In this week’s column Yaghoub Yadali talks about the construction, danger, and humanity of Iranian heroes, past and present.
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Columnist Yaghoub Yadali remembers his amazement at discovering a story by Donald Barthelme in Iran, his difficulty finding any information about the author, and, years later, rereading his work as a fellow writer.
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Does Iranian or Middle Eastern heritage mean ‘terrorist’? Yaghoub Yadali examines prejudice and takes a close look at the short film “Brain of Terror,” in which the Iranian-American actress Kathreen Khavari plays 11 characters who are trying determine whether or not they’re terrorists.
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Jack Straw, the ex-foreign secretary of Britain, recently visited Iran and what he found surprised him: a modernizing Tehran (despite heavy economic sanctions), an American-educated political administration, and a people ready to reach a lasting agreement with the West.
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When Iranian television censored the broadcast of the Brazil 2014 World Cup draw in last month due to host Fernanda Lima’s dress, soccer-crazed Iranian youth took to social media to express their anger – not towards the government censors but against the actress.
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Satellite dishes, bootleg VHS tapes, uncensored films, police searches, laughter, and fear. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran has imposed and removed bans on just about everything – soon such actions, says the new minister of Islamic Culture and Guidance says, will make everyone laugh.
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Iranian novelist Yaghoub Yadali responds to Philip Roth’s recent announcement of his retirement with a deeply honest letter addressed to the celebrated author. While Yadali understands Roth’s reasons for calling it quits, he explains why “for an Iranian writer, retirement is meaningless.”
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