Hooman Majd

Expert on US-Iranian Relations, Author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ,

The Iran Question: Understanding Iran and What We Should Do About It

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THE LATEST: In the lead-up to the Iranian Presidential elections, Majd acted as expert on Iranian culture for Dateline NBC's big series on Iran. He also wrote a cover story for Newsweek, "Tehran or Bust," a journey through the heart of modern Iran. Read it here. He continues to comment, post-election, on the situation in Iran, appearing on Charlie Rose, CNN, etc.

Hooman Majd is a luminous new voice on Iran -- America's top foreign policy concern. Who are Iranians? How did they come to be? And what do they really think about America? With unabashed style and political savvy, Majd blows past media soundbites, untangles fiction from fact, and dispels needless hype and fear. What emerges is a surprising, timely portrait of Iran as it really is, and not as we presume it to be. Majd's gift for explaining Iran's history and quirks to Western observers is evident in his book, The Ayotollah Begs to Differ. A New York Times bestseller, it was also the #1 foreign policy book and the #1 book on Islam at amazon.com. In 2008, it was named an Economist Book of the Year.

Majd was born in Iran, and raised and educated in America. He continues to travel frequently between the two countries; in a sense, he is both 100% Iranian and 100% American. The son of an Iranian diplomat, and the grandson of an eminent Ayatollah, Majd has worked as an advisor and translator for two Iranian Presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on their trips to the United States and the UN.

As a journalist, Majd writes for various publications: Salon, The New Yorker, GQ and Time. He is also a writer and contributing editor to Interview, and was an original blogger at the Huffington Post, where he continues to write. In the entertainment industry (another story altogether), Majd was the Executive VP of Island Records (U2, etc.) and the cofounder of Palm Pictures.

Hooman Majd Speech Topics

Modern Iran: The People, Their Lives, and What Makes Them Tick

Did you know that most Iranian college students are virtually identical to their American counterparts -- that they drink, smoke, watch The Daily Show, and obsess over pop culture? What else don't you know about Iran? In this talk, Hooman Majd offers a corrective to what the media shows you -- or rather, what it doesn't -- about this proud country (which is Muslim, Shiite, and, above all, Persian). From women cab drivers to reform-minded Ayatollahs, Iran is a country that is deeply religious yet highly cosmopolitan, a country that indeed wants better relations with the US, but with respect. Discussing the paradoxes inherent in the Iranian character, Majd bridges an understanding between two countries -- Iran and America -- that, deep down, may not be so different after all.

The Iran Question: Understanding Iran and What We Should Do About It

What should America do about Iran? And what shouldn't it do? Though Iran is the top concern for US foreign policy, most of us know dangerously little -- or flat out misunderstand -- its political motives. In this talk, Hooman Majd reveals the true motivations of Iran's political and religious leaders, a group fiercely protective of their rights. He shows us where the true power in Iran is found; previews Iran's important upcoming Presidential elections; dismantles, so to speak, its nuclear program; and looks at its complex relationship to Iraq, the Middle East, and of course, America. The two countries, he reminds us, are not that different: both want Iran to join the mainstream international community. Whether it does -- or whether we go to war with Iran-- is the loaded question that Hooman Majd helps us more clearly understand.

VIDEOS

LINKS

HoomanMajd.com

BOOKS

The Ayatollah Begs to Differ

ARTICLES

"Does Ahmadinejad Speak for Iran?" - TIME

All Hooman Majd articles at The Huffington Post

All Speakers > Hooman Majd

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