Special: Iran, Ayatollahs, and Protest

In an exciting special episode we talk about the history behind the current Iran protests. Starting with the formation of Iran from the Safavid era we chart the introduction of Shia Islam to the region, the project of conversion, the the social structure shaped by the relationship between religious clergy and the government. We examine how that relationship creates a unique dynamic in Iranian history under the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasty and how it feeds into various protest movements from the the Tobacco Protests to the Persian Constitutional Revolution. We examine the lives of Ali Shariati and Ayatollah Khomeini. Finally we analyze how this deeper history is the prologue for the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and how the ethos of those movements along with economic tensions form the backdrop of the current protests.