202-785-1141 ext. 202 In western - and especially American - media, Iran is depicted as a monolith often conflated with nuclear weapons, proxy warfare, and strict theocracy. Even if the average person has more in depth knowledge, accurate depictions of daily life in the country are few and far between. In her new book The Heartbeat of Iran, award-winning journalist Tara Kangarlou takes a deep and nuanced dive into a cross section of Iranian society to interview everyday people and document their diverse and surprising stories. Tara Kangarlou will be joined in conversation by Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute.