, and love their extravagant and very extra style. In the past year, Kayvon has been turning their attention to Iranians in Iran, and holding live discussions...

(123) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Ari Rastegar and the business of being Iranian

In this episode, we talk to Ari Rastegar, a commercial real estate developer in Austin, Texas. Ari talks about his half Iranian background, how his father instilled the Iranian culture in him, and how it's helped him develop his empire in Austin. 

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Ari Rastegar and the business of being Iranian

In this episode, we talk to Ari Rastegar, a commercial real estate developer in Austin, Texas. Ari talks about his half Iranian background, how his father instilled the Iranian culture in him, and how it's helped him develop his empire in Austin. 

(122) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Nixta Taqueria's Sara Mardanbigi Makes Contact with the Motherland

Nixta Taqueria is an award winning taqueria in Austin coowned by today's Growing Up Irooni guest Sara Mardanbigi. She owns it together with her husband Edgar Rico, who she recently took on a month long trip to Iran. We talked about her upbringing in Arkansas, what led her to create such a unique ...

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Nixta Taqueria's Sara Mardanbigi Makes Contact with the Motherland

Nixta Taqueria is an award winning taqueria in Austin coowned by today's Growing Up Irooni guest Sara Mardanbigi. She owns it together with her husband Edgar Rico, who she recently took on a month long trip to Iran. We talked about her upbringing in Arkansas, what led her to create such a unique business, and about her recent trip to Iran, amidst the women, life, freedom movement.  Related Links: Priya Krishna's NYT article about Sara and Nixta Follow Nixta on Instagram

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Funny in Farsi 20 years later, with Firoozeh Dumas

I’m so excited to share with you today my interview with Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi. Funny in Farsi came out when I was in college, and it’s almost hard to remember what a huge huge deal it was at the time. Really, before that, we had zero mainstream representation of Iranians. The one thing we had that we could all point to was not without my daughter, and that was a horrifying depiction of what Iran and Iranians were. But then Firoozeh came out with her book, which i...

(121) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Funny in Farsi 20 years later, with Firoozeh Dumas

I’m so excited to share with you today my interview with Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi. Funny in Farsi came out when I was in college, and it’s almost hard to remember what a huge huge deal it was at the time. Really, before that, we had zero mainstream representation of Iranians. The ...

Poetry | Monir Taha's meegan ké jangé jangé Intro

In this first lesson on Monir Taha's poem ‘meegan ké jangé jangé, میگن که جنگه جنگه’, we talk to Naz Deravian, Monir's daughter and author of the cookbook Bottom of the Pot, about the poem in general, the context in which it was written, and about the poet herself. 

(120) Poetry | Monir Taha- meegan ké jangé jangé, Monir Taha's meegan ké jangé jangé Intro

In this first lesson on Monir Taha's poem ‘meegan ké jangé jangé, میگن که جنگه جنگه’, we talk to Naz Deravian, Monir's daughter and author of the cookbook Bottom of the Pot, about the poem in general, the context in which it was written, and about the poet herself. 

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Moj Mahdara on the Iranian Diaspora Collective

This interview with Moj is the first I've done for the Growing Up Irooni series since the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16th. So much has changed since then for Iran and especially for the Iranian Diaspora. As one of the cofounders of Iranian Diaspora Collective, I couldn't think of a better person to talk through these changes than Moj Mahdara. They are a venture capitalist and very well known in that world, but before the events that took place in September, they admittedly we...

(119) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Moj Mahdara on the Iranian Diaspora Collective

This interview with Moj is the first I've done for the Growing Up Irooni series since the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16th. So much has changed since then for Iran and especially for the Iranian Diaspora. As one of the cofounders of Iranian Diaspora Collective, I couldn't think of a better ...

(118) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Moj Mahdara on the Iranian Diaspora Collective

This interview with Moj is the first I've done for the Growing Up Irooni series since the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16th. So much has changed since then for Iran and especially for the Iranian Diaspora. As one of the cofounders of Iranian Diaspora Collective, I couldn't think of a better ...

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- the Real Tara Joon

The Real Tara joon is a social media content creator, which is not our general interviewee target. But, she has amassed a massive following on Tiktok, with almost 1 million followers, and even though she just started on Instagram, she has over 200 thousand followers there as well. Her videos really resonate with people from all over the world, but here’s the interesting thing- she’s Iranian, with an accent, and is a proud Muslim that wears hijab. The thing that stood out to me is th...

(118) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- the Real Tara Joon

The Real Tara joon is a social media content creator, which is not our general interviewee target. But, she has amassed a massive following on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thereal.tarajoon">Tiktok</a>, with almost 1 million followers, and even though she just started on <a href="https://www.i...

(117) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- the Real Tara Joon

The Real Tara joon is a social media content creator, which is not our general interviewee target. But, she has amassed a massive following on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thereal.tarajoon">Tiktok</a>, with almost 1 million followers, and even though she just started on <a href="https://www.i...

Growing Up Irooni- the Real Tara Joon

The Real Tara joon is a social media content creator, which is not our general interviewee target. But, she has amassed a massive following on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thereal.tarajoon">Tiktok</a>, with almost 1 million followers, and even though she just started on <a href="https://www.i...

Growing Up Irooni- Bahador Alast on Viral YouTube Success and Interconnectedness of Languages

Bahador Alast is a mohandes, or engineer, by day, but he has over 278 thousand subscribers on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/BahadorAlast"><strong>Youtube</strong></a> following a niche that he’s been able to fulfill and thrive in so well- comparing languages to one another. His videos usuall...

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Bahador Alast on Viral YouTube Success and Interconnectedness of Languages

Bahador Alast is a mohandes, or engineer, by day, but he has over 278 thousand subscribers on Youtube following a niche that he’s been able to fulfill and thrive in so well- comparing languages to one another. His videos usually consist of two people from different cultural backgrounds with different native languages comparing certain words in their language with him moderating. They end up discovering similarities between seemingly disparate cultures that they were not even aware o...

(117) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Bahador Alast on Viral YouTube Success and Interconnectedness of Languages

Bahador Alast is a mohandes, or engineer, by day, but he has over 278 thousand subscribers on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/BahadorAlast"><strong>Youtube</strong></a> following a niche that he’s been able to fulfill and thrive in so well- comparing languages to one another. His videos usuall...

(116) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Bahador Alast on Viral YouTube Success and Interconnectedness of Languages

Bahador Alast is a mohandes, or engineer, by day, but he has over 278 thousand subscribers on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/BahadorAlast"><strong>Youtube</strong></a> following a niche that he’s been able to fulfill and thrive in so well- comparing languages to one another. His videos usuall...

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Arian Moayed on the true purpose of art, and Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds

I’m so excited to share with you all my conversation with Emmy award nominated actor Arian Moayed- he really needs no introduction, but you probably have seen him as Stewy on Succession, Kian on love life, lawyer Todd on Inventing Anna, or in the new Ms. Marvel series- really, he’s been everywhere it seems the past couple of years. But, as you’ll hear in the interview, his current success is the result of a couple decades of passionate work- I came away from this conversation with a...

Growing Up Irooni- Arian Moayed on the true purpose of art, and Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds

I’m so excited to share with you all my conversation with Emmy award nominated actor Arian Moayed- he really needs no introduction, but you probably have seen him as Stewy on Succession, Kian on love life, lawyer Todd on Inventing Anna, or in the new Ms. Marvel series- really, he’s been everywher...

(116) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Arian Moayed on the true purpose of art, and Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds

I’m so excited to share with you all my conversation with Emmy award nominated actor Arian Moayed- he really needs no introduction, but you probably have seen him as Stewy on Succession, Kian on love life, lawyer Todd on Inventing Anna, or in the new Ms. Marvel series- really, he’s been everywher...

(115) Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Arian Moayed on the true purpose of art, and Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds

I’m so excited to share with you all my conversation with Emmy award nominated actor Arian Moayed- he really needs no introduction, but you probably have seen him as Stewy on Succession, Kian on love life, lawyer Todd on Inventing Anna, or in the new Ms. Marvel series- really, he’s been everywher...

(114) Interview | Growing Up Irooni - Back Home Beer on rediscovering the tradition of Iranian beer

I’m so excited about sharing today’s interview with Zahra Tabatabai, the woman behind the Persian inspired beer brand Back Home Beer. You might have seen her instagram or Twitter profile by now- she boasts three different flavors of beer, named Sumac Gose, Persian Blue Lager, and New Day IPA. Alt...

Interview | Growing Up Irooni - Back Home Beer on rediscovering the tradition of Iranian beer

I’m so excited about sharing today’s interview with Zahra Tabatabai, the woman behind the Persian inspired beer brand Back Home Beer. You might have seen her instagram or Twitter profile by now- she boasts three different flavors of beer, named Sumac Gose, Persian Blue Lager, and New Day IPA. Although it was released less than a year ago in October 2021, her beers have had quite an impact and presence in the Iranian community- but despite the success of the social media platforms of...

Growing Up Irooni - Back Home Beer on rediscovering the tradition of Iranian beer

I’m so excited about sharing today’s interview with Zahra Tabatabai, the woman behind the Persian inspired beer brand Back Home Beer. You might have seen her instagram or Twitter profile by now- she boasts three different flavors of beer, named Sumac Gose, Persian Blue Lager, and New Day IPA. Alt...

(115) Interview | Growing Up Irooni - Back Home Beer on rediscovering the tradition of Iranian beer

I’m so excited about sharing today’s interview with Zahra Tabatabai, the woman behind the Persian inspired beer brand Back Home Beer. You might have seen her instagram or Twitter profile by now- she boasts three different flavors of beer, named Sumac Gose, Persian Blue Lager, and New Day IPA. Alt...