Persian of Interest

Hosts Shauhin Davari (Survivor) and Kaveh Hoda (The House of Pod) reconnect with their Persian roots one historical figure or event at a time. Each episode, one of them dives deep into a defining chapter of Iranian history — the kings, scientists, artists, and athletes who shaped the world — and brings the other along for the ride.

It’s part history lesson, part discovery, part two friends figuring out where they came from and why it matters now. From Cyrus the Great to the present day, Persian of Interest shines a light on Persian contributions to art, science, philosophy, and culture that have too often been minimized or erased from the narrative.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest Episodes:

The First Beer (and Drive Thru) Nov 04, 2026

Show notes

What if everything you thought you knew about the history of beer was wrong? This week, we uncover the story of Godin Tepe — an ancient trading post in the Zagros Mountains where archaeologists found the oldest chemical proof of beer on the planet (and possibly the world's first Drive Thru?). Plus, Zahra Tabatabai, founder of Back Home Beer, shares how she turned her grandfather's homebrew recipes from Shiraz into a thriving Brooklyn brewery, the underground brewing scene in Iran today, and why making beer as a Persian woman is an act of cultural resistance.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kimia Alizadeh: The Tsunami Oct 28, 2026

Show notes

She was seven years old when she started taekwondo. By 18, she was an Olympic bronze medalist — and Iran's favorite daughter, whether she wanted to be or not. This week, Shauhin tells Kaveh the story of Kimia Alizadeh, the Iranian taekwondo prodigy who became a national treasure, a campaign prop, a billboard, and everything except a person. From the Supreme Leader calling her "my daughter" to her defection and a devastating Olympic rematch against her former roommate, this is the story of an athlete who refused to be anyone's symbol — and paid the price.

Every week, Dr. Kaveh Hoda and Shauhin Davari take turns telling each other a story — one researches, the other finds out live. The subjects? Fascinating Iranians from history and today: athletes, spies, scientists, artists, dissidents, and everyone in between. It's part history lesson, part game show, part two friends talking over each other, and entirely about the people who make Iran more than a headline. New episodes every week, wherever you get your podcasts.

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Ibn Sina: The Physician, Philosopher and Fugitive Oct 21, 2026

Show notes

Before Europe built its universities, before the Renaissance "rediscovered" science, and before the West even had the vocabulary to describe diseases, there was a young man from the Persian heartlands who was diagnosing rulers, running clinical trials, and building a system of knowledge that would dominate European medical schools for over 600 years. His name was Ibn Sina — you might know him as Avicenna. This week on Persian of Interest, Kaveh takes Shauhin on a wild ride through the life of a 10th-century Persian polymath who was too smart for his own good: a child genius who became a physician at 17, a vizier he never wanted to be, a fugitive who wrote his masterpiece by candlelight on the run, and a man whose ideas about medicine, philosophy, and the universe were centuries ahead of anyone else on Earth. Also: how much of his work was lost to book burnings, why he's the only non-Greek in The School of Athens, and whether Doogie Howser was secretly Persian.

It's part history lesson, part cultural reclamation, and part excuse for two middle-aged friends to hang out. They welcome corrections and look forward to hearing from you!

Have a figure you'd like them to cover? Email shauhin@youlouder.org.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cyrus The Great: The Man Who Hot Pocketed The World Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

Hosts Shauhin Davari (Survivor 48) and Kaveh Hoda (The House of Pod) reconnect with their roots in Persian of Interest — a podcast exploring the defining figures and chapters of Iran's long, often-overlooked history.

Each episode, the two friends teach each other about someone who has shaped Persian culture, from the legendary Cyrus the Great to the scientists, artists, and athletes who followed. They shine a light on Persian contributions to art, science, philosophy, food, and literature that have been minimized or erased from mainstream storytelling for generations.

It's part history lesson, part cultural reclamation, and part excuse for two middle-aged friends to hang out. They welcome corrections and look forward to hearing from you!

Have a figure you'd like them to cover? Email shauhin@youlouder.org.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing: Persian of Interest Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

Hello Podcast listening world! We're Shauhin Davari (Survivor) and Kaveh Hoda (The House of Pod).

We're two friends who've been talking for years about reconnecting with our Persian roots. The problem? We realized we didn't actually know that much. So we made a podcast about it. It's called Persian of Interest, and in each episode, one of us goes deep on a defining figure or chapter from Iran's history — someone who changed the world, but whose story got minimized, erased, or just never told the way it should've been.

We cover the kings, the scientists, the artists, the athletes — the people who built empires, advanced medicine, shaped philosophy, and somehow got left out of the story.

We're not historians. We're learning out loud, and we're having a lot of fun doing it. So whether you're Persian or not, come along for the ride and learn some fun stuff with us!

This is Persian of Interest.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.