'For the Sun After Long Nights' is a history of Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement

Summary

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NPR's Book of the Day – "For the Sun After Long Nights": Exploring Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement

Air Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Jane Clayson (for NPR)
Guest: Fatemeh Jamalpour (Co-author, journalist)

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights the new book For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising by Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizi, recently longlisted for the National Book Award. The conversation dives into the origins, experiences, and enduring legacy of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement in Iran, sparked by the 2022 death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police. Fatemeh Jamalpour shares firsthand accounts of the protests, the courage of young Iranians, and the personal consequences of documenting this history.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Beginning: Death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini and the Uprising

• Event: In 2022, 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa (Jina) Amini died after being beaten in custody for dress code violations.
• Legacy: Her death ignited massive, women-led protests across Iran, resulting in state violence and severe crackdowns.
• Symbolism:
  • "On her tombstone her father wrote, 'dear Gina, you will not die. Your name will become a symbol.'" (Glenn Weldon, 00:16)
• Scale: At least 2 million people demonstrated, marking one of Iran’s largest uprisings in decades.
  • "Her death sparked the Woman Life Freedom movement, one of the largest uprisings in Iran in decades. It's estimated that at least 2 million people took to the streets." (Jane Clayson, 01:25)

2. Experiencing the Protests: An Insider’s Perspective

• Atmosphere in Tehran:
  • "It was just witnessing people's courage to be in the street and protest. Each of the walls were covered with graffiti and protest slogans... especially young women and LGBTQ people." (Fatemeh Jamalpour, 02:31)
• Risks & Sacrifice: Young people braved tear gas and bullets for the dream of a "free Iran."
• Personal Danger:
  • Jamalpour was interrogated 16 times, faced threats of imprisonment, and was shot by rubber bullets.
    • "For me, it was like facing the whole ideological core of the regime in one session." (Jamalpour, 03:25)
    • "We only want our agency, our control over our bodies, and it's a basic human right." (Jamalpour, 03:41)
    • "They always threatened me with five years of prison." (Jamalpour, 03:54)

3. Everyday Oppression and Generational Change

• Women's Lives in Iran:
  • Normalized suffering: child and forced marriage, domestic violence, and "lives without love."
    • "These women's lives were far from ordinary, or at least should have been." (Jane Clayson, 04:39)
  • "My generation grew up in the post-revolutionary ideological society where everything were banned for women. Entering a stadium were banned, listening to pop music were banned... And I think it was the way that my generation grew up to be rebellion and demanding, you know, being free from this gender apartheid society." (Jamalpour, 04:58)
• Contrast Between Generations:
  • Older generations sought gradual reform; Gen Z acts with boldness and public defiance.
  • "My generation used to hide their faces from security cameras, but this new generation humiliates them by showing victory signs to their faces." (Jamalpour, 05:49)

4. The Power of Young Women and Schoolgirls

• Protest Tactics:
  • "We carry our scarf over our shoulder... all these young teenage students walk across the security forces without any scarf. Then I got ashamed and I put my scarf in my bag and I said, I continue without hijab. They made me more brave." (Jamalpour, 06:11)
• Memorable Moments:
  • Schoolgirls tearing down political leaders' photos, attending protests after school.
    • "'Auntie, we took the founder of Islamic Republic, Khamenei and Khomeini photo from the wall. We turned them apart, we jumped over them, we took off our scarf in the school.'" (Jamalpour recounts her niece, 07:22)
• Brutal Crackdown:
  • The regime resorted to poisoning student girls to suppress protests, showing the movement's impact and the lengths of repression.

5. Writing Under Pressure: Collaboration and Trust

• Co-Authorship with Nilo Tabrizi:
  • Jamalpour inside Iran, Tabrizi based abroad; secure communication via Signal.
  • "It was how much I trusted her and we worked together." (Jamalpour, 09:49)
  • All notes for the book remained outside Iran for safety.
• Personal Consequences:
  • Legal and existential threats pushed Jamalpour into exile.
    • "Just the first three pages [of the book] would bring you charges of blasphemy against Islam. And publishing it could put you in prison for the rest of your life." (Jane Clayson, 09:49)

6. Exile, Grief, and Dedication

• Leaving Iran:
  • "I had to leave all of my life, my family, my friends, everything behind to just simply tell these stories. But I decided that it was my responsibility and my sacrification." (Jamalpour, 10:11)
  • Deep isolation of exile, justified by the importance of sharing her people's stories.
• Ongoing Movement:
  • "Each day that each Iranian woman risk their life to work in the public without hijab is a revolution itself." (Jamalpour, 10:52)
  • "The proof of this ongoing movement is the high number of the women who work in the public without a [hijab]...with their bravery and courage, it's the only weapon they have." (Jamalpour, 11:11 and 11:27)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On State Oppression:
  • "There was no logic there and they always threatening me to five years of prison. I think I use it as an opportunity to write down the integration session because I realized it's the way that I can represent the core ideological core of the regime." (Jamalpour, 03:38)
• On Inter-generational Inspiration:
  • "They made me more brave. They made me better version of myself during the protest." (Jamalpour, 06:22)
• On Sacrifice and Hope:
  • "When I'm sad, most of time I don't have anyone to put my head on their shoulder. When I'm crying, I don't have anyone to give me a glass of water. I lost all of this. I think it's worth it to tell the stories of my people." (Jamalpour, 10:34)
  • "I'm sure that the regime change gonna happen soon and late." (Jamalpour, 10:45)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:16 – 01:25: Setting the stage – Mahsa Amini's death and the scale of protests
• 02:15 – 03:20: Jamalpour’s firsthand experience and state intimidation
• 04:23 – 05:49: Women's everyday struggles, generational attitudes
• 06:11 – 07:22: Schoolgirls and Gen Z's bold defiance
• 08:39 – 09:49: Working with Nilo Tabrizi, collaboration under surveillance
• 09:49 – 10:52: Fleeing to tell the story, cost of exile, ongoing hope
• 11:08 – 11:34: Movement update and women’s continued defiance

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Tone & Final Impressions

This episode is a poignant exploration of Iran’s contemporary women’s movement, resonating with admiration for the bravery of everyday Iranians—especially young women—standing up to repression. Jamalpour’s stories are raw, courageous, and deeply personal. The conversation underscores the high stakes of activism under oppression and the vital importance of witnessing and sharing these stories with the world.

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Transcript

[A]

Hey all, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Glenn Weldon filling in for Andrew Limbong this week. In 2022, a young Kurdish woman named Gina Amini died in Tehran after being arrested and severely beaten for not adhering to Iran's dress code. On her tombstone her father wrote, dear Gina, you will not die. Your name will become a symbol. Which is precisely what happened as mass protests erupted across the country. Demonstrations led mostly by young women, just journalists Fatemeh Djamalpur and Nilo Tabrizi have documented that uprising. In for the sun after long the story of Iran's women led uprising, Jamalpur spoke to here and now host Jane Clason about the protests and the legacy Gina Amani's death leaves. Here's Jane.

[B]

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[C]

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[D]

Not available in all states. Three years ago this month, a 22 year old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Jina Amani died after being severely beaten by Iran's morality police. She'd been arrested for not following the Islamic Republic's dress code. Her death sparked the Woman Life Freedom movement, one of the largest uprisings in Iran in decades. It's estimated that at least 2 million people took to the streets. Officials responded with Internet restrictions and mass arrests. A number of protesters were killed. Journalist Fatehmeh Jamalpour was in Iran during the uprising. She was in contact with another journalist, Washington Post investigative reporter Nilo Tabrizi, who was based outside Iran but was following events closely. Together they've written for the Sun After Long Nights which has just been long listed for the National Book Award. And Fatemeh Jamalpour joins us now. Welcome to the program.

[C]

Thank you so much for having me.

[D]

You had been working in London for BBC Persia, but you had returned to Iran and you were there as the protests began after Amini died. You describe walking around Tehran. What was that like?

[C]

It was just witnessing people courage to be in the street and protest. Each of the walls were covered with graffiti and protest slogans. Old women, men were in the street, protesters, especially young women and LGBTQ people. And it was like Jean as this brought all those Protesters to the street despite, you know, being hit by tear gas, despite being shot by security forces. They just sacrificed their life. The only things that they have, a free Iran.

[D]

You yourself had been threatened with jail by the Iranian government officials. You'd been brought in for interrogation as these protests were going on. You were shot by rubber bullets by the Iran Revolutionary Guard. Can you talk about what those interrogations were like?

[C]

I went through 16 interrogations with the Ministry of Intelligence security forces, and for me, it was like facing the whole ideological core of the regime in one session. My female interrogator told me, first you say optional hijab, then you want to be naked in the street. Then you demanded sexual revolution. And I was like, you are delusional. We only want our agency, our control over our bodies, and it's a basic human right. But it was tough because there was no logic there and they always threatening me to five years of prison. I think I use it as an opportunity to write down the integration session because I realized it's the way that I can represent the core ideological core of the regime. How they think, how their response is, how they just undermine women rights in the name of Islam. Sharia road.

[D]

You write a lot in the book about what it's like to be a woman in Iran. You say, as a child, I did not have the language to understand it, but the women in my life and family were sharing experiences of child marriage, forced marriage, domestic violence, and worst of all, lives without love. And because these had been normalized in our culture and community, it would have taken some time for me to understand that these women's lives were far from ordinary, or at least should have been. Talk about the women of your generation and how they dealt with this treatment, this way of life in Iran.

[C]

Yeah, my generation grew up in the post revolutionary ideological society where everything were banned for women. Entering a stadium were banned, listening to pop music were banned. They checked that. We didn't even remove a single hair from our upper lip or eyebrow. You know, the erection was huge. And I think it was the way that my generation grew up to be rebellion and demanding, you know, being free from this gender apartheid society. But I think what's that happening is that generation change. So my generation trying to do reform, you know, attending the election, demanding for our vote. But this generation decided to live the life that they want and pay for these expenses.

[D]

So talk more about that for this younger generation, Gen Z, and specifically young Iranian women. You write, my generation used to hide their faces from security cameras, but this new generation humiliates them by showing victory signs to their faces. Talk about that change and what you witnessed young women doing in this second.

[C]

Or third day of protest. You know, we carry our scarf over our shoulder. And I arrived to the security checkpoint and I wanted to put my scarf on my head because I was scared. Then I saw all these young teenage students that walk across the security forces without any scarf. Then I got ashamed and I put my scarf in my bag and I said, I continue without hijab. And for me, it was just about, you know, contiguous courage of these young women. They made me more brave. They made me better version of myself during the protest. And as I described one time, the security forces fired many tear gas and my generation was fleeting and escaping, but these young people were walking through the tear gas smoke. It was so inspiring for me. As I said, I learned to have my agency over my body.

[D]

You described the rebellion of young schoolgirls across the country. See of these young girls booing the paramilitary unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. I mean, talk about bravery and wanting freedom so badly.

[C]

Yeah. One day my niece arrived. She was a normal 15 years older student, and she was like, auntie. We took the founder of Islamic Republic, Khamenei and Khomeini photo from the wall. We turned them apart, we jumped over them, we took off our scarf in the school. And I was like, you did that? And then I saw all those videos of this young student that they headed to protest every day after school. You know, just 13 years old, 15 years old, 16 years old. Then the regime started to poisoning the student girl with gas. And it was their response to just suppress this innocent, you know, teenager, female student. But I think the result of this movement, despite all of this repression, is long lasting.

[D]

Yeah, we should say you did not write this book alone. And it's so interesting how you worked with Nilo Tabrizi, the Washington Post investigative reporter, talk about that relationship, how you came to build trust and share information when you were fully aware that the government would be trying to listen into your conversations.

[C]

Neelu and I met each other once in 2017. I went to New York Times office, asking them, do you want the correspondent in Tehran? You know, And I met Neelu there. I started to covering the protest since 2019, I was anonymous. Neelu was writing with her byline and our relationship formed through there. So every time the protest happened, we were talking together. You know, we share many poems, every interesting video or anything that we saw. I tried to be a window to my sister, to inside Iran.

[D]

So you were inside of Iran and Neela was outside of Iran sort of feeding you information. How are you working together to create this fuller picture?

[C]

So we always communicated through signal and you know the app who are secure from being monitored by security forces. My child always deleted everything. So in just writing and sending them to Nilou. So I didn't have my notes for the book until I left Iran. Only Neelu have my notes. It was how much I trusted her and we worked together.

[D]

When you got the contract for this book, a lawyer told you that just the first three pages would bring you charges of blasphemy against Islam. And publishing it could put you in prison for the rest of your life if you stayed in Iran. So you made the choice to leave. And I just wonder how difficult that decision was for you.

[C]

Oh, it was so hard. I had to leave all of my life, my family, my friends, everything behind to just simply tell these stories. But I decided that it was my responsibility and my sacrification. As my friends are in prison for a long time, I should sacrifice my life and being an exile to tell their stories too. And when I'm sad, most of time I don't have anyone to put my head on their shoulder. When I'm crying, I don't have anyone to give me a glass of water. I lost all of this. I think it's worth it to tell the stories of my people. But I'm sure that the regime change gonna happen soon and late. From my eyes each day that each Iranian woman risk their life to work in the public without hijab to is a revolution itself.

[D]

So the movement is ongoing, it's not over?

[C]

Yeah, it's ongoing. And the proof of this ongoing movement is the high number of the women who work in the public without a job. And with optional coverage they just changing, you know, this restriction and boundaries with.

[D]

A lot of bravery, a lot of courage.

[C]

Exactly. With their bravery and courage, it's the only weapon they have.

[D]

Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizi are the co authors of the new book about the 2022 Iranian uprising. For the sun after long nights. Fatemeh, thank you so much.

[C]

Thank you so much for having me.

[B]

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