Iranian Leviathan: Properly understanding Iran's place in world history, the present and future w/ Jason Reza Jorjani
09/11/20 • 57 min
A Story Club: Global Politics S1 E5
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
Have we fundamentally misunderstood Iran?
How many of us understand that Iran is Ancient Persia, one of the greatest empires and civilizations in world history – at least equivalent to Greece and Rome, but perhaps closer to India and China in its longevity and importance.
When the Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979, that had put to end a royal dynasty that was over 2,500 years old, stretching back to the Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great. Persia (Iran) has been a great centre of architecture, the arts, poetry, music, science and civilization for millennia. Its language dominated the educated classes of the region from Turkey in the West to Muslim India in the East, like Latin did in Europe, or Greek in the Mediterranean world.
In addition, Iran means “Land of the Aryans”. This gives it very close ancient ties to India and the Indo-Aryan culture and language family, which stretches from India to Europe, and now over the whole world because of the English language.
Despite the current Iranian regime’s fundamentalism, ordinary Iranians remain a fundamentally modern and open people.
Has it been wrongly blamed for global Islamic terrorism and jihad, which are more closely tied to extremists in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan? What role can it play in play in countering the violently fanatic currents of Wahhabism, Salafism and Debandism out of these other places?
Join me, Dr. Kirk Meighoo, to discuss these issues with Jason Reza Jorjani, an Iranian American philosopher and theorist and author of Prometheus and Atlas, Lovers of Sophia, World State of Emergency, and Iranian Leviathan: A Monumental History of Mithra's Abode
A Story Club: Global Politics S1 E5
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
Have we fundamentally misunderstood Iran?
How many of us understand that Iran is Ancient Persia, one of the greatest empires and civilizations in world history – at least equivalent to Greece and Rome, but perhaps closer to India and China in its longevity and importance.
When the Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979, that had put to end a royal dynasty that was over 2,500 years old, stretching back to the Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great. Persia (Iran) has been a great centre of architecture, the arts, poetry, music, science and civilization for millennia. Its language dominated the educated classes of the region from Turkey in the West to Muslim India in the East, like Latin did in Europe, or Greek in the Mediterranean world.
In addition, Iran means “Land of the Aryans”. This gives it very close ancient ties to India and the Indo-Aryan culture and language family, which stretches from India to Europe, and now over the whole world because of the English language.
Despite the current Iranian regime’s fundamentalism, ordinary Iranians remain a fundamentally modern and open people.
Has it been wrongly blamed for global Islamic terrorism and jihad, which are more closely tied to extremists in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan? What role can it play in play in countering the violently fanatic currents of Wahhabism, Salafism and Debandism out of these other places?
Join me, Dr. Kirk Meighoo, to discuss these issues with Jason Reza Jorjani, an Iranian American philosopher and theorist and author of Prometheus and Atlas, Lovers of Sophia, World State of Emergency, and Iranian Leviathan: A Monumental History of Mithra's Abode
Previous Episode
From Kerala (India) to Jamaica and Beyond: Writing and Publishing from the Caribbean w/ Annie Paul
A Story Club: Global Cultures S1 E5
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
This week my guest is Annie Paul, writer and editor based in Jamaica for over 30 years. A “Syrian Christian” from Kerala, India (from the Church founded by St. Thomas, Jesus’s disciple), Annie moved to Jamaica, where she became deeply involved in academic publications in the social sciences, journalism and the promotion of Caribbean literature.
In addition, to her writing as a columnist and internationally quoted blog (in Jamaica, the UK, the US) she has recently finished a biography of a key founder of Cultural Studies in the UK, the Jamaican-born Stuart Hall.
Cultural studies is a field of analysis and activism that looks at the political dynamics of contemporary culture, its historical foundations and conflicts, how culture relates to wider systems of power, ideology, class structures, national formations, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and generation.
It was started by British Marxists in the 1950s and was given shape in the 1960s and 70s in Birmingham most notably by Jamaican-born Stuart Hall and his colleagues and graduate students.
Join me, Dr. Kirk Meighoo, as we discuss with Annie moving between India and Jamaica, writing and publishing from the Caribbean, her reflections on Stuart Hall’s life, and what it means to her.
Next Episode
Caribbean Heavy Metal and Indian Blues? Non-Traditional Music Scenes w/ Nigel Rojas and Rudy Wallang
A Story Club: Global Cultures S1 E6
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
What is it like being a heavy metal and rock fan in the Caribbean, or a blues fan in India? What about being a musician in those genres? Can one make a living? Is this music “foreign”, “Westernising” and “imperialist”? Does it count as “local” or “national music”?
What is the rock or blues scene like in these countries?
Join me, Dr. Kirk Meighoo (a musician, too, in another life), as we discuss with Nigel Rojas guitarist and singer of the Caribbean’s biggest rock/metal band, Orange Sky, and Rudy Wallang, the guitarist of India’s biggest blues band, Soulmate
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