Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Town Hall Seattle: Civics Series

Town Hall’s Civics series highlights everything from local policies to world politics. These events offer perspectives on a range of topics as diverse as Seattle itself—a bustling forum for activism, discovery, and thought-provoking discussion.

Don't miss our other series podcasts:

   

Feb 3, 2021

How did the US and Iran lapse from a once-friendly relationship to that of hostile enemies?

Historian John Ghazvinian joined us to discuss the answer, the two-centuries-long entwined histories of Iran and America. With support from his book America and Iran: A History, 1720 to Present, he shared years of archival research to lead us through the four seasons of US-Iran relations: the “spring” of mutual fascination; the “summer” of early interactions; the “autumn” of close strategic ties; and the long, dark “winter” of mutual hatred. He traced the complex story of the relations back to the Persian Empire—the subject of great admiration of Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams—and an America seen by Iranians as an ideal to emulate for their own government. He elucidated where, how, and when it all went wrong—and showed how it didn’t have to turn out this way.

John Ghazvinian is a journalist and historian. His writing has appeared in Newsweek, the Sunday TimesThe New Statesman, Slate, and The Nation. He is the Executive Director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He was born in Iran and raised in London and Los Angeles.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780307271815 

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To make a donation or become a member click here