About Us

Roqe Media is a digital broadcast network of podcasts, video content and multimedia programming focused on the stories, conversations and issues that impact the global Iranian community. It is the first audio-visual network with a mission to create an encyclopedia of Iranian diaspora identity in English, and for a world-wide audience. It boasts over 2.5 million streams of its content so far, in less than two years of existence.

There is a vibrant Iranian diaspora that has been growing over the past 40 years, impressively and rapidly. But the story of Iranian identity outside of Iran, the fascinating personalities of Iranian background, and the significance of Iranian culture as it reaches into new parts of the world, remains generally untouched and unexplored. Launched in April 2020 by founders, Jian Ghomeshi and Mehrdad Ariannejad, Roqe Media seeks to address the gap - in English-speaking western media - with a multifaceted platform to bring Iranian lives, culture and identity to the forefront.

Meet The Team

Jian

Host, Executive Producer, CEO

Mehrdad

Executive Director, COO

Shaya

Producer, Audio and Music Content

Panthea

Graphics and Artworks

Anahita

Web and Online Content

Reza

Producer, Visual Content

Kyan

On-Air Content Contributor

Roham

Audio/Video Production

Parissa

Associate Producer, Researcher

Mohammad

Editorial Consultant

Jian Ghomeshi

Host, Executive Producer, CEO

Jian Ghomeshi is an award-winning broadcaster, writer, musician, producer, and bestselling author.

Jian is the Co-founder and Executive Producer of Roqe Media – a digital network dedicated to English programming serving the Iranian diaspora and beyond. In less than two years, Roqe Media has built a global audience in more than 120 countries and has surpassed more than 2.5 million streams of its podcast content.

Previously, Jian was the host and co-creator of the national daily talk program Q on CBC Radio One and CBC TV for eight years. The show, which began in 2007, became the highest-rated cultural affairs program in Canada and also aired in the United States on PRI and NPR. In 2012 Jian won the prestigious Gold Award for Best Talk Show Host at the New York Festivals International Radio Awards. As a musician, Jian was a member of the multi-platinum-selling Canadian folk-rock group Moxy Früvous recording nine albums, and as a writer, he has been published in numerous publications including The Washington Post and the Globe and Mail. His debut book, 1982, spent six weeks at #1 on the Maclean’s Bestseller List in Canada.

Jian’s thousands of long-form interview subjects have included a variety of cultural icons such as Leonard Cohen, Barbra Streisand, Stephen King, Al Gore, Gloria Steinem, Donald Trump, Joni Mitchell, Ed Sheeran, Salman Rushdie and Adele. In the Iranian sphere, Jian has done long-form interviews with everyone from Asghar Farhadi to Shirin Neshat, Faramarz Aslani, Marjane Satrapi, Firouz Naderi and Abbas Milani. Jian was born in England, raised in Canada, and is of Iranian descent.

Mehrdad Ariannejad

Executive Director, COO

Mehrdad Ariannejad has made preservation and revitalization of Iranian art and culture his life mission. He is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Roqe Media. Over the last 20 years, while working full-time as a Computer Engineer at IBM Canada, he has taken up the leadership role in numerous non-profit organizations and initiatives devoted to the promotion of Iranian culture and intellectual heritage within academia, the Iranian community, and the larger Canadian society. Mehrdad is one of the authors of Charter 91, a document that seeks to unite Iranians around a potential charter of rights.

One of the most influential initiatives led by Mehrdad is Tirgan, where he currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer. The Tirgan festival is the largest celebration of Iranian art and culture in the world, held in Toronto since 2008.

Mehrdad is the recipient of many awards for humanitarian and community service and promoting culture and social justice, including the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada award and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal. In 2016, he left IBM to pursue his life passion. He holds a master’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Dear friends - this month our little independent network hit 2,500,000 cumulative streams across our platforms.

On the flagship program, Roqe (“candid” in Persian), award-winning host Jian Ghomeshi presides over in-depth interviews with a wide range of personalities from artists to academics to thought-leaders to athletes to chefs and political figures from all points of the world. The Roqe on-air Team of Kyan, Reza and Shaya bring their insights and humour to weekly episodes.

On the Contemporary History of Iran (new episodes every Thursday across the Roqe Media platforms), the mission is is to explore the events, personalities and issues that have shaped modern Iran.

On Roqe Moments, Funnies and Extras, Roqe Media presents a variety of video content as well as audio and graphical fun exploring political, social and cultural elements of Persian life and culture.

On the new series Unmarried Persian Girls, hosts Shirin Nasseri, Kyan Nademi and Taraneh Sadat explore the lives of young Persian women contending with traditional expectations and modern realities of unmarried life as Iranian females in the diaspora.

Future series including the travel program, Talking to Persians and the documentary profile series, Resilience are in development.

Roqe Media content is reaching over 120 countries with an educated urban audience that is 75% between the ages of 25-45 and over 60% female. As of February 2022, Roqe Media has over 27,000 subscribers.

About Us

Meet The Team

Jian

Mehrdad

Shaya

Panthea

Anahita

Reza

Kyan

Roham

Parissa

Mohammad

Jian Ghomeshi

Host, Executive Producer, CEO

Jian Ghomeshi is an award-winning broadcaster, writer, musician, producer, and bestselling author.

Mehrdad Ariannejad

Executive Director, COO

One of the most influential initiatives led by Mehrdad is Tirgan, where he currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer. The Tirgan festival is the largest celebration of Iranian art and culture in the world, held in Toronto since 2008.

Dear friends - this month our little independent network hit 2,500,000 cumulative streams across our platforms.

On the Contemporary History of Iran (new episodes every Thursday across the Roqe Media platforms), the mission is is to explore the events, personalities and issues that have shaped modern Iran.

On Roqe Moments, Funnies and Extras, Roqe Media presents a variety of video content as well as audio and graphical fun exploring political, social and cultural elements of Persian life and culture.

On the new series Unmarried Persian Girls, hosts Shirin Nasseri, Kyan Nademi and Taraneh Sadat explore the lives of young Persian women contending with traditional expectations and modern realities of unmarried life as Iranian females in the diaspora.

Future series including the travel program, Talking to Persians and the documentary profile series, Resilience are in development.

Roqe Media content is reaching over 120 countries with an educated urban audience that is 75% between the ages of 25-45 and over 60% female. As of February 2022, Roqe Media has over 27,000 subscribers.

❀✿Nowruz 2021 Home Video!✿❀ - Farsi with Subtitles

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