Yasmin Bendaas
Host, Me & My Muslim FriendsYasmin Bendaas grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in an Iranian-Algerian household, which was less confusing than it could have been. She studied anthropology at Wake Forest University and science & medical journalism at UNC Chapel Hill. The most meaningful work she’s completed has been in Algeria with reporting for AlJazeera, Reuters and the Pulitzer Center. Breaking from straight news, Yasmin now works at ICON as a proposal writer for global clinical trials. She couldn’t have made this podcast without the contributions of the people listed here. You can follow her @yasminbendaas.
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Meet the newest podcast in WUNC's on-demand portfolio: Me & My Muslim Friends. The show explores nuances of identity within Muslim communities across the nation and the world. In this episode, host Yasmin Bendaas discusses a population of Muslims that is underrepresented in mainstream portrayals of Islam — Latinx converts to the faith. | Power the future of public radio with a contribution at wunc.org/give. -
Guests Eiman Ali and Nigel Edwards discuss the Black Muslim experience in this excerpt from the first season, including their experiences of racism within the Muslim community, navigating their layered identities, and the challenges of an interracial marriage. | Hear the full discussion with Eiman and Nigel here. -
In this excerpt from Season 1, guests Farris Barakat and Belal Ali discuss the emotional and personal consequences of wars in Syria and Iraq, their parents’ home countries. | Hear more from Belal and Farris here.
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Guests Kathia Guerrero and Shirley Puente are Mexican and Peruvian converts to Islam. In this excerpt from the first season, we discuss what drew them to the faith, how they maintain their Latina identity with their Muslim identity, and how they discovered a bigger Latinx convert community than they expected. | Hear more from Shirley and Kathia here.
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The recent and devastating attack in Afghanistan by the so-called “Islamic State” killed up to 170 people at the Kabul airport — demonstrating that the battle against branches of the extremist group isn’t over, while both Muslims and non-Muslims remain in their line of fire. In this excerpt from Season 1, Imam Mohamed AbuTaleb of the Islamic Association of Raleigh walks us through Islamic texts as we refute ISIS’s claim to Islamic teachings. Please note: This episode discusses topics like suicide and sexual violence. | Hear more from Imam AbuTaleb here.
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Host Yasmin Bendaas was just a kid in elementary school on September 11, 2001. Yet, the events of that day shaped her childhood experiences into young adulthood. Her friends Lynn Zitawi and Sarah Derris were even younger on 9/11— just toddlers. Their childhoods were also affected, an even stranger experience when you have no recollection of the terror attacks.
