Best English Iranian Podcasts About Iran

Persian podcast is a new medium among Iranians, and it is growing in quality and covering more diverse subjects. A podcast is an episodic series of audio files which have a similar form to radio programs, featuring hosts discussing carefully scripted or completely improvised contents.

Podcasts are available through several media players or applications. Unlike radio shows which are broadcasted at specific times, these podcast apps give you the chance of downloading and managing files on your mobile, tablet, or iPod and easily listen to them at your convenience.

Most of these podcasts put their files in their websites or telegram channels so you can easily have access to them by googling the name.

Here we are going to introduce the best Iranian podcasts in English which are produced by actual Iranians revolving around Iranian culture, art, lifestyle, history, etc. that can help you get a gist of Iran.  

1. Radio Padena, Iran through Music, Literature, and Travelogues

Radio Padena is a colourful collage that puts Iranian literature, music, and travelogues of ancient and present times in a single frame. Although it is new to the market, telling appealing stories about different aspects of Iranian culture and anthropology made it the number one in our list. This podcast takes its name from a mythical region at the foot of Mount Dena, a subrange within the Zagros Mountains of Iran.

Once it takes your hand to wander in the beautiful gardens of Shiraz and smell the aroma of orange blossoms while listening to a magnificent poem by Saadi, or sits beside you near Zayandeh Roud River to enjoy the local Esfahani singers under Khajoo Bridge, or conveys the passion of Iranians to celebrate Nowruz, and beginning the new year happily.

The hosts of Radio Padena precisely do researches and select the music tracks, write narrations and travelogues to make you have dreamy travel through time and place within a short time.

You can listen to Radio Padena through Padena website or simply on all podcast player Apps by searching Padena.

2. Iranologie, the History of Iran

If you are interested in the history and culture of Iran, Iranologie podcast is a perfect choice. Khodadad Rezakhani, as a historian, gives a detailed record of what had happened in the region known as Iran since 3000 B.C.E to the early 20th century.

Following a chronological line and in a dynastic framework, this podcast talks about unknown things. It reveals unexpected details about cultural, social and economic aspects of a specific time. Iranologie episodes release every two weeks, and in 25-30 minutes, they give interesting historical information and trace the roots of the present behaviour of Iranians as a nation in the past events.

You can listen to Iranologie Podcast through this link.

3. Talk Iran, Discussing Iran Related Topics

In Talk Iran podcast during about an hour, Saman Askari, the host discusses a wide range of topics related to Iran with his guests. In one episode, he talked to Naz Deravian, a Persian food expert and author about her transition to the culinary world, the regional diversity and magical spices in Iranian foods. In another episode, he spoke with Anousheh Ansari, the first Iranian space traveller about her extraordinary experience of looking down on the blue planet from up there.

In the latest episode, Saman had a conversation about COVID-19 with Dr.Amir Akhami, a psychiatrist and a historian of medicine. They previously had an interesting talk about the history of public health issue from the Qajar era (18th century) to the present in Iran.

Listen to Talk Iran Podcast through this link.

4. Travel to Iran, Information About Traveling to Iran

Abbas Malek Hosseini is a local guide of Tehran, and after years of performing free walking tours for foreign travellers, he decided to make “Travel to Iran podcast”. In this podcast, he provides listeners with a package of useful notes and needed information before travelling to Iran from dress code to the visa system.

He also gives you the chance of discovering Iran as a local and tells interesting stories, for example, about street names that even locals may not know. Each episode is dedicated to a specific country to find similarities and common cultural, social and historical aspects between Iran and that country. For example, the Persian style of Italian foods or the traces of the French political system in Iran, are some interesting points discussed in 15 to 20 minutes of each episode.

Whether you are planning to travel to Iran or simply interested in Iran subjects, these Iranian podcasts are great to familiarize you with different aspects of Iran. We have tried to suggest high-quality podcasts which possess substantial topics, quality and deep content. We hope you listen and enjoy and support Iranian podcasters to keep making valuable and interesting podcasts on Iran.

Listen to Travel to Iran Podcast in this link.

By Samaneh Zohrabi