"Here are tender, lyrical, colorful stories of an Iran that Americans do not know and have no way of discovering directly. Tara Kangarou has created a work of people-to-people diplomacy, using her words to paint pictures of a very different country than the harsh, angry land depicted in the news. If only Iranians could read a similar account of the Heartbeat of the United States!"―Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America
"With all of the talk about Iran, we hear far too little about the stories of the Iranian people themselves. The Heartbeat of Iran gives us the individual stories of Iranians - an illuminating and powerful portrait of a people who have been so often mischaracterized, and whose voices deserve to be heard."―Ben Rhodes, author of The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House
"In no other time in history has there been such need for building bridges and closing the divides. Tara Kangarlou's Heartbeat Of Iran takes us to a country that has long been isolated and enables us to see Iran through its heart and soul -- its people."―Margot Wallström, Foreign Minister Of Sweden
"Tara Kangarlou's The Heartbeat Of Iran is an impressive, unique, and much needed addition to the compendium of literature on Iran. Using the personal stories of ordinary individuals, she brings to life the Iranian people--a people much misunderstood (and even maligned) in the west--and allows them their own voice in showing us what makes them who they are."―Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
In today's interconnected global village, Iran remains a mystery to much of the rest of the world--especially to those living in the United States and the west. While the country is often synonymous with rogue behavior on the world stage, there is also another, rarely seen side to this nation of 80 million, including being home to the greatest number of Jews in the Middle East outside of Israel, and having the largest transsexual population in the region, among other unexpected surprises.
The Heartbeat of Iran takes us on a journey into everyday life in Iran, where we meet the diverse people who make up the country's delicate socio-cultural, political, and religious mosaic. Through textured portraits of regular Iranians--from a blind Sunni environmental activist to the gay son of a general, from Iran's first female race car driver to a young rabbi who is training the future generation of Jewish rabbis in Israel's enemy state--The Heartbeat of Iran reveals a people whose dreams and fears mirror that of millions of others worldwide, and who yearn to join an international community that often views them through the blur of a hostile political fog.
About the Author: Tara Kangarlou is an award-winning American journalist who has produced, written, and reported for NBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera America as well as digital news outlets such as Al Monitor, The Huffington Post, and NewsMax. She is currently a fellow at the East West Institute and a frequent on-air contributor for various international news outlets covering the MENA region, foreign affairs, and humanitarian issues. As a journalist, she has interviewed many high ranking government officials, heads of states, and news makers in the US and around the world; and in recent years has spent much time in the Syrian border regions of Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan reporting and covering issues that impact Syrian refugees, host countries, and the Middle East at large. In 2015, she led Al Jazeera America's team from inside Iran during the historic nuclear negotiations between the UN Security Council's five permanent members and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tara has also reported from Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, the world's largest refugee camp, covering the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims fleeing from Myanmar.
In 2018, Tara was the recipient of the Ted Sorensen Award from Network 20/20 for her impact journalism and humanitarian work in conflict zones. In 2016, she founded ART OF HOPE, the first American nonprofit with the sole mission of supporting the psycho-social and mental health needs of war-torn refugees. Tara was born and raised in Tehran, is fully bilingual in English and Farsi, and currently splits her time between London and New York.