Jian continues the Iran Rises series with a timely panel discussion examining the unfolding protest movement inside Iran.
Recorded on January 8, 2026, this episode brings together four perspectives - street-level insight, security analysis, economic context, and historical framing - to better understand what is happening now and what may come next.
Guests:
Picasso Moin – Iranian activist and commentator (Istanbul)
Mahdi Ghodsi – Economist, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies
Sepehr Vakil – Associate Professor, Northwestern University; author of Revolutionary Engineers
Shayan Samii – U.S. national security analyst and strategic communications expert
The conversation explores protest organization, regime power dynamics, economic pressure points, historical parallels, international response, and what may determine whether this moment advances or stalls.
The episode opens with Jian’s essay honoring the bravery of Iranians in the streets.
This edition of Roqe is brought to you with the support of:
Stellar Law – stellarlaw.ca
Famluxy – famluxy.com
All content for Roqe is the property of Roqe Global Media and is served directly from their servers
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Jian continues the Iran Rises series with a timely panel discussion examining the unfolding protest movement inside Iran.
Recorded on January 8, 2026, this episode brings together four perspectives - street-level insight, security analysis, economic context, and historical framing - to better understand what is happening now and what may come next.
Guests:
Picasso Moin – Iranian activist and commentator (Istanbul)
Mahdi Ghodsi – Economist, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies
Sepehr Vakil – Associate Professor, Northwestern University; author of Revolutionary Engineers
Shayan Samii – U.S. national security analyst and strategic communications expert
The conversation explores protest organization, regime power dynamics, economic pressure points, historical parallels, international response, and what may determine whether this moment advances or stalls.
The episode opens with Jian’s essay honoring the bravery of Iranians in the streets.
This edition of Roqe is brought to you with the support of:
Stellar Law – stellarlaw.ca
Famluxy – famluxy.com
Roqe Ep.400 - 400 Episodes! - The Original Cast Returns
Roqe
1 hour 10 minutes 37 seconds
1 month ago
Roqe Ep.400 - 400 Episodes! - The Original Cast Returns
On Episode 400 of Roqe, Jian reunites members of the original team - Groovy Shaya, Captain Reza and Smart Pegah - for a special roundtable reflecting on the five and a half years since the show launched in April 2020.
The conversation explores how Roqe evolved from a pandemic-era experiment into a global program streamed over 45 million times; how Toronto has become the epicentre of a rapidly growing Iranian diaspora; and how events such as the Mahsa Amini uprising, mass executions in Iran, worsening economic and environmental crises and the Iran-Israel conflict have reshaped the tone and urgency of diaspora media.
The team also discusses the rise of Iranian digital creators, shifting audience expectations and standout moments from 400 episodes of Roqe.
Plus: Jian speaks about the upcoming Roqe Live 6.
Meezoon basheen.
Roqe
Jian continues the Iran Rises series with a timely panel discussion examining the unfolding protest movement inside Iran.
Recorded on January 8, 2026, this episode brings together four perspectives - street-level insight, security analysis, economic context, and historical framing - to better understand what is happening now and what may come next.
Guests:
Picasso Moin – Iranian activist and commentator (Istanbul)
Mahdi Ghodsi – Economist, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies
Sepehr Vakil – Associate Professor, Northwestern University; author of Revolutionary Engineers
Shayan Samii – U.S. national security analyst and strategic communications expert
The conversation explores protest organization, regime power dynamics, economic pressure points, historical parallels, international response, and what may determine whether this moment advances or stalls.
The episode opens with Jian’s essay honoring the bravery of Iranians in the streets.
This edition of Roqe is brought to you with the support of:
Stellar Law – stellarlaw.ca
Famluxy – famluxy.com
