About Amir Sayadabdi

I am a Lecturer in Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington. I am mainly interested in anthropology of food and its intersection with gender studies, migration studies, and studies of race, ethnicity, and nationalism.

Amir Sayadabdi is Lecturer in Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington. He is mainly interested in anthropology of food and its intersection with gender studies, migration studies, and studies of race, ethnicity, and nationalism.

NBN Episodes hosted by Amir:

Eli Elinoff, "Citizen Designs: City-Making and Democracy in Northeastern Thailand" (U Hawaii Press, 2021)

April 1, 2023

Citizen Designs

Eli Elinoff
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

What does it mean to design democratic cities and democratic citizens in a time of mass urbanization and volatile political transformation? Citizen …

Jessica Barnes, "Staple Security: Bread and Wheat in Egypt" (Duke UP, 2022)

February 10, 2023

Staple Security

Jessica Barnes
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Egyptians often say that bread is life; most eat this staple multiple times a day, many relying on the cheap bread subsidized by the government. In St…

Hussein Banai, "Hidden Liberalism: Burdened Visions of Progress in Modern Iran" (Cambridge UP, 2020)

August 18, 2022

Hidden Liberalism

Hussein Banai
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Compared to rival ideologies, liberalism has fared rather poorly in modern Iran. This is all the more remarkable given the essentially liberal substan…

Gina Louise Hunter, "Edible Insects: A Global History" (2021)

June 29, 2022

Edible Insects

Gina Louise Hunter
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

From grasshoppers to grubs, an eye-opening look at insect cuisine around the world. An estimated two billion people worldwide regularly consume ins…

Emily J. H. Contois and Zenia Kish, "Food Instagram: Identity, Influence, and Negotiation" (U Illinois Press, 2022)

June 22, 2022

Food Instagram

Emily J. H. Contois and Zenia Kish
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Image by image and hashtag by hashtag, Instagram has redefined the ways we relate to food. Emily J. H. Contois and Zenia Kish edit contributions that …

Jacqueline Leckie, "Invisible: New Zealand's History of Excluding Kiwi-Indians" (Massey, 2021)

March 2, 2022

Invisible

Jacqueline Leckie
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Despite our mythology of benign race relations, Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of underlying prejudice and racism. The experiences of Indian …

David Boarder Giles, "A Mass Conspiracy to Feed People: Food Not Bombs and the World-Class Waste of Global Cities" (Duke UP, 2021)

February 22, 2022

A Mass Conspiracy to Feed People

David Boarder Giles
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

In A Mass Conspiracy to Feed People: Food Not Bombs and the World-Class Waste of Global Cities (Duke UP, 2021), David Boarder Giles explores the ways …

Beth M. Forrest and Greg de St Maurice, "Food in Memory and Imagination: Space, Place and Taste" (Bloomsbury, 2022)

February 22, 2022

Food in Memory and Imagination

Beth M. Forrest and Greg de St Maurice
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

How do we engage with food through memory and imagination? Food in Memory and Imagination: Space, Place and, Taste (Bloomsbury, 2022) spans time and s…

Manata Hashemi, "Coming of Age in Iran: Poverty and the Struggle for Dignity" (NYU Press, 2020)

February 22, 2022

Coming of Age in Iran

Manata Hashemi
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Crippling sanctions, inflation, and unemployment have increasingly burdened young people in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In Coming of Age in Iran: Po…

Clarissa Hyman, "Tomato: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2019)

December 24, 2021

Tomato

Clarissa Hyman
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

In the history of food, the tomato is a relative newcomer but it would now be impossible to imagine the food cultures of many nations without them. Th…

Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh, "Iranian Women and Gender in the Iran-Iraq War" (Syracuse UP, 2021)

December 20, 2021

Iranian Women and Gender in the Iran-Iraq War

Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Eighteen months after Iran’s Revolution in 1979, hundreds of thousands of the country’s women participated in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) in a variety…

Vivian Nun Halloran, "The Immigrant Kitchen: Food, Ethnicity, and Diaspora" (Ohio State UP, 2016)

December 17, 2021

The Immigrant Kitchen

Vivian Nun Halloran
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

In The Immigrant Kitchen: Food, Ethnicity, and Diaspora (Ohio State UP, 2016), Vivian Nun Halloran examines food memoirs by immigrants and their desce…

Shelley L. Koch, "Gender and Food: A Critical Look at the Food System" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019)

December 17, 2021

Gender and Food

Shelley L. Koch
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Gender and Food: A Critical Look at the Food System (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019) synthesizes existing theoretical and empirical research on food, ge…

Ramin Ganeshram, "Saffron: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2020)

December 7, 2021

Saffron

Ramin Ganeshram
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Explore the dramatic history of the world’s most expensive spice in Saffron: A Global History (Reaktion Books, 2020). Literally worth their weight in …

Fabio Parasecoli, "Food" (MIT Press, 2019)

December 6, 2021

Food

Fabio Parasecoli
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Everybody eats. We may even consider ourselves experts on the topic, or at least Instagram experts. But are we aware that the shrimp in our freezer ma…

Jonatan Leer and S. G. S. Krogager, "Research Methods in Digital Food Studies" (Routledge, 2021)

December 2, 2021

Research Methods in Digital Food Studies

Jonatan Leer and Stinne Gunder Strøm Krogager
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Research Methods in Digital Food Studies (Routledge, 2021) offers the first methodological synthesis of digital food studies. It brings together contr…

Demet Güzey, "Mustard: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2019)

November 30, 2021

Mustard

Demet Güzey
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Whether grainy or smooth, spicy or sweet, Dijon, American, or English, mustard accompanies our food and flavors our life around the globe. It has been…

Joshua Sbicca, "Food Justice Now!: Deepening the Roots of Social Struggle" (U Minnesota Press, 2018)

November 23, 2021

Food Justice Now!

Joshua Sbicca
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Food Justice Now: Deepening the Roots of Social Struggle (University of Minnesota Press, 2018) charts a path from food activism to social justice acti…

Rose Wellman, "Feeding Iran: Shi`i Families and the Making of the Islamic Republic" (U California Press, 2021)

November 22, 2021

Feeding Iran

Rose Wellman
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Since Iran's 1979 Revolution, the imperative to create and protect the inner purity of family and nation in the face of outside spiritual corruption h…

Jeff Miller, "Avocado: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2020)

November 18, 2021

Avocado

Jeff Miller
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

The avocado is the iconic food of the twenty-first century. It has gone from a little-known regional food to a social media darling in less than a hun…

Rosa Abreu-Runkel, "Vanilla: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2020)

November 15, 2021

Vanilla

Rosa Abreu-Runkel
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

Today I talked to Rosa Abreu-Runkel about her new book Vanilla: A Global History (Reaktion Books, 2020). Intoxicating and evocative, vanilla is so muc…

Jonathan Morris, "Coffee: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2018)

November 9, 2021

Coffee

Jonathan Morris
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

In Coffee: A Global History (Reaktion Books, 2019), Jonathan Morris discusses the diverse cast of caffeinated characters who drank coffee, why and whe…

Julian Agyeman and Sydney Giacalone, "The Immigrant-Food Nexus: Borders, Labor, and Identity in North America" (MIT Press, 2020)

October 26, 2021

The Immigrant-Food Nexus

Julian Agyeman and Sydney Giacalone
Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi

The Immigrant-Food Nexus: Borders, Labor, and Identity in North America (MIT Press, 2020) considers the intersection of food and immigration at both t…