Hawa Hassan on Grandmother Representation, Food Storytelling, and Building a Hot Sauce Line

Hawa Hassan is a dynamic chef, a recipe developer and a James Beard award-winning cookbook author. She's the founder and CEO of Basbaas Sauce, a popular line of sauces inspired by her home country of Somalia. Her first cookbook-meets-travelogue, “In Bibi's Kitchen,” shares recipes and stories from grandmothers—or “bibis”—in eight African countries bordering the Indian Ocean. She also shares recipes and stories on her Food Network show, “Hawa at Home”.

Hawa is the ultimate storyteller. She was born in Somalia at the beginning of the civil war, and was the only family member who received sponsorship to come to the U.S. at age 7. Her life is full of miraculous adventures and we will get into them. We recorded this episode during the holy month of Ramadan, and just before, Hawa attended our annual At Your Service Iftar Dinner (which you can watch at www.ays.media/noordays). Now, we're cozied up on a Saturday afternoon in our Mandarin Oriental suite, overlooking Central Park. It is my honor to share this slice of Hawa's extraordinary life.

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📍 This episode was recorded in our comfy Mandarin Oriental Suite in Central Park, NY

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Transcripts + Listening: ⁠www.ays.media/podcastnoor/hawahassan ⁠

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🎶 Theme Music: "Thunderdome (W.T.A)" by Portugal. The Man / @portugaltheman

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~ Follow Hawa Hassan ~

⁠www.instagram.com/hawahassan⁠ 

⁠www.instagram.com/basbaasfoods ⁠

Hawa’s Book, “In Bibi’s Kitchen” + Basbaas Foods:

⁠https://linktree.com/HawaHassan⁠

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Some Questions Asked In This Episode:

Do you remember how you were feeling when you were reunited with your mother?

How did you come to start choosing or start wearing the hijab at a young age?

How did you end up in New York?

How did you use food as a tool to piece together your story?

How does conflict impact the food of a place?

How does your Mother show up in the BasBaas Sauce  process and “In Bibi's Kitchen” cookbook?

What is your wish for future generations who feel disconnected from their ancestors and their elders?

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www.ays.media/podcastnoor

Bobby Hundreds on Building Brands Around Community, Reclaiming Power with Web3, and Staying Relevant + Consistent, and Listening to Young People. 

The last time I sat down with my friend Bobby Hundreds in New York City, I was interviewing him on stage for his memoir book tour. The conversation around his book, “This is Not a T-Shirt,” was so connected with him and with the audience that I remember vividly thinking - this would make a great podcast episode! One pandemic later - we are finally here.

Bobby Kim also known as Bobby Hundreds, is a bestselling author, photographer, artist, and the creative force that drives The Hundreds, a world-renowned streetwear brand. His work has been seen and worn by millions and he is known for his ability to shift culture. From his upbringing as one of the only Asian-American kids in a mostly white and Latino community to his Southern California, punk adolescence to the brand’s explosive success.

Bobby has become the bridge between generations in streetwear and design. Collaboration has always been his thing. Bobby's latest book recently dropped and it’s titled: “NFTs Are a Scam.” 

This is a big reunion for Bobby and I, and it feels like we picked up right where we left off. I hope you enjoy this storytelling session on building brands around community, reclaiming power with Web3, and staying relevant. 

This conversation is also featured in our latest At Your Service short film “NOOR D’AYS”, documenting how we build AYS. you can check out on Youtube and www.ays.media/noordays

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Transcripts + Listening: www.ays.media/podcastnoor/bobbyhundreds

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🎶 Theme Music: "Thunderdome (W.T.A)" by Portugal. The Man / @portugaltheman 

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Some Questions Asked in this Episode: 

How do you engage with the hunger for community from younger generations? 

How does Web3 / NFTs play a role in serving community, and how does it affect relevance?

How do you think about self-worth when building community? 

Does the promise of Web3 actually serve community? 

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~ Follow Bobby Hundreds ~ 

www.thehundreds.com

www.instagram.com/bobbyhundreds

www.twitter.com/bobbyhundreds

Bobby’s Book, “NFT’s Are A Scam”:

https://thehundreds.com/collections/nfts-are-a-scam-nfts-are-the-future

 ~ Follow Noor Tagouri @noor ~

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Seth Godin on Creating Significance, Indoctrination and Fear, Finding Leadership Opportunities, and Why He Won't Write a Memoir

Seth Godin is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and thought leader. To us, he’s a dear friend and teacher. He’s taught Adam how to juggle, shared life lessons with us through his adventures of building canoes, and his mentorship and guidance has played a huge role in how we build At Your Service. In addition to launching one of the most popular blogs in the world (www.seths.blog), he has written 20 best-selling books, including The Practice, Linchpin, Purple Cow, Tribes, and What To Do When It's Your Turn (And It's Always Your Turn). His book, This is Marketing, was an instant bestseller in countries around the world. In fact, Adam actually studied Seth’s books in business school.

Last year, Seth spearheaded an incredible collaborative book project called The Carbon Almanac alongside 1,000 volunteers. It is must read for facts and what we can do about climate change. His latest book “Song of Significance” might be my favorite and to Seth, his most important work yet.

As always, At Your Service

Transcripts + Listening: www.ays.media/podcastnoor/sethgodin

☕️ This episode is sponsored by our friends at Ahmad Tea: 

⁠www.ahmadteausa.com⁠, @ahmadteausa: ⁠www.instagram.com/ahmadteausa⁠ 

Some Questions Asked in this Episode:

Can you share the origin story behind Song of Significance?

What is your relationship with authenticity?

How does authenticity to self contribute to meaningful work?

Do you think you'll ever write a memoir?

What is your relationship with story, evolution, and rethinking things?

How are some ways people get in their own way recognizing self-worth and value?

How do we sing a Song of Significance?

What does the word "Service" mean to you?

🎶 Theme Music: "Thunderdome (W.T.A)" by Portugal. The Man / @portugaltheman~ Follow Seth Godin ~

www.seths.blog

Seth's Book, The Song of Significance: www.sethgodin.com

The Carbon Almanac: www.thecarbonalmanac.org

~ Follow Noor Tagouri @noor ~ www.facebook.com/noor www.instagram.com/noor www.tiktok.com/@noor ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/noor⁠~ Follow At Your Service @ays ~www.ays.mediawww.instagram.com/ayswww.ays.media/newsletter

Lindsay Peoples and Samira Nasr: Advice to Journalists, The State of Fashion Media, and The Role of Editor-in-Chief

I love facilitating panel discussions and for this season of Pod Noor, we decided to bring that collective energy here. For this week’s episode, I spoke with the two of the most innovative and prominent magazine editors: Lindsay Peoples and Samira Nasr. 

Lindsay Peoples is Editor-in-Chief of The Cut Magazine. Also, one of the nation’s rare Black Women Editors-in-Chief. Lindsay was previously the EIC of Teen Vogue, and the youngest EIC of a Conde Nast  magazine. Lindsay also co-founded the Black in Fashion Council, which has enlisted the support of the human rights campaign to provide benchmarking around corporate policies and practices that are pertinent to the inclusivity of black employees.

Samira Nasr is the editor in chief of Harpers’ Bazaar Magazine, and the first Black Woman to hold the title. Samira was previously at Vanity Fair, where she served as Executive Fashion Director. In Her own words she is “The proud daughter of a Lebanese father and Trinididadian mother, and her worldview is expansive and anchored in the belief that representation matters.”

I have been in awe of both of these women for years, witnessing up close the way they have broken barriers both in journalism and in fashion; and here it is, on Podcast Noor, that these two powerhouses are in a conversation like this for the FIRST TIME. 

Welcome to our first podcast panel!

At Your Service,

Noor

Some Questions Asked in This Episode:

What do you feel is the responsibility of an editor in chief of a media publication today?

What resources do fashion magazines have at their disposal? What are the additional resources needed?

Do you find yourself still encouraging people to pursue journalism?

What do we need to be talking more about with young storytellers?

What are you feeling about your places in fashion and in this industry today? 

How do we (do we?) prevent tokenization in fashion?

☕️ This episode is sponsored by our friends at Ahmad Tea: 

www.ahmadteausa.com, @ahmadteausa: www.instagram.com/ahmadteausa 

📍This conversation was recorded at CloudM Rooftop at CitizenM Hotel, Bowery NYC: @citizenmhotels

🎶 Theme Music: "Thunderdome (W.T.A)" by Portugal. The Man @portugaltheman

Transcripts & Listening: www.ays.media/podcastnoor 

Follow Lindsay Peoples @lrpeoples: www.instagram.com/lrpeoples

Follow Samira Nasr @samiranasr: www.instagram.com/samiranasr

Follow At Your Service @ays: www.instagram.com/ays 

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A. Helwa on How to Embark on Your Spiritual Journey, and “Secrets of Divine Love.”

A. Helwa is a writer, poet, and has a Master Degree in Divinity. Helwa is the *anonymous* author of the brilliant book, Secrets of Divine Love: A Journey into the Heart of Islam.

One night, I proposed on Instagram a potential Secrets of Divine Love book club. I read the first few pages of the book years prior, and I knew I couldn’t read this deeply spiritual book alone.

My DMs were flooded with the sentiment of people who were also waiting for the right time and group to read the book with. So, a couple days before Ramadan began, we shared a sign up for the first AYS book club and 1100+ people signed up!!

This book club has become a loving and curious community, with A. Helwa’s words bringing us all together — Helwa even joined the book club herself!

This storytelling session digs into questions to ask and tools to use when embarking on your own spiritual quest. May this conversation serve as a gift and companion to you, wherever you may be.

In this episode, I ask all my curious questions, and we even took questions from, YOU! So look out for those around the 1:00:00 mark!

Themes and Questions Include:

How is Your Heart? What does it feel like, look like, to embark on a spiritual journey?

How does your family, community react to embarking on your own journey?

How do we navigate disconnection and absolutism that my truth is the Only Truth?

A spiritual journey while getting lost in a desert, literally.

What is a question you’re asking yourself these days?

What is book is currently serving as your companion?

If You Really Knew Me, You’d Know…

"Secrets of Divine Love" by A. Helwa

https://secretsofdivinelove.com

Podcast Noor returns Tuesdays, starting May 23.

In between investigative series, award-winning journalist Noor Tagouri uses Podcast Noor as an outlet to explore topics she’s curious about, with people whose work she admires.

Noor's most recent series, "REP: A Story About the Stories We Tell," explores the concept of representation and objectivity in media, and was nominated for a 2023 Webby Award: Best Limited Series.

Season 2 of Pod Noor features some of the stories Noor collected shortly after producing "REP" and as she embarks on her next investigation ...

As always, At Your Service

Storytellers:

Hisham Matar

A. Helwa

Jonathan Van Ness

Lindsay Peoples and Samira Nasr

Timothy Goodman

Seth Godin

Hawa Hassan

Jason Seife and Franklin Sirmans

Bobby Kim

Ayisha Siddiqa and Sophia Li

Dr. Butch Ware

Lamya H.

Seun Kuti

Sarah Bahbah

Theme Music: "Thunderdome (W.T.A)" by Portugal. The Man

Transcripts & Socials:

www.ays.media/podcastnoor

www.noortagouri.com/podcastnoor

Instagram: @noor

Facebook: @noor

TikTok: @noor

Youtube: @noor