How Iran's Gen Z imagines a better, different future | Holly Dagres | TEDxMidAtlantic

Young people everywhere see things differently from generations prior, and that reality is perhaps nowhere more conspicuous than in contemporary Iran. Immersed in internet culture and pop music, young Iranians today are just like young people everywhere — creative, energetic, and concerned for their future. And while the Iranian regime may imagine they can shape their country's future through top-down control, emerging voices, cultural trends and connections to the West portend a different kind of future — where young people, particularly women and girls, may play an outsized role. Holly Dagres is a nonresident senior fellow specializing in Iranian affairs, the editor of the Middle East Programs’ IranSource and MENASource publications, and the curator for the weekly newsletter, The Iranist.

Before joining the Atlantic Council, Dagres worked as a freelance Iran analyst, regularly following traditional and social media in English and Persian. She also worked as the assistant editor at the Cairo Review of Global Affairs, associated with the American University in Cairo’s Global Affairs and Public Policy School. She regularly gives analysis for television, radio, and print, including BBC News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, the New York Times, and the Telegraph.

Born in Los Angeles, Dagres spent her adolescent years in Iran, from 1999 to 2006, during which she graduated from Tehran International School. She is fluent in Persian. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx