In this bonus episode, we share rapid-fire Q&As with food writer Anissa Helou, photographer Tasneem Alsultan, performance artist Wafaa Balal and women’s rights advocate Dr. Alaa Murabit.

Thanks for listening to This Being Human. Stay tuned for Season 2.

Hamid Dabashi calls himself “the first Muslim intellectual.” He is the author of more than twenty books, a consultant on major Hollywood films, a curator and juror of film festivals, and a professor of Iranian Studies and comparative literature at Columbia University.

He talks about how an early love of Indian musicals, his mother’s poetry and travelling storytellers led him towards a life of writing and criticism. And he reflects on his friendship with renowned cultural critic Edward Said.

Roni Helou is a rising star from Lebanon’s fashion scene. The young designer talks about making fashion with a message, why he staged a photoshoot on a mountain of garbage, and surviving the explosion that devastated Beirut in 2020.

Misha Euceph is the host of the podcast Tell Them, I Am and CEO of Dustlight Productions. Tell Them, I Am features major Muslim celebrities telling stories of little moments that changed their lives.

She talks about her rise to podcast fame, her struggle to gain ownership over her show, and making the Quran more accessible. You can watch her Quran Book Club on her Instagram page.

Khalid Albaih is a Sudanese political cartoonist, who publishes cartoons online under the name Khartoon! as well as in galleries and publications around the world.

He talks about how Superman shaped his worldview, the dangers of his work, and why he's trying to change his relationship with the internet.

Marina Tabassum is an acclaimed Bangladeshi architect whose work includes Bangladesh’s underground Museum of Independence and the award-winning Bait Ur Rouf Mosque. She talks about working with local materials, the rich landscape of Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka, and why she designed $200 mobile houses to address climate change.

Marina Tabassum is the founder of Marina Tabassum Architects and the academic director of the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements.

Ian Whiteman was a fixture of the 60’s UK music scene and member of the cult classic bands Mighty Baby and The Habibiyya. He reflects on the early early days of psychedelic rock, and talks about how Islam became a major part of that scene, leading to his own conversion and his friendship with Yusuf Islam, A.K.A. Cat Stevens.

His latest album is called Poor Man’s Prayer.

As the founder of the popular online community Muslim Mamas, Nargis Jahan-Uddin has a front row seat to the ongoing interests and concerns of Muslim mothers.

She gives us a look into the contemporary online world of Muslim motherhood, and talks about her own journey from an impoverished neighbourhood of London, to creating this growing online community, which now includes a lifestyle website and a public Facebook page with over 130,000 followers.

Tasneem Alsultan is a photographer based in Saudi Arabia. Her work has documented major changes in Saudi culture for The New York Times, National Geographic and others. But she also captures the more ordinary aspects of life. She won first prize in the 2017 World Photography Organisation Awards for Saudi Tales of Loves, a series showcasing love stories of all kinds, from divorcees and widows to happily married couples.

She talks about breaking stereotypes, capturing intimate moments and a time she had to wear a disguise to get the job done.

Shahzia Sikander is a visual artist who revolutionized miniature painting, and is now widely credited for creating the neo-miniaturist movement. She looks back on her life and her thirty-year career in the arts. 

A retrospective of Shahzia Sikander's work, called Extraordinary Realities, is currently on display at The Morgan Library and Museum.

Anissa Helou is an award-winning cookbook author, whose books include Lebanese Cuisine, Mediteranean Street Food and Feast: Food of the Islamic World. 

Asad Ali Jafri spent his early childhood in Kuwait, but found himself in the suburbs of Chicago after the outbreak of war. Hip hop became his entry point to American culture, quickly taking over his life and leading him down a path to the arts and community organizing. He started DJing under the name Man-O-Wax, staged major festivals, and became a visionary curator of contemporary Muslim arts. 

Today, Asad Ali Jafri is the executive director of the South Asia Institute in Chicago.

Brothers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant have composed some of the biggest anthems in India as the film composing duo Salim-Sulaiman. They’ve also produced pop songs, devotionals, a sports anthem, and remixed Lady Gaga.

Shireen Ahmed is a sports journalist and advocate. She’s a go-to voice for TSN and The Guardian and co-hosts the podcast Burn It All Down.

Wafaa Bilal has pushed his body to extreme lengths in the name of art. He has subjected himself to waterboarding, mounted a camera to the back of his head, and spent a month living in a gallery, where strangers shot him with tens of thousands of paintballs. He talks about escaping Iraq during the war and why he puts his body on the line for art.

Wafaa is currently a professor at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

Tanya Muneera Williams is a poet and member of the hip-hop duo Poetic Pilgrimage. She talks about her childhood in Bristol, England, the city’s rich music scene, and the spiritual journey she took from her mother’s church to her conversion to Islam.

Nadir Nahdi runs the popular YouTube channel BENI, where he documents contemporary Muslim life around the world. Nadir comes from a tradition of thought and debate. His father, Fuad Nahdi, was a well-known journalist and satirist, as well as a giant in the UK Muslim community and a major figure in interfaith discussions. 

Nadir talks about what he's learned from his parents, his mixed feelings about being called a social media influencer and the deeply personal journey he took to find his roots while the world watched in real time. 

Kevork Mourad is an Armenian-Syrian artist who collaborates with musicians, creating visual art in front of live audiences. He has worked with some of the most celebrated performers in classical music including Yo-Yo Ma, violist Kim Kashkashian and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He talks about growing up as an Armenian in Syria, developing his unique practice, the thrill of creating art in front of a crowd, and how war has changed the way he paints. 

Dr. Ayesha Khanna is a global leader in artificial intelligence and an advocate for good governance in the tech sector. As the co-founder and CEO of ADDO AI, she has helped develop projects like smart cities and financial innovations.

Omid Safi is a leading expert on 13th century poet  Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, who is the best-selling poet in modern day America.

Dr. Alaa Murabit was born in Saskatoon, but moved to Zawiya, Libya at the age of 15 to study medicine. While she was there, she witnessed the 2011 Revolution, which changed the course of her life.

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a member of the ruling family of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, and the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation.

Ginella Massa is the host of Canada Tonight on CBC, making her the first national news anchor who wears a hijab in Canada. She talks about her upbringing in a Catholic Afro-Latina family, growing up as an immigrant in Toronto and how she ended up in TV news.

In spring of 2020, when America was first grappling with COVID-19, Dr. Craig Considine wrote an article for NewsWeek about what the Prophet Muhammad had to say about living through a pandemic. He found a lot that still resonates today. He talks about those lessons and others, what the current state of the world could mean for interfaith dialogue and how, as a Catholic from Boston, he became a prolific writer on Islam. Dr. Craig Considine is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Rice University.

Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy talks about what propelled her to expose social injustices in unflinching documentaries like Saving Face and A Girl In the River. It’s a journey that took her from a childhood in Karachi, Pakistan, to the offices of The New York Times, to winning two Academy Awards.

Wajahat Ali became one of the most high-profile Muslims in the American media following the September 11th attacks, making regular appearances on CNN, writing for The New York Times and hosting a show on Al Jazeera America.

I always say there's no such thing as a Muslim community. There just isn't. It's Muslim communities. There's no such thing as a Muslim experience to Muslim experiences. There's no such thing as unity in Islam. It just hasn't existed. This is just my story.