Navid explains the economic and geopolitical causes of the 2026 Iranian protests from Tehran.

When we recorded this episode on January 7, the Iranian protests against inflation, which had begun on December 29, appeared largely peaceful. Since January 8, they have taken on a more violent turn, with documented damage to public properties, and it appears that the US and Israel had prepared armed groups to join the protests and create chaos in the country. As of today, the situation seems to have largely stabilized, at least for now...

Navid provides a primer on liberalism. He defines what it means to be a liberal! He then explains three things: why everyone in the US political mainstream is a liberal; how liberalism has historically denied certain demographics their rights; and, why there is such a close connection between liberalism and colonialism!

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The United States government created "area studies" around the Second World War, funding universities to understand the "areas" of the world that were important to the expanding U.S. empire. But, now, with the U.S. empire entering the autumn of its decline, and the repression that followed the events of October 7, area studies is entering a new phase of insecurity. This is especially true about Middle East Studies.

Navid joined Ameem Lutfi, Duke PhD and an assistant professor of historical anthropology at LUMS, to discuss all of this.

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Navid explains the major differences between colonial empires and the agrarian empires that preceded them.

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The founder of ⁨‪PersianPoetics, Muhammad Ali Mojaradi (known as Sharghzadeh) returned to the Colony Archive to talk Iranian "diaspora fatigue." We talk about the politics of the Iranian diaspora, national "dislocation," and how Iranians view their neighbors.

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Navid dives into the history behind Iran's negotiations with the West over its nuclear program; this history stretches some 22 years back to when Mohammad Khatami was Iran's president. He also explains whether there is any possibility for renewed negotiations between Iran and the United States, after the 12-day war against the country stalled prospects for a new nuclear deal.

Navid talked to Kumars Salehi about German politics on Palestine-Israel. They also talked about Germany's colonial history.

Kumars is a visiting assistant professor of German specializing in 19th-21st century German philosophy, decolonial theory, and media studies. He is also the co-host of the. Delete Your Account podcast.

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Navid looks for a historical connection between Islamophobia in 2025 and European intellectual history.

In an earlier episode, we talked about those Iranians who LOVE the West. But Iran is a diverse country, not just in terms of ethnicities and languages, but also in political beliefs. Since the 1979 revolution the Iranian state has politically opposed the West and Israel. This political fight didn’t come about in a social vacuum. It is state policy that finds considerable social and popular support. In this episode, Navid reviews the historical trajectory of this fight to provide insights into origins and motivations.

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Amanullah Tariq, host of the EON Podcast, joined The Colony Archive for a second time to discuss Islamic Militancy in the context of the "war on terror," including the conflicting narratives around how Osama Bin Laden was killed.

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