Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In this fifteenth edition of Iran Rises, we focus on one of the most consequential developments unfolding inside Iran right now - the resurgence of bold, open student defiance on university campuses across the country.
From Sharif and Amirkabir to Tehran University and beyond, Iranian students are once again turning campuses into front lines of political resistance. Open chants of “Death to the dictator,” calls of “Javid Shah,” and the raising of the shir-o khorshid - the lion and sun flag - mark a level of courage and heresy that strikes at the ideological core of the Islamic Republic.
Jian Ghomeshi opens with a rousing essay addressed directly to Iran’s students - honoring their bravery, sacrifice, and historic role at moments of national rupture.
He is then joined by Dr. Sepehr Vakil, associate professor at Northwestern University and author of Revolutionary Engineers. Their conversation bridges history and the present - examining why Iranian universities have so often been centers of dissent, how today’s student demonstrators are absorbing enormous risk, and what these campus uprisings may signal for the current revolution for a free Iran.
This is a discussion about courage, consequence, and why regimes fear students when they stop whispering and start chanting.
This episode is supported by:
Avoca Chocolates
avocachocolates.com
In this fifteenth edition of Iran Rises, we focus on one of the most consequential developments unfolding inside Iran right now - the resurgence of bold, open student defiance on university campuses across the country.
From Sharif and Amirkabir to Tehran University and beyond, Iranian students are once again turning campuses into front lines of political resistance. Open chants of “Death to the dictator,” calls of “Javid Shah,” and the raising of the shir-o khorshid - the lion and sun flag - mark a level of courage and heresy that strikes at the ideological core of the Islamic Republic.
Jian Ghomeshi opens with a rousing essay addressed directly to Iran’s students - honoring their bravery, sacrifice, and historic role at moments of national rupture.
He is then joined by Dr. Sepehr Vakil, associate professor at Northwestern University and author of Revolutionary Engineers. Their conversation bridges history and the present - examining why Iranian universities have so often been centers of dissent, how today’s student demonstrators are absorbing enormous risk, and what these campus uprisings may signal for the current revolution for a free Iran.
This is a discussion about courage, consequence, and why regimes fear students when they stop whispering and start chanting.
This episode is supported by:
Avoca Chocolates
avocachocolates.com
