In light of the recent political developments that briefly brought the US and Iran to the brink of war, I’m re-releasing an excerpt of a story I produced for the first season of Far From Home. It’s about the time a few years ago when I drove through Iran with my brother Drew and our friends Jane and Rosi as part of an 11,000 mile road trip we took across Europe and Asia, raising money for charity. Along the way, we had enlightening conversations with average Iranians that made us see their country in a totally new light.

You can read more and see photos that accompany this episode on my website. To listen to this complete story, as well as my other stories from Iran and the rest of my road trip, go back and check out the first season of this podcast. Note that it’s a series, so it’s best to start at the very beginning and listen to all the episodes in order for the story to make the most sense.

Far From Home is a podcast where award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian visits parts of the world that most people never think about and tells stories they've never heard. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org