# Garden of Thought E.355 The IRGC and He

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/garden-of-thought-3714659/garden-of-thought-e-355-the-irgc-and-he
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/garden-of-thought-3714659/garden-of-thought-e-355-the-irgc-and-he.md
Podcast: [Garden of Thought](https://stenobird.com/podcast/garden-of-thought-3714659)
Published: 2026-02-19T12:56:06+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/garden-of-thought-e-355-the-irgc-and-he--70030449
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/70030449/irgc.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/garden-of-thought-3714659/episodes/garden-of-thought-e-355-the-irgc-and-he
Duration seconds: 5047

## Resource

I never thought a former member of Iran's Republican Guard would reach out to me. But here we are. How does a guy born in Italy, moved to New York then Califormia, end up in Iran, placed on a nofly list, get his passport seized, and ends up in the IRGC? All before age 18? Meet Sherman. He's also half Jewish on his father's side. Oh. He barely spoke Farsi. What could go wrong? 2 years of military brig living, secret police interrogations, and overseen by a religious magistrate. Yet, he ultimately got out..only to have to return again. A story so odd, you have to hear it for yourself. Luckily you can. Just hit play. And yes, we do address the current protests in Iran and the expected state of play regarding regime change.

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## Transcript

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