This Being Human is the Aga Khan Museum’s video podcast that explores conversations about Muslim art, cultural exchange, and the stories that connect us. Hosted by Mai Habib, the series brings together artists, thinkers, and cultural leaders to explore how creativity opens doors—sparking curiosity, encouraging collaboration, and deepening understanding across time and place. Each episode reflects on the ways art shapes our lives, connects communities, and reveals the threads we share.
Produced by The Walrus Lab.
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.
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 . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
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 Muse...
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 . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 su...
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...
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 sup...
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...
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.
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 ...
Roni Helou is a rising star from Lebanon’s fashion scene. The young designer talks about making fashion with a message, why he staged a photoshoot on a mountain of garbage, and surviving the explosion that devastated Beirut in 2020. 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.
Misha Euceph is the host of the podcast Tell Them, I Am and CEO of Dustlight Productions. Tell Them, I Am features major Muslim celebrities telling stories of little moments that changed their lives. She talks about her rise to podcast fame, her struggle to gain ownership over her show, and making the Quran more accessible. You can watch her Quran Book Club on her Instagram page. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human . Hosted on Acast....
Khalid Albaih is a Sudanese political cartoonist, who publishes cartoons online under the name Khartoon! as well as in galleries and publications around the world. He talks about how Superman shaped his worldview, the dangers of his work, and why he’s trying to change his relationship with the internet. 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....
Marina Tabassum is an acclaimed 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 why she designed $200 mobile houses to address climate change. Marina Tabassum is the founder of Marina Tabassum Architects and the academic director of the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements. The Museu...
Ian Whiteman was a fixture of the 60’s UK music scene and member of the cult classic bands Mighty Baby and The Habibiyya. He reflects on the early early days of psychedelic rock, and talks about how Islam became a major part of that scene, leading to his own conversion and his friendship with Yusuf Islam, A.K.A. Cat Stevens. His latest album is called Poor Man’s Prayer. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human . Hosted on Acast. See acast...
As the founder of the popular online community Muslim Mamas, Nargis Jahan-Uddin has a front row seat to the ongoing interests and concerns of Muslim mothers. She gives us a look into the contemporary online world of Muslim motherhood, and talks about her own journey from an impoverished neighbourhood of London, to creating this growing online community, which now includes a lifestyle website and a public Facebook page with over 130,000 followers. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Moham...
Tasneem Alsultan is a photographer based in Saudi Arabia. Her work has documented major changes in Saudi culture for The New York Times, National Geographic and others. But she also captures the more ordinary aspects of life. She won first prize in the 2017 World Photography Organisation Awards for Saudi Tales of Loves, a series showcasing love stories of all kinds, from divorcees and widows to happily married couples. She talks about breaking stereotypes, capturing intimate moments and a time s...
Shahzia Sikander is a visual artist who revolutionized miniature painting, and is now widely credited for creating the neo-miniaturist movement. She looks back on her life and her thirty-year career in the arts. A retrospective of Shahzia Sikander’s work, called Extraordinary Realities, is currently on display at The Morgan Library and Museum. 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 infor...
Anissa Helou is an award-winning cookbook author, whose books include Lebanese Cuisine, Mediteranean Street Food and Feast: Food of the Islamic World. 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.
Asad Ali Jafri spent his early childhood in Kuwait, but found himself in the suburbs of Chicago after the outbreak of war. Hip hop became his entry point to American culture, quickly taking over his life and leading him down a path to the arts and community organizing. He started DJing under the name Man-O-Wax, staged major festivals, and became a visionary curator of contemporary Muslim arts. Today, Asad Ali Jafri is the executive director of the South Asia Institute in Chicago. The Museum wish...
Brothers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant have composed some of the biggest anthems in India as the film composing duo Salim-Sulaiman. They’ve also produced pop songs, devotionals, a sports anthem, and remixed Lady Gaga. 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.
Shireen Ahmed is a sports journalist and advocate. She’s a go-to voice for TSN and The Guardian and co-hosts the podcast Burn It All Down. 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.
Wafaa Bilal has pushed his body to extreme lengths in the name of art. He has subjected himself to waterboarding, mounted a camera to the back of his head, and spent a month living in a gallery, where strangers shot him with tens of thousands of paintballs. He talks about escaping Iraq during the war and why he puts his body on the line for art. Wafaa is currently a professor at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their fou...
Tanya Muneera Williams is a poet and member of the hip-hop duo Poetic Pilgrimage. She talks about her childhood in Bristol, England, the city’s rich music scene, and the spiritual journey she took from her mother’s church to her conversion to Islam. 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.
Nadir Nahdi runs the popular YouTube channel BENI, where he documents contemporary Muslim life around the world. Nadir comes from a tradition of thought and debate. His father, Fuad Nahdi, was a well-known journalist and satirist, as well as a giant in the UK Muslim community and a major figure in interfaith discussions. Nadir talks about what he’s learned from his parents, his mixed feelings about being called a social media influencer and the deeply personal journey he took to find his roots w...
Kevork Mourad is an Armenian-Syrian artist who collaborates with musicians, creating visual art in front of live audiences. He has worked with some of the most celebrated performers in classical music including Yo-Yo Ma, violist Kim Kashkashian and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He talks about growing up as an Armenian in Syria, developing his unique practice, the thrill of creating art in front of a crowd, and how war has changed the way he paints. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin M...
Dr. Ayesha Khanna is a global leader in artificial intelligence and an advocate for good governance in the tech sector. As the co-founder and CEO of ADDO AI, she has helped develop projects like smart cities and financial innovations. She talks about why she believes the world should look east for models of tech governance, the ethical struggles involved in AI and what technology can teach us about humanity. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This B...
Omid Safi is a leading expert on 13th century poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, who is the best-selling poet in modern day America. 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.
Dr. Alaa Murabit was born in Saskatoon, but moved to Zawiya, Libya at the age of 15 to study medicine. While she was there, she witnessed the 2011 Revolution, which changed the course of her 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.
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a member of the ruling family of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, and the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation. 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.
