Tehrangeles

Khakpour (Brown Album) explores the dramatic lives of four Iranian American sisters on the cusp of reality show stardom as they contend with prejudice, privilege, and guilty secrets. Owing to their father’s thriving snack business, the Milani daughters live in luxury and are slated to be the subjects of a new reality television show. Even so, they still fear the perceptions of their peers as conflicts between the U.S. and Iran rise. Then COVID changes everything. The sisters respond differently to lockdown by adhering to either activism, conspiracy theories, or a solid belief that bad things don’t happen to rich people. Narrator Mikaela Hoover gives each daughter a distinct voice, though second daughter Roxanna, determined to be the biggest star, often steals the spotlight with her naive terribleness and hilarious bad takes. While Hoover allows the humor to shine, she offers sensitive character portraits that help listeners to empathize as the sisters face eating disorders, illness, homophobia, and cancel culture. Secondary narrator Manijeh Khakpour fluidly performs several sections of untranslated Farsi.