The Nightingale of Iran

Their grandfather was a famous singer known as The Nightingale of Iran. Their father was a Tehran teen idol. It’s always been a mystery to our host Danielle Dardashti (storyteller / documentarian) and her sister Galeet Dardashti (anthropologist / musician) : What drove their Persian Jewish family to leave Iran during a golden age for Jews, so long before the Islamic revolution? The Nightingale of Iran – a new audio documentary about identity, belonging, and music – reveals painful secrets unspoken for generations. The series will resonate with outsiders everywhere. Now available wherever you get your podcasts. Co-creators / Co-executive producers - Danielle Dardashti and Galeet Dardashti The Nightingale of Iran - nightingaleofiran.com Presented by The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a publication of 70 Faces Media Host - Danielle Dardashti Writer / Director / Senior Producer - Danielle Dardashti Producer / Musical Director / Subject Matter Expert - Galeet Dardashti Audio Editors / Sound Designers - Rebecca Seidel and Zachary Goldberg Story Editor - Rider Alsop Story Consultant - Asal Ehsanipour Composer of Theme Song - Galeet Dardashti: “Melekh” from her album Monajat, featuring Younes Dardashti (with Shanir Blumenkranz, Max ZT, Zafer Tawil, Philip Mayer) Thank you to our sponsors: -Jewish Writers’ Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab / Maimonides Fund -Common Era -Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation -The Himan Brown Charitable Trust -Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History -UCLA Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music -Be’chol Lashon (fiscal sponsor) Dedication: This is for you Dadders!!! We love you (and Mommy) so much!!!! xox We are so grateful for: our extraordinary husbands, Roni Sarig and Mason Weisz, who have contributed in countless ways big and small; Danielle’s amazing kids, Uri Dardashti Sarig and Raquel Dardashti Sarig, who have lent their talents in story editing, sound capture, episode cover art design, and more; and Galeet’s kids -Yaniv and Adin–for being such incredible humans. There are so many people we want to thank for their love, guidance, support, and inspiration on this project: Houri & Younes Dardashti, Millie & Louie Heifetz, Michelle Dardashti, Yadid Dardashti, Shahnaze Dardashti, Hamid Dardashti, Louise Motevassel, David Dardashti, Oren Motevassel, Niloo Dardashti, Schelly Dardashti, Jina Aziz-Zadeh, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, Dawne Bear Novicoff, Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Jeni Friedman, Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Guber, Debbie Kolben, Ami Eden, Caleb Guedes Reed, Sharon Nazarian, Jessamyn Rodriguez, Yonah Schiller, Richard Kay, Mark Kligman, Sarah Lefton, Janine Okmin, Arielle Nissenblatt, Ilana Nevins, Lauren Passell, Habib Partow, Alan Niku, Ruth Abusch-Magder, Julian Voloj, Melina Rosenberg, Lior Sternfeld, Houman Sarshar, Edwin Seroussi, Laura Younai, Rachel Nazarian Ehsagpour, Mohsen Mohammadi, Manucher Bibiyan, Haideh Herbert, Homa Sarshar, Shahla Javdan, Lili Keypour, Nahid Pirnazar, Tarlan Rabizadeh, Evan Mateen, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Sierra Ulrich, David Shofet, Sarah Benor and Hadas Bram. Intro credits read by: Michelle Dardashti Cover art design: Ghulam Nabi Assistants: Courtney Cunningham & Jessica DeWeese Marketing / PR: Tink Distributed by PRX, the Public Media Exchange

Sisters Danielle and Galeet Dardashti grew up in a Jewish American family band: The Dardashti Family. They sang international folk music in 12 languages – English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Greek, Spanish, French, Japanese and more – but never any songs in Persian. This seems odd to them since both their father and grandfather were famous Iranian singers during the “Golden Age” for Jews in Iran, before the Islamic Revolution. Danielle and Galeet make a discovery that takes them back in time, and helps them find answers to their questions about why their family left Iran and abandoned their Iranian identity. Co-creators / Co-executive producers - Danielle Dardashti and Galeet Dardashti The Nightingale of Iran - nightingaleofiran.com Presented by The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a publication of 70 Faces Media Host - Danielle Dardashti Writer / Director / Senior Producer - Danielle Dardashti Producer / Musical Director / Subject Matter Expert - Galeet Dardashti Audio Editors / Sound Designers - Rebecca Seidel and Zachary Goldberg Story Editor - Rider Alsop Story Consultant - Asal Ehsanipour Composer of Theme Song - Galeet Dardashti: “Melekh” from her album Monajat, featuring Younes Dardashti (with Shanir Blumenkranz, Max ZT, Zafer Tawil, Philip Mayer) In Episode 1, The Time Machine, you heard our conversations with: Farid and Sheila Dardashti, Shahla Javdan, Homa Sarshar, Lili Keypour, and Nahid Pirnazar. Thank you to our sponsors: -Jewish Writers’ Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab / Maimonides Fund -Common Era -Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation -The Himan Brown Charitable Trust -UCLA Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music -Be’chol Lashon (fiscal sponsor) Dedication: This is for you Dadders!!! We love you (and Mommy) so much!!!! xox We are so grateful for: our extraordinary husbands, Roni Sarig and Mason Weisz, who have contributed in countless ways big and small; Danielle’s amazing kids, Uri Dardashti Sarig and Raquel Dardashti Sarig, who have lent their talents in story editing, sound capture, episode cover art design, and more; and Galeet’s kids -Yaniv and Adin–for being such incredible humans. There are so many people we want to thank for their love, guidance, support, and inspiration on this project: Houri & Younes Dardashti, Millie & Louie Heifetz, Michelle Dardashti, Yadid Dardashti, Shahnaze Dardashti, Hamid Dardashti, Louise Motevassel, David Dardashti, Oren Motevassel, Niloo Dardashti, Schelly Dardashti, Jina Aziz-Zadeh, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, Dawne Bear Novicoff, Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Jeni Friedman, Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Guber, Debbie Kolben, Ami Eden, Caleb Guedes Reed, Sharon Nazarian, Jessamyn Rodriguez, Yonah Schiller, Richard Kay, Mark Kligman, Sarah Lefton, Janine Okmin, Arielle Nissenblatt, Ilana Nevins, Lauren Passell, Habib Partow, Alan Niku, Ruth Abusch-Magder, Julian Voloj, Melina Rosenberg, Lior Sternfeld, Houman Sarshar, Edwin Seroussi, Laura Younai, Rachel Nazarian Ehsagpour, Mohsen Mohammadi, Manucher Bibiyan, Haideh Herbert, Homa Sarshar, Shahla Javdan, Lili Keypour, Nahid Pirnazar, Tarlan Rabizadeh, Evan Mateen, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Sierra Ulrich, David Shofet, Sarah Benor and Hadas Bram. Intro credits read by: Michelle Dardashti Cover art design: Ghulam Nabi Assistants: Courtney Cunningham & Jessica DeWeese Marketing / PR: Tink Distributed by PRX, the Public Media Exchange

Danielle and Galeet's grandfather Younes Dardashti grew up an orphan in Tehran's Jewish ghetto. He was gifted with a gorgeous voice, but had a difficult childhood. He lived with an abusive uncle who forbade him from singing. In his late teens, he left his uncle's house, got a job with the Iranian Railroad and, years later, he married Houri Aziz-Zadeh. In the 1940s, life changed rapidly for the Jews of Iran - a new Shah granted equal rights to Jews, women, and other marginalized groups. Jews could move out of the ghetto into neighborhoods integrated with Muslims. One night, Younes found himself at a party attended by Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri, a famous female Muslim singer. Suddenly, the power went out. And in the dark and quiet, Younes started to sing. This was the moment that everything changed, and he became The Nightingale of Iran.Co-creators / Co-executive producers - Danielle Dardashti and Galeet DardashtiThe Nightingale of Iran - nightingaleofiran.comPresented by The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a publication of 70 Faces MediaHost - Danielle DardashtiWriter / Director / Senior Producer - Danielle DardashtiProducer / Musical Director / Subject Matter Expert - Galeet DardashtiAudio Editors / Sound Designers - Rebecca Seidel and Zachary GoldbergStory Editor - Rider AlsopStory Consultant - Asal EhsanipourComposer of Theme Song - Galeet Dardashti: "Melekh" from her album Monajat, featuring Younes Dardashti (with Shanir Blumenkranz, Max ZT, Zafer Tawil, Philip Mayer)In Episode 2, Singing in The Dark, you heard our conversations with: Farid Dardashti, Habib Partow, Schelly Dardashti, Houman Sarshar, Laura Younai, Rachel Nazarian Ehsagpour, Haideh Herbert. Alan Niku interviewed Manucher Bibiyan.Thank you to our sponsors:-Jewish Writers' Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab / Maimonides Fund-Common Era-Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation-The Himan Brown Charitable Trust-Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History-UCLA Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music-Be'chol Lashon (fiscal sponsor)Dedication: This is for you Dadders!!! We love you (and Mommy) so much!!!! xoxWe are so grateful for: our extraordinary husbands, Roni Sarig and Mason Weisz, who have contributed in countless ways big and small; Danielle's amazing kids, Uri Dardashti Sarig and Raquel Dardashti Sarig, who lent their talents in story editing, sound capture, episode cover art design, and more; and Galeet's kids -Yaniv and Adin- for being such incredible humans.There are so many people we want to thank for their love, guidance, support, and inspiration on this project: Houri & Younes Dardashti, Millie & Louie Heifetz, Michelle Dardashti, Yadid Dardashti, Shahnaze Dardashti, Hamid Dardashti, Louise Motevassel, David Dardashti, Niloo Dardashti, Schelly Dardashti, Jina Aziz-Zadeh, Dawne Bear Novicoff, Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Jeni Friedman, Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Guber, Debbie Kolben, Ami Eden, Caleb Guedes Reed, Sharon Nazarian, Jessamyn Rodriguez, Yonah Schiller, Richard Kay, Mark Klingman, Sarah Lefton, Janine Okmin, Arielle Nissenblatt, Ilana Nevins, Lior Sternfeld, Edwin Seroussi, Mohsen Mohammadi, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Sierra Ulrich, David Shofet, Sarah Benor and Hadas Bram.Intro credits read by: Michelle DardashtiCover art design: Ghulam NabiAssistants: Courtney Cunningham & Jessica DeWeeseMarketing / PR: TinkDistributed by PRX, the Public Media Exchange

Danielle and Galeet’s father, Farid Dardashti, was born in Tehran in 1942, the oldest of Houri and Younes Dardashti’s five children, all of whom had natural musical talent. Farid’s gorgeous voice kept earning him invitations to perform, but his parents didn’t want him to pursue music. To make them proud, he applied to study architecture in America. While waiting for his visa and acceptance to college, he got offered his own weekly show singing on Iranian TV. He quickly became a teen idol. But when his visa came through, he left the country as planned – and never once considered staying to grow his fame as a singer. This didn’t make any sense to Danielle and Galeet. But that’s because they were missing an important piece of the story.Co-creators / Co-executive producers - Danielle Dardashti and Galeet DardashtiThe Nightingale of Iran - nightingaleofiran.comPresented by The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a publication of 70 Faces MediaHost - Danielle DardashtiWriter / Director / Senior Producer - Danielle DardashtiProducer / Musical Director / Subject Matter Expert - Galeet DardashtiAudio Editors / Sound Designers - Rebecca Seidel & Zachary GoldbergStory Editor - Rider AlsopStory Consultant - Asal EhsanipourComposer of Theme Song - Galeet Dardashti: “Melekh” from her album Monajat, featuring Younes Dardashti (with Shanir Blumenkranz, Max ZT, Zafer Tawil, Philip Mayer)In Episode 3, The Tehran Teen Idol, you heard our conversations with: Farid Dardashti, Yadid Dardashti, Hamid Dardashti, Jina Aziz-Zadeh, Houman Sarshar, Homa Sarshar, Laura Younai, Rachel Nazarian Ehsagpour, Lili Keypour, Haideh Herbert, and Mohsen Mohammadi.Thank you to our sponsors:-Jewish Writers’ Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab / Maimonides Fund-Common Era-Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation-The Himan Brown Charitable Trust-Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History-UCLA Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music-Be’chol Lashon (fiscal sponsor)Dedication: This is for you Dadders!!! We love you (and Mommy) so much!!!! xoxWe are so grateful for: our extraordinary husbands, Roni Sarig and Mason Weisz, who have contributed in countless ways big and small; Danielle’s amazing kids, Uri Dardashti Sarig and Raquel Dardashti Sarig, who lent their talents in story editing, sound capture, episode cover art design, and more; and Galeet’s kids -Yaniv and Adin–for being such incredible humans.There are so many people we want to thank for their love, guidance, support, and inspiration on this project: Houri & Younes Dardashti, Millie & Louie Heifetz, Michelle Dardashti, Shahnaze Dardashti, Louise Motevassel, David Dardashti, Oren Motevassel, Niloo Dardashti, Schelly Dardashti, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, Dawne Bear Novicoff, Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Jeni Friedman, Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Guber, Debbie Kolben, Ami Eden, Caleb Guedes Reed, Sharon Nazarian, Jessamyn Rodriguez, Yonah Schiller, Richard Kay, Mark Kligman, Sarah Lefton, Janine Okmin, Arielle Nissenblatt, Ilana Nevins, Lauren Passell, Habib Partow, Alan Niku, Ruth Abusch-Magder, Julian Voloj, Melina Rosenberg, Lior Sternfeld, Edwin Seroussi, Manucher Bibiyan, Shahla Javdan, Nahid Pirnazar, Tarlan Rabizadeh, Evan Mateen, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Sierra Ulrich, David Shofet, Sarah Benor and Hadas Bram.Intro credits read by: Michelle DardashtiCover art design: Ghulam NabiAssistants: Courtney Cunningham & Jessica DeWeeseMarketing / PR:  TinkDistributed by PRX, the Public Media Exchange

On his way from Iran to America, where he planned to study architecture in college, Danielle and Galeet’s father Farid spent the summer in Israel. While walking down a Tel Aviv street one day, a man recognized him from Iranian TV and invited him to sing at an event that week. The night Farid sang, a family of visiting Americans heard him, and it changed the course of his entire life. Once he arrived in the United States, a new pursuit pulled Farid further and further away from his Iranian identity. Co-creators / Co-executive producers - Danielle Dardashti and Galeet Dardashti The Nightingale of Iran - nightingaleofiran.com  Presented by The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a publication of 70 Faces Media Host - Danielle Dardashti Writer / Director / Senior Producer - Danielle Dardashti Producer / Musical Director / Subject Matter Expert - Galeet Dardashti Audio Editors / Sound Designers - Rebecca Seidel and Zachary Goldberg Story Editor - Rider Alsop Story Consultant - Asal Ehsanipour Composer of Theme Song - Galeet Dardashti: “Melekh” from her album Monajat, featuring Younes Dardashti (with Shanir Blumenkranz, Max ZT, Zafer Tawil, Philip Mayer) In Episode 4, Ashkenormalization, we had conversations with: Sheila Dardashti, Farid Dardashti, and Ruth Abusch-Magder. Thank you to our sponsors: -Jewish Writers’ Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab / Maimonides Fund -Common Era -Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation -The Himan Brown Charitable Trust -Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History -UCLA Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music -Be’chol Lashon (fiscal sponsor) Dedication: This is for you Dadders!!! We love you (and Mommy) so much!!!! xox We are so grateful for: our extraordinary husbands, Roni Sarig and Mason Weisz, who have contributed in countless ways big and small; Danielle’s amazing kids, Uri Dardashti Sarig and Raquel Dardashti Sarig, who lent their talents in story editing, sound capture, episode cover art design, and more; and Galeet’s kids -Yaniv and Adin–for being such incredible humans. There are so many people we want to thank for their love, guidance, support, and inspiration on this project: Houri & Younes Dardashti, Millie & Louie Heifetz, Michelle Dardashti, Yadid Dardashti, Shahnaze Dardashti, Hamid Dardashti, Louise Motevassel, David Dardashti, Oren Motevassel, Niloo Dardashti, Schelly Dardashti, Jina Aziz-Zadeh, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, Dawne Bear Novicoff, Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Jeni Friedman, Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Guber, Debbie Kolben, Ami Eden, Caleb Guedes Reed, Sharon Nazarian, Jessamyn Rodriguez, Yonah Schiller, Richard Kay, Mark Kligman, Sarah Lefton, Janine Okmin, Arielle Nissenblatt, Ilana Nevins, Lauren Passell, Habib Partow, Alan Niku, Ruth Abusch-Magder, Julian Voloj, Melina Rosenberg, Lior Sternfeld, Houman Sarshar, Edwin Seroussi, Laura Younai, Rachel Nazarian Ehsagpour, Mohsen Mohammadi, Manucher Bibiyan, Haideh Herbert, Homa Sarshar, Shahla Javdan, Lili Keypour, Nahid Pirnazar, Tarlan Rabizadeh, Evan Mateen, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Sierra Ulrich, David Shofet, Sarah Benor and Hadas Bram. Intro credits read by: Michelle Dardashti Cover art design: Ghulam Nabi Assistants: Courtney Cunningham & Jessica DeWeese Marketing / PR:  Tink Distributed by PRX, the Public Media Exchange