M Train: Redefining Sex & Coming Out Muslim

See Something Say Something

Ahmed Ali Akbar

Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 550 Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2020

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome aboard the M Train! A new six-part miniseries from See Something, Say Something and BRIC Radio– a Brooklyn-based audio network that amplifies community with podcasts ranging from LGBTQ stories and radio plays to a monthly audiovisual magazine celebrating our beloved #Brooklyn.

Each of the six episodes of M-Train focuses on New York City metro area and the stories of American Muslims that can be found on and off the subway.

Our debut focuses on the work of two sex educators redefining the place of sex and intimacy in Islam.

For our first stop, we head to Brooklyn to speak to Sid Azmi about her journey from radiation therapy to business woman and sex educator, running a "educated pleasure shop" in Park Slope..

Here's where to find it, in case you want to visit: https://www.pleasenyc.com/

Then, we speak to Wazina Zondon about navigating queerness, sex, and Islam. Wazina is a sex-ed teacher and co-creator of the storytelling performance Coming Out Muslim: Radical Acts of love. Check it out here https://comingoutmuslim.com and follow her @wazinazondon. If you have any questions, going through a hard time, and just want to talk to someone, get in touch with http://www.muslimalliance.org/ and remember these wise words from Wazina: "You're fine. You're great. You're normal. No version of your Islam is wrong, nor is any version of your sexual identity. You don't have to apologize or fix or adapt to somebody else's version. Just be patient with the people around you." <3

Follow Ahmed on twitter @radbrowndads.

Follow our producer Shirin @Shebe86.

Follow our editor Myra @MBasilRahim, and follow our Executive Producer Sachar Mathias @sacharmathias.

Follow SSSS on Twitter and Facebook @seesomething.

Follow BRIC Radio on Twitter @BRICRadio and BRIC TV @BRICTV

This miniseries was made with the generous help of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts Building Bridges Program. You can learn about their mission here: https://www.ddcf.org/what-we-fund/building-bridges/

This episode featured music composed by Myra Al-Rahim and from Freesound.

For more information on this and all BRIC Radio podcasts, visit www.bricartsmedia.org/radio.

SSSS is on Patreon. Find us at patreon.com/ahmedaliakbar. Thanks to our patrons for supporting the show.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey everyone, I'm Amid al-Yy Akbar, and this is M-Train, the long-awaiteded six-part miniseries from
0:12.9	See Something, Say Something, and Brick Radio. The series focuses on New York City and features
0:18.4	Muslim stories from around the metro area.
0:27.5	This week we'll be visiting two Brooklyn-based sex educators engaging in boundary-pushing work on pleasure, intimacy, and sexuality.
0:37.4	Ladies and gentlemen, this is an important message from the New York City Police Department.
0:38.3	If you see a suspicious package or activity on the platform or train, do not keep it to yourself.
0:44.3	And clear the closing doors, please.
0:52.3	But first, let's take a moment to discuss the series.
0:55.0	Obviously, see something, say something, has always focused on American Muslims, and New York
0:59.0	is an iconic place for the American Muslim Amad.
1:02.5	There are tons of American Muslim landmarks in the city, from halal guys to Malcolm X's
1:07.0	Mosque to, you know, IHop.
1:10.0	But we wanted to tell stories of the people making up New York City's Muslim communities right now. Those who are pushing the boundaries with stories that often go unrecognized as Muslim. Each of our six episodes will take you to different locations along the transit system. It'll be quirky and fun and things that can only happen in New York City. The mini-series is made with
1:28.4	the support of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts Building Bridges Program and co-produced by
1:33.0	Brick Radio, a Brooklyn-based audio network that amplifies community. By the way, there's also some
1:38.7	video elements to M-Train. You can watch some video clips from our episodes at YouTube.com slash
1:43.6	brick TV, and I'll share them on the See Something socials. Throughout this process, my series co-pilot has been Shireen Barri. She's a senior producer at Brick TV. In this episode, Shereen and I are going to go speak to two sex educators, as I mentioned. First, we're heading to Please, an educated pleasure shop in Brooklyn, to speak with Sid Asmi,
2:01.4	the owner and founder of the shop, and then we speak with Wazina Zondin, who co-curates the storytelling
2:06.3	series Coming Out Muslim, radical acts of love, which centers queer voices.
2:13.5	But before we head to sit and please, Shireen and I discussed our attitudes towards sex and sex shops growing up in Persian and Pakistani households before we went.
2:22.3	Before we move on, just in case it's not obvious, this episode will be talking about sex a lot.
2:32.3	Hey Shireen, so before this episode, had you ever been inside a sex shop?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ahmed Ali Akbar, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ahmed Ali Akbar and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.