Kyai (Shaykh) Paul Salahuddin Armstrong is a British Muslim leader, multifaith advocate, and public speaker committed to fostering understanding, unity, and positive change in society. In 1998, his personal quest for meaning led him to explore various faith traditions, culminating in his decision to embrace Islam on 1st March 2000. 

His affiliation with the Naqshbandi Sufi Tariqah (Sufi order) and Nahdlatul Ulama reflects Paul’s holistic approach to faith, which encourages intellectual inquiry, spiritual reflection, and active engagement in society. In his roles as an imam and murshid, he has served British and international Muslim communities for over 15 years, advocating for a balanced and inclusive approach to Islam. Paul is the Managing Director (Amir) of the Association of British Muslims, the UK’s oldest Muslim organization.

Siti Faridah Hashim is a victim and survivor of Malaysia’s radical Islamic ideology and the people who perpetuate it. After growing up in the harsh climate of fundamental Islam, she moved to Australia in 1991 to start a new and better life. She is a loving mother of three and enjoys gardening, shopping and reading. Siti joins us with her daughter Patricia Jordan to discuss their journey to freedom together. Patricia is currently a PhD Law Candidate and casual academic in Sydney. Pat is an Australian qualified lawyer of the Supreme Court of NSW in Australia and an Honours Graduate of the University of Sydney and Macquarie Law School. She also has a liberal arts background, majoring in English literature. Pat’s social media content and writing focuses on animal rights, free speech, and defending western values. 

Substack: https://patricianonis.substack.com/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@THATVEGANLAWYER  

X: https://x.com/_PatJordan_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patjordan__/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Patricia.Nonis/

Layla Alsheikh is a Palestinian mother whose 6-month-old son Qusay became sick due to Israeli soldiers throwing tear gas in the village. When Layla tried to take him to the hospital, the Israeli soldiers prevented her family and delayed their arrival to the hospital for more than 4 hours. Layla’s son passed away that night and Layla lived with her grief and anger for more than a decade. Layla started her healing process by joining The Parents Circle Family Forum, a nonprofit of over 600 bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families. She started her peace advocacy shortly after. She lectures around the world, hoping to humanize the Palestinian plight and stopping the cycle of violence.

Mark Vicente is an NXIVM cult whistleblower and survivor, an author, speaker, and award-winning Writer, Director and Producer from Johannesburg, South Africa. Because of the atrocities in his native South Africa, he found himself propelled to question certain fundamental assumptions at a very young age. Mark has developed a keen and passionate interest in exposing the coercive and duplicitous environments of high-control groups. He is currently in post-production on ‘Empathy Not Included’ (The Narcissist’s Playbook) a feature-length documentary exploring one of the most pervasive and often misunderstood mental pathologies in our culture: Narcissism. Shot in seven countries and viewed through the lens of four self-confessed, self-aware malignant narcissists who openly share the secrets of how they operate with uncensored candor, the film follows their disturbing stories, juxtaposed with the growing body of wisdom from victims, survivors, scientists, and mental health professionals.

Fadi Al-Waheed was born in Dammam, Saudi Arabia in the 80s to Palestinian parents. Fadi is a pacifist and an animal lover. His childhood was anything but nostalgic as he was force-fed the five Islamic books as doctrine. During university in Jordan, a friend’s admission of atheism ignited something in Fadi, leading him to quietly leave the faith at 21, all under the shadow of apostasy laws. Losing his mother in 2012 became a turning point; Fadi stopped apologizing for who he was and gave up trying to please everyone. Years later, he met his British partner in Qatar, and together they’ve made their way to the UK where they live together with their dogs now, a life he once only dreamed of.

Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll is an American-Israeli writer and an activist. As cofounder of Chochmat Nashim (Hebrew for Women's Wisdom) she fights extremism in the Orthodox community and raises the voices & faces of women. 

With a stock photobank (Jewishlifephotos.com) of real Orthodox Jewish women and families, she fights the erasure of women's images, and via RateMyBeitDin.com she gives voice to the community to improve the rabbinic court system where too many women find themselves chained to dead marriages.

Her work can be found in the Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, UK Jewish Chronicle, and more where she writes about women's issues and Israel. 

Follow Shoshanna on X @skjask and on Instagram @shoshanna_keats_jaskoll

Moomen Sallam, a former leader in the Muslim Brotherhood chapter in Egypt, will join me to discuss how the Brotherhood operates both in Egypt and on a global scale in Europe and North America. We will also discuss Egypt’s role in the war in Gaza and the current chaos in Syria.

Moomen is a leading voice amongst freethinkers in Egypt and the author of several articles and books including, ABC Secularism and ABC Liberalism and co-author of Egypt and Israel: Forty Years in the Desert of Cold Peace.

Dr. Phyllis Chesler is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies, a best-selling author, a legendary feminist leader, and a retired psychotherapist. Some of her most influential books are Women and Madness, Letters to a Young Feminist, Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman, An American Bride in Kabul, Islamic Gender Apartheid: Exposing a Veiled War Against Women.

Since 9/11, Dr. Chesler has focused on the rights of women, dissidents, and gays in the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim communities; the rise of antisemitism/anti-Zionism, the demonization of Israel, the nature of terrorism, forced veiling, forced marriage, polygamy, and tribal psychology. Based on her four academic studies about honor killing, she has submitted affidavits for Muslim and ex-Muslim women who are seeking asylum or citizenship based on their credible belief that their families will honor kill them. In 2021-2022, Dr. Chesler co-led a team which rescued 400 women from Afghanistan. That work continues.

Mina (pseudonym) is a former medical student from Afghanistan who was in her second year of university when the Taliban stripped her of the opportunity to pursue her education and career in medicine. She joins us for a special episode from inside Afghanistan to shed light on the dire reality for women under Taliban rule and the gender apartheid that governs their lives while the world watches.

Tune in to hear Mina’s powerful story, gain insight into the experiences of Afghan women, and learn how you can help.

Please note: Mina’s identity is concealed, and she covers her face to protect herself from Taliban retaliation.

Yael grew up in Israel’s first kibbutz – Degania – with a secular mother and a traditional Moroccan father. When she was younger, she thought she was volunteering for a non-profit in Jerusalem, but it turned out to be a cult. Today, Yael is a Hebrew tutor and translator by day, musician by night, and a volunteer at The Feminist Library in Florence, Italy. She also writes for the Israeli magazine, Politically Corret (“corret” in Hebrew means “she reads”).

Follow Yael on yaelfine_ (Twitter), and yael.hebrew (Instagram)