Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation

Culture | Attar's Conference of the Birds, Part 2

In the second part of our discussion of Attar's Conference of the Birds, Leyla is joined by Omid Arabian of the YOUniversal Center as the Hoopoe finally names the king th

Culture | Attar's Conference of the Birds, Part 1

In this lesson, Leyla is joined by Omid Arabian of the YOUniversal Center for an overview of Attar's Conference of the Birds. Working through selected verses from across

Poetry | Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamet vatan, Part 6

In this final part of the discussion of Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamat vatan, we go over the end of the poem in detail.

Poetry | Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamet vatan, Part 5

In this fifth part of the discussion of Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamat vatan, we go over the second-to-last part of the poem in detail.

Interview | Sasha von Oldershausen on the Crown Prince of Lubbock, Texas

In this episode, Leyla sits down with Sasha von Oldershausen — an Iranian American journalist on the news and politics team at Texas Monthly, and soon to be the New York

Poetry | Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamet vatan, Part 4

In this fourth part of the discussion of Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamat vatan, we go over the next six lines of the poem in detail.

Interview | Yasmin Khan on Food, Culture & Compassion Across Borders

In this episode, Leyla sits down with Yasmin Khan — the acclaimed British-Iranian-Pakistani food writer, activist, and author of *The Saffron Tales*, *Zaitoun*, *Ripe Fig

Poetry | Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamet vatan, Part 3

In this third part of the discussion of Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamat vatan, we go over the next six lines of the poem in detail.

Poetry | Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamet vatan, Part 2

In this second part of the discussion of Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamat vatan, we go over the first six lines of the poem in detail.

Poetry | Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamet vatan, Introduction with Sahba Shayani

In this introductory lesson to Simin Behbahani's beautiful, important, and timely poem, dobāré meesāzamet vatan, we're joined by Dr. Sahba Shayani to talk about the gener

Interview | Hamid Rahmanian on Building Persian Culture, One Story at a Time

In this episode, Leyla sits down with Hamid Rahmanian — the Iranian-American artist, filmmaker, and visionary behind some of the most ambitious Shahnameh projects of our

Interview | Danesh Nosirvan on Speaking Up When Our Parents Couldn't

In this episode, Leyla sits down with Danesh Nosirvan — the Iranian-American creator known online for identifying perpetrators of public harm and holding them accountable

Culture | Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, The Story of Zahhak, Part 4

In the fourth part of our discussion about the Tale of Zahhak, Leyla and Dr. Sahba Shayani introduce the story of Fereydoon, who, as we already know by now, eventually ki

Culture | Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, The Story of Zahhak, Part 3

In this lesson, we learn from Leyla and Dr. Sahba Shayani about the nature of the evil king Zahhak's reign and the beginning of his downfall.

Culture | Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, The Story of Zahhak, Part 2

In this lesson, we continue our discussion of the famous Tale of Zahhak from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh with Dr. Sahba Shayani. Here, having covered the background that led to

Culture | Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, The Story of Zahhak, Part 1

In this lesson, we begin our discussion of the famous Tale of Zahhak from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh with Dr. Sahba Shayani. We use the end of the story of Jamshid as a prelude

Poetry | Hafez's yoosofé gom gashté, Part 6

In this thrilling conclusion to Hafez's poem yoosofé gom gashté, we cover the words and phrases in the last four lines of the poem. Hafez concludes by acknowledging the d

Poetry | Hafez's yoosofé gom gashté, Part 5

In this lesson, we cover the words and phrases in the next four lines of the poem yoosofé gom gashté by Hafez. In this part of the poem, Hafez provides the reader encoura

Poetry | Hafez's yoosofé gom gashté, Part 4

In this lesson, we go over more words and phrases in the next four lines of the poem yoosofé gom gashté by Hafez. Here, Hafez reassures the reader regarding forces that a

Poetry | Hafez's yoosofé gom gashté, Part 3

In this lesson, we go over the individual words and phrases in the next four lines of the poem yoosofé gom gashté by Hafez, which refer broadly to the nature of the heave