Roqe

On this episode of Roqe, Jian opens with an essay titled “When the Truth Is Hard to Find - Ask Who Benefits,” exploring how propaganda, projection, and competing agendas are shaping the global conversation about Iran during a time of internet blackout. He is then joined by Nazenin Ansari (London), Dr. Sepehr Vakil (Evanston, Illinois), and Dr. Kaveh Elahiyoun (Las Vegas) for a panel discussion on...

On this episode of Roqe, Jian is joined by Bijan Kian - a returning guest who consistently sparks strong reactions from the Roqe audience. A former senior U.S. official with decades of experience across public and private sectors, Kian offers his perspective on the current war involving the United States, Israel, and the Islamic Republic. The conversation explores competing narratives in American...

On this episode of Roqe, Jian is joined by a global panel to unpack a fast-moving and uncertain moment around Iran and the role of Donald Trump’s rhetoric and positioning in shaping what may come next. Joining from London, Washington, and Toronto are Shooka Bidarian, Shayan Sami’i, and Ardeshir Zarezadeh - bringing perspectives from media, policy, and activism to explore where things stand right n...

On this episode of Roqe, Jian opens with an essay titled “Beware the Regime Narratives in Western Media.” As the conflict surrounding Iran continues, Jian examines how Islamic Republic propaganda can travel through Western media ecosystems - and how narratives amplified abroad can eventually be used to influence audiences inside Iran. He looks at several examples currently circulating in Western c...

On this episode of Roqe, Jian Ghomeshi speaks with Iranian-British journalist Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, head of digital news at Iran International. Joining Jian from Washington, Sharafedin discusses the rapidly unfolding situation surrounding Iran as the conflict enters its ninth day and global commentary intensifies. Their conversation explores: the emergence of Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader wh...

On this episode of Roqe, Jian opens with an essay about the brave Iranians who took to the streets in recent weeks demanding regime change - and the promise many in the diaspora made to stand with them. As war imagery dominates the headlines and debates grow louder around intervention, Jian reminds listeners that history is rarely tidy - and that the courage of those inside Iran should remain at t...

With Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed following a joint United States–Israel military operation inside Iran, the political and strategic landscape has shifted dramatically. What comes next? Jian sits down with: Shayan Samii - U.S. national security analyst and strategic communications expert. Behnam Ben Taleblu - Senior Director of the Iran Program at FDD and specialist on Iran’s security appara...

On this edition of Roqe, Jian and guests examine the growing wave of disinformation surrounding Iran in Western media and public discourse. Joining from Vancouver, Sadaf Yasini, and from Ottawa, longtime Roqe contributor Pegah Ganji, the conversation explores: The scale and discipline of diaspora demonstrations Why Western audiences struggle to process the demand for regime change How anti-war rhe...

As student protests surge across Iran, universities are once again becoming epicenters of open defiance. In this episode of Roqe, we focus on the courage of Iranian students demonstrating right now - chanting forbidden slogans, confronting repression on their own campuses, and absorbing immense personal risk in the face of an authoritarian regime. Jian opens with a powerful essay addressed directl...

In Episode 417 of Roqe, Jian challenges the sudden rise of Western “anti-war” rhetoric on Iran by reframing the reality on the ground. Iranians are not debating a future conflict - they are already living through one, as the Islamic Republic continues its campaign of repression, arrests, and mass killing. The opening essay explores why many Iranians now support intervention - not lightly, not casu...

This episode of Roqe takes stock of an extraordinary Global Day of Action for a Free Iran, with major demonstrations in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Munich - and coordinated rallies across the diaspora following a call initiated by Prince Reza Pahlavi. Jian is joined by four voices who were there: Farnoush Hamidian in Munich Laleh Tangsiri, joining from London after attending the Munich rally Navid N...

Jian opens Episode 415 of Roqe – Iran Rises with a sober assessment of the United Nations, arguing that despite its language and ideals, it is structurally incapable of protecting Iranian civilians or advancing the revolution now underway. As tens of thousands of Iranian families grieve victims of an ongoing massacre, outrage is growing over the UN’s continued engagement with representatives of th...

On this episode of Roqe – Iran Rises, Jian is joined by Khosro Isfahani, Research Director at the National Union for Democracy in Iran, for a clear-eyed conversation about where the Iranian revolution stands right now, what intervention actually looks like, why the United States continues to negotiate with the Islamic Republic, and what may come next under Donald Trump. The episode then widens int...

Jian opens this episode of Roqe with an essay making the case for calling this uprising the Lion and Sun Revolution. He reflects on the Lion and Sun flag being raised in Richmond Hill, Canada, while making one thing unmistakably clear - symbols in the diaspora are never enough. The real revolution is being paid for in blood inside Iran. Still, when a people are fighting to reclaim identity beyond...

Jian opens Episode 412 of Roqe – Iran Rises with a forceful opening essay on the power of unity - as Iranians around the world shatter old stereotypes of division and rally around shared symbols, identity, and purpose. He’s then joined by Homa Sarshar, revered Iranian-American journalist, author, and cultural figure, for a wide-ranging and deeply informed conversation on why this moment feels diff...

Jian opens Episode 411 of Roqe – Iran Rises with a searing essay explaining why the anger felt by Iranians around the world right now is not excessive, emotional, or misplaced - but informed, earned, and justified. He’s then joined by Nazenin Ansari (Kayhan London / Kayhan Life) and Sadeq Bigdeli (Toronto-based lawyer and human rights advocate) for a sharp, up-to-the-minute conversation on the Hud...

Jian is joined by Farzin Nadimi, senior Iran and defense analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Shayan Samii, a U.S. national security analyst specializing in strategic communications. The panel examines why Western intervention in Iran is no longer optional, how the regime’s escalating violence signals strategic weakness rather than strength, and what tools the United State...

Jian opens Episode 409 of Roqe - Iran Rises with a direct message to members of the Iranian diaspora who have chosen silence during one of the most violent chapters in the Islamic Republic’s history - not out of ignorance or absence, but out of convenience. The episode then turns to a panel discussion with two guests joining from opposite sides of the world: Erfan Paydar, Iranian-American rapper a...

In this episode of Roqe – as part of the Iran Rises series - Jian reflects on a defining moment in Iran’s ongoing revolution as internet blackouts begin to crack and evidence of mass violence by the Islamic Republic regime against civilians comes into view. In an opening essay entitled “Don’t Look Away,” Jian argues that silence, exhaustion, and narrative distortion are among the most powerful too...

What is happening in Iran can no longer be described as a “regime crackdown.” It is a military occupation of civilians by their own state. In this urgent new episode of Roqe, Jian opens with a forceful essay addressing the scale of violence, mass arrests, and civilian deaths unfolding inside Iran - and the growing silence from Western governments and media. This edition features a wide-ranging pan...

As protests escalate inside Iran and internet access is increasingly restricted, the urgency of this moment continues to sharpen. On this edition of Roqe (Episode 406) - the third installment of the ongoing Iran Rises series - Jian leads a timely panel discussion examining the rapidly unfolding situation inside Iran, the regime’s escalating crackdown, the information blackout, and what meaningful...

Jian continues the Iran Rises series with a timely panel discussion examining the unfolding protest movement inside Iran. Recorded on January 8, 2026, this episode brings together four perspectives - street-level insight, security analysis, economic context, and historical framing - to better understand what is happening now and what may come next. Guests: Picasso Moin – Iranian activist and comme...

As mass protests continue across Iran, Roqe launches IRAN RISES, a new twice-weekly series dedicated to understanding an uprising that is not simply about economic unrest – but about legitimacy, power, and regime change. This episode opens with Jian's short essay arguing that what is unfolding in Iran is a new revolution. What follows is a focused panel discussion examining the current phase of th...

In this special New Year’s Day episode of Roqe, Jian convenes eight prominent Iranian voices from around the world to reflect on the year that was and the year ahead. The episode opens with a freshly recorded opening essay responding to the most recent protests inside Iran and the ongoing mischaracterization of Iranian uprisings by parts of the Western media. The interviews themselves were recorde...

Nothing says Christmas quite like talking about Iranians and drinking. On this Christmas Day edition of Roqe, we revisit one of our most compelling conversations - an exploration of alcohol’s long, complicated, and often contradictory place in Iranian and Islamic history. While alcohol is officially forbidden under Islam, it has played a persistent and sometimes conspicuous role across centuries o...