Persian Girl Podcast
Sharing voices from the Persian diaspora and beyond. Originally founded in 2019 by Millie Efraim and Natalie Sanandaji, with the intention to share the experience of Persian-American life. The podcast has now expanded to exploring the historical and cultural background of Jews and other minorities of Iran.
Episodes
96 episodes
Nature, resilience, and the sukkah as a medium: Interview with Jonathan York
In this episode, I speak with Jonathan York, attorney and artist, at the Skirball center (apologies for any real life sound) to discuss The Sukkah Project, his exhibition at the Skirball Center in LA, opening October 8-November 3. The exhibitio...
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Season 4
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Episode 13
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37:53
Exploring the world of Jewish food in Iran with Tannaz Sassooni
In this episode, I speak with food writer Tannaz Sassooni who is compiling recipes (one grandmother at a time) to create a cookbook of Jewish food from different cities in Iran. Tannaz sheds light on the history of Jewish-Iranian recipes,...
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Season 4
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Episode 12
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46:01
Interview with Danielle and Galeet Dardashti on the Nightingale of Iran
In this episode, Danielle and Galeet Dardashti return to discuss the ending of their documentary podcast series the Nightingale of Iran, which explores and uncovers the life of their grandfather, Younes Dardashti, a famous Jewish singe...
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Season 4
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Episode 11
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49:00
Judeo Persian Literature with Alan Niku Pt. 2
Alan Niku returns to the podcast to discuss another selection of Judeo-Persian writers, including poets, philosophers, and biblical commentators such as Emrānī, Baba'i ben Lotf, and Simantov Melamed. Their exploration of these writers raises qu...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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58:31
Judeo Persian Literature with Alan Niku
Judeo-Persian literature (Modern Persian written in Hebrew characters) is likely the largest untapped group within Jewish and Persian vernacular texts. Manuscripts are scattered worldwide, found in the bottoms of drawers in people's homes and s...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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1:11:25
Interview with Matthew Nouriel: connecting Iran and Israel
In this episode, I speak with Matthew Nouriel (sometimes known as The Empress Mizrahi) an activist, content creator, and drag queen from the Persian Jewish diaspora. Matthew is an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, Iranians, Jews and the state of Isra...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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47:02
Reflections on Queen Esther with Maxine Divon
In this episode, Maxine (from episode 3 Ancestral Healing) returns to reflect on the lessons from the Book of Esther/Purim from the Torah, which revolves around a Jewish woman i...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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40:09
Reclaiming Motreb: The Dardashti Family Legacy
In this episode, Millie delves into the history of the Dardashti family with sisters Danielle and Galeet, the creators of the podcast documentary series, "The Nightingale of Iran." Unveiling the captivating saga of their grandfather, Younes Dar...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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54:51
Zar Amir Ebrahimi: Holy Spider, Life in Exile, and Iran
Archival episode from November 25, 2022In an independent interview, Millie Efraim speaks with Zar Amir Ebrahimi, lead actress of Holy Spider (winner, Best Actress, Cannes)— the uncompromising film noir (dir. Ali Abbasi) ...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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37:31
Ancestral Healing
In this episode, Maxine Divon shares her personal journey into the self and spirituality for a discussion about the way our ancestral history impacts us. Maxine shares from her personal experience - as a woman in the Persian Jewish commu...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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1:27:48
Interview with Debbie Lechtman of Roots Metals
PGP hosts, Millie Efraim and Natalie Sanandaji, bring on historian Debbie Lechtman to discuss the history of Ancient Judea/the Kingdom of Israel, Jewish presence in the land for the last 3000+ years, the events leading up to 1948, and what is a...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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1:03:19
Persian Wedding Etiquette
PGP returns after a 9 month hiatus (no, we did not have babies-sorry/motasefaneh). We discuss our time off the podcast and get into the unspoken, yet known standards of what is "appropriate" when attending a Persian wedding as someone who isn't...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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32:35
Persian Mothers of LGBTQ
PGP returns for an episode where they're joined by Orna Simkhai and three other Persian mothers. They share the story of how they formed We Do Care: Iranian-American Parents of LGBTQ, a community formed in 2013. Orna and her friends also share ...
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Season 3
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Episode 31
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1:10:32
Interview with Maz Jobrani
In this episode, Persian comic legend Maz Jobrani comes on PGP to discuss his path to standup and his early education and career experiences, and the ways in which it conflicted with his families expectations at the time. He also shares how he ...
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Season 3
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Episode 30
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43:16
What do Persians think of the Superbowl?
In this episode, Millie, Natalie, and Adlee, a PGP favorite [brother of Millie], discuss the end of elitism, the demoralizing superbowl halftime show and the proliferation of mass culture, St. Valentine, and Persian swinger parties.
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Season 3
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Episode 28
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1:20:16
Persian Girl Loveline
PGP answers listener submissions related to interracial relationships and how to bounce back in a relationship when you've been kept a secret and their family dislikes/disapproves of you. They also answer some questions related to physical attr...
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Season 3
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Episode 27
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48:34
Kitchen Persian with Chai & Conversation's Leyla Shams
In this episode PGP interviews Leyla Shams from Chai & Conversation, a podcast for learning Persian she started in 2011. Together they discuss some prevalent themes and quirks in the Persian language, abolishing the Persian goodbye an...
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Season 3
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Episode 25
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51:34
Parisian Girl Podcast
In this episode, Natalie visits Millie in Paris and they discuss their time there together; operating a two women brothel, having no internet, and being stuck at a rave until 6 am. In the second half of the episode they discuss the importance o...
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Season 3
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Episode 24
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51:31
The first rule of Cheshm is: You do not talk about Cheshm
PGP revisits the subject of cheshm (which they first talked about exactly two years prior to this episode, entitled "I don't dood esfand, I dood hookah<...
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Season 3
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Episode 23
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55:51
An outsider's perspective
In this episode PGP features two voice submissions from their listeners regarding their experience dating outside their culture. One submission features a Persian girl's experience with dating someone not Persian and another submission features...
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Season 3
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Episode 23
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1:07:43
Taliban Romantic Philosophy
Chekhabareh? Another episode with an unhinged anonymous Persian girl. Discussing the difference in sexual encounters with men from Iran vs western men, the millennial's frustration with the lack of effort in flirting these days and generally lo...
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Season 3
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Episode 22
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50:36
Emancipation of Khanoom
Salut, salam. Cette semaine, een hafteh, PGP discusses wedding etiquette drama--ENCORE, and answers a listeners question regarding marrying outside of your religion. En particulier, they get into how one can be raised not by their parents...
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Season 3
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Episode 21
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46:36
Bidaram kon vakhti keh mehr tamoom shod
Natalie and Millie return with a special guest, Naomi Larbi, model and writer + childhood friend of Millie's, to answer some questions sent in by listeners during their hiatus. They di...
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Season 3
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Episode 20
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1:10:47
White Girls of Color
Do beaten horses in fact ever die? Millie and Natalie attempted to discuss their being uninvited from a comedy show for their Jewishness when Al Jazeera asked them to record comments for the news channel's documentary on comedian Noam Shu...
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Season 3
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Episode 19
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1:31:17
Interview with Shaheen Samadi and Arla Fandi
PGP interviews rapper Shaheen Samadi and singer Arla Fandi to discuss their new music video "Atoosa" and the struggles of beauty standards for Persian women. https://www.instagram.com/shaheen.samadi/https://www.instagram.co...
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Season 3
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Episode 18
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1:11:06