CYRUS COPELAND was an adolescent in Tehran when his father Max was imprisoned and and tried as a CIA spy.
It was the dawn of the Islamic revolution and Iran’s deeply conflicted relationship with America. Unable to find a lawyer to defend her husband, Max’s wife Shahin represented him before the revolutionary tribunals––becoming the first female lawyer in the Islamic republic.
Thirty-five years later, their son Cyrus embarked on a quest to discover if the charges against his father were true. Had he really been an intelligence operative––or a man in the wrong place at the wrong time?
OFF THE RADAR was the result of his quest and it won Copeland the Chautauqua Prize.
Cyrus enjoys traveling extensively, talking about the art of remembrance, and his own experiences and perceptions of Iran.
He has appeared on TV, NPR, Voice of America and has written about his experiences for The New York Times, the Boston Globe, Slate, and the Huffington Post. A commanding speaker with a bi-cultural understanding of the challenges we face, Copeland is known for his ability to draw aside the curtain and talk about the Iran no one knows.
He is currently at work on a religious travel memoir.
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IN THIS EPISODE:
2:31 The magic in discovering YOUR Story.
5:57 That boundary…between you and that character has to disappear
11:39 It sounds so lovely because it's so lovely...it's beautiful.
19:10 Expand your awareness
23:14 Racism
28:09 I love the story that you're telling...just interesting and unique
31:48 The Camino
37:11 Make room for a little bit of magic
38:59 We have more power than we ever want to acknowledge
50:02 If you're perfect, what are you doing here? You're done. Get lost
53:48 The 150th Anniversary of the Niagara Movement
LINKS MENTIONED:
Off the Radar: A Father's Secret, a Mother's Heroism, and a Son's Quest