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Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Actor and Activist Nazanin Nour Wants to Tell a New Story of Iran

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2023

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today, we sit with actor and activist Nazanin Nour. At the top, we discuss the ongoing protests against the Islamic Republic (3:35), her transformative work in meetings with the UN (7:10), and some of the history that has brought Iran to this moment (10:40). Then, she describes her upbringing in Northern Virginia with immigrant parents (15:56), her complicated relationship with home (21:57), and how she connected her two identities through art-making (23:56).

On the back-half, Nour shares her path to Los Angeles (26:10), a piece of advice from actor Marlon Wayans (28:05), and why she turned to YouTube to create her viral ‘Persian mom’ videos (30:24). To close, we unpack her new role in Sanaz Toossi’s “English” (35:42), a powerful scene from the play (41:00), and what she hopes for in the revolution ahead (47:33).

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Pushkin. This is talk easy. I'm San Frgo, so welcome to the show. Today I am joined by actor and activist Nasineen-Nor.

0:46.0

She's an Iranian American performer who's used her platform and voice

0:51.0

to support the people of Iran fighting back against the Islamic Republic.

0:56.3

The movement began back on September 13th of 2022 in response to the detainment of

1:02.0

Masa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was visiting

1:05.6

Tehran.

1:07.0

From the outset, it seemed to be a typical detention over an inadequate hijab, but as the hours turned to days, we learned Masa was beaten by the morality police,

1:18.1

a religious police squad operating under the auspices of the Islamic Republic.

1:24.0

She was beaten so badly by these men that she fell into a coma,

1:28.4

hanging on only with the assistance of a ventilator

1:32.1

before passing away on September 16th. She was 22 years old.

1:37.7

Of course, since the fall of Iran's monarchy in 1979, the revolution has unfolded in fits and starts.

1:46.4

But it's this recent wave of sustained protest and pressure from across the globe that has people

1:52.2

like Nasinin fighting, fighting to upend the republic, and most

1:56.7

importantly, fighting for the women of Iran to have the basic freedoms any human deserves in our brief time here.

2:04.8

Nausenine has fought back through social media, news appearances on CNN, and even traveling to

2:10.8

Geneva to speak with ambassadors from various member states

2:14.8

to kick the Islamic Republic off of the UN Commission on Women, which she, along with other

2:21.2

determined activists, did. You'll hear all about this in our conversation.

2:25.8

You'll also hear how she's turned her politics into art and a new play called

2:30.8

English written by Sinaz Tousi, which has recently been extended at the studio theatre

2:36.8

in Washington, D.C. through March 12th.

...

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