Videos & Podcasts
Ill Seen, Ill Said
April 1, 2023
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh reads Samuel Beckett's Ill Seen, Ill Said, and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman.
Nondisclosure Agreement
May 9, 2022
Deborah Treisman hosts the author Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, who reads his short story Nondisclosure Agreement, from the May 9, 2022, issue of The New Yorker.
A, S, D, F
May 31, 2021
Deborah Treisman hosts the author Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, who reads his short story A, S, D, F, from the May 31, 2021, issue of The New Yorker.
The Writer Behind a New York Times Editorial Praising the King of All Media
October 7, 2013
Interview with Lisa G. about The New York Times editorial, Howard Stern, My Literary Idol.
Reflections on Newtown: How My Ill Mother Took the News
december 27, 2012
For many, 2012 is ending on a sad note following the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut earlier this month. WNYC asked five writers to reflect on the tragic event.
A Different Kind of Imperfection
november 20, 2011
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh reads Thomas Beller's A Different Kind of Imperfection, and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman.
Book of the Week: When Skateboards Will Be Free
august 2009
Josh Hamilton reads from American-Iranian writer Saïd Sayrafiezadeh's funny and touching memoir.
Ep 28: Jessica Pearce Rotondi & Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
April 6, 2015
On this episode, two pieces about the ways war can impact our lives across great distance—in time or space—and the ways conflict can change and challenge who we are. Jessica Pearce Rotondi reads from her book-in-progress, What We Inherit, and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh reads his essay, War and Duane Reade.
Growing Up Socialist in America
May 11, 2009
Author Saïd Sayrafiezadeh on growing up in America with parents who were devoted members of the Socialist Workers Party.
Tales From a Socialist Childhood
september 17, 2009
He grew up with the idea that the workers of America would one day rise up, overthrow capitalism, and create a new socialist society. His mother described it as a place where "all skateboards will be free." But author Said Sayrafiezadeh says all he really wanted was to be an average American kid.