In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett

In 1991, America’s sweetheart Sally Field starred in a movie about an American woman’s desperate escape from her abusive Iranian husband. For Susie, and a generation of other Iranian-American kids, this was the only representation they saw of themselves in pop culture – and it was not great. It was essentially a horror film – and the horror was Iran. In this episode, best-selling author (and fellow Iranian-American) Porochista Khakpour joins Susie to talk about what it was like growing up in the shadow of ‘Not Without My Daughter’ and its comically dark view of their homeland.

GUESTS:

• Porochista Khakpour, best-selling author

FOR MORE:

• The Not Without My Daughter Problem: How a Sally Field Movie Became an Iranian-American Headache (New York Magazine)
• Iranians Moving Past Negative Depictions In Pop Culture (by Porochista Khakpour, LA Times)
• Order Porochista’s book Tehrangeles

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