The Name's Moghul, Media Moghul

Introducing our new podcast, Avenue M

Yeah, I started a podcast. And yes, it’s live. And yes, it’s special: A lot of people have asked me, in recent years, how we can improve the narrative. How we can share the insights that need to be broadcast. But instead of trying to reach media, why not build our own? Our first episode is up, on all the major platforms. Our first guest is the incredible Richard Reeves. If you haven’t heard of him, well, now’s your change.

Remember how Democrats were gobsmacked by the so-called manosphere, the shift of male voters to Trump? Well, Richard Reeves has been talking about men, and how we’re failing men, for years now, but without collapsing into partisan politics—which is why my co-host Joey and I sat down with him: We wondered how faith communities could address the gender gaps that’re changing before our very eyes.

How do Muslims and Christians stay true to their faith without falling for stereotypes and cheap talking points? That’s part of what we spoke to Richard about, but hardly all of it. All of that, in turn, was why we started Avenue M: An address for rich, nuanced conversations, which speak to all of us, and each of us, without forcing us to choose between different parts of ourselves. If that sounds good, keep reading!

Really Brief Origin Story

I’ve wanted to start a podcast for a long time. But you don’t just need the right mindset—you need the right team. Avenue M started to come together a few months ago, when I sat down with my good friend Joey Taylor at Torchy’s Tacos (yes actually). We had a great conversation about struggling with faith, parenting, and just life in general, the kind you long for, which is when it hit us.

Maybe we should start a podcast? we wondered. So we did.

Because if we’re asking these questions, plenty of other people are, too. Joey’s produced and hosted a number of great podcasts. I’ve got plenty of experience in media. Between us, we live in all kinds of different spaces, Christian and Muslim, the Midwestern and the global—for example, we’ve both lived around the world, including in the Middle East, for example.

And we both know lots of really interesting people, to whom we’ll address questions that lots of us struggle with—but few of us find opportunities to explore.

Yesterday, Joey and I sat down at Moka & Co and made it official. Our first episode, with Richard Reeves, founding President of the American Institute for Boys and Men, is genuinely wonderful.

It’s what we hoped for when we conceived of Avenue M: conversations about meaning, about manhood, about making the most of life, about middle age.

Avenue M’s Haroon Moghul and Joey Taylor, after each drinking a full pot of Yemeni chai.
Just because we’ve grown older doesn’t mean we’ve grown wiser.

We Have All The Formats

• On our dedicated Substack, you’ll find every episode of Avenue M as soon as it’s released, plus show notes, a transcript, and sneak peaks and bonus features—we have ambitions, people!

What Makes A Man?

Each post will also include links to that week’s episode on all the major formats. Subscribe to stay up-to-date and get each episode as soon as it lands.

• You can also listen in on Apple Podcasts and Spotify…

• Here’s our YouTube channel, where you’ll be able to watch episodes in full, beginning with our first episode:

• We’re on Instagram and launching soon on Facebook, too!

Incidentally, while we’re working on live, in-person events here in Cincinnati and across the Midwest, we’ll commit to releasing episodes weekly, with an incredible lineup already in place, like

Zaakir Tameez, a young man who’s just published an incredible history of a major chapter in the American civil war;

Steve Brusatte, the New York Times-bestselling author who’s a consultant on the Jurassic Park franchise;

And next week, for our second episode, we’ve got Shadi Hamid from Washington Post and the incredible Wisdom of Crowds, discussing faith, his fear and appreciation of hell, whether he’s happy, how much that really matters, and how the war on Gaza changed his view of the world.

These are the kinds of deep, searching exchanges we need… but don’t get enough of. War spreads around the world, anger and misrepresentation, but to what end?

What We Need From You

Listen, please. Or watch. Like and subscribe, if you feel so inclined. It’d mean a lot to us. And give us a rating! That’s how we get noticed.

What Avenue M is… and isn’t

Today’s media landscape is so different from what I knew growing up. Some of that change has been good. Some of that change has been incredibly bad. I’ve become increasingly convinced that my responsibility doesn’t just include speaking up, though that too. Wouldn’t it make more sense to build platforms that give us space to think through our ideas and commitments on our own terms?

Avenue M intends the audaciously ambitious: A podcast that reinvents what it means to have faith-based perspectives on the world—neither inoffensively bland, where belief and belonging are just curiosities, but also not provincial and insular. Where faith is instead realized as just as local and rooted as it is cosmic and universal, where faith is just as confident as it is curious.

But, and I can’t stress this enough, Avenue M is not the Sunday Schooled podcast.

On Avenue M, Joey and I cover lots of ground across even just the episodes we’ve already recorded, like fatherhood, parenting, and the afterlife. My Sunday Schooled subscribers will love Avenue M … but there are differences. Sunday Schooled is primarily for Muslim parents, with an American emphasis; Avenue M focuses on meaning and masculinity, sometimes intersecting with our specific traditions (Joey is Christian; I’m Muslim, of course) but often reaching out for topics that are of universal concern.

Like AI, stand-up comedy… and dinosaurs.

Beyond the Podcast (Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunities)

On Thursday, August 21st, I’ll be speaking about how people of faith will have to change how they teach… at Chautauqua.

In September, I’m leading an incredible tour of Uzbekistan, past, present and future, including a chance to visit the Bukhara Biennal. There’s just a few spots left, and an incredible group of people coming together—here’s more information!

In October, I’m leading Umrah For All, with a fresh perspective on faith even as we explore the heart and soul of our faith. Here’s more information.

In November, I’m leading a different kind of Andalus trip. At its peak, Andalus reached Morocco, Spain, Portugal, and even France and parts of Italy. It seems logical that an Andalus trip should meet that scale and scope, in what will be a very cool and very limited opportunity. If you’d like to learn more, register your interest here.

Then, in January, we’ve got our first-ever trip for Muslim college students, Queen City University. I’m building a remarkable Muslim leadership experience that offers rising young Muslims the chance to not just learn about but learn from our past and present—to build a better future, together. More info coming soon!

I will offer some of these trips again in coming years, God willing, but the itinerary will change every year we hold these trips. As for the college trips — Queen City University — those will happen multiple times a year, but in different locations, with different mentors and different workshops and experiences. These are all, then, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

P.S.

All these pieces and parts are linked by a bigger vision: helping us find our purpose and potential, while connecting with, learning from and growing alongside people who are similarly motivated. At a time when too many people in the world are pulling in the wrong direction, we’re pushing a different kind of vision. But while these projects grow and, inshallah, expand, Sunday Schooled continues!