About Sajad Sepehri

System-Builder • Storyteller • Multilingual Thinker

I turn complex knowledge into accessible, beautiful learning — shaped by an artist’s sensibility, a scholar’s rigor, and a survivor’s truth.

Me on hunger strike on 2013 in a camp, and me in 2022 at the University of VU (Amsterdam)

I’m Sajad Sepehri—a Persian speaker raised in Shiraz, a refugee, a polymath generalist by temperament. Music and meaning drove me into Iranian opposition by 18. For 14 years (2003–2016), I survived war, isolation, torture, and exile. Then, as an “internationally protected person,” I was relocated, rebuilding a life without documents. I vividly recall the day I held a smartphone in my hand, utterly clueless about its functionality. I also remember my parents, who were much older than I could possibly remember.

With no time to waste, I resumed education, became a researcher, methodology educator, and strategist at one of the first tuition-free, quality-minded universities serving Iran’s diaspora and regional learners. I co-founded LeraLink to explore new ontologies of learning. Along the way, I’ve been a podcaster, grant writer, journal architect, system designer, composer, singer-songwriter, and executive developer. I live now in The Netherlands with my wife (my hero) and our three brilliant boys.


I work best between worlds—where the entrails of broken systems meet the aesthetics of possibility. I thrive in interstitial spaces and border zones: art, innovation, culture, systems. I am not a specialist; no single framework has ever sufficed on its own. I think in multiple languages and speak several, including Persian, Arabic, English, Albanian, and now am learning Dutch. I possess a profound etymological curiosity and an insatiable hunger for both metaphoric and structural clarity.

I design knowledge systems and methodologies that turn complex, multilingual information into accessible and beautiful forms. This includes building scholarly infrastructures, such as PKP-based journals and bilingual publishing workflows, and teaching applied research and knowledge management methods. My work always aims for clarity without sacrificing depth.

I explore symbols, belief, and influence — decoding the mechanics of cults, populist myth-making, ritual, and persuasion through semiotic and psychoanalytic lenses. My interest is in understanding how meaning is constructed, how it manipulates, and how it can liberate.

I create worlds and stories that merge art with intellect. My fiction project Saoshyant is a serialized epic blending myth and philosophy. My music, composed and performed over decades, acts as an emotional archive, often interwoven with my writing to give ideas both a voice and a sound.

What You’ll Find Here?

  • Dossiers, Courselets, Labs: Think of them as intellectual and aesthetic proof-of-thought.

  • Saoshyant chapters & creative sketches: Where meaning and myth meet.

  • Reflections on language, religion, cult, belonging, and healing.

  • Resources: Method templates, tools (Zotero, PKP, Zettelkasten), open archive from LeraLink.


If you’ve ever felt out of place in polished systems, or you build at the edges of ideas and wonder if you belong, there’s something here for you. Subscribe.

Stay up-to-date

Never miss an update—every new post is sent directly to your email. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app.

User's avatar

Subscribe to The Polymath Generalist

I’m Sajad Sepehri, a polymath generalist exploring the spaces where creativity thrives and boundaries blur.

People

Father. Husband. Son. Researcher, system builder, educator, and innovator. Musician and polymath generalist. Founder of LeraLink. Writing on Substack.