Relaunching February 22, the acclaimed interview podcast will highlight boundary-breaking Muslim voices like NASA scientist Farah Alibay and Little Mosque on the Prairie creator Zarqa Nawaz
This Being Human, the Aga Khan Museum’s curiosity-stoking interview podcast, returns on February 22, 2022 with more stirring conversations to transport listeners around the world — and beyond.
Presented in partnership with TVO, Season 2 will feature 21 new episodes and be available on streaming services like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music and on the web at agakhanmuseum.org and TVO.org.
Bolstered by the success of This Being Human’s ground-breaking first season, the Museum has partnered with media and education leader, TVO, to expand the podcast’s impact and reach. “TVO’s reputation for excellence, creativity, and integrity make the organization an ideal partner for This Being Human,” said Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis, the Museum’s Director and CEO. “By working collaboratively, the Museum and TVO will open new windows of discovery for each other’s audiences and engage new listeners with human stories that entertain and inform.”
“The conversations featured in This Being Human bring to life an irresistible spectrum of experience, encouraging deeper curiosity and insight into Muslim culture, thinking and innovation,” says John Ferri, VP of Programming and Content at TVO. “We’re excited to partner with the Aga Khan Museum to engage listeners in these groundbreaking interviews and stories that have the power to positively inspire and impact our lives.”
This Being Human features a diverse mosaic of captivating guests with distinctive insights on Muslim art, culture, history and society. These conversations will touch upon everything from prayer and pilgrimage to politics and pop culture, love and education, feminism, film, sports, music, and so much more.
The season’s confirmed guests include:
- Canadian-born NASA systems engineer Farah Alibay, who co-piloted the Mars rover Perseverance as well as Ingenuity, the first helicopter to be tested on the Red Planet
- Zarqa Nawaz, creator of CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie and author of the forthcoming novel Jameela Green Ruins Everything
- Mark Gonzales, a futurist, Kennedy Center fellow, and author of the award-winning children’s book Yo Soy Muslim
- Australian-Canadian author, editor, and multidisciplinary artist Fariha Roísín, whose upcoming book Who is Wellness For? tackles representation, inequity, and greed in the Instagram-era wellness industry
Listeners can look forward to the smart, compassionate, and tightly woven storytelling they have come to expect from This Being Human and its inimitable host, award-winning journalist and educator Abdul-Rehman Malik. Elevating the bi-weekly podcast further will be a refreshed, more intimate sound and an intensified focus on how to uplift lives and communities in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
“The scope of the stories we’ve explored on This Being Human so far has been extraordinary,” says Abdul-Rehman. “Every interview leaves me ever more excited about the possibilities of Muslim culture and identity in the world today. In the coming season, listeners will hear more intimate and personal stories. They will also hear how our guests are navigating the unsettling times we are going through. We don’t just want to know what makes us human, but how we can become better humans – for ourselves and for others. We’ve already recorded a few episodes and they are joyful and heartbreaking, challenging and affirming. It’s exactly what we hoped This Being Human would become.”
Lauded as “terrific, full of insightful interviews with interesting guests” by the Toronto Star, This Being Human celebrates the diversity and wide-ranging impact of changemakers deeply engaged with what it means to be Muslim. The podcast has only grown timelier and more relevant since its January 2021 debut in light of recent Islamophobic attacks in Canada and elsewhere in the West.
“At the beating heart of the Museum is the belief that art, culture, and conversation are vitally important to shifting attitudes and building bridges across difference,” says Dr. Al-Khamis. “And by sharing enthralling personal stories through the medium of podcasting, we can touch more lives than ever before with our message of hope, inclusion, and the power of diversity to bring about a better world.”