Books do more than tell stories. They help shape how children understand themselves and the world around them. For generations, many Muslim children grew up without ever seeing their lives, families, or communities reflected in the books they read. Today, as more diverse stories have found their way onto library shelves and classroom reading lists, those same books are increasingly becoming the target of bans and challenges across the country.

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, award-winning children's author and former ISPU board member Hena Khan reflects on growing up as a Pakistani American Muslim without seeing herself represented in books, and how that experience inspired her to create stories that help young readers feel seen, understood, and valued.

Hena shares her personal experience with book bans, the role stories play in fostering empathy and belonging, and why she remains hopeful despite the challenges facing authors, educators, and readers today. At a time when debates over books are unfolding in communities across the country, this conversation asks an important question: What happens when the stories created to help children feel seen become the target of book bans?

When we asked our team a simple question — what’s one ISPU data point that has stayed with you — we expected a range of answers.

Instead, a clear pattern emerged.

Across data on civic engagement, discrimination, and persistent stereotypes, one throughline connected them all: the gap between how American Muslims show up and how they are still perceived.

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, we hear from ISPU Executive Director Tuqa Nusairat, Director of Research Dr. Saher Selod, and Senior Research Project Manager Erum Ikramullah as they reflect on the data points that stayed with them most.

Together, their insights reveal a larger story — one of a community that continues to participate, engage, and invest in society, even as bias and misperceptions persist. From rising voter registration, to unchanged levels of discrimination, to deeply embedded stereotypes about Muslim women, this episode connects the dots between participation, perception, and the narratives in between.

At first, the connection feels surprising. But as the data unfolds, it becomes clear: this is a pattern we’ve been seeing all along.

Entertainment media portrayals don’t just shape culture—they shape policy. For decades, Muslims in film and television have often been depicted through narrow and harmful stereotypes. New research from ISPU shows those portrayals have measurable consequences, influencing public attitudes toward Muslims and shaping support for policies that restrict civil liberties for everyone.

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, Dr. Sohad Murrar, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago and ISPU expert scholar, and Dr. Saher Selod, ISPU Director of Research, unpack ISPU’s report Stereotypes on Screen. Together, they examine how entertainment media fuels perceptions of threat, increases support for surveillance and anti-democratic policies, and reinforces the institutionalization of Islamophobia.

But this story is not just about negative portrayals. Sohad and Saher also explore how complex, human portrayals of Muslims can reduce prejudice, shift attitudes, and strengthen the democratic values that affect us all. At a time when endorsement and upholding of civil liberties feel increasingly fragile, this conversation asks a crucial question: if entertainment media can help construct fear, can it also help rebuild trust?

Communities can grow up together and still miss key pieces of each other’s stories. For Black Christians and Muslims, familiarity doesn’t always translate into understanding. In this episode of Deep Dives, Muslim Wellness Foundation Founder and President Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera joins Youth Pastor Candace Simpson of Quinn Chapel AME and ISPU’s Senior Outreach and Partnerships Manager Petra Alsoofy to explore the stories, assumptions, and lived experiences shaping interfaith relationships.

You’ll hear how proximity can still leave room for misunderstanding, how history and structural forces influence the way communities relate, and how combining data with storytelling can create space for honest, courageous conversations.

The American Muslim story is constantly evolving — and ISPU’s American Muslim Poll has been tracking it for nearly a decade. In this episode of Deep Dives, ISPU’s Director of Research and report co-author Saher Selod, PhD, joins Executive Director Tuqa Nusairat to unpack key findings from the 2025 American Muslim Poll.

You’ll hear how Muslim voters showed up in the 2024 election, what the data reveals about civic engagement and rising Islamophobia, and how researchers, policymakers, and journalists can use these insights to build a more accurate and equitable understanding of Muslim communities in America.

ISPU’s research Access to Healthcare Among Arab and South Asian Muslims in Southeast Michigan: A Systems Approach offers a model for using a community-based systems approach to understand and address the barriers Muslim communities face in accessing care.

On this episode of Deep Dives, Madiha Tariq, Deputy County Executive of Oakland County, MI, and Megan Collado, Senior Director at AcademyHealth, explore how local, people-first solutions can transform healthcare systems. You’ll hear how Oakland County is connecting hospitals, nonprofits, and community partners to address the whole person, and how hyper-local insights can inform national policy to create lasting change.

Islamophobia doesn’t just harm Muslims–it endangers everyone. In the years since 9/11, policies driven by anti-Muslim sentiment have expanded government surveillance, empowered immigration enforcement, and undermined civil liberties across the board.

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, Tuqa Nusairat, ISPU Executive Director and Saher Selod, PhD, ISPU Director of Research unpack how Islamophobia has reshaped American institutions, and how its continued presence and recent escalation pose a fundamental threat to our democracy today. But there’s also hope: Tuqa and Saher explore how communities can organize across lines of difference and strategies they will use to push back against rising authoritarianism.

In the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, American Muslim voters in swing states received unprecedented attention from mainstream media and policymakers. With concerns about the U.S. role in Gaza at the forefront, American Muslims significantly increased their civic engagement—mobilizing politically, forming coalitions, and shifting their support in ways that had the potential to reshape the electoral landscape.

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, Imam Mika’il Stewart Saadiq (Imam, Muslim Center of Detroit), Linda Sarsour (Executive Director, Mpower Change), Dr. Yousseff Chouhoud (ISPU Scholar & Associate Professor, Christopher Newport University), and Salman Khan (PhD Candidate, Harvard University & Co-Founder, Muslim Campus Life) explore key questions: What lessons can be drawn from both coalition-building and the fragmentation of the Muslim vote? How can Muslims and other minority communities prepare for an incoming Trump administration? And can the student protest movement help mobilize a new generation of Muslim voters?