The Hyphenated American Saman Askari

This is an update to let the listeners know about my new podcast "talk IRAN".

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Abbas Milani, a world-renowned expert on US-Iran relations and Iranian cultural and political issues. We talk about the current events in Iran including the unrest and the economic crisis. We also discuss the historical aspects that contributed to Iran’s standing in the world today, the women’s rights movement in that country, the Shah, and finally the Iranian-American experience.

In this episode, I speak with Maz Jobrani, an Iranian-American comedian and actor. We talk about how he got his start in comedy, his getting typecast as a terrorist early in his career, and how he has tried to battle stereotypes all along. We also touch on dealing with loss, the Iranian-American experience, as well as politics in Iran and the US.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Ali Malekzadeh, the sixth President of Roosevelt University. We talk about his background, the history of Roosevelt University, the state of higher education in the U.S., and the student loan crisis. We also touch on the status of foreign students in the U.S. and his identity as an Iranian-American.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Afsaneh Nahavandi, an expert in the field of leadership. We talk about her background before moving to the United States, the Iranian-American experience, various leadership concepts and Iranian leadership. I also ask her about her take on Donald Trump as a leader. We finally close on the topics of women in leadership and what it take to lead, given the set of global challenges we now face.