When Punk Rock and Hijabs Collide

An Iranian-American Artist's Veiled, Metal-Studded Self-Portraits

In the 1980s, punk rockers wore black leather jackets dotted with metal, pyramid studs to signal their rebellion and toughness. Today, those studs are a popular fashion embellishment found on everything from designer high heels to inexpensive T-shirts. They’re also—in the hands of artist Roya Falahi—creative fodder to explore politics, music, and identity.

“Study of Studs,” an exhibition of Falahi’s work at the Vincent Price Museum at East L.A. College, includes a series of studded and masked self-portraits. After covering a hijab and mask in hundreds of studs, Falahi photographed herself …

The Revolution Iran Missed

Focusing on Ideology, Nuclear Power, and Crushing Its Enemies Has Denied the Nation an Economic Transformation

Iran’s 1979 revolution still reverberates across the world. A revolution in the truest sense, it swept away the old order, delivered a new one, reordered regional and global geopolitics, and …

What The Young People of Egypt Learned

A Close Up Look at Four Young Egyptians Who Were Present at the Revolution

This summer Egyptians took to the streets in numbers that made their historic anti-Mubarak outpouring two-and-a-half years ago pale in comparison. Once again, the volume of the recent protests took …

The Revolution’s False Start

In Cairo, General Strike Only Looked Like Defeat

I pulled into Cairo on a train early Sunday morning. It was the start of the Egyptian work week, and I was running very late to class at the American …