Search for Meaning with Dr. Afshine Emrani

Note: This episode was recorded in February, 2022.

In the latest edition of his Search for Meaning podcast, Stephen Wise Temple Senior Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback hosts cardiologist Dr. Afshine Emrani.

Just 12 years old when the Revolution swept Iran, Dr. Emrani and his family moved to England, where he had a doorstep bar mitzvah, courtesy of the local Chabad. After three years, the family moved to Los Angeles.

From humble beginnings dissecting chickens his mother would bring home for dinner, Dr. Emrani went into medicine to help improve patients' lives. That's how he landed on the field of cardiology, where he could not only improve the quality of the lives in his hands, but save them, as well. After graduating from UCLA, he earned his medical degree at U.C. San Diego. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology.

Despite being a natural introvert, Dr. Emrani has become a social media star on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, where he posts on politics, religion, and medicine.

"I don't enjoy talking to a lot of people ... but there is a giant voice inside me, and ideas that I would like to share," Dr. Emrani says. "When I started putting those ideas in words on social media, initially on Facebook, I noticed that people are gravitating towards them."

He speaks in this podcast about his Jewish journey, his friendship with Rabbi David Wolpe, the difficulty of communicating nuance on social media, and COVID-19. Dr. Emrani and Rabbi Yoshi also discuss Jewish philosophy, their complicated thoughts on several past United States Presidents, and their shared love of music.