Traveling Through with David Prior · Thursday, July 2, 2026
Andy Baraghani expresses his deep-seated yearning to visit Iran, a place he considers a missing piece due to his heritage. He describes the confusion of deeply engaging with Persian culture through food and language while being unable to visit, and his efforts to spread awareness of this culture, often misunderstood in the U.S., through his work.
“It's very confusing to be riding about a culture, speaking the language, studying the food, trying to spread and that's really I think a part of my job is as someone who's first generation Iranian American, is to kind of spread light on a culture that is not really viewed in the best life, especially in the States, and it's often misunderstood, and obviously I think an easy way to do that is through food and through showcasing that culture.”
“I did try to get to I ran by the way I should mention seven years ago. I was twenty nineteen, and I went through the whole process. I got my citizenship. I like went to d C. I did a whole my citizenship birth certificate, because that's how I have to go. That's why it was always tricky for me. I can't go through a visa. I'd have to go as a citizen, and then there's the kind of more complicated matter where they wouldn't acknowledge dual citizenship.”
“I really did not think that I would be thirty six and have not gone to Iron. I really thought that this would be something that I would have done. I always felt like, I'm going to get there. I'm going to get there, and it's I think the older I get, it's like it makes me it's more apparent that it's a missing piece.”