This week's guest is Mohammed Marikar. We explore the meaning and implications of AI. Mohammed reflects on AI’s rapid evolution from narrow tools to general-purpose systems, while balancing optimism about efficiency with concern for lost human development and resilience. We probe questions of education, faith, parenting, and morality, discussing how AI intersects with character formation, spiritual life, and societal structures. The conversation ultimately highlights both awe at AI’s capabilities and anxiety about dependence, emphasizing the need for grounding in fundamental skills, moral frameworks, and embodied human experiences.

Mohammed is a technologist, investor, and AI leader with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of finance and technology. At the Royal Bank of Canada, he founded the bank’s first Innovation Lab in Europe, deploying its first agentic AI system in 2016, and also ran the bank’s UK academic partnerships, sponsoring PhD research in applied AI at leading universities, including Imperial College London.

On leaving RBC, Mohammed co-founded Neem Capital, an AI-native investment firm that connects global capital with high-impact opportunities in developing markets. He is also Head of Institutional Development at FLock.io, a decentralised AI company pioneering federated learning and privacy-preserving AI, where he helps bridge frontier AI research into institutional and commercial use cases.

In addition to his industry work, Mohammed serves as an Adjunct Fellow at the University of Southampton, where he trains PhD students at the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Sustainability on translating their research into industry applications.

A London native and Mathematics graduate of Imperial College, Mohammed began programming at the age of five and continues to tinker with open-source projects and white-hat hacking. He also sits on the board of The Brokerage, a social mobility charity helping young people access careers in finance and technology.

We’re excited to share a new sponsor: The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University, here in Cincinnati, is dedicated to deepening understanding across faiths and promoting systemic change.

Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

Zaakir Tameez is a scholar of antitrust and constitutional law. A graduate of Yale Law School and the University of Virginia, he has published award-winning scholarship and coauthored amicus briefs before the Texas and United States Supreme Courts. He is a Fulbright Scholar and Humanity in Action Senior Fellow from Houston, Texas.

Zaakir's new book, Charles Sumner: Conscious of a Nation, bridges personal identity and American history. He talks about why a young Muslim guy chose to tell the story of a 19th-century abolitionist and shows how neglected narratives of Reconstruction and civil rights can inspire us today. Woven throughout our conversation are themes of faith, courage, solidarity, and the shared responsibility of all Americans to claim, tell, and act upon their history.

We’re excited to share a new sponsor: The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University, here in Cincinnati, is dedicated to deepening understanding across faiths and promoting systemic change.

Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

John Faherty still cannot believe his good fortune in getting a job at The Mercantile Library. His nightstand is filled with books because he is a slow reader, but he doggedly marches on with his pattern of one challenging book followed by one fun book. John thinks few people are actually worth biography and fewer yet of autobiography. John loves historical fiction and confesses a weakness for well-written crime procedurals. He has a particular affection for everything written by Kate Atkinson. He received a History degree from the University of Chicago in 1987. John lives with his particularly adorable family in Hyde Park.

We talk to him about why he chose to stay in Cincinnati, the library’s history and mission, and how it fosters civic dialogue and cultural life. He also shares personal stories about his faith journey and surviving a pancreas transplant while emphasizing gratitude, empathy, and striving to live a present life in honor of his donor.

We’re excited to share a new sponsor: The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University, here in Cincinnati, is dedicated to deepening understanding across faiths and promoting systemic change.

Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

Dr. Abdallah Rothman is a leader in the field of Islamic psychology and has authored numerous books and academic papers on the subject. He is co-founder, along with the late Professor Malik Badri, of the International Association of Islamic Psychology. He’s currently Head of Islamic Psychology at Cambridge Muslim College and the Founder and Clinical Director of Dar al-Shifaa. Dr. Rothman holds an MA and a PhD in psychology and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Board Certified Registered Art Therapist.

We talk to him about integrating spirituality with psychology, the nature of the soul, raising children with resilience, the value of discomfort and exploration, and how remembering is a key part of spiritual growth.

Show Notes:

• The late Professor Malik Badri helped to reinvigorate a Muslim approach to mental health. Badri is the author of Contemplation: An Islamic Psychospiritual Study (pdf) and Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s Sustenance of the Soul: The Cognitive Behavior Therapy of a Ninth-Century Physician (pdf).
• During the episode, Rothman speaks often of “heartfulness,” a kind of parallel to mindfulness. His YouTube series, Midnight Moments, helps to clarify heartfulness in theory and in practice.
• Understandably, we were very interested in Rothman’s take on parenting in the secular world. His recent lecture, “God-Conscious Parenting,” elaborates many of the themes we discussed.
• You can find more of his content on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

This episode is sponsored by Queen City Diwan, a new kind of travel company, which leads historical tours, immersive experiences, leadership retreats and religious pilgrimages. While this September’s Uzbekistan trip is booked, we’re excited to offer an ‘umrah (Oct 11 - 19), a remarkable tour of Morocco, Spain and Portugal (Nov 21 - 29)—and early next year, a trip to Andalusia just for college students (Jan 3 - 9). Learn more on our website!

Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

Today, we’re doing something a little different. We’re swapping feeds with In Good Faith, a podcast from BYUradio.

In Good Faith seeks to discover how God is working in the world and in our lives. Host Steven Kapp Perry talks with believers from all walks of faith as they share stories and accounts in their own words. The hope is to listen with an open heart, celebrating the power of faith and belief, and what those stories mean to the ones who tell them.

In today’s episode Haroon sits down with Steven to talk about developing young leaders, personal responsibility in religion, the role of love and faith, challenges facing Muslim communities, and Haroon’s own spiritual journey toward a deeper relationship with God.

This episode is sponsored by Queen City Diwan, which leads travel adventures, immersive experiences, leadership retreats and religious pilgrimages.Queen City Diwan is excited to share its fall schedule, including an October ‘umrah in Saudi Arabia, a January trip to Andalucía just for college students—and, over Thanksgiving break, we’re planning an incredible tour across three countries. Learn more on our website. Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

This rich and intimate conversation centers on Peter Block, a long-time organizational development thinker, and his reflections on mortality, loneliness, freedom, and purpose.

Peter Block is an author and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the co-founder of
Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed to build the skills outlined in his books. Peter is part of the Common Good Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and was a member of his local neighborhood council. His books include Activating the Common Good, Confronting Our Freedom, Flawless Consulting, Stewardship, The Answer to How Is Yes, Community, and The Abundant Community.

His work is in the restoration of the common good and creating a world that reclaims our humanity from the onslaught of modernism. Peter’s honors and awards include the Organization Development Network's 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award and its 2004 first-place Members' Choice Award in
recognition of his book Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (1999) as the most influential book for Organizational Development practitioners over the past 40 years. He is the recipient of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Award for Distinguished Contributions and the Association for Quality and Participation President's Award; he has also been named to Training Magazine's HRD Hall of Fame.

Things referenced in episode:

• The Vitality of Death: Essays in Existential Psychology and Philosophy by Peter Koestenbaum
• Vitality of Death (video of conversation between Peter Koestenbaum and Peter Block)

This episode is sponsored by Queen City Diwan, which leads travel adventures, immersive experiences, leadership retreats and religious pilgrimages.Queen City Diwan is excited to share its fall schedule, including an October ‘umrah in Saudi Arabia, a January trip to Andalucía just for college students—and, over Thanksgiving break, we’re planning an incredible tour across three countries. Learn more on our website. Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

Aatish Taseer is the author, most recently, of A Return to Self: Excursions in Exile, as well as the memoir Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey Through Islamic Lands and the acclaimed novels The Way Things Were, a finalist for the 2016 Jan Michalski Prize, The Temple-Goers, short-listed for the Costa First Novel Award, and Noon; and the memoir and travelog The Twice-Born. He is also the translator of a volume of Saadat Hasan Manto’s short stories from Urdu, Manto: Selected Stories. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. He is a Writer at Large for T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Born in England and raised in New Delhi, educated in the US and previously a journalist in the UK, he now lives in New York.

Things referenced in episode:

• During the episode, he speaks about his exile from the India he long considered home. Speficially, Aatish’s Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card was revoked after his 2019 TIME Magazine essay about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew the government’s ire
• Just days ago, Aatish wrote about life after exile for TIME Magazine: “In Exile, I Lost India but Gained a Home”

This episode is sponsored by Queen City Diwan, which leads travel adventures, immersive experiences, leadership retreats and religious pilgrimages.Queen City Diwan is excited to share its fall schedule, including an October ‘umrah in Saudi Arabia, a January trip to Andalucía just for college students—and, over Thanksgiving break, we’re planning an incredible tour across three countries. Learn more on our website. Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

This week’s guest, Steve Brusatte, is a paleontologist and professor at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He grew up in Illinois and has traveled the world studying dinosaurs, naming several new species. He is a keen communicator of science and has written several pop science books. His next book will be on the origin and evolutionary history of birds. He is also the paleontology consultant for the Jurassic World film franchise.

Things Referenced in This Episode:

• Steve Brusatte first came to Haroon’s when he saw, subsequently bought and quickly understood why his The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of Their World became a New York Times bestseller. He even passed it on to some of the kids who swore they read it; based on their subsequent feedback on the Jurassic World movies, though, Haroon can’t say for sure
• Haroon didn’t just stop there. He reached out to Steve via internet; very generously, Steve responded, a conversation commenced, and Haroon and his wife soon stopped to see Steve speak at his alma mater, the University of Chicago’s Sem Co-op, one of the world’s best bookstores. There, a book reading became an active conversation among brilliant scientists
• Steve’s also written The Rise and Reign of Mammals: A New History from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us (hopefully, the title tweak doesn’t jinx humanity) — he’s got an upcoming book about birds, which we’re very excited about.
• If you’ve read Haroon’s Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of a Muslim Future, you’ll know he cites Dr. Brusatte’s work and considers whether dinosaurs could’ve been the first Caliphs (this all has to do with the clear Quranic intimation that, prior to humanity, there may have been other candidates for Caliph, including earlier iterations of humankind. Surprised?)
• Oh, and follow Dr. Brusatte on Twitter!
• Steve’s books contain juicy anecdotes, fascinating expositions, and plenty of graphics and sketches. But for the true dinosaur nerd in your family, or just because not everyone has to have the same coffee table books, may we suggest — and we promise Folio Society is not yet a sponsor — this behemoth?

This episode is sponsored by Queen City Diwan, which leads travel adventures, immersive experiences, leadership retreats and religious pilgrimages.Queen City Diwan is excited to share its fall schedule, including an October ‘umrah in Saudi Arabia, a January trip to Andalucía just for college students—and, over Thanksgiving break, we’re planning an incredible tour across three countries. Learn more on our website. Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.