Author Iran Davar Ardalan, a producer for Morning Edition, first began telling her story about Iran in a series that aired on the radio program three years ago.
Her new memoir, My Name Is Iran, tells the story of three generations of Iranian-American women, who move back and forth between the countries and the cultures.
When Ardalan was just an infant, her family traveled to Iran, where she lived for years. She dropped the name "Iran" after the 1979 Iranian Revolution brought her back to America.
By the age of 18, Ardalan had returned to Iran to embrace the revolution, and an arranged marriage. She became a news anchor, reading content that reflected the sentiment in Iran at the time: anti-West, anti-America, anti-Israel.
Eventually, she became disillusioned and felt that the Islamic revolution was superficial and hypocritical.
"Right now," she says, "I feel more American. That is because I feel Iran is still in turmoil. It's been in the West where I have been able to step back and find myself, but I am finally proud to say my name is Iran."
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