Scott Anderson on Why Iran’s Real Revolution Might Be Coming

I would say that Iran probably has a better chance of of actually emerging into a democracy than most countries in the Middle East. It has at least a parliamentary tradition, even though that parliament has largely been a rubber stamp for certain for the past century. And now the good fight. with Yasha Monk. There are some events in the world that fill you with great hope and also some amount of dread.

This is always how I feel when people are courageously streaming into the streets to protest against a brutal dictatorship. It is awe-inspiring that people are seeking that freedom and you cannot help but hope that the aspirations will be fulfilled. And at the same time you know that if a regime uses all of its force to beat them back, death at a significant scale of most courageous people may be the consequence. That's how I've been feeling for the last days as I've seen the growing and growing and growing protests in Tehran and all around Iran.

And so we have pushed the episode we had planned for today in order to record an emergency podcast about Iran. Now this podcast has two halves. In the first half, I have invited Scott Anderson to tell us about the current events in the country. Scott is a contributing writer for New York Times magazine who has reported as a veteran war correspondent from many countries around the world. and is the author of King of Kings, the story of the rise and the downfall of the last Shah of Iran and the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which is the winner of the 2025 Circus Prize for Nonfiction.

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