What does a revolution look like from the inside? What does it cost? What does it demand from the rest of the world?

The world is watching Iran. This episode is part of a miniseries we're dedicating to understanding what's actually happening there, and the struggle for freedom of a people caught between a barbaric regime on one side and missile strikes on the other.

Spend time with the people who know this fight best: Who’ve fought brutal regimes in the halls of the Hague, or been held in the notorious Evin prison. Who have lived through revolutions, and shared their story with the world.

How to Change the World presents Iran: Inside the Revolution.

Our guest today is Adnan Hadad, and he knows revolution not as some abstract concept, but as a lived reality. He left a stable career behind to join the Syrian revolution in the midst of a brutal conflict. Adnan co-founded the Aleppo Media Center, producing The White Helmets - the Academy Award-winning documentary that shared the power of humanity even in the midst of war to global audiences.

Together, we dig into the blueprint of dictatorships, the insights Syria’s revolution holds for the Iranian opposition, and the underlying challenges to make regime change and secular democracy possible.

This conversation was recorded at the end of March 2026 - in the midst of war. While the situation on the ground continues to shift rapidly, the journey of Iran to reclaim itself from tyranny continues.

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The How to Change the World Podcast is produced by World Within Studios with PRX.

Producer and Composer: Alexandre Miller

Editors: Eve Weston and Martin McGreevy

Session Engineers: Amirnezam Samadabadi and Gabe Sweeney

Iran: Inside the Revolution - Part 1