Iran Debates

Hossein Setareh
  • 3.0 (1)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED DAILY

Welcome to Iran Debates, the podcast where culture, history, and contemporary issues unite in open dialogue. Here, we explore the diverse perspectives shaping Iran today—whether it's politics, society, art, or global relations. Each episode brings in thought leaders, experts, and everyday voices, creating a platform for insightful, respectful discussions that dig deep into the challenges and opportunities facing Iran and its global community, ensuring a safe and comfortable space for all. If you're curious about the complexities of Iranian culture and the shifts in its political landscape.

  1. 12/10/2024

    Musaddiq and the struggle for power in Iran

    A biography of Muhammad Musaddiq, who was prime minister of Iran between 1951 and 1953 until he was deposed in a CIA-backed coup d'etat and who has long been regarded as one of the great anti-colonial campaigners of the post-war era.

    21 min

  2. 12/08/2024

    The Political Economy of Modern Iran: Despotism and Pseudo-Modernism, 1926–1979

    Buy: https://amzn.to/4hpnbzv

    22 min

  3. 12/06/2024

    The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran

    In recent years, Iran has gained attention primarily for negative reasons - its authoritarian religious government disputed its nuclear programme and controversial role in the Middle East - but there is much more to the story of this ancient land than can be gleaned from the news. This authoritative and comprehensive history of Iran, written by Homa Katouzian, an acclaimed expert, covers the entire history of the area from the foundation of the ancient Persian empire to today's Iranian state. Writing from an Iranian rather than a European perspective, Katouzian integrates Iran's significant cultural and literary history with its political and social history. Some of the greatest poets of human history wrote in Persian - among them Rumi, Omar Khayyam, and Saadi - and Katouzian discusses and occasionally quotes their work. In his thoughtful analysis of Iranian society, Katouzian argues that the absolute and arbitrary power traditionally enjoyed by Persian/Iranian rulers has resulted in an unstable society where fear and short-term thinking dominate. A magisterial history, this book also serves as an excellent background to the role of Iran in the contemporary world.

    29 min

  4. 12/04/2024

    State and Society in Iran: The Eclipse of the Qajars and the Emergence of the Pahlavis

    Iran was the first country in the Middle East to experience (in 1905-6) a popular revolution that demanded the rule of law and parliamentary government. However, the democratic constitution established by the revolution plunged the country into a period of turmoil and, despite subsequent popular democratic movements, most notably in the early 1950s and during the Iranian revolution of 1978-9, the country has lived under arbitrary rule for most of the century. Katouzian offers a theoretical framework for studying Iranian history, state and society, which is then applied to social and political developments from the Constitutional Revolution to the fall of the Pahlavi state. This analysis affords essential insights into the present situation in Iran and the alternative prospects for its future, especially relevant since the recent accession of President Khatami.

    15 min

  5. 12/02/2024

    Sadeq Hedayat: The Life and Legend of an Iranian Writer

    Sadeq Hedayat is the most famous and enigmatic Iranian writer of the 20th century. This book is the first comprehensive study of Hedayat's life and works set against literary and political developments in a rapidly changing Iran over the first half of the 20th century. Katouzian discusses Hedayat's life and times and the literary and political circles with which he was associated. But he also emphasises the uniqueness and universality of his ideas that have both influenced and set Hedayat apart from other Iranian writers of the period and have given him a mystique that has been instrumental in his posthumous success with acclaimed works such as The Blind Owl.

    16 min

  6. 11/30/2024

    Sa’di in Love: The Lyrical Verses of Persia’s Master Poet

    'In the breath that I die, for you, I'll be longing/ Wishing to turn into the dust of your belonging' - Sa'di, Expressions of Love. With poetry which speaks across the ages, Sa'di (1210-1281) is a vital classical poet and a towering figure of the medieval Persian canon. Comparable in skill and stature to other Persian poets such as Ferdowsi, Hafez, Rumi and Omar Khayyam, Sa'di's verses--best known through his 'Bustan' and 'Golestan' address universal themes of passion, love and the human condition in works which are both psychologically perceptive and beautifully crafted. His mystical writings, contemporaneous with Rumi, reveal a degree of depth, wisdom and insight which have placed Sa'di in the pantheon of world literature. In this essential new translation of Sa'di's work, a leading expert on Iranian studies, Homa Katouzian, seeks to bring the poet's lyrics to a new readership. The book provides the Persian text and Katouzian's English translation side-by-side, creating an indispensable tool for students and enthusiasts of Iranian history, literature and culture.

    33 min

  7. 11/28/2024

    Poetry and Revolution: The Poets and Poetry of the Constitutional Era of Iran

    Following a two-pronged approach, this volume studies both those who the Constitutional Revolution influenced in their works and those who addressed the Revolution with their work, influencing it directly. Through analysing their works, this volume explores influential poets and writers from the period, including Iraj, Vaziri, Afrāshteh, Yazdi, Bahār and ‘Eshqi. It covers female poets who are often overlooked, as well as the significant satirical poets whose work educated and entertained the readers and criticized socio-political events. Analysing the mainstream and marginal poets, this volume argues that the margins initiated Persian poetry's evolution. As Persian poetry and its multifunctional legacy became the standard-bearer of the Constitutional movement, this volume is an essential contribution to understanding Iran.

    35 min

  8. 11/26/2024

    Humour in Iran: Eleven-hundred Years of Satire and Humour in Persian Literature

    Humour in Iran is a close and comprehensive study of satire and humour – in verse and prose – over the eleven hundred years since the emergence of classical Persian literature. Combining Persian original texts with their English translations, it covers a range of texts and authors, from the lampoon in Ferdowsi's great epic of the ancient kings in the tenth century through such master satirists as Obeyd Zakani, Sa'di, Rumi, Khayyam, Hafiz, Anvari, Sana'i, Khaqani, Suzani, Qa'ani, Yaghma, and so on. The book also includes twentieth-century authors such as Iraj, Dehkhoda, Bahar, Eshqi, Aref, Hedayat, Jamalzadeh, Al-e Ahmad and more. Buy: https://amzn.to/4hxDPwr

    22 min
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About

Welcome to Iran Debates, the podcast where culture, history, and contemporary issues unite in open dialogue. Here, we explore the diverse perspectives shaping Iran today—whether it's politics, society, art, or global relations. Each episode brings in thought leaders, experts, and everyday voices, creating a platform for insightful, respectful discussions that dig deep into the challenges and opportunities facing Iran and its global community, ensuring a safe and comfortable space for all. If you're curious about the complexities of Iranian culture and the shifts in its political landscape.

Information

  • Creator
    Hossein Setareh
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Hossein Setareh
  • Show Website
    Iran Debates