Obama considers talks with Iran, Arab Spring's artists oppressed, the story behind the Taj Mahal

On Monday, an American diplomat met with an Iranian diplomat to consider working together to stabilize the Iraqi government and counter ISIS. Secretary of State John Kerry indicated that the U.S. would be open to collaborating with Iran to discuss the threat posed by Sunni militants in the region, even as the two countries enter their second day of U.N. Security Council talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program. Nari Safavi, an Iranian American and one of the founders of Pasfarda Arts and Cultural Exchande, joins us to discuss the implications of an Iranian- U.S. alliance.
Then, in 1627 Shah Jihan became the ruler of the great Mughal Empire in India. According to custom, he had multiple wives. His favorite was the Persian lady known to history as Mumtaz Mahal. She was loyal and intelligent, a good listener and a trusted advisor. She often traveled with the emperor on his military campaigns. During one of these trips, Mumtaz died during childbirth on June 17, 1631. The emperor was devastated - one story said his hair turned white within weeks. He ordered work begun on a magnificent tomb for Mumtaz, near Agra in northern India. Historian John Schmidt tells us more about the tomb that became the Taj Mahal.
And, the Arab Spring exposed the world to numerous artists with a revolutionary message. But their popularity as a result has been costly. Repressive regimes have cracked down on musicians, artists and writers through free speech suppression, torture, disappearances and murder. Mark LeVine, professor of Middle Eastern History at University of California, Irvine, and a distinguished visiting professor at Lund University, knows and performs with many of these artists. He’ll tell us who they are, what they’re enduring and why he wishes celebrities who perform in these repressive countries would do more on their behalf.

(photo: Demonstrators chant pro-al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, Iraq. (AP photo))