June 25, 2025

Watch Rick Steves’ 2009 Documentary on Iran

Rick Steves is known for his travel writing and TV shows like Rick Steves’ Europe. In 2008, Steves ventured out of his typical European travel itinerary and arranged to travel to Iran to film a documentary there in order to learn more about a culture he knew little about. This 55-minute documentary is available for free on YouTube:

Rick Steves’ Iran

Learn about the nation of Iran as travel writer and TV personality Rick Steves travels across the country to take in this vast culture. In 2008, Steves received permission to film a travel documentary in Iran as he sought to learn about a culture he knew relatively little. In this 55-minute documentary, you’ll get a brief history lesson about how Iran became a theocracy and why its government sees the United States and Israel as enemies. Beyond that, Steves mostly focuses on the contemporary culture of Iran, talking to many people in various cities along the way. Steves captures the rich Persian cultural history alongside the bustling modern cities showcasing daily living. He asks many questions and receives a lot of straightforward answers from Iranians. While he admits he was nervous from the outset of the trip, he came away with a deeper understanding of Iran and its people, and viewers of this documentary will as well.

And if you want to learn more about Rick Steves’ trip to Iran, then check out this well-presented talk from the Commonwealth Club of California available on C-SPAN:

Rick Steves: A Perspective on Iran

Travel writer and TV show host Rick Steves takes you behind the scenes of his documentary Rick Steves’ Iran (2009). In an effort to learn more about the Iranian people, Steves set out with a camera crew to explore Iran and share his observations. Steves acknowledges that Iran is not a free society and is a theocracy, but tries to steer clear of the political debates surrounding Iran. He instead focuses on the people he met there and the things they shared with him. He notes the irony that the people most anti-American there are the Iranians who hold up conservative family values, while the same might be true of conservative Americans who oppose Iran. The video contains a slide show of many of the things Steves witnessed. He attempts to humanize the Iranian people through travel and provides many similarities of their behavior to Americans. At the close of the talk, he answers questions mostly about how to travel to Iran.

And if you want to learn more about the history of Iran, check out this free public radio documentary:

My Name is Iran Audio Documentary from American RadioWorks

1979 marks the year that Iran became the world’s premiere theocracy. 27 later, this government, steeped in Islamic law, has shown no sign of loosening its grip on Iranian civil rights.

In My Name is Iran, released by American RadioWorks on streaming audio, we hear from modern Iranian voices as they speak on their current experience under this controversial government, how it has developed from what was once a paragon of Middle East democracy, and what a few courageous people are doing to counter the status quo.

This is a great primer in Iranian history and a wonderful way to learn more about what has recently become one of the world’s top geo-political hotspots. It is available for free on streaming audio from American RadioWorks.