How do you describe Naysan? At The Daily Talk Show, Naysan's our old mate, a Type 2 Diabetic and our unofficial 'Sugar Gronk'. Naysan worked at Envato with Josh and together, the two of them traveled around the world working on projects. He's spent a bulk of his career in the media industry, occasionally dabbling with his personal blog: Baha'i Blog.
Naysan's Blog:
www.bahaiblog.net
Verbatim from the transcripts — each quote links to the moment.
“The rebels were— the campaign they had was called Kill Everything That Moves. And that's exactly what they're doing.”
“My friend who worked the phones at CNN was like, "It's funny, nobody really called about the Cyril Leon documentary."”
“Negativity spreads.”
“It's like once you've added milk into your tea, you can't separate it. And I feel like human beings are like that and you can't— again, these— a lot of these are false dichotomies.”
“Don't let people tell you what you do, what you feel is right when you feel it's right. If you feel it, like, don't, like, yeah, don't give in to that peer pressure, whatever that may be.”
“It's like, it's not just snoring, there's like a symphony orchestra going on.”
“Yes, in Persian we say shikamu, which means you're of the stomach, you love eating.”
“The catastrophe has already happened and continues to go on.”
Why might a 'testing and learning' approach to sex before marriage not guarantee a better relationship outcome?
Naysan suggests comparing current partners to numerous past sexual partners can itself cause relationship struggles, so chastity/compatibility isn't simply solved by more premarital experience; he points to high marriage success rates in more communal, less individualistic societies with arranged marriage as a counter-example.
How should you prioritize your time and goals in life?
Naysan advises identifying the 'big rocks' — the most important things you want to accomplish — and triaging around those, rather than putting off what matters, because life can change suddenly and unexpectedly (as happened with his father's fatal coma).
Is it better to work alone or collaborate with others?
Naysan suggests that while working solo is often faster and easier, collaboration — despite being slower and more difficult because everyone is complex — produces more dynamic, colorful results and helps you grow as a person, similar to how a band can create richer music than a solo artist.
Naysan describes the stark contrast between his suburban US childhood playing with Lego and baseball, and moving to Papua New Guinea at age 9 where kids instead made toys from sharpened sticks, wire wheels and hoses, a game he later recognised in parts of Africa too.
Naysan recounts how a UNICEF worker in Sierra Leone, facing advancing rebel forces under the slogan 'Kill Everything That Moves,' ran toward the rebels with a camera, convinced them to let him film, was later captured by opposing soldiers, escaped, buried the tapes, and years later retrieved them to produce the documentary Cry Freetown, which he says helped prompt a UN and French intervention.
Naysan recalls that after Cry Freetown aired, his colleague who monitored viewer feedback calls said almost no one called about the documentary, but the phones went off the hook over a separate soft-news story about a hidden camera catching a dog sitter smacking a dog.
Naysan describes a CNN story about orphanages in Romania and Bosnia after civil wars, where retirees were hired simply to hold and comfort babies, illustrating how hard-to-measure emotional care gets overlooked in favour of measurable statistics.
Naysan recalls that after civil war atrocities in northern Uganda, doctors and therapists asked a ravaged village what they needed, and the villagers said they wanted their church rebuilt first, even as outside aid groups focused on sending clothes and food.
Drawn from the episode transcripts.
Guest Naysan Naraqi, who was married in Italy, confirmed Italians do drink cappuccino but mostly favour espresso, and that ordering milky coffee drinks after roughly 10-11am is considered unusual due to digestive customs.
From episode 897→Yes — Naysan Naraqi confirmed on the show that US citizens living abroad can vote in US elections, though he had missed the deadline that year, while permanent residency in Australia does not grant Australian voting rights.
From episode 897→Calamansi is a small citrus fruit, a hybrid between a lime and an orange, sweeter and smaller than a lime with a greenish-orange skin; Naysan Naraqi brought a calamansi sparkling drink from Korea to the show and says it can be found in some (not all) Asian grocery stores.
From episode 589→In the late 1990s Naysan worked at CNN on shows including Inside Africa and Worldbeat, aimed at showing positive, non-war stories about Africa. Cry Freetown was a CNN documentary made from footage a UNICEF worker secretly filmed while embedding with rebel forces massacring civilians in Freetown, Sierra Leone during its civil war; its airing is credited with prompting a swift UN response.
From episode 589→Naysan Naraqi explains that in the Baha'i faith the sex impulse is acknowledged and encouraged, but only within the context of marriage; he frames this as a spiritual principle about the interconnection of physical and spiritual well-being rather than a simple rule based on guilt or culture.
From episode 589→Every episode featuring Naysan Naraqi on The Daily Talk Show.
Naysan Naraqi joined Tommy Jackett and Josh Janssen on Episode 897 (28 October 2020) — "Stopping Coffee". We chat about what Tommy is doing for Halloween, what happened with Josh's ball trimmer, stopping coffee for 30 days, and espressos and cappuccino in Italy.
Naysan Naraqi joined Tommy Jackett and Josh Janssen on Episode 589 (25 January 2020) — "Naysan Naraqi On Religion, Culture & The News". We chat about living around the world, cravings for instant news and feedback, positive and negative news cycles, and sex and religion.
Naysan Naraqi joined Tommy Jackett and Josh Janssen on Episode 281 (11 February 2019) — "Old Mate Naysan". we are joined by Josh's mate Naysan. Naysan and Josh travelled around the world working on a project for Envato. Naysan is a follower of the Baha’i Faith and he’s worked in various avenues of media for two decades. We discuss: - Our Old Mate segment - Travelling the world with Naysan - Living...
