Episode 835: Race in Modern Iran and the Diaspora with Amy Motlagh

What do Iranians - both home and abroad - think of race? Does "blackness" exist in Iran? And what can we learn about race and slavery in Iran from folklore, ethnography, literature, and films? 

In Episode 835, Jacke talks to author Amy Motlagh about her book Colorblind: Racial Thinking and Cultural Production in Modern Iran and the Diaspora.

In a different episode (Episode 751) about Iran, Jacke talks to Nilo Tabrizy about her experience co-authoring the book For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising, which tells the searing, courageous story of what it meant for two journalists to cover these deeply personal events.

In September 2022, a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Jîna Amini, died after being beaten by police officers who arrested her for not adhering to the Islamic Republic’s dress code. Her death galvanized thousands of Iranians—mostly women—who took to the streets in one of the country’s largest uprisings in decades: the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. For the full episode, follow the link or download it on your favorite podcast app.