A Free Iran - A Conversation with Maryam Mehrtash

A Free Iran - A Conversation with Maryam Mehrtash

In this bonus episode of The Carpenter's Daughters, hosts Alexis Confer and Ify Ike sit down with Iranian-American advocate and media literacy champion Maryam Mehrtash — recorded on Persian New Year, March 20, 2026 — for a conversation that stayed with them long after the mics went off. Maryam shares her family's story: parents who fled Iran after the 1979 revolution, a mother who got off at the wrong train station with two-year-old Maryam in her arms, and a grandmother named Giti — Kurdish singer, actress, activist, and political prisoner at Evin Prison, tortured four years for the crime of her voice. She reflects on how that lineage shaped her belief that art is resistance. She also reframes how the world sees Iran: a population with a 99% literacy rate where women make up 60% of post-secondary graduates and 70% of STEM — and where education has become less a path to opportunity than a ticket out. And she pushes back hard on the question "why don't Iranians fight for themselves?" They have. They are. The resistance isn't new. The conversation connects Iran's struggle to the fights for equity, dignity, and human rights everywhere — asking what it means when faith gets weaponized by governments, and when seeing each other's full humanity becomes the most radical act available to us.

Navigating Our Journey: Season 1 Finale of The Carpenter's Daughter

In the Season 1 finale of The Carpenter’s Daughter, hosts Alexis Confer and Ify Ike reflect on feeling personally okay but existentially overwhelmed by current events, then spotlight “salt of the earth” leadership and community care. Alexis shouts out the Mosaic Collective and women Olympic athletes using their platforms for equity, while Ify highlights Nneka’s “Black Women Rising” network responding to mass job losses affecting Black women and explains why Black women have been concentrated in public-sector work. The conversation defends protest and the First Amendment, critiques attacks on press and civic freedoms, and flips the table on calls to abandon “identity politics,” arguing politics is already shaped by whiteness and that centering Black women’s outcomes benefits everyone. They discuss Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Senate primary featuring Crockett and a Christian opponent, turnout and vote milestones, and criticize cookie-cutter Democratic strategies, urging local, relational organizing, mutual aid, rest, and new leaders to step forward. 00:00 Show Introduction 00:27 Checking In Today 02:25 Shoutouts Mosaic Collective 03:48 Olympics And Athlete Activism 07:15 Patriotism And Protest 10:14 First Amendment Basics 12:18 Speaking Up Is Risky 15:46 Black Women Rising Jobs Crisis 16:54 Why Public Sector Matters 24:26 Community Organizing Hope 27:54 Flip The Table Identity Politics 28:48 Jasmine Crockett Shoutout 31:19 Faith Versus Nationalism 32:13 Texas Senate Showdown 34:26 Identity Politics Backlash 37:58 Calling Out Double Standards 39:35 No Cookie Cutter Strategy 44:53 Organizing That Works 49:33 Lazy Narratives And Lessons 54:51 Pick Up Your Cross 56:52 Leaders Rise Locally 01:00:09 Rest Mutual Aid Closing 01:00:41 Gratitude And Sign Off

In Search of Laughter: Milly Tamarez on Comedy and Connection

Hosts Alexis Confer and Ify Ike welcome Milly Tamarez—The Carpenter’s Daughter’s director and a Brooklyn-based comedian, producer, writer, and co-creator of Flex and the Diverse as F**k Comedy Festival, to discuss how community and in-person connection counter modern alienation. Milly shares how she and Alexis met at a creative retreat, then they unpack what “networking” really means as organic, integrity-based relationships. The conversation moves into dating culture, red pill/incel online ecosystems, and how the internet has become a dangerous “third space” that monetizes rage, especially for young boys. Milly reflects on making comedy from vulnerability without spreading hopelessness, the realities of beauty politics and patriarchy, and how Buddhist principles around integrity, resilience, and not being swayed by praise or blame inform her path. She closes by urging people to meet in person and “go touch grass.”00:00 Show Introduction00:27 Meet Milly02:56 Retreat Pool Story04:21 Rethinking Networking07:48 Dating Paradox08:35 Loneliness And Alienation10:27 Red Pill Explained13:20 Third Spaces Online18:37 Incel Culture And Adolescent23:47 Patriarchy And Modern Love28:12 Comedy In Heavy Times31:11 Culture Shifts Forward32:37 Global Cool Shift33:16 Comedy From Lived Truth34:57 Humiliation Into Punchlines38:48 Beauty Politics Reality Check46:31 Touch Grass Offline Life50:09 Flipping Tables In Comedy52:02 Karma Privilege And Grit57:27 Mentors And Staying Steady01:02:36 Community Connection Closing01:05:47 Final Sign Off

“Multiple Truths Can Be True” with Amy Spitalnick, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

The discussion reflects on how the pain and plight of marginalized communities, including Jewish identity through religion and culture, can be politically used to other, divide, or dismiss other groups while also harming those within the community. The speakers explore overlaps between culture and “whiteness,” and describe a need to relearn how to hold antisemitism as an oppression that people should unite against. They note that as an ’80s kid, antisemitism was often taught within civil rights struggles emphasizing coalition-building among oppressed groups, but argue much of that history is now being erased—sometimes through anti-Blackness and sometimes through antisemitism. They emphasize the current struggle to redefine common struggle and language, especially amid evolving understandings shaped by the conflict in Gaza and broader geopolitical and U.S. human rights debates, raising questions about “who are we” and “who is the we.”

How Stories Shape New Worlds with Din Tolbert

On The Carpenter’s Daughter, hosts Ify Ike and Alexis Confer welcome Din Tolbert, founder of Dean Between the Lines, to discuss names, purpose, and the power of words. Din shares the meaning of his middle name and reflects on how parenting his daughters grounds him, including how to balance discipline with protecting a child’s voice and confidence. The conversation explores “salt of the earth,” highlighting community leaders and organizations expanding cultural fluency and anti-racist education, and Din explains why he aims to be “table salt” that draws people in. He argues that all activism is story and that better stories can create a better world, connecting language to faith, culture, and hip hop. They address concerns about education policy, Title IX, and church responses, ending with a reminder of abundance, community, and intentional language. 00:00 Show Introduction 00:28 Meet Din Tolbert 01:49 Name Meaning Origins 03:07 What Brings Light 06:54 Raising Strong Daughters 13:19 Salt of the Earth 21:12 Words Create Worlds 27:26 Bad Stories Bad Reality 30:57 Politics Vision And Policy 35:00 Brooklyn Roots and Libraries 35:54 Why School Lost Its Joy 36:36 Policy Failures and Policing 38:20 Title IX and Slippery Slopes 40:25 Where Is the Church 43:15 Faith Versus Institution 45:47 Disruption Without a Playbook 57:49 Curiosity and the Long Game 59:17 Parenting as Strategy 01:09:49 Abundance and Final Blessing