This Being Human

Gulshan Khan talks about her path from social advocacy to becoming an acclaimed photojournalist. She also discusses her ongoing project documenting Muslim culture in South Africa, and how apartheid, which ended in her childhood, continues to affect her country.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

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Mark Gonzales is a futurist, but much of his work involves looking to the past. He believes the key to a better society is not just about the latest technology, but also about things like ancestral wisdom and sharing meals. The key to much of his approach is what he refers to as “empathy technology.” Mark talks about what empathy technology is, how he overcame trauma in his own life, and why he remains hopeful about the future, despite some of the challenges society is currently facing.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

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Faria Róisín spent 18 years working on her debut novel, Like a Bird, since dreaming about it as a child. She talks to AR about art, migration, the “new Muslim Renaissance” and how writing helped her deal with childhood trauma.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

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Yasir Khan has covered wars, revolutions, and has chased camels through the Australian Outback. As a journalist and documentary filmmaker, he has worked for outlets including CBC, CNN, Al Jazeera and Euronews, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of Thomson Reuters Foundation. He talks about lessons from his career, including how he avoided becoming the “Muslim correspondent,” and how empathy may have literally saved his life.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aïda Muluneh’s photographs are almost like paintings, featuring women in majestic outfits and facepaint, set against vivid, stylized backdrops. She talks about developing her artistic voice, the role of spirituality in her work, her series on Islam in Ethiopia, and what she thinks Westerners get wrong about African art. Aïda Muluneh is the founder of the Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia and the company Desta for Africa Creative Consulting.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

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Farah Alibay speaks more like a philosopher than an engineer. She works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she helps operate the Perseverance Rover, which searches for evidence of ancient life on Mars. She talks about how her job has changed her views of Earth, her rise through a male-dominated field, and why she thinks the prospect of extraterrestrial life raises major questions around how we understand humanity.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new season of This Being Human is almost here! We'll be back soon with more fascinating conversations with amazing people whose lives, ideas, and art have been shaped by Muslim culture.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

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Zarqa Nawaz is going through a bit of a rebirth. It’s been roughly a decade since the end of her hit show Little Mosque on the Prairie. Recently, Zarqa got into stand-up comedy, she’s about to star in the web series ZARQA, and she is on the verge of releasing her first novel, Jameela Green Ruins Everything, a dark comedy about American intervention in the Middle East. Zarqa talks about using comedy to address uncomfortable or taboo topics, from dating and divorce in Muslim culture, to the rise of ISIS. She also discusses how she has dealt with backlash from her community and what it’s like to step out from behind the camera.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.