A new episode of Roqe including a feature interview with chess prodigy Dorsa Derakhshani, who joins Jian from Missouri. Dorsa discusses her journey of how she quickly rose through the ranks of competitive chess, earning the titles of Women’s Grandmaster and International Master, along with multiple gold medals at the Asian Youth Chess Championships, before being banned from competing with the Iranian national team after defying Iran’s mandatory hijab rule at a tournament. It is a harrowing tale of courage, frustration and perspective having been in the United States in recent years as a medical student while continuing her presence in the chess world.

Plus Jian opens the show with an ode to his French bulldog, Oogie, on his 7th birthday week, with an essay entitled, “Dogs Are Better Than Us.”