Novelist Porochista Khakpour's family moved to Los Angeles after fleeing the Iranian Revolution, giving up their successes only to be greeted by an alienating culture. Growing up as an immigrant in America means that one has to make one's way through a confusing tangle of conflicting cultures and expectations. And Porochista is pulled between the glitzy culture of Tehrangeles, an enclave of wealthy Iranians and Persians in LA, her own family's modest life and culture, and becoming an assimilated American. Porochista rebels--she bleaches her hair and flees to the East Coast, where she finds her community: other people writing and thinking at the fringes. But, 9/11 happens and with horror, Porochista watches from her apartment window as the towers fall. Extremism and fear of the Middle East rises in the aftermath and then again with the election of Donald Trump. Porochista is forced to finally grapple with what it means to be Middle-Eastern and Iranian, an immigrant, and a refugee in our country today.
Brown Album is a stirring collection of essays, at times humorous and at times profound, drawn from more than a decade of Porochista's work and with new material included. Altogether, it reveals the tolls that immigrant life in this country can take on a person and the joys that life can give.
Khakpour is in conversation with Myriam Gurba, a writer, spoken-word artist, and visual artist.
_______________________________________________
Produced by Maddie Gobbo & Michael Kowaleski
Theme: "I Love All My Friends," a new, unreleased demo by Fragile Gang.
SKYLIT: Warren Zanes, DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE
Better Than the Movie, Ep. 5: JAWS w/ Kristen Lopez
SKYLIT: Artem Mozgovoy, SPRING IN SIBERIA
SKYLIT: Millie De Chirico & Quatoyiah Murray, TCM UNDERGROUND
SKYLIT: Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime
SKYLIT: Alex Pappademas, QUANTUM CRIMINALS
Better Than the Movie, Ep.4: ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET
SKYLIT: Kristen Lopez, ”But Have You Read the Book?”
Better Than the Movie, Ep. 3: THE SISTERS BROTHERS w/ Alena Saunders
Better Than the Movie, Ep. 2: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
SKYLIT: Michael Schulman, ”OSCAR WARS” w/ Alex Ross
Better Than the Movie, Ep. 1: CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD/KNOCK AT THE CABIN
SKYLIT: Karen Han, ”Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema”
SKYLIT: Jessica Johns, ”Bad Cree”
SKYLIT: Where Monsters Lurk & Magic Hides
SKYLIT: Dr. Clarence Lusane, ”TWENTY DOLLARS AND CHANGE” w/ Janell Hobson
SKYLIT: adrienne maree brown, ”FABLES AND SPELLS”
SKYLIT: Emil DeAndreis, ”TELL US WHEN TO GO” w/ Joseph Bien Kahn
SKYLIT: Anna Moschovakis, ”PARTICIPATION” w/ Amina Cain
SKYLIT: Colette Sartor, Gerda Govine Ituarte, Cassandra Lane, & Carla Rachel Sameth
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Pollyanna
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends