Ask An Iranian

In this episode, we try to equip you with the knowledge needed to help you understand whether you're talking to an Iranian or not. Iranians may hide among you, they may appear wearing your national dress, but in many cases, they will struggle to hide it when they talk. So, listen in and we'll help you know how you can spot the Iranians in the room. Questions that we get answers to during this epis...

In this episode, we are joined by the proprietor of one of Iran's long-standing cultural hotspots, deep in the heart of Tehran's flourishing downtown district. During it, we'll also be chatting about where to go on a first date in Iran. Café 78 's owner, Mehrva, sat with us to discuss how Iran's café culture has come to dominate the social spheres, and how it has evolved throughout her 18-years of...

In this episode, we discuss the peculiar Iranian practice of wanting to give you anything and everything for free... until they don't. We help you understand when it happens, why it happens and what you should do when confronted with it. See if we learn more about why Iranians won't take your money. We also get you answers to these questions What does "ghaabel nadaareh" ( قابل نداره ) mean? How do...

In this episode, we're joined by the Tehran based, Iranian DJ and music producer, Aryo. He is one half of the drum and bass music group known as The DevilDog, which he formed with his partner, Arshia, back in 2017. We were honoured to have him sit with us and discuss subjects such as, whether the infamous underground dance music scene in Iran truly exists; how various forms of dance music is made...

In this episode, we discuss the many peculiar Persian expressions using the word 'dad' . Listen in to learn how to express frustration, how to be sarcastic and how to tell someone where to go when they've ticked you off. So, do Iranians have daddy issues or not, listen to find out. A question that we'll only half-answer We have Tyrel to thank for this question. He asks, "I don't speak Farsi [Persi...

In this episode, we're joined by the creator of one of Iran's most popular podcasts. Our guest, Farshad, set up the Persian language podcast, 'Digesttt' , around two years ago and has been simply summarising societal matters ever since. Subjects of his show have ranged from Israel & Palestine, Feminism and Brexit. The monthly podcast recently passed a mile-stone of one million downloads, so we...

There are many lists of top famous Iranians available online, but we decided to tackle this matter differently. In this episode, we help you learn about well known Iranians by playing the 'Name Game'. To do this, we describe the famous Iranians, as if we are them. So listen in and play along! Questions we also answer in this episode Who are the most famous contemporary Iranians? What are the...

In this episode, we are joined by an Iranian chef, Shahriar of Shahriar's Kitchen . He helps us answer a question from one of our listeners, Susie. She wants to know why it is that all Iranian bread is flat. Our guest, Shahriar, has worked as a chef around the world, and although he has a wealth of experience with Iranian and international cuisine, for his first appearance on Ask An Iranian we ask...

In this episode, we discuss what happened when 6,769.5 Iranians on Twitter, answered a poll on whether they support Donald Trump or not. Listen to this episode to find out what happened when we put a poll together and posted it in response to a tweet by TheTweetOfGod, who seemed a little puzzled as to why Iranians would support the American president, Donald Trump. Our poll was seen by just over 6...

In this episode, we discuss an odd question by Karen, who we suspect has Iranian friends that keep telling her, "don't be tired" . This is the translation of the term, "khaste nabashi", and it's maybe one of the most important things you should learn about Iran and Iranians. We also tackle other topics, such as... How should I use the Persian term "khaste nabaashi" ( "don't be tired") ? When shoul...

In this episode, we do our very best to answer a question by Murat, who seems to know how important it is to bring Iranians souvenirs. During the episode, we also tackle other tricky topics, such as: What things should I definitely not bring as souvenirs for Iranians? Is it better to bring chocolates or clothing as souvenirs for Iranians? What size souvenir is an Iranian hoping to get? What type o...

In our second episode, we answer a question submitted by James — who we imagine knows exactly how the door stand-off goes between Iranians. James is referring to the Iranian social protocol known as "tarof". Listen to this episode to learn more about this complex Iranian form of politeness and to learn about Iranian "tarof", in general. In this episode we also tackle the following questions How ma...

Listen to our first show, and learn how you can best greet an Iranian. During this first ever episode of Ask An Iranian we tell you when to shake hands and how to say hello in Persian. During this episode, we tackle the following subjects How do I say hello in Persian (Farsi)? How do I shake an Iranian person's hand (or not)? Should I kiss an Iranian when you meet them? How should I greet an Irani...