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. Coming soon…Subscribe now, wherever you get your podcasts.

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 Website: nightingaleofiran.com Presented by The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a publication of 70 Faces Media, and distributed by PRX. 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 with Shanir Blumenkranz, Max ZT, Zafer Tawil, Philip Mayer For this episode, thank you to: Farid and Sheila Dardashti, Shahla Javdan, Homa Sarshar, Lili Keypour, 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 Our fiscal sponsor is Be'chol Lashon.

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 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 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 -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, 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 Kligman, 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 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 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 – and he was an instant hit. He quickly became a teen idol, a rising star. 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 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 & 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 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, Lily 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 -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, 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, 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

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 -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

Houri Dardashti, Danielle and Galeet's grandmother, had long dreamed of moving to Israel from Iran. But life was improving for Jews in Iran, and her husband Younes had become a famous radio star there. So it seemed to her that the dream of moving to Israel wasn't going to happen. But after Farid left Iran for college in America, one by one his siblings started leaving Iran for Israel. And eventually, Houri and Younes moved to Israel, too. But Younes, the Iranian star, felt like an outsider in Israel. 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 Consultants - Asal Ehsanipour & Uri Sarig 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 5, Savta's Dream, Galeet and I had conversations with: Farid Dardashti, Louise Motevassel, Yadid Dardashti, Hamid Dardashti, and Lior Sternfeld. Thank you for clips provided: Homa Sarshar and the Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History; Hadas Bram and the National Library of Israel. 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 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, 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, 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

When people asked “Where are you from?” Danielle was never sure if they wanted to know the places she'd lived or whether they just thought she looked foreign. She didn't know many families like hers in mainstream Jewish America. These days, there's growing awareness about the diversity of the Jewish experience.  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 6, Where I am From, you heard our conversations with: Farid Dardashti, Michelle Dardashti, Roni Sarig, Raquel Sarig, Evan Mateen, Tarlan Rabizadeh, and Lior Sternfeld. 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 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, 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, Houman Sarshar, Edwin Seroussi, Laura Younai, Rachel Nazarian Ehsagpour, Mohsen Mohammadi, Manucher Bibiyan, Haideh Herbert, Homa Sarshar, Shahla Javdan, Lili Keypour, Nahid Pirnazar, 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

Thank you for listening to “The Nightingale of Iran”! All six episodes are out now.For those of you who have finished listening to our series, today we are sharing something a little different. This is an episode of “History Daily,” a podcast with new episodes every weekday. Each episode of “History Daily” focuses on a particular day in history and the human stories behind what happened. We've picked an episode about the day in 1979 when the Shah fled the Iranian Revolution. It's 20 minutes long and we think it adds great context for our show. If you like what you hear, you can find other episodes of History Daily wherever you listen to podcasts.Subscribe to the Nightingale of Iran newsletter here.

Danielle and Galeet were recently interviewed on Can We Talk?, the podcast of the Jewish Women's Archive. We loved our conversation with Nahanni Rous and so we are sharing it with you here today.

Danielle and Galeet speak with Drora and Dalya on this episode of the Reclaiming Identity podcast. They discuss growing up un-Persian, discovering their family's story, and the personal impact of The Nightingale of Iran podcast.

One of the first events to celebrate the release of The Nightingale of Iran was with Danielle and Galeet's home town crowd, at Bet Am Shalom Synagogue in New York on March 19, 2024. The conversation was moderated by Philissa Cramer, the editor in chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The event was organized by: Lisa Goldberg, Laura Solomon, Felicia Lebewohl Rosen, Liz Haas Edersheim, and Danielle Thomas. For more Nightingale bonus content and to support our work, please visit www.nightingaleofiran.com. 

IKAR synagogue, Los Angeles, California. Kabbalat Shabbat post-dinner discussion with Danielle and Galeet Dardashti, about The Nightingale of Iran, moderated by Jewish Telegraphic Agency reporter Asaf Elia-Shalev. Introductions by Rabbi Morris Panitz.Thank you to Rabbi Sharon Brous for inviting us!

The show is a production of WNYC, New York Public Radio. Vocalist and anthropologist Galeet Dardashti is an advocate of Middle Eastern and North African Jewish culture. She founded the all-woman Middle Eastern Jewish ensemble, Divahn, specializes in Mizrahi cultural politics, music and media in Israel, and is a visiting professor at NYU who has begun research on progressive, millennial Sephardi/Mizrahi North American Jews.Her latest recording is Monajat, a Persian word meaning an intimate dialogue with the Divine. The record is also a digital collaboration with the recorded voice of her grandfather Younes Dardashti, a master singer of Persian classical music in 1950s/60s Iran, backed by an all-star ensemble that includes Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on oud and bass; Max ZT on hammered dulcimer; Zafer Tawi on violin, ney, vocals, percussion; Philip Mayer on drums; and John Stanesco contributing electronics.On Monajat, Galeet Dardashti takes as her inspiration the Hebrew sacred music of the Selihot ritual (or penitential prayers) and merges Persian piyutim (liturgical songs) traditionally chanted as part of the Selihot service, as well as other liturgical and non-liturgical Hebrew and Persian poetry set to new music. “Monajat”, a song likely written by Younes Dardashti, in the style of the 13th century Sufi poet Rumi, is how her grandfather's original recording of Selihot ends. Galeet Dardashti presents selections from Monajat, and talks about "bridging generations and geography" (John Schaefer) for this New Sounds. - Caryn HavlikProgram #4788, With Galeet DardashtiARTIST: Galeet Dardashti WORK: Aneinu [1:32] RECORDING: Monajat SOURCE/INFO: galeetdardashti.bandcamp.com/album/monajatARTIST: Galeet Dardashti WORK: Adon Haselichot [4:54] RECORDING: Monajat SOURCE/INFO: galeetdardashti.bandcamp.com/album/monajatARTIST: Galeet Dardashti WORK: Adonai Hu Ha'elohim [5:13] RECORDING: Monajat SOURCE/INFO: galeetdardashti.bandcamp.com/album/monajatARTIST: Galeet Dardashti WORK: Melekh [5:06] RECORDING: Monajat SOURCE/INFO: galeetdardashti.bandcamp.com/album/monajatARTIST: Galeet Dardashti WORK: Monajat [4:10] RECORDING: Monajat SOURCE/INFO: galeetdardashti.bandcamp.com/album/ARTIST: Galeet Dardashti WORK: Aneinu [4:21] RECORDING: Monajat SOURCE/INFO: galeetdardashti.bandcamp.com/album/monajatARTIST: Galeet Dardashti WORK: The Awakening [6:01] RECORDING: Monajat SOURCE/INFO: galeetdardashti.bandcamp.com/album/monajat

This is a conversation Danielle and Galeet had with Moment Magazine Deputy Editor, Jennifer Bardi, about their search for the truth and what they discovered about their family along the way.

Danielle and Galeet joined Abigail Pogrebin on JBS's In the Spotlight to discuss their documentary podcast series The Nightingale of Iran, in which they reveal painful secrets and explore why their family left Iran in the 1960s at the height of national fame.

Danielle joined Daniel and Harry from Jews on Film to discuss "Persepolis," the 2007 animated film co-directed by Marjane Satrapi.They discuss Marjane's split sense of identity throughout the film, and Danielle shares parallel stories of her grandfather that reflect the experience of living in Iran during the fall of the Shah and rise of the Islamic Fundamentalism during the late 1970s.Then the three talk about religious as well as national persecution for Iranians at that time and finish up the discussion weighing the pros and cons of various modern storytelling mediums such as graphic novel, animated film, and audio podcast.They close out the episode by ranking the film's "Jewishness" in terms of its cast & crew, content, and themes.

Danielle and Galeet joined Millie Efraim on Persian Girl Podcast to discuss the tapes their family recoreded starting from the 1950s that were used throughout the Nightingale of Iran series, the reception of their podcast, their theory on the lasting effects of the "Motreb"/artist stigma in Jewish Persian communities, and why there are so few Jewish Persians in art and culture philanthropy and academia.

Danielle & Galeet have created a live show and they've taken the show on the road to several cities around the world!Performances include: A multimedia presentation telling the poignant story of The Nightingale of Iran A musical performance by Galeet and her full band, performing Monajat - the musical piece where she duets with old recordings of her grandfather Younes Dardashti, The Nightingale of Iran A moderated discussion and Q&A that takes listeners behind the scenes! This bonus episode is from the post show conversation at their performance at Bnai Jeshurun in New York City. The moderator is their younger sister Michelle Dardashti, rabbi of Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn.Check nightingaleofiran.com to find out if there's a Nightingale show coming up near you. Please reach out if you would like to bring the show to your town!

Danielle and Galeet were interviewed by Andrew Martin, the UK-based host of The Family Histories Podcast, a positive, conversational, fun show about family history and family historians – the often un-sung heroes tirelessly breathing life back into collective social history.If you like what you hear, you can find other episodes of The Family Histories wherever you listen to podcasts.