This Being Human

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

Sandra Saenz joins us to talk about the art of makeup, navigating the world of beauty as a Mexican Muslim, and her first video art exhibition. She is the first Mexican hijabi makeup artist to secure agency representation in the USA. Her work has been featured in magazines and advertisements worldwide for Sephora. She's currently a Global Brand Ambassador for KVD Beauty. To fill out our listener su...

Photographer Hassan Hajjaj has an iconic style that blends elements of pop art, hip hop culture and North African fashion. It spans series like Kesh Angels, which depicts biker women in Marakesh, as well as celebrity photoshoots and album art. He joins AR to talk about developing his unique style, his initial reluctance to call himself an artist, and how he's seen the photography world change for...

Egyptian artist Wael Shawky explores the connections between history and myth. His work includes installations and sculpture, as well as films like Cabaret Crusades and I Am Hymns of the New Temple, which use marionettes to revisit big moments in history from a new perspective. If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, go to agakhanmuseum.org/thisbeinghuman . The Museum wishes to thank N...

Shezad Dawood is a multidisciplinary artist whose work blends stories, reality and symbolism to engage with big questions about humanity, and explore alternative futures. He speaks about his latest project, Night in the Garden of Love, an immersive experience that uses virtual reality to bring visitors into a fantastical world. It's based on a science fiction novella of the same name by the late m...

Marina Tabassum is a 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 how architects should embrace social responsibility, as with her $200 houses for displaced Bangladeshis. Marina Tabassum is the founder of M...

Kameelah Janan Rasheed is an artist whose work focuses on Black knowledge production, re-shaping history, and unlearning the things we think we know. Her projects, spanning photography, installations, text, sound, and more, have been shown around the globe and earned her a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship. She joins us to talk about resisting easy definitions, finding new ways to think about the marks t...

Ausma Malik was the first woman in a hijab to be elected to public office in Canada, and the first Muslim-identifying, hijab-wearing woman on Toronto city council. She was recently appointed Deputy Mayor of Toronto. She also happens to be the sister of This Being Human host Abdul-Rehman Malik. In this episode, A.R. asks Ausma the questions only a brother can ask. She talks about some of the pivota...

As Pakistan's first female architect, Yasmeen Lari left a major imprint on the country's visual identity, with modern buildings like the Finance and Trade Centre, the Taj Mahal Hotel in Karachi, and the Pakistan State Oil Head Office. But her career later took a turn from working for the powerful few, towards assisting the most vulnerable members of society. She now focuses on the intersection of...

Mokhtar Alkhanshali is a coffee historian, entrepreneur, and innovator. After several years as a community organizer working on civil rights issues affecting immigrant communities, Mokhtar began focusing on his family’s roots as coffee farmers in Yemen. Seeking to reverse Yemen’s nearly lost art of coffee cultivation, he started his own coffee company, Port of Mokha. His work has been described as...

Humaira Abid gathers ordinary objects from everyday life and transforms them into something extraordinary. Her wood sculpture and paintings — known for their intricate details — depict human relationships and contain strong social messages around topics like motherhood and the plight of refugees. In this episode of  This Being Human , Humaira talks to Abdul-Rehman about why she chose the male...

Jamaluddin Aram is a documentary filmmaker, producer, and writer from Kabul, Afghanistan. He is the associate producer of the Academy Award-nominated film  Buzkashi Boys,  and his debut novel,  Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday  was published in June, 2023. On this episode of  This Being Human,  Abdul-Rehman and Jamaluddin discuss how he fell in love with...

Shahjehan is a voice-over artist, actor, and musician based in Boston. He is the current host of the award-winning  King of the World  Podcast, where he explores his life as a Pakistani American Muslim. In this episode of  This Being Human,  Shahjehan Khan reflects on his history with music, addiction and identity in post-9/11 America. He and Abdul-Rehman talk about his time wi...

Zakir Hussain’s name is practically synonymous with the tablas. His work ranges from classical Indian compositions to Hollywood film scores to collaborations with rockstars like George Harrison and Van Morrison. His latest albums are the collaboration As We Speak and Shakti’s This Moment. In this episode, Zakir Hussain talks to Abdul-Rehman about how his craft continues to evolve at...

Dr. Deqo Mohamed spent her teen years coordinating with NGOs, teaching, and arranging breakfast for thousands of displaced people. That’s because her mother, Dr. Hawa Abdi, was the founder of a sanctuary in Somalia called Hope Village. The village provided healthcare, education and more to 90,000 people during its peak. It earned Dr. Habdi a nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. In this episode...

Nazeem Hussain has fast become one of the biggest stars of Australian comedy, and a much-loved television and radio personality. He is the creator and star of two television comedy shows,  Legally Brown  (2013-14) and  Orange Is the New Brown  (2018). Nazeem’s Netflix special  ‘Nazeem Hussain:   Public Frenemy’ , filmed in Montreal at the Just for Laughs Festival...

Noor is an award-winning journalist and producer, a touring speaker for over 10 years, and has told stories in every medium, from radio and print to documentaries and brand campaigns. In 2019, Noor founded At Your Service Imprint, a consulting and production company telling representative stories as a form of service. In 2022, Noor launched her investigative series  Rep,  in partnership...

Murad Subay is a street artist from Yemen. His campaigns such as  “Faces of War,” “Ruin”  and  “Color the Walls of Your Street”  reflect his experiences living through revolution and war. He talks to AR about what drives him to paint, his mixed feelings about being called the “Yemeni Banksy,” and about collaborating with the public on his work. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir...

The heavy metal band Voice of Baceprot was formed by three middle schoolers in a small town in Indonesia. Over the years, they built an international following that includes rock legends like Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Slash from Guns N’ Roses. They joined AR from a studio in Jakarta, where they were at work on their debut album, to talk about fa...

Coleman Barks is an American poet and translator whose translations brought Jalaluddin Rumi, the 13th-Century Persian mystic, to mass contemporary audiences, turning him into one of the most popular poets in the modern English-speaking world. Barks’ free verse interpretations of Rumi have at times been the top-selling poetry books in America. Now 86 years old, Barks joins AR to talk about how he w...

Abbas Rattani is an academic, entertainer, and founder of MIPSTERZ. He is a strong advocate for individuality and self-expression in minority communities. Abbas talks about co-founding the MIPSTERZ collective, and their decade-long mission to change the face of young Muslims in America. MIPSTERZ is   a non-traditional arts and culture collective for emerging Muslim creatives that enables...

Najwa Zebian is a bestselling writer of poetry and inspirational books, including Mind Platter and Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul. She also shares simple, yet profound words of wisdom with her 1.3 million Instagram followers. She speaks with raw honesty about how writing saved her from aimlessness, about her struggles immigrating to Canada as a teenager, and about where she...

This Being Human is coming back with more conversations from incredible people all over the world whose life, ideas and art are shaped by Muslim culture. Take a sneak peek at what we have waiting for you in Season 3. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leah V made her name as a Black, Muslim, plus-size model. She has worked on major campaigns for companies like Dove and Fitbit, while also being outspoken around issues she sees in the industry. Now, she’s also a sci-fi author. She recently released her debut novel, The Union, a dystopian thriller that turns contemporary notions around race and body size upside down. She talks to AR about her love...

Shanaaz Majiet is a disability rights advocate. Struck by a bullet at 17 years of age, she eventually returned to her studies, then went on to become National Advocacy manager for South Africa’s leading disability rights and inclusion organization, Disabled People South Africa. She is now a leading public policy thinker and city government troubleshooter in South Africa and her work is recognized...