'For the Sun After Long Nights' is a history of Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement

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4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Three years ago, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Jina Amini was fatally beaten by Iran’s morality police. She’d been arrested for not following the Islamic Republic’s dress code. Her death sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement, one of the largest uprisings in Iran in decades. Journalists Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizy tell this story in their new book For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising. In today’s episode, Jamalpour speaks with Here & Now’s Jane Clayson about the movement and Iran’s future.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey all, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Glenn Weldon, filling in for Andrew Limbong this week.
0:07.1	In 2022, a young Kurdish woman named Gina Amini died in Tehran after being arrested and severely beaten for not adhering to Iran's dress code.
0:16.2	On her tombstone, her father wrote, Dear Gina, you will not die. Your name will become a symbol,
0:22.7	which is precisely what happened as mass protests erupted across the country, demonstrations
0:27.7	led mostly by young women. Journalist Fatemeh Jammelpur and Nilo Tabrizi have documented that
0:33.9	uprising in For the Sun after Long Nights, the story of Iran's women-led uprising.
0:40.3	Jemlapur spoke to here and now host Jane Clayson about the protests and the legacy Gina Omini's
0:44.9	death leaves. Here's Jane. At Radio Lab, we love nothing more than nerding out about science,
0:52.5	neuroscience, chemistry.
0:54.5	But we do also like to get into other kinds of stories.
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1:16.3	Wherever you get your podcast.
1:18.0	Three years ago this month, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Massa Jina Amani died after being severely beaten by Iran's morality police. She'd been arrested for not
1:29.6	following the Islamic Republic's dress code. Her death sparked the woman life freedom movement,
	...

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