We're joined this month by special guest Youssef Ismail, sharing his expertise with the science of moon sighting as we prepare to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha. In addition, he also tells the story of his time in the Bay Area during the early days of what would become Zaytuna College, and being "present at the birth," so to speak. Listen via the embed below (or at iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

Our special guest this month is famed chef and restaurateur Lisa Ahmad, who shares her heartfelt and inspiring story of coming to Islam, and how she founded Fremont, California's renowned Mirchi Cafe. It's a veritable feast for the senses in this episode, and you hear it via the embed below (or via iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

For this episode of the show we're joined by poet Amir Sulaiman, who shares his story, spanning his journey from growing up in Rochester, New York to his time on the stage for HBO's Def Poetry Jam. He also closes the show with a reading of some of his incredible work. It's an engrossing and lively hour of conversation, and you can listen via the embed below (or via iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

Our guest for this episode is Dr. Evelyn Alsultany, a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media and on forms of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism, and an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dr. Alsultany joins us for a wide-ranging and very engaging conversation about the nature of representation for Middle Eastern and Muslim characters in television and film, with special focus on the recent release of Disney's live action remake of their animated Aladdin. Listen via the embed below (or via iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

This month we’re joined by world renowned fitness expert Zainab Ismail, who tells us the remarkable story of her journey to Islam, as well as the best nutrition practices to get the most out of fasting in Ramadan! Listen via the embed below (or via iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

For the second of our two live episodes recorded during Diffused Congruence's Michigan tour, we were honored to be joined by a roundtable of MI luminaries -- Najah Bazzy of Zaman International, Mark Crain of DREAM of Detroit, and Imam Dawud Walid, Executive Director CAIR Michigan -- for a rousing and informative conversation about the role of sacred activism in the American Muslim community. Listen via the embed below (or via iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

Our guest this month joined us for our special live show from the University of Michigan campus: Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer discussing her fascinating story as well as her book Muslim Cool, documenting the linkage between Islam and hip-hop music. Listen via the embed below (or via iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

This month we're joined by special guest Danish Qasim, founder of the website In Shaykh's Clothing and a counselor to victims of spiritual abuse. We tackle a lot of heavy topics in this discussion, but it's necessary and important, and we hope you'll give it a listen. You can hear it through the embed below or via iTunes or Stitcher, and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

For this episode we're joined by special guest Sundiata Al Rashid, Emir of the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, CA, for a wide-ranging discussion about his journey to Islam, and how the face of Islam in the Bay Area has changed over the last three decades. You can listen via the embed below (or via iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].

We inaugurate a new series-within-a-series with this episode: Movies That Matter! On occasion we will take some time to look back at the long history of cinema and examine films worthy of deeper examination from a variety of perspectives. For our first such foray, we look at a mutual favorite, The Godfather and its two sequels, and examine the films' thematic impact, sociopolitical commentary, and much more. We hope you enjoy this digression from our usual interviews, and please let us know what you think and what you'd like to hear us discuss next! You can listen via the embed below (or via iTunes or Stitcher), and as always, please hit "like" on our Facebook page, and send any comments or questions to [email protected].