Hooman Majd
Hooman Majd
Hooman Majd, born 1957 in Tehran, is an Iranian-American journalist, author, and commentator who writes on Iranian affairs. He is based in New York City and regularly travels to Iran...
NationalityIranian
ProfessionJournalist
born bumper drafting drivers faded popular sticker
A popular bumper sticker post-9/11, and pretty faded these days, proclaims drivers of the cars to be 'Proud to be an American.' It really should say 'Lucky to be an American,' for I doubt very much that the drivers had much say in having been born here, and are not old enough to have participated in the drafting of the Constitution.
dual grew home iranian parents thinking
I grew up thinking of myself as an American but also, because of my parents and the Iranian culture that was in our home, as an Iranian. So if there's any such thing as dual loyalty, then I have it - at least culturally.
business fell great interested loved music reason
As a child, I was always very interested in music and had friends who were in the music business. I kind of accidentally fell into it and loved it. There was no reason not to - it was a great career.
couple money publishing stories
I got a couple of stories published, but the kind of money you were making for publishing a short story, I could see I wasn't going to make a living at it.
emphasis islamic modern republic science technology tehran
The city of Tehran is a very modern metropolis, and there's an emphasis in the Islamic republic on science and advancement and technology.
acts approved assigned foreign
Foreign journalists have to have an approved interpreter assigned them, which they have to pay for, who also acts as guide. As an Iranian, even writing for foreign media, I've been mercifully unrestricted.
government inside people quite reverse
Inside Iran, people are actually quite well-educated about America. There are things they don't understand, particularly in the government, but the people, by and large, know the American sensibility quite well, and the reverse is not true.
iran people iranian
There's a lack of knowledge about Iran and the Iranian people.
islamic issues ramadan
It's a tradition in Islamic society to issue pardons at the end of Ramadan.
writing college fiction
This sounds like a cliche, but I always wanted to write. After college, I did some writing and realized very quickly that it's hard to make a living as a writer. At that point, I was more interested in fiction writing.
iran years age
I was born in Iran, left at a very young age - less than a year old - and grew up and was educated in the West.
attitude media iran
Nima Shirazi's is an important progressive voice in the Iran debate in the West, often deconstructing the myths (and sometimes propaganda) we commonly encounter in the mainstream media. With succinct and elegant prose, and with no axe to grind, he exposes the hypocrisy of Western attitudes toward Iran.
iran decision political
The thing about Iran is there are many political factions and it's not quite the dictatorial, authoritarian state with one person always making every single decision ...
iran political feelings
If we cannot understand the depth of feeling in the Muslim world toward Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Islam as a political force, then we will be doomed to failure in every encounter we have with the world.