726 - Mehran Seyed Emami (Iranian therapist)
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Who is Mehran Seyed Emami and what is his background?
Radio Mano, Papa Chango.
Hello, everybody. Today's guest is a guy I've known quite a long time. I had his brother on the podcast way back when, probably 10 years ago or so. He's a singer-songwriter from, I'm talking about the brother, King Ram is the name that he goes by or went by when I interviewed him. Anyway, and through him, I guess he's somewhat famous in Iran, and I think that is why I have some listeners in Iran. I remember one guy was a long-distance truck driver or woman. I don't know if women drive trucks in Iran. But anyway, I've gotten some emails over the years from people in Iran who listen to the podcast. One of them said that the way I speak English is easy to understand. So I took that as a compliment. Anyway.
King Ram's brother, Mehran, is today's guest. I met him, I think he came to LA at some point, and his brother put us in touch. Anyway, I've probably known Mehran for 10 years, visited him in Vancouver where he lives, and we went for a hike. Anyway, I've known him for quite a while. He's an interesting dude, as you're going to hear. He's, as I said, he's Iranian. I think he said his grandfather was a senator in the government before the revolution in 79, I think it was. He's got his own podcast in Persian, and he's the founder of the Persian Psychedelic Society. He specializes in psychedelic education and harm reduction for Farsi speakers. I think I said Persian. Farsi is the language. He's got a master's degree in integral counseling psychology and has completed training in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy at California Institute of Integral Studies.
He's friends with Gabor Mate, who's also been on the podcast recently. He's just a very thoughtful—I don't know, if he were a river, he would be a deep river. He's a thoughtful, kind, very high-quality dude, and I'm really happy to have him on the podcast. Primarily, we spoke about Iran, Iranian culture, Iranian politics— Iranian history. We didn't really get into psychedelics, but I think we'll get together again at some point in the near future and talk about his work with psychedelics. But in this case, I just really wanted to kind of have someone on who knows about the country, who... He's got a very interesting and moving personal story of his own experience leaving the country and his father's arrest and imprisonment and death in prison.
Very traumatic and difficult. But he's... you know, as all of us, you kind of... When things happen, you decide whether they're going to deepen you or enshallow you. I don't know if enshallow is a word. What is the verb to make shallow? Anyway, by facing these things is how we manifest the decision to have these difficult experiences and deepen us. And that's definitely what he's done. I think you'll hear it in his voice and in the compassion that he has when it would be so easy to be bitter and angry and, you know, to have his personal trauma with the Iranian government, you result in bitterness. It hasn't. Anyway, so really happy to bring you this conversation with Mehran Syed Emami, a friend of mine.
And yeah, he's got different websites, and I'll put those in the show notes, of course. And I'm going to play you in and out of this conversation with two songs by Shaheen and Sepehir. I'll talk about them in a minute. The first song is called Call from Kashan. And the second song is called Through Your Eyes. That's the song that I'll end the show with. It's two guys. They're guitarists. And they play together really beautifully. someone gave me this CD when I lived in San Francisco, which would have been 1987 or so. And I remember the guy who gave me the CD, his name was Harry. He's also the guy who really kind of taught me how to grow respectable weed. He was an interesting character. I, I, I kind of, I really loved Harry.
He's a really interesting person. I met him, I was at a party at the home of a guy who played, what did he play? Oboe or something in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. And this guy had a what's it called, a clavichord, I
think,
is like the precursor to the piano in his living room.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Mehran Seyed Emami and what is his background?
0:00–9:37
2
How did Mehran’s family experience the Iranian Revolution and the loss of his father?
9:37–19:11
3
What historical events shaped modern Iran’s politics and society?
19:11–27:08
4
Why does the Iranian regime view NGOs and conservation work as a threat?
27:08–35:07
5
How has the recent Iran‑Israel‑U.S. conflict affected Iranian civilians and resistance movements?
35:07–47:08
6
What is the cultural and religious diversity within Iran (Persian, Azeri, Kurdish, Baha’i, etc.)?
47:08–57:52
7
How is psychedelic education and harm‑reduction being built for Farsi‑speaking communities?
57:52–1:07:04
8
What hopeful signs does Mehran see for Iran’s future and how can listeners support them?
1:07:04–1:18:34