#GoodMuslimBadMuslim: Recent Episodes
Taz & Zahra
A monthly podcast featuring Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed and Zahra Noorbakhsh about the good and the bad of the American Muslim female experience. But you know, satirically & disturbingly hilarious. #GoodMuslimBadMuslim
So. That’s our show. All of it. We made it to the finish line. After five years, the podcast has come to an end.
We are so proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish over the past five years of doing this show. We have been able to contribute and shape the conversation of what it means to be Muslim in America, especially as two very different woman, and we challenged the way society tried to box us in the whole time. We complicated the narrative and re-centered our experiences. We practiced shine theory and incorporated our theory of social change. We’ve gotten national awards, been let into space that we previously thought wasn’t meant for us, cried with our listeners, and got to practice radical play that spread joy. What a wild ride it has truly been.
Of course, we have our own favorite highlights to the podcast, which we’ve included below.
Zahra’s #GoodMuslimBadMuslim Top Highlights
- Debriefing the 2016 Elections on the show was so helpful to make it feel like we were less alone.
- After the Pulse Shooting, Zahra comes out.
- Going to the Agha Khan Museum in Toronto to record both an episode of the show and a live recording of On Behalf of All Muslims was truly a gift.
- A classic episode has to be the one where Zahra tells the story of how her mother removed her partner’s body hair.
- We recorded live from inside the White House - the Obama White House specifically - which seems like a dream with Trump now in office.
Taz’s #GoodMuslimBadMuslim Top Highlights
- Going on the Manzanar Pilgrimage with Vigilant Love and accidentally recording a most amazing episode, my favorite.
- We had the most moving moments while in a week long artist residency at Shangri-La Museum of Arts, Culture and Design in Honolulu.
- After the 2016 elections, all of a sudden, people were donning safety pins to show solidarity with Muslims. So, we sold our own for $2,020.
- Taz loved going on a tour of Little Bangladesh in a produced narrative podcast - and got to share the foods of her peeps.
- We worked with the good folks at Fusion Comedy to make The Muslim Guide to Voting - and it was truly an electoral organizer’s dream come true.
Though we are ending this show - we are both in love with the art form of podcast and are in it for the long haul - you will def be hearing us in the world of audio in future projects. We are not leaving! And we are both still making content - essays, poetry, mixtapes, videos - as well as available for speaking engagements and workshops. We will continue to speak up and out as Muslimahs in America, whether you like it or not. To follow what next, follow Taz Ahmed at @tazzystar and at www.tazzystar.me & follow Zahra Noorbakhsh at @zahracomedy and at www.zahracomedian.com.
A big huge thank you also to our sound engineer Quincy Surasmith, who was the engine behind our show. It was a conversation in a cubicle with Taz & Quincy that really turned an idea into a product - thank you for taking a chance on us. Listen to his podcast Asian Americananow.
The good thing about leaving now is knowing there are plenty of other Muslim/Brown American podcasts to pass the baton on to. Listen to our friends - See Something, Say Something podcast, Identity Politics podcast, Ethnically Ambiguous podcast, Bad Brown Aunties podcast, American Submitter podcast, Tell Them I Am podcast, Bollywood Boys podcast, Solidarity Is podcast, Queering Desi podcast, andThe BIG Wepodcast.
Finally, we are so grateful to our community of fellow Asian American podcasters in the Potluck Podcast Collective. We recorded many of our shows out of the Potluck Podcast studio located in the office of Visual Communication in Little Tokyo, and we couldn’t have done it without this crew. Listen to all the shows in the network!
Till next time, inshallah.
For our last episode (at least last for now) we had a HUGE house party where we recorded a live show! It was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of our five year long project.
- Valentine’s Day is even more special with one of Taz’s #MuslimVDay cards.
- To keep up to date with the elections, we have been listening to The Daily podcast.
- Here’s more on the islamophobic nature of the 2020 Presidential candidates, particularly Tulsi Gabbard.
- Jump into helping to Get Out the Muslim Vote by joining the Mpower Change campaign.
- One of Zahra’s highlight was to go on United Shades of America with Kamau Bell and interview an Iranian hostage survivor.
- President Trump has appropriated the hijabi tan line.
- Thyroid extract is taken from a pig, so does that make it haram?
- Let us not forget The Bacon Lobby and how it is forcing bacon on people worldwide.
- The 2020 Census is making it really hard for Asian Americans to actually fill out their Asian American type - follow the Count Us In Campaign and be sure to fill in your ethnicity accordingly!
- Thank you to all the organizers behind the #NoMuslimBanEver campaign - thank you for fighting the good fight.
- Special thanks to Shahjehan Khan from The Kominas for the amazing music you hear on the show, including the going to away song at the end of the show!
Thank you all for listening to all of our episodes over the past 5 years! We are grateful to each and every one of you. Drop us a line if you have a favorite #GoodMuslimBadMuslim story - we’d love to hear what this show has meant to you over all these years.
We know that after all these years of talking about how we need Muslim Christmas themed movies that you were begging for us to write our own. Well, there were maybe three of you that tweeted at us that we should. So lucky listeners, we responded to you (at least the three of you).
On this very special episode, Zahra and Taz wrote two fiction Muslim Christmas Rom Com audio narratives! Not only did we write and direct these stories, we were so lucky to cast our friends who were able to bring these characters to life!
Feature Presentation: The Christmas Jinn by Taz Ahmed
Featuring: Zehra Fazal, Fawzia Mirza, Dante Basco, Ramy El-Etreby, Ahmed Ali Akbar, Derrick Lemos, Sean Miura, & Zahra Noorbakhsh. Produced with support from Marvin Yueh & Quincy Surasmith.
- A jinn is basically a genie. Learn more here.
- Jesus is a prophet in Islam. We call him Isa.
- The History of the Christmas Tree.
- The History of Gingerbread.
- The History of the Christmas Pickle.
- I swear, the origin of mistletoe resembling sticky semen is not a myth that we made up.
- Sign the petition to tell Wayfair that they need to stop profiting off of migrant children and concentration camps.
- Children are dying in US custody at the border.
Trailer: Back to the Silk Road by Zahra Noorbakhsh
Featuring: Kausar Mohammed, Fawzia Mirza, Ali Dean, Pej Vahdat, & Shahjehan Khan. Produced with support from Phil Surkis, Scott Okamoto, Joey Clift, Marvin Yueh & Quincy Surasmith.
- This is what the Paykan i.e. the Iranian Chariot looks like.
- The father of algebra is Muslim.
- Coffee was primarily consumed in the Islamic world where it originated and was directly related to religious practices.
- You know, Rumi.
The one where Taz eats her way through Little Bangladesh and Zahra searches for home and stability in diaspora. Featuring special guests: Fahmida Azim, Hannah Moushabeck, and Michel Moushabeck.
In this episode, Zahra and Taz branch off to explore their own produced narratives of home and belonging.
- In this episode, Taz explores the only Little Bangladesh located in the heart of Los Angeles. It got it’s official designation in 2010 by the City of Los Angeles.
- Our guest for the eating tour is illustrator and author and fellow punk Bangladeshi Fahmida Azim! (And check her IG @Fahmida_Azim)
- Fahmida Azim is the illustrator behind the book Muslim Women Are Everything that just published this spring.
- Fahmida and Taz met because we did a page in a book together - Six Words Fresh Off the Boat.
- The music we hear in this episode is by the amazing Bangladeshi-New-York hip hop artist Anik Khan.
- Fahmida’s gibbly nihari illustration that got her started on her path is very delicious looking.
- The music we heard came from the Bangladesh Academy of Los Angeles.
- Bengal Liquor had no Bengali liquor.
- The book that helped Taz connect with her mom is Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies.
- The walking tour of Little Bangladesh took us through delicious eats that we highly recommend you visit - check out Bangla Bazar, Asian Mart, Deshi Food and Groceries, Katsuri Halal Meat, Aladin Sweets, and Biriyani Kabob House.
- In Zahra’s piece, she talks about the body’s ability to be in homeostasis.
- Hanna’s family escaped Palestine because in the Nakba - learn more about it here.
The one where Taz rethinks clothing swaps and Zahra defends candy corn. They also unveil a special announcement. With special guest Ayesha Siddiqi.
We had a lovely time getting ready for Halloween with a spooky wooky guest and we have a special announcement in this episode!
- Our guest for this episode is the writer, thought leader and creative Ayesha Siddiqi.
- ThePushing Hoops With Sticks episode with Ayesha interviewing Aamer Rahman is the life changing episode that made us fall for Ayesha.
- Get some gear from Cult Days x Ayesha Siddiqi collaboration over at The Ones We Love.
- Be sure to read the book that inspired Ayesha’s collab
- The kimono inspired hijab for the Muslim tourists coming through are pretty beautiful. Is this appropriation? Nah.
- Zahra is super into Persian Trap music, thanks to her cousin.
- A muslim girl was disqualified from a race because of her Nike brand sports hijab.
- “Unveiling Your Books’ Boring Title and Covers” twitter thread by @MsEntropy is very re-veil-ing.
- Taz is inspired by two artists this month whose work she got to see - the photographer Hassan Hajjaj and Iranian artist Shirin Neshat.
- Indonesia’s Aries Susanti Rahayu breaks women’s speed climbing world record, finishing the 15-meter course in 6.995 seconds.
The one where Zahra learns to do handstands and Taz designs lungis with Scottish Muslim tartans.
The one where Zahra admires a famous rotator cuff and Taz goes friendship shopping at Target.
The one where Taz plays passive-aggressive auntie games and Zahra is away working on her show On Behalf of All Muslims.Featuring special guest Randa Jarrar.
The one where Taz refuses to answer a question and Zahra reveals her crush on cartoon Jafar.
The one where Taz wants to become the next Supreme brand and Zahra becomes Spider-Woman.
The one where Zahra finds holiday solace with Oscar the Grouch and Taz learns where to buy all the different immigrant chocolates.
The one where Zahra heists a remote as Scrooge McDuck and Taz plans to hide a billion-dollar fortune from her dad.
Taz and Zahra are finally back together in person in this episode - and it is live from the de Young Museum in San Francisco. We were a part of supporting the current exhibit - Contemporary Muslim Fashion. It was gorgeous and we were so proud to have been able to been included in such a celebration.
Taz and Zahra speaking at de Young Museum.
- Taz wore a skirt from Ibtihaj Muhammad’s modest Muslim clothing line, Louella. And it’s lovely.
- This Halloween, be sure not to costume your dress politically in-correct.
- You too can “feel like I just took a vacation on Planet Handsome Charming Modern Muslim, which is located in the Everything Is Going To Be Okay Galaxy” with this vid of Hasan and Tan being fashionable.
-
HijabiHeroes at New York Comic Con is something you have to see.
- You must check out the series and the book by Samin Nosrat - Salt Fat Acid Heat.
- Maytha Alhassan released a fantastic report on the relationship between Hollywood and the exotification/terrorization of Muslims in the media.
- It’s true - Sinead O’Conner converted to Islam and is now doing azaan.
This Friday, come see Zahra & Taz in a FASHION THEMED #GoodMuslimBadMuslim live podcast recording, at the de Young Museum of San Francisco for their Contemporary Muslim Fashions exhibit! Get your ticket now to reserve a spot - http://www.deyoung.famsf.org
Art for Dark Times
It is a dark time here in the crevices of the #GoodMuslimBadMuslim bunkers. Lucky for us and for you, we have an awesome giveaway to shine some light. In honor of the She The People summit, we want to hear what woman would you give a #GoodMuslimAward to? Let us know! Use the hashtag #GoodMuslimBadMuslim and let us know in a tweet or instagram who you would give a #GoodMuslimAward to!
Our three favorite submissions will get a prize from Safwat Saleem’s project Art for Dark Times. This project is a response to a world that has grown especially dark lately. Safwat made this series of glow-in-the-dark posters, enamel pins and stickers to serve as daily reminders, for anyone who could use such a reminder, that we’re not alone in facing this darkness.
So get to it - tweet & instagram us to let us know who your Good Muslim Awardee would be! You have until October 31, 2018! Permalink
The one where Taz wonders if her makeup is halal and Zahra discovers the secret to finding housing.
The one where Zahra discusses her Christmas privilege and Taz turns into the anti-Snapchat auntie. Featuring special guest Sahar Pirzada!
The one where Zahra is getting antihistamine nightmares and Taz is still writing her rom-com. This episode brought to you by kale curry.
The one where Zahra searches for a good mommy forum and Taz reminds everyone to follow Chrissy Teigen's advice.
The one where Zahra explains why she can't read in the bath and Taz returns to Magic Mike Live.
The one where Taz describes how hard it is to leave her apartment and Zahra connects the Rebel Alliance to Allah.
The one where Taz ponders the origins of patchouli and Zahra imagines what a true Jihad Barbie looks like.
The one where Zahra falls asleep on Jaws, Taz defends Glinda the Good Witch, and they discover the connection between Valhalla and Allah.
The one where Taz offers to do makeup reviews and Zahra reminisces about Hawaiian cockroaches.
The one where Zahra buys a designer diaper bag and Taz prepares for a billionaire pre-nup.
The one where Zahra describes food in detail to a fasting Taz and Taz pitches a Muslim Bridesmaids movie.
The one where Zahra explains leather daddies and Taz plans her passive-aggressive plane moves.
The one where Taz teaches the world the miracles of the "twig brush", Zahra declares the Irish prime minister Muslim, and they both plan a trip to Hawaii with the hot dudes of Kurdish Gents Club.
The one where Taz wins big money from an Aladdin slot machine, Zahra makes her husband test a Japanese toilet, and both pitch their business ideas to the business students of Wharton.
Other than Buzzfeed giving us another shoutout, we’ve been busy with our own personal projects. Taz got to sit down with a few other Californians to talk about her post-election thoughts, and Zahra went on NPR for an essay on prayer. Taz, too, went on another podcast: Sporkful, where she discussed love and pork. She's also performed at an event called Harness.
Besides Eid, there’s one holiday that Taz can’t get enough of… Valentine’s Day. If you’re into really kinky things like “heavy vetting” and using “unpresidented” as your safe word, then step right up to Taz’s Etsy shop. She almost always sells out.
Zahra also had her own sort of holiday: six performances of “On Behalf of All Muslims,” her new comedy special at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California. The San Francisco Chronicle even mentioned her special! Every night was sold out. Looks like we might have to do a live performance of #GoodMuslimBadMuslim too...
The one where Zahra self-cares with popcorn and cheese and Taz explains that bacon is not Kryptonite.
Welcome to the Trumpocalypse. First things first: we are not going away, and we are not changing our names to Sarah and Tammy.
- Start off with some levity: Taz's #MuslimVDay cards are out again, and they are selling out fast.
- Zahra was on NPR's Fresh Air with an essay about prayer (yes, yes, that rhymed).
- And Donald Trump listened to the Quran. It was... interesting.
- We don't wear hijabs, but if we did, we wouldn't want American flags on them. Here's why.
- The Muslim Ban is already hurting people and tearing apart families.
- A local mosque got attacked again, and the media plays it off as another "bacon trick."
- Lindsay Lohan might be Muslim now. Is Angelina Jolie next?
- Drones do not make good hobbies.
- Linda Sarsour was one of the leaders behind the Women's March, and she deserves all our support.
- Aziz Ansari's monologue was so good, you should watch it again.
- Find out about your rights and what plans you can make at places like CAIR.
As we close out our second year of the podcast, we have a lot to reflect on. Most importantly, a Merry Muslim Christmas to All and a Happy New Year!
- First off, Taz had an amazing reading of Good Girls Marry Doctors in LA! If you still haven't gotten your copy yet, not to worry: Aunt Lute has it at a huge discount.
- We truly feel for Yasmin Seweid, the Muslim girl who falsified a police report, and hope that our communities can do better about making brown girls feel safe.
- There's a petition to out Mike Adams from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, just like he outed one of the queer Muslim students.
- Meanwhile, the agony in Aleppo continues. Daughters and wives have been asking their male relatives to kill them to avoid rape and torture from Assad's army.
- If you haven't heard already, Dylann Roof was found guilty.
- A Christmas gift from us: a syllabus on how white people can educate themselves. Please also join SURJ.
- Also, we are not your helpers. To put it in this article's words, "I am not your racial confessor."
- Here's the video for "Dear Child" that Taz co-produced, in case you felt like crying.
- Zahra appeared on BuzzFeed's "See Something, Say Something" podcast, in addition to CIIS' podcast.
- Taz also appeared on See Something, Say Something's podcast to talk about being Muslim and celebrating Christmas.
- Taz wrote an amazing piece about the Muslim registry, and you can read it right here.
Christmas Mubarak!
The one after election day, where Taz wonders if Glenn Beck is now woke and Zahra almost finds a new husband at a meat market. Also, if you must wear a safety pin, buy ours.
This is a special longer episode featuring Taz and Zahra's post-election reflections.
In a time of dramatic world change, we know that some of you don't know what to do with yourselves. "How can I help?" you've asked. Might we suggest making a generous Zakat to the #GoodMuslimBadMuslim podcast? "Zakat" in Muslim-speak means "donation" - and if you like what you've heard us say, laugh and cry in the past 2 years of the podcast, make a donation! Your funds will help cover equipment cost, staff time, website maintenance and snacks. We'll send you exclusive #GoodMuslimBadMuslim stickers, and for a really generous donation, we'll mail you a super duper extra special Safety Pin - wear it on your lapel, on your hat, on your shoe - and let the world know you are a #GoodMuslimBadMuslim branded ally.
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Give Us Zakat
The one where Taz is on the front lines of being a nasty woman and Zahra asks why she can't have a lightsaber. Both want you to go vote!
Are you tired of the all the games the politicians are playing this fall? Are you ready to play games with their games? As we jump into the final debate for the Presidential Candidates on October 19th, 2016 we want you to play along! With The Official #GoodMuslimBadMuslim Bingo Game!
All you have to do is print out a bingo card - and play along on social media using #GoodMuslimBadMuslim. If you win, send us a photo of your bingo board - and we'll mail you some #GoodMuslimBadMuslim stickers! Good luck!
The one where Taz “reaches out” to NFL quarterbacks to convert them to social activism and Zahra makes Golden Retrievers cry. Both realize they forgot to wear their Muslim Garb. Also, Taz is single.
We’re 21! Our podcast can dr- ...well, I guess that depends on how much of a Good Muslim or Bad Muslim you are. But, regardless, we’re old enough to say we’ve been fighting ISIS for our entire adult lives.
- Zahra was in NYC during 9/11 and the most recent bombings. By the way, his dad outed him to the FBI in 2014 and nothing happened. What.
- We talk the bigotry when it comes to the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, how some people think he was being “radicalized.” Because most people are radicalized while waiting to pick up their sons from school.
- Some date cookies got bomb-squaded. The only bombs in them were sugar bombs.
- Speaking of NYC again, there was an all-hijab line at NYC fashion week. Y’know, the same place where a woman who was wearing hijab was set on fire.
- Here’s our #GoodMuslimBadMuslim-sponsored bingo card.
- Take another swig of pomegranate juice and rose water, another hate crime happened this week: a man’s car was set on fire.
- Noor Taghuri spoke to Playboy about wearing a hijab, and Muslim Twitter went wild. Funny, we don’t remember them doing the same for Malcom X and Muhammad Ali.
- Taz’s #GoodMuslim award goes out to DJ Nessa, Colin Kaepernick’s girlfriend. Taz also puts it out there that she’s willing to date any NFL quarterbacks. Zahra’s goes out to Rayouf Alhumedhi for designing a hijab emoji.
- Taz’s fatwa is for doing away with the garbage term “Muslim Garb.” Women like Nazma Khanam deserve better.
- Golden retrievers are white boys.
- Taz is not married. She is single.
- Check out Zahra on MTV’s #BeyondTheWall project and get Good Girls Marry Doctors, a book that Taz helped contribute on!
Zahra's view from the 1 World Trade Center.
The one where Taz never learns to swim because she didn't have a burqini and Zahra discovers racism in an easter egg. Both share their Muslim Appreciation month gift registries.
We were at the Comedy Comedy Festival in LA chilling in the podcast lounge when we just happened to do an episode. But what else has been happening?
- Taz went to the White House (again) for the Eid party! And she looked great.
- Also, she's in a book called Good Girls Marry Doctors, out now (20% off at Aunt Lute).
- Did you know that August is Muslim Appreciation Month in California? No wonder we're in a drought, all those Muslims are using the water for wudhu! #CreepingSharia.
- We got to meet Andrew Ti of the Yo, Is this Racist? podcast and record an episode with him! It's an Eid two-for-one deal.
- Two awful, awful hate crimes occurred. In New York, an imam and his assistant were shot, while a racist Texan shot an Arab-American to death after running over his mother.
- The burqini ban sucks, but it was repealed pretty quickly. We don't need any white saviors for our boobs.
- After the Wrath of Khan occurred at the DNC, Muslim women everywhere took part in #CanYouHearUsNow on Twitter. Many people also visited Humayan Khan's grave to lay flowers.
- Zahra talked to her dad about the Purvi Patel feticide case, and it was brutal.
- The Elgin Imam said he was GUILTY.
"All the countries I've colonized" shirt. Yikes.
Zahra & Taz in the Podcast Lounge
The one where Zahra discovers the true meaning of Fatwa, Taz gets the Hiba-jabis for being late, and both decide the world needs more gay pride.
The one where Zahra creates a Sharia ring tone and Taz shares her phobia of secret passages.
The one where Taz receives a Champion of Change in Art and Storytelling from the White House and brings Zahra with her to creep sharia, LIVE from the White House.
Bonus: We spoke with Muslim staffers in the White House about what it's like to work in the White House and we also got a chance to interviewed fellow Champion of Change in Art and Storytelling awardees Fawzia Mirza and Kayhan Irani.
Recording from inside the White House - photo by Les Talusan
HOLY MOLY, they let us in to record from INSIDE the White House! Here are the links so you can follow along:
Taz & Zahra at the White House. Photo by Les Talusan.
- Taz got an award from the White House! She was one of ten Asian American and Pacific Islanders who received the Champion of Change in Art and Storytelling award last month. Check out the blog Taz wrote for the White House about the award, the Crafting with Mom and Collecting Legacies #MyAAPIStory she recorded for StoryCorps, and this interview she gave to Dexter Thomas with the LA Times with fellow awardees Jenny Yang and Jason Fong!
- Taz recorded a reflection of her White House visit over at her epistolry project Bholo::Speak
- This student said "Inshallah" on a Southwest flight, and then got kicked off. It's fact.
- Students at San Diego State University protested the university's president by praying in front of his car.
- A Muslim woman files a lawsuit against Long Beach Police Dept for having her remove her hijab. You know, because that's illegal.
- POTUS went to a Baltimore Mosque, the first visit by the administration to a mosque. Here's what he said.
- Toddlers are involved with more shootings than Muslims. Well that should have been obvi.
- Chobani workers gain ownership of the business, thanks to the generous Muslim company owner.
- Did you miss it? Taz and Zahra were in Cosmopolitan - where they called us twenty-somethings. Which is the total truth.
- We had an awesome conversation with fellow #WHChamps Fawzia Mirza and Kayhan Irani.
BONUS: Check out this White House AAPI Heritage Month Playlist! Mishthi Music (Taz's music site) helped curate this list!
We're back from our podcast recording at the White House, and returning to headquarters, aka the mosque! Join us for a night of creeping Sharia, Awkward Ask a Muslim moments, Good Muslim awards, Fatwas and more at Oakland’s Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC).
Saturday, June 4 at 8pm
Doors open at 7:45pm
Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC)
1433 Madison Ave
Oakland, CA
Get Tickets
GoodMuslimBadMuslim's May episode was recorded LIVE at the White House! It'll be coming to you soon but we wanted to share a quick teaser.
Taz is going to the White House to accept a Champion of Change Award! Read Angry Asian Man's post on the award right here. You can stream the event live right here at 2pm EST on May 4th: www.whitehouse.gov/live
I (this is Taz) am incredibly honored and humbled to be receiving a Champion of Change award on the theme of Art and Storytelling from the White House Asian American and Pacific Islander Initiative. I'll be accepting the award with 9 of my peers - all who are doing amazing artivism for the community. Particularly thrilled to share the stage w/ longtime collaborator Jenny Yang, and my favorite phone banker Jason Fong. My dad and my siblings will be joining me for this week and, inshallah, I'll get to read a couple of my poems at the ceremony too! It will be the first time my dad has ever heard me recite poetry.
As someone who is really trying to figure out what the intersection is between political paradigm shifting and moving people with their hearts and minds - it feels really surprising to be seen, especially by the White House. I feel passionately about using art as a tool for change, for re-centering, for being heard, for creating safe space, for decolonizing how others see people like me.
Listen to this #MyAAPIStory I recorded at StoryCorps at the link to the right. Be sure to record your own at StoryCorps.me!
And THANK YOU LOYAL LISTENERS! This would never have happened without all your support in making this podcast a thing.
The one where Zahra's mother waxes and oils Zahra's husband at their first meeting, while Taz wonders how Zayn Malik manscapes.
We get real intimate in this podcast about washing and body hair. Here are some links to what we talked about:
Zayn Malik's Album Cover
- Brussels Attack article talking about how Muslim attacker was "dangerously normal".
- Man asked to spell his "foreign" name at the polls.
- Muslim immigrants were deported this past month.
- Sesame Street introduces a hijabi puppet named Zari.
- School may expel Muslim youth for getting bullied.
- Mpower and all of their petitions.
- Bangladeshi bloggers getting murdered for secular ideas.
- I Call My Brothers the play.
- Zahra was guest on the Interfaith Voices podcast.
- AF3IRM Earrings of Shadow and Light Art Show (coming to NYC very soon!)
On this week's Snap Judgement, you can hear our very own Zahra talking about heaven points, eating pork, wearing hijab and religious farts! She took the stage at the Snap Judgement LIVE Oakland show earlier this year. Take a listen! And for those of you coming to our website for through listening to Snap Judgement - thanks for stopping by! And be sure to subscribe to the #GoodMuslimBadMuslim Podcast!
The one where Taz rebels against patriarchy with subtle physical deconstruction, Zahra finally answers the question of "Where's the Rumi," and both of them get into a fierce competition with an Auntie Staredown.
Special thanks to Dropbox for inviting us to record at the South by Southwest Dropbox Podcast Studio as well as a special mashallah to Amanda Quraishi for guest judging the Auntie Stare Down.
The ladies of #GoodMuslimBadMuslimare ready to take on the land of hooking longhorns, Whole Food, and keeping it weird! That's right, Zahra & Taz are coming to Austin, Texas to record a live episode at South By Southwest! Please come by and be a part of our live studio audience - listen to some fatwas, get creeped on with some shahria, and stay after for a little Q&A by Austin's own Amanda Quraishi!
March 15th, 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Dropbox Podcast Studio
Lustre Pearl, 94 Raine St. Austin, Texas
Facebook Event Page
There will be limited seating for this event, so be sure to get your tickets now. RSVP at this link: https://dropboxpodcaststudioatsxsw.splashthat.com/
Thank you to Dropbox Podcast Studio who will be hosting this event - as well as a series of podcasting shows and workshops over March 14th & March 15th - be sure to check out their entire schedule!
The one where Taz is scarred from learning about Jinns in a man's urethra, Zahra eats her way through an edible burka, and both get into a Hijarbie vs Jihottie pillow fight.
In our sexy episode of #GoodMuslimBadMuslim we talk about a lot of fun fun stuff. Special thanks to Ellen & Eric for making this show happen this month! Follow the hot links below:
In case you needed to know what a Jinn looks like. (Source: Al-Jinn by Ahmad Sakr)
Careful - a shaitan might be in your man's urethra (Source: Al-Jinn by Ahmad Sakr)
- The organization HEART is releasing a book for Muslims on their wedding night.
- The Joy Of Sex was first published in the 1970s.
- For your halal sex needs we now have the Halal Sex Shop, open now in the UK.
- Check out the book Love, Inshallah which Zahra and Taz are both in!
- You can read the book Al-Jinn by Ahmed Sakr online here.
- Jihotties are getting sent over to Daesh for their sexual needs.
- But the ISIS sex slaves escaped and have started their own army.
- The sex-positive Muslim women of the Tuareg Tribe from the Sahara.
- President Obama went to go visit a mosque for the first time of his presidency.
- Ben Carson affirms #MuslimCrazy and says all Muslims are schizophrenic for living in a Democracy.
- South Carolina's House government bans Shahria Law, in a sweeping original move.
- Hijarbie Barbie is a fashionable thing now.
- The edible burka art project from Afghani Behnaz Babazadeh is simply scrumptious.
- Serial Podcast is back - listen to Asia McClain take the stand for Adnan Syed.
- This Absurd FBI Site Teaches Teens to Spot Violent Extremists (very very very poorly) over at Gizmodo.
- ACLU just put in a FOIA request to see what the FBI is doing behind Countering Violent Extremism program.
The one where Zahra & Taz celebrate their anniversary in Michigan. Zahra discovers Sharia creeping into the GOP and Taz uncovers the Muslimification of her exes.
Thank you so much to University of Michigan's South Asian Awareness Network for hosting us for this episode of #GoodMuslimBadMuslim! Check out the following links to follow along to Episode #13 - Live From University of Michigan:
- Zahra and Taz were in Oprah Magazine as a Must Listen Podcast!
- Hamptramack, Michigan has a Muslim majority City Council. They even refer to themselves as BanglaTown!
- Governor Snyder rejected refugees from coming to Michigan.
- Flint, Michigan crisis and what the emails have shown us.
- Sterling Heights in Michigan rejected having a mosque getting built for fear of ISIS.
- Dolce & Gabbana release fancy shmancy high end hijabs.
- Zahra & Taz were guests on the Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Podcast talking about the movie The Siege. And then they invented a drinking game.
- Favianna Rodriguez is an amazing radical brown artist.
- Republicans want to bomb Agrabah, the fictional city from the Disney movie Aladdin.
- Not Without My Daughter was a big deal movie to Iranians.
- Sarah Palin endorses Trump.
- A hijabi woman showed up to a Trump rally and people got mad.
- The 2011 Hijabi Flashmob Taz and crew did at the RightOnline conference.
- The movie The Muslims Are Coming is very different now.
- Why Precisely is Bernie Sanders Against Reparations? by Ta-Nehisi Coates in The Atlantic.
- Nikki Haley was under bright lights at State of the Union Address.
- We the BEST because DJ Khaled is on Snapchat and said so. Here's an Old People's Guide to DJ Khaled.
- Dalia Mogahed on The Daily Show talking about the hijab gets our Good Muslim Award for this month.
- Taz's #MuslimVDay Cards were on Buzzfeed!
Awesome crowd at SAAN!
Magic Lamp from Dearborn, MI
The Seige.
We can't believe that it's only been a year since we started the
GoodMuslimBadMuslim podcast - and what a ride it's been! Check out some of
our wonderful media hits from the second half of 2015. Thank you for spreading that #GoodMuslimBadMuslim love! Keep using that hashtag and sending us your questions& topics! And if you are in the media, do hit us up - we'd LOVE to talk to you!
In the aftermath of the #SanBernardino shooting, we've both been thinking and writing. Be sure to check out our pieces:
Tanzila Ahmed in Islamophobia After San Bernardino: Fear Within Muslim Community at Truthout Magazine, Dec 27, 2015. Zahra Noorbakhsh in A Self-Care Guide to Counter Trump Fatigue at Bitch Media, Dec 18, 2015.
“As a host on the show #GoodMuslimBadMuslim, I often get asked the question: What it’s like to be Muslim in today’s political climate? Our monthly podcast has only been out a year, and when interviewed, reporters will often cite a recent Islamophobic hate incident, state what an anomaly it is and make a loose statement of what a coincidence it is that our podcast exists at this time. The truth is over the course of 12 shows, we haven’t been able to go one month without having a hate incident to report on or anti-Muslim micro-aggressions to reflect on. As Muslim Americans, this is a part of our lived experience and if anything, access to social media by this community is only serving to uplift the narratives that had in the past been internalized. ”
“So how do I trump the Trump fatigue? As a writer and a comedian, I feel trapped. Writing about him gives him more attention. Joking about him fuels the naive idea that he’s nothing more than a one-dimensional source of outlandish click-bait entertainment. The truth is, he is far more dangerous than that, and he’s not going away anytime soon. So, how do we take care of ourselves and stay energized in the meantime? ”
The one where Zahra asks Santa Khomeini for presents, Taz explains the origins of the evil Empire, and they cast Muslim Star Wars.
The one where Zahra uses her telepathic powers and Taz finds out the Statue of Liberty is Muslim.
The one where Taz tries dating a White guy and Dartmouth's Millennial Muslims dare Zahra to prove her pepperoni-eating habits. Both women decide that they are smarter than neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
The one where Taz gets her sex education through Barbie dolls and Zahra sends an angry letter full of #MuslimRage & #MuslimCrazy to the internet.
The one where Taz and Zahra meet up in the Big Apple: Zahra becomes an Iranian foreign policy expert because of a joke and Taz declares war on bacon flavored seaweed.
This past week the #GoodMuslimBadMuslim team was on the road for the Muslim Funny Fest in New York City. The festival was great - there were some amazing comedians that had us laughing and cringing. Our very ownZahra did an awesome set on the second day of the festival - and you can check it out right here. Watch, laugh, enjoy! Thanks to the organizers of the event for creating a much needed space.
And stay tuned for our New YorK City podcast which will be uploaded very very soon!
Back in May, Zahra and Taz had an awesome time getting interviewed by John Fugelsang and Frank Conniff for the SirusXM show Tell Me Everything. We weren't able to share the link - so instead, we're going to share the audio directly! Listen to the audio from the show right here - and thanks to the Tell Me Everything team for inviting us on!
We've had an exciting time this summer! And an exciting time with media. Thank you so much to everyone that's been listening to our podcast, sharing it, covering it, and giving us some love. We read all of your emails and tweets, even if we don't respond. We love you, we really do.
Here's a summary of some of our funnest media hits this summer. We love talking to media. So if you are in the media, do hit us up! We would love to talk to you! And to follow the conversation, please be sure to use the hashtag #GoodMuslimBadMuslim!
The one where Taz is mistaken for a Reality TV Star, Zahra refuses to claim she's pregnant, and special guest Saqib gets free KFC. They all skip PE. Ramadan Mubarak!
The one where Taz gets shamed by association while Zahra's entire family gets propositioned (by handshake) in Dubai.
Wow, what an incredible month - we are super excited to have been invited to the All Things Considered Weekend Edition with Arun Rath. We had a great conversation which you can listen to at the audio below and be sure to read the article too (excerpt below!).
The one where Zahra's sexy jokes get her uninvited from a country and Taz is hit on by thirsty guy--or maybe he was just literally thirsty.
The one where Taz gets hit on by a pickup artist and Zahra self-diagnoses as Muslim Crazy.
What will the #GoodMuslimBadMuslim podcast entail? Check out this preview, and then catch the first episode on Monday, January 12!