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Ariel Azoff

When not doing business-y things for Upworthy, I scour the Internet for stuff that makes me laugh, cry, and think really hard. I like corny jokes, sappy movies, cheesy pickup lines, and sarcasm. I write about all kinds of stuff, from the Middle East to sustainable fashion. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook, and bring on the mermaid jokes!

There's a lot of mystery surrounding Iran, and, it turns out, a lot of misinformation, too.

In 2002, President Bush called it part of the "Axis of Evil." The U.S. technically has no diplomatic relationship with it. We hear news about various nuclear talks all the time.

But what do Americans really know about Iran?

A whole people shouldn't be defined by its government. Speaking of which ... the U.S. government did some shady stuff back in the day that certainly didn't help Iran's democracy. (Whoops — quiz answer spoiler!)

In the spirit of shared humanity and cross-cultural understanding, why not take a moment to test your knowledge of Iran with this short quiz?

Go ahead, it'll only take a few minutes.

How'd you do?

I think it's amazing how just answering 10 questions about a country that is sometimes called "evil" makes it seem less distant, more real, and not evil at all.

If you learned something new and think others might, too, why not give it a share?

From Your Site Articles

This one goes out to anyone who thinks girls don't like science...

Houston, we have a situation. We need more women to enter — and stick with — science and math fields.

Why?

There's a pretty big gender gap in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields.

Closing that gap will create more equality and help close the larger wage gap, but it will also mean that women are more represented in the technology and discoveries that shape the way we interact with the world around us.

I certainly don't want to live in a world where all computers and machines are made by men, do you?

No, I don't think Nichelle does, either.

So what can we do?

It all starts with girls.

Research points to a few different factors, including career choices and various barriers to entry, but the one I want to talk about — the one that the little ditty below can help with — is stereotypes during early education.

By that I mean the pervasive belief/impression/lie that boys are better at science than girls.

This is obviously NOT TRUE, but it can be really harmful, because when girls believe this is the case, they don't do as well in math and science.

So how do we get girls to be confident in their scientific abilities? For starters, we can do something as simple as playing them this song.

Sing it with me! Science Riot Girls...

Some facts!

1. Women today earn 41% of Ph.D.s in STEM fields but make up only 28% of tenure-track faculty in those fields. Women in STEM jobs earn 33 percent more than those in non-STEM occupations, and the wage gap between men and women in STEM jobs is smaller than in other fields.

2. On tests measuring visual-spatial abilities, middle-school girls scored poorly when they were told that boys do better on these tasks but higher when they were led to believe that there were no gender differences.

From Your Site Articles

Tears for Fears singer performs 'Mad World' with his daughter - Upworthy ›

Now this is what I call fashion for a really great cause.

When the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in 2013, it thrust Bangladesh into the world news for the worst reason possible. For many of us, the country might be little more than that event and a word we see on clothing tags. But there's a whole other side to the country that is wonderful and hopeful and full of smart young girls.

It's pretty easy to underestimate just how huge the impact of educating girls can be, especially in the developing world.

Not only does it mean more cash money for these women during their lifetimes...

...as well as improved sexual health and lower risk of maternal death...

...it also means fewer deaths and better health for their future children.

Now you're probably all like: OK, sounds good, I'm on board. But what does this have to do with fashion?

Well, some very intrepid Bangladeshi American ladies (both named Nur-E), have founded a line of gorgeous handmade jewelry that benefits one of the first girls schools in Bogra, Bangladesh, a country where educating girls can have an especially huge impact. They're deeply connected to this school and have found a new and creative way of helping.

There are lots of different kinds of charity, but as far as teaching a man (or Bangladeshi girl) to fish, this one takes the cake.

I'm very grateful to these ladies for showing us a more hopeful picture of Bangladesh and connecting it to something much, much larger: the education of girls and women.

The people in this video were all personally affected by horrific shootings in the last 15 years, but none of them realized how they might have had some small part in those tragedies. I can't imagine what it must feel like to find that out.

FACT CHECK TIME! If you're feeling skeptical, be assured that all of the stats in this video were thoroughly fact-checked by our team. The fact is, gun companies are doing well, so people are investing in them. And yes, firearms really are a $4.1 million industry.

This video is about something I had no idea was going on: the messed-up way that private companies profit from locking up undocumented immigrants.It has nothing to do with building a wall or a path to citizenship. It’s about prison companies’ undue influence over how many people we lock up and where we put them. (The scariest sentence in the whole thing is at 0:30.) Regardless of our opinions on immigration, can we all agree there’s something wrong with that picture?

Ariel Azoff

10 interesting facts about Iran you probably won’t hear on the news

There's a lot of mystery surrounding Iran, and, it turns out, a lot of misinformation, too.

As Soon As I Heard Them Sing, I Knew — These Girls Are The Future

This one goes out to anyone who thinks girls don't like science...

I certainly don't want to live in a world where all computers and machines are made by men, do you?

So what can we do?

Any Girl Who Has Skipped School For No Good Reason Definitely Hasn’t Seen These Numbers

Now this is what I call fashion for a really great cause.

It's pretty easy to underestimate just how huge the impact of educating girls can be, especially in the developing world.

Now you're probably all like: OK, sounds good, I'm on board. But what does this have to do with fashion?

In 32 Seconds, 1 Dad, 3 Moms, And 1 Little Girl Show Us A Thing Or Two About Family Values

Young Steve Jobs once said something profound about other people not being smarter than you.

He Looked At His 401(k) And Saw It Contributed To His Son's Death In A Very Small But Avoidable Way

The people in this video were all personally affected by horrific shootings in the last 15 years, but none of them realized how they might have had some small part in those tragedies. I can't imagine what it must feel like to find that out.

Every Year, 400,000 People Are Bought And Sold By The U.S. Government. I Had No Idea.

Millennial dad of 3 shuts down boomer parents for their 'ridiculous' holiday expectations

They thought their son lived an isolated life. But when he died, friends showed up in droves.

Why didn't people smile in old photographs? It wasn't just about the long exposure times.

It took 343 embroiderers in 46 countries 13 years to make one absolutely stunning dress

Stop struggling with small talk by using the simple 'FORD method'

How can riding a bike help beat cancer? Just ask Reid Moritz, 10-year-old survivor and leader of his own “wolfpack”