“Music is a force that brings us all together, wherever you’re from.”

For this ENTIRE holy month of Ramadan, we wanted to hear some music by MUSLIM artists (beyond Dua Lipa, Cat Stevens, AR Rahman, and Zane Mallick) — so we’re bringing back MMusic with longtime FrieMMd of the Pod + our favorite Egyptian American from Cleveland, Seif Hamid, aka the musical artist Soof.

This week we’re listening to HASEEB (featuring REHMA). “Play Love” s a track that covers a theme universal to all music and art — love. The combined R&B / rap sensibilities, merged with cultural - and pop-cultural - references (Superman & Lois Lane, going to mosque) has a great vibe you’ll be bobbing your head to all day.

LEARN ABOUT SEIF / SOOF: Soof.studio // soofworld.bandcamp.com/music

This is a replay of a past episode from April 2022

“Music is a force that brings us all together, wherever you’re from.”

For this ENTIRE holy month of Ramadan, we wanted to hear some music by MUSLIM artists (beyond Dua Lipa, Cat Stevens, AR Rahman, and Zane Mallick) — so we’re bringing back MMusic with longtime FrieMMd of the Pod + our favorite Egyptian American from Cleveland, Seif Hamid, aka the musical artist Soof.

This week we’re listening to "Yallah" by ABIR - a big, pure voice that we don’t hear as often anymore. This track is a catchy pop that blends worlds that you can’t help but listen to and dance (challenge accepted). The headline of the song is about a love, devotion, and hospitality unique to the Arab world - for Arabs and beyond. It’s a proud song that announces that they are here in a big way, and we should be listening.

LEARN ABOUT SEIF / SOOF: Soof.studio // soofworld.bandcamp.com/music

This is a replay of a past episode from April 2022

“Music is a force that brings us all together, wherever you’re from.”

For this ENTIRE holy month of Ramadan, we wanted to hear some music by MUSLIM artists (beyond Dua Lipa, Cat Stevens, AR Rahman, and Zane Mallick) — so we’re bringing back MMusic with longtime FrieMMd of the Pod + our favorite Egyptian American from Cleveland, Seif Hamid, aka the musical artist Soof.

This week we’re listening to one of great MC’s in the game - OMAR OFFENDUM. It's not enough to just call him a musician or an emcee. He's a true poet — incredible with the pen, truly bridging cultures with his deep lyrics (be sure to listen for the “LA” in the rhyme scheme of the last verse)

LEARN ABOUT SEIF / SOOF: Soof.studio // soofworld.bandcamp.com/music

This is a replay of a past episode from April 2022

“Music is a force that brings us all together, wherever you’re from.”

For this ENTIRE holy month of Ramadan, we wanted to hear some music by MUSLIM artists (beyond Dua Lipa, Cat Stevens, AR Rahman, and Zane Mallick) — so we’re bringing back MMusic with longtime FrieMMd of the Pod + our favorite Egyptian American from Cleveland, Seif Hamid, aka the musical artist Soof.

This week we’re listening to the one and only beautiful, soulful voice of DANIA — an unexpected, classy, old school vibe from a modern R&B artist.

LEARN ABOUT SEIF / SOOF: Soof.studio // soofworld.bandcamp.com/music

This is a replay of a past episode from April 2022

"It's about sacrifice. It's about spirituality. It's about getting closer to God.” “Ramadan is a time to better yourself — a new beginning for many things.”

This is a replay of a past episode from April 2022

Ramadan Mubarak (رمضان مبارك)! Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by 1.8 BILLION Muslims worldwide. It is ~30 days of fasting, prayer, reflection and community — lasting from one crescent moon to the next. And as beautiful a culture and religion as Islam is, we know far too little about it, nor what Ramadan really means for its people. For this holy month of Ramadan we wanted to go deeper on one of the biggest holidays in the world. So we decided to fire up the Rabat-signal to get a little help from our FrieMMds — past guests Seif Hamid, our favorite Egyptian American musician by way of Cleveland (Soof!), and Lena Shareef, our favorite Pakistani American comics podcaster (Grounded Geeks). We asked them everything from how they celebrated as Ramadan as kids in the midwest and back in their respective motherlands of Egypt and Pakistan, what fasting means for them, Ramadan’s role in the culture, and even learned what all of us can do to celebrate Ramadan.

LEARN ABOUT SEIF / SOOF

• MUSIC: Soof.studio

• instagram.com/seifaldin

LEARN ABOUT LENA:

• PODCAST: anchor.fm/grounded-geeks

• instagram.com/lenashareef/

RESOURCES / MENTIONS:

• Ramadan 101: wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan

• Designing for Ramadan - https://www.gouldstudio.com/insights/designing-for-ramadan

• Accommodating Muslim colleagues during Ramadan: instagram.com/p/CbXkP9BrCBx

• TV: We are Lady Parts - imdb.com/title/tt10846104

• TV: Rami - imdb.com/title/tt7649694

• BOOK: It's Ramadan, Curious George - goodreads.com/en/book/show/25897838

“The first step of climbing out is admitting we're in it....”

For 2026, we continue sharing minority voices for all of our majority ears — and one of those is longtime FrieMMd of the Pod, Bob Gilbreath - and some great perspective to take into what looks to be another daunting year - depending on how we choose to look at it.

Bob’s weekly newsletter and podcast, “the Workaround” are some of our favorite things to read each week - and this post is no exception. While it starts dark, it's actually really an uplifting call to action we all need to hear right now. One thing I love about Bob is his willingness to go down rabbit holes and thought experiments, but also just a kind and curious person open to a conversation. In fact, if you like what you hear, definitely subscribe to the Workaround’s substack or podcast, and reach out to Bob directly to book time for a chat during his “office hours” where he’s always down for a chat.

LEARN FROM BOB:

• SUBSTACK / NEWSLETTER: theworkaround.substack.com/
• PODCAST: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-workaround-by-bob-gilbreath-podcast/id1738687465
• OFFICE HOURS: calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours

• 
  

“Minority voices for all our majority ears...”

As another eventful year comes to a close, we recap some favorite voices shared by our many FrieMMds of the Pod in 2025 — so grab a tasty beverage, share with a friend, and enjoy!

Featuring the voices of Zohran Mamdani, Vidyut Latay, Varuna Srinivasan, Michael Wong, David Yin, Susie Quesada, Vaibhav, Lisa Angulo Reid, Nicole Ponseca, Suresh Raj, Keith Pedro, Jonathan Hill, Ainsley Waller, Josh Ridenour, Lydia Querian, Brian Velasquez Reid, Bob Gilbreath, Kay Sohini, Ayan Sanyal, Maurice Cherry, Karl Preissner, Stefan K. James, Paresh Jha, Maggie Silver, Loren Appin, Fahad Kawaja, Everette Taylor, Jieun Kim, and Sharon Lee Thony!

Special thanks to guest-host Lisa Angulo Reid and producer Alexandre Hirlinger without whom keeping the pod alive in 2025 could not have been possible!

“We need some sort of framework to say what is okay and what is not okay — and we need to revisit this when the technology changes..”

The more we read, the clearer it gets — it’s just another AI-pocalypse in the making. First its replacing the means of production, then its hallucinations no one can explain. People keep saying we’ll get it under control… but we all know how that story ends. Inevitably the giant machines show up, humanity freaks out, and Judgment Day arrives — right on schedule.

But what about what comes after? The silence, the guilt, the unfinished reparations. That’s the world of DESCENDER, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s haunting watercolor sci-fi graphic novel epic about creation, empathy, and fear — and its sequel ASCENDER, where the age of machines gives way to something older, stranger, and far more magical. Longtime FrieMMds of the Pod Paresh and Jieun — two bastions of humanity (and comics nerdery) — rejoin to unpack this meditation on the robot apocalypse and magical redemption of love, loss, and what it really means to be human. Also we solve the current AI problem. You’re welcome.

LEARN MORE

• DESCENDER ⁠goodreads.com/series/150905-descender⁠
• ASCENDER: ⁠goodreads.com/series/258771-ascender⁠
• ⁠variety.com/2020/tv/news/descender-ascender-jeff-lemire-dustin-nguyen-nbcuniversal-1234635716/⁠

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