Episode 1: 9/11

Host Shahjehan Khan acquaints us with his family—a fivesome in a predominantly white suburb of Boston by way of Pakistan—and his conflicted identity. Despite his name literally meaning “king of the world,” young Shahjehan feels increasingly powerless. We learn three of his favorite things: a shiny red Fender Strat, weed, and figure skating. September 11th, 2001, starts out like any other school day, then the first plane hits the World Trade Center at the end of first-period calculus. The attacks continue to unfold as teachers frantically try to access the internet and reassure students, when they themselves are anything but. Direct ties to his community, extended family, and Logan Airport are discovered, and we review everything the nation knew by that evening. The association between Islam and terrorism indelibly solidifies, and Shahjehan experiences the single most defining moment of his young adult life—an indication of the forthcoming massive impacts for American Muslims.

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Episode 2: Terrifying Wars

The United States initiates the War on Terror in response to 9/11, starting with Afghanistan and then moving seamlessly into Iraq, despite the disconnect. Historian Dr. Huma Gupta helps us understand Afghanistan’s relationship with the U.S. pre-9/11 and its history of being a World Power staging ground. We meet Bashir Ahmad, who shares his experience joining the National Guard after being kicked out of college for smoking weed a few days before the attacks. The concept of identity is broken down by Rania Mustafa, including the conflicted, parallel, and integrated forms, and we look back at why Shahjehan and many American Muslims constantly found themselves grappling with the former at this time. Arriving at college—as his mother weeps—only perpetuates Shahjehan’s highs and lowest low, and he makes a nearly fatal decision one night. The Khan family tells us about participating in a peaceful, nearly million-strong anti-war protest in New York City, leading to a disturbing reveal from Noona. We review the costs of the still-current War on Terror—in dollars spent, millions displaced, and hundreds of thousands of lives lost.

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Episode 3: Islamophobia

Shahjehan introduces us to two American Muslims profiled after 9/11 in very different ways: one’s arrival in his “dream country” nearly costs him his life as the other’s family trip becomes an interrogation. Everyone seems to be on high Muslim alert, and the American Muslim community comes out in droves to publicly denounce any and all terrorist or suspected terrorist activity by anyone Muslim or seemingly Muslim, anywhere. Islamophobia is formally defined. The passing of the PATRIOT Act allows for state-sponsored bad actors and we hear disturbing stats about those targeted, despite the riskier stats on right-wing extremists. Shahjehan tries college on yet again—still high—and goes on the defensive. Listeners get a little history lesson [spoiler: Black American Muslims helped build this country]. Saj and Noorj discuss names, specifically the whitewashing of badass immigrant names and the implications that can have.

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Episode 4: They Way They Saw Us - Muslims and the Media

Shahjehan and guests walk us through the history of Brown representation in Hollywood, politics, and American pop culture. From swarthy villains and caricatures with funny accents to slightly more nuanced and uncensored depictions in the early 2000s, Muslim actors move beyond making their bread by portraying terrorists as Muslim politicians and musicians start appearing on the scene. The highly uncensored Kominas cause a stir as they claim a space for Brown kids while simultaneously being reduced to a Muslim punk antidote to the otherwise backwards Muslim world in the media. Shahjehan begins to find his voice as he channels his disquiet into his own creative journey, but will it last?

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Episode 5: Watch Us, Listen to Us - Surveillance

It’s 2008 and Shahjehan has just booked a one-way ticket to Pakistan. He moves in with his best friend and Kominas bandmate in Lahore, where new musical and social highs are interwoven with drug relapses, encounters at gunpoint, and Al-Faida conspiracy theorists. News from his hometown mosque in Wayland reveals that a childhood friend has been convicted of terrorist activities, which brings to question government-orchestrated spying and just whom the First Amendment applies to. The Muslim Justice League’s Amira Al-Subaey and real-life victim Asad Dandia break down the Obama-era Countering Violent Extremism program, based on a since-debunked radicalization theory, which in reality counters little except faith in our leaders and one’s neighbors. This post-9/11 period of more anti-nationalist criticism, regular airport profiling, and legitimized discrimination only seems to be dividing communities and making Americans less safe.

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Episode 6: Recovery, Rebirth, and Resilience: Trump USA

Shahjehan takes us along on The Kominas international tour, where a career pinnacle at the BBC coincides with a critical relapse into substance abuse. The consequences are dire but lead to a sincere shot at recovery with a lovable sponsor. After the Boston Marathon bombing and targeted expletives cast from a carful of dude bros, Shahjehan speaks out, this time without the cover of the band. Islamic law expert Sumbul Ali-Karamali walks us through the definition of sharia and the multimillion-dollar Islamophobia Network that appeared around that time. The band reunites at the same time Trump’s campaign to ban Muslims, build walls, and grab p*#@!^$ gains ground. In the ultimate juxtaposition, Trump comes to town and holds a rally in the exact arena where, just one year prior, Bill Nye the Science Guy was delivering Shahjehan’s commencement speech to hopeful do-gooders. In a move we still don’t understand, Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States, as lawyers, artists, friends, and covert disrupters join us to talk about how they fought back.

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Episode 7: The Improbable Now—Mental Health, Wellness, Wholeness

Shahjehan starts touring the East Coast as an actor in a troupe for people in long-term recovery, and meets an unanticipated fan. We wrap up the “anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, racial, racist, white supremacist kind of mindset” that took hold during Trump’s presidency and its trickle-down effects, while also examining its function as a catalyst for the uptick in activism, improved representation, more diverse pop culture, and the ever-growing Muslim voice.

We speak with American Muslim elected officials, actresses, founders, and of course, Amma and Agha, as we come full-circle to just exactly what Shahjehan’s people have done. A psychiatrist weighs in on the trauma of 9/11 for her Muslim American patients, as the interview diverges into a bit of a therapy session for Shahjehan, and for us.

We revisit The Kominas, the Khans, Acton-Boxborough, adult relationships, the state of Shahjehan’s mental health, and look ahead to the future of this community.

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