The Wind in My Hair

BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week

Childhood in Iran – Episode 1

BBC Radio 4. picks The Wind in My Hair, as its book of the week. Masih Alinejad is a journalist and activist from a small village in Iran, who sparked against compulsory hijab. Across Iran, women started sharing pictures of their uncovered hair on Masih’s Facebook page in open defiance of the strict religious beliefs of their country – and often, their families.
But Masih’s journey began in a small and impoverished village in northern Iran before she made her way to some of the country’s top newspapers. Her writings angered many powerful people in Iran who forced her into exile.

In this first episode, she remembers the advice her mother gave her to overcome obstacles

School Rebellion – Episode 2

School Rebellion – Episode 2
In this episode, Masih starts an underground political book group while at school. She continued to be a troublemaker, reading out a poem against the Islamic Republic during a Quran recital competition. The group soon decides to publish secret pamphlets calling for greater freedom in Iranian society, and word of their activities begins to spread alarmingly quickly. Meanwhile, Masih struggles with the question of whether she can bear to get married, purely in order to travel and live more freely.