🇮🇷 The best podcasts for learning Persian

Made for learners stuck between textbook Farsi and native media, with more than eighty free episodes and a third season built around Iranian cinema — one film per episode, discussing symbolism and comparing it with other films and literature. Publishing weekly through 2026. The production is deliberately homemade and there are no transcripts, and the cinema season assumes you will watch the films alongside it, which is either the appeal or the obstacle depending on your patience.

Mihalis Eleftheriou records real lessons with a real student and walks you through constructing the language yourself using cognates and logic — Spanish, French, Italian, German, Greek, Turkish, Arabic and Swahili are covered. Completely free, no ads, no sign-up, funded by donations. The Spanish course in particular is one of the most recommended free resources anywhere; the trade-off is small vocabulary and no reading or writing practice.

Each episode builds vocabulary and grammar around a theme, with Persian literature segments, guest interviews and recurring Iran Facts sections on culture and tradition, and episode titles that tell you the level so you can jump in at the right point. It was still publishing in mid-2026 and the whole archive is free. The catch is that the project's own website is offline, so the podcast feed is effectively the resource — no transcripts, no worksheets, nothing to read along with.

Yusuf and Alice — a native speaker and a learner — hold unscripted conversations in colloquial Persian on ordinary subjects, and each episode's show notes list the new words with English glosses and usage warnings, which is what lifts it above the many similar feeds. Free, supported by voluntary Ko-fi tips, and also on YouTube and Spotify. The learner side of the conversation means the Persian is a little slower than native chat, and the recording is homemade rather than produced.

The host's own description is the whole pitch: we talk together in Persian and only in Persian. Episodes run roughly 25 to 40 minutes on everyday subjects — driving in Iran, ordinary objects, small philosophical detours — at a natural but unhurried pace, and it was still publishing in August 2026. Free, with no transcripts and no English scaffolding at all, so it only starts working once you can follow connected speech; below B1 it will be noise.

Mark Pentleton teaches a genuine student while you listen in, across French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, Swedish, Portuguese, Japanese and Gaelic. The podcast seasons are free on any podcast app and are structured as a real curriculum rather than scattered episodes; the Academy sells premium lesson notes, video and bonus audio. Ideal commuting material for beginners through B1, and the Spanish and French series are the strongest.

Leyla Shams has been teaching spoken Persian here since 2010, and the 230-plus podcast episodes remain free in any podcast app — warm, unhurried lessons built around phrases Iranians actually use, with cultural context woven in. Paid membership (from about $10/month with a 30-day trial) adds the structured Speak, Read/Write and Poetry paths, printable worksheets and live sessions. It is the best single starting point for spoken Farsi, but it is listening-led: the free feed does not teach the script, there is nothing to force you to produce language, and it plateaus around intermediate.

The Innovative Language formula applied to Persian: a short native dialogue, then a line-by-line breakdown, with PDF transcripts, vocabulary lists and flashcards on the paid tiers. A free lifetime account gives real access to the newest lessons, and the absolute-beginner series is a reasonable structured entry point. Two honest caveats: the Persian catalogue is far smaller than the flagship Japanese or Spanish ones and thins out badly above lower-intermediate, and the marketing is relentless, with several confusing tiers and constant discount emails.