Shows
Mostly Lit#5 No Plot, Just Vibes!This week, the trio discusses James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room discussing the different ways that the book made them feel and whether the book was his best work, or whether it's the book to start with when reading Baldwin. Also: What is the culture of Black British fiction nowadays?Do all books need a plot? Books this week:Kei Miller - Things I Have WithheldKei Miller - August Town Hazel Hayes - Out of Love Rachel Cusk - Parade Hit us...
2024-06-201h 19
The Unapologetically Black PodcastBreak all the rules, don’t listen to men & enjoy yourself with Raifa RafiqJoin the girls and Raifa Rafiq from the Mostly Lit podcast to discuss what it means to be a black Muslim woman, therapy, dating and diversity in literature.Raifa Rafiq is a multi award winning podcaster. She is currently host and producer of an arts podcast called This Thing Changed My Life. Raifa is a solicitor at one of the leading international law firms in the US. She has appeared at Literature Festivals, BBC radio, hosted The Cultural Frontline - a BBC World Service podcast and interviewed authors for BBC Sunday Morning Live, Waterstones and more. She is...
2021-01-141h 01
Dope Black WomenBreak all the rules, don’t listen to men & enjoy yourself with Raifa RafiqJoin the girls and Raifa Rafiq from the Mostly Lit podcast to discuss what it means to be a black Muslim woman, therapy, dating and diversity in literature.
Raifa Rafiq is a multi award winning podcaster. She is currently host and producer of an arts podcast called This Thing Changed My Life. Raifa is a solicitor at one of the leading international law firms in the US. She has appeared at Literature Festivals, BBC radio, hosted The Cultural Frontline - a BBC World Service podcast and interviewed authors for BBC Sunday Morning Live, Waterstones and more. She is...
2021-01-141h 01
This Thing Changed My LifeOnce More Into the Heartbreak Fray ft Caleb FemiOn this episode of This Thing Changed My Life, Rai is joined by poet and director Caleb Femi. They discuss literature, blackness, heartbreak, his debut poetry collection, POOR and the things that have changed his life including James Baldwin’s Another Country and Frank Ocean’s Nostalgia Ultra.
Books:
This is how you lose her - Junot Diaz
Guillotine: Poems - Eduardo C. Corral,
Giovanni’s Room - James Baldwin
Just Us: An American Conversation - Claudia Rankine
Poor is out now!
2020-12-0100 minThis Thing Changed My LifeGet Up, Stand Up ft Alex WheatleIn this episode I sit with Alex Wheatle to talk about the things that changed his life and his latest YA novel, Cane Warriors.
We talk artistic activism in music and writing, Bob Marley, C.L.R James's The Black Jacobins, rebellious art, cycles of revolution and Steve McQueen’s Small Acts!
2020-10-2600 minThis Thing Changed My LifeToni Morrison Gives Me The Meat Sweats ft Sareeta DomingoOn this weeks episode, we find out what changed Author Sareeta Domingo's life. We also discuss her new romantic novel, IF I DON'T HAVE YOU!
Boy Parts – Eliza Clark
Prince
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Love Jones
2020-09-2858 min
The Spark ParadeStories Of Black Womanhood: An American Marriage and Girl, Woman, OtherThis week, I had the pleasure of speaking with award-winning lawyer, podcaster and creative Raifa Rafiq about two novels written by black women: Tayari Jones' An American Marriage and Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other. We dig into the heavier themes of both novels (racism in policing, racial profiling, grief, homophobia) and also luxuriate in the joy of reading stories about black love, both romantic and platonic.Raifa RafiqTayari JonesBernardine EvaristoThis Thing Changed My Life Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: h...
2020-09-0940 minThis Thing Changed My LifeLiterary Orgasms and W.B Yeats ft Rachel LongOn this weeks episode Rai speaks to poet Rachel Long on her debut poetry collection - My Darling from the Lions.
To Kill a Mockingbird, W.B Yeats and Elaine Castillo also make the discussion on this weeks poetry bonanza.
2020-09-0759 minThis Thing Changed My LifeTalk Less, Do More ft Abraham AdeyemiBack with another Pre-Covid Conversation with Abe (The Legend) - an award winning writer and director who won Best Narrative short at Tribeca 2020 and Founder of Creative Blue Balls.
We talk Kanye West, The Matrix, his favourite bible verses, his journey as a writer and accidental director. Catch a wonderful moment with Abe announcing that his short film, No More Wings, has been selected to world premier at Tribeca Film Festival (before going on to win of course).
Catch Abraham on @AbeIsLegend on socials!
2020-08-241h 16This Thing Changed My LifeIt's Two Black Muslim WomenIt's two black muslim women on a pod for this weeks episode as we are joined by the phenomenal Yassmin Abdel-magied! We discuss the interesting text that changed her life, her novel You Must Be Layla, being a black muslim woman and life relections.
2020-08-031h 16
The Cultural FrontlineRoxane Gay: Writing the personal and politicalThis week we’re celebrating writing from some of the world’s leading Black writers. The novelist, essayist and cultural commentator Roxane Gay on the political and personal power of writing. Roxane reflects on the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, cancel culture and how publishing needs to change to become an industry that celebrates all voices.We hear from two short story writers each offering us a glimpse of very different sides of Africa. Tanzanian author Erica Sugo Anyadike charts the rise to power of an African President’s wife while Namibian writer Rémy N...
2020-07-1826 minThis Thing Changed My LifeWhen Did YOU First See Yourself In A Book, Karen ft Aimee FeloneOn this week’s episode we have another pre-covid conversation with Publisher Aimee Felone. We talk the book and music that changed her life, the internal eczema and itch of possibility with going after your dreams. We talk Yoga, being Black in books, KnightsOf, Jason Reynolds, Surviving or Thriving?
Make sure you subscribe, rate and review!
Instagram: @ThisThingChangedMyLife
2020-07-131h 24This Thing Changed My LifeSuch A Fun Chat ft Kiley ReidThis week, Rai has a pre-covid conversation with American novelist Kiley Reid. They talk her debut novel, Such a Fun Age, friendship and social mobility.
Such a Fun Age follows the lives of Emira, a 25-year-old typist and babysitter who looks after Alix’s two-year-old daughter, Briar.
Twitter: @ThisThingPod
Instagram: @ThisThingChangedMyLife
2020-06-2940 minThis Thing Changed My LifeFreedom Is A Constant Struggle ft Tolu Ojo-Williams#BlackLivesmatter
In this weeks episode Rai sits with Lawyer - Tolu - and discuss a text that has changed their lives - Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis, The Abolition of Prisons, Defunding the Police and the state of racial discrimination around the world amidst the backdrop of a pandemic.
Instagram - @thisthingchangedmylife
Twitter - @thisthingpod
2020-06-231h 38This Thing Changed My LifeDear God, Grant Me Wings ft Inua EllamsOur inaugural pre-covid19 episode sees Rai joined by the incredibly talented Inua Ellams, where we talk Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, Theatre, Saul Williams and more. There's a whole load of art in this one.
Make sure to follow us on socials, subscribe to the podcast and join the conversation:
instagram - @thisthingchangedmylife
twitter - @thisthingpod
2020-06-151h 17
This Thing Changed My LifeThe TrailerWelcome to This Thing Changed My life. An arts and pop culture podcast where writers, creators and heroes share the artistic mediums that have changed their lives. Hosted by the multi-award winning Podcaster - Raifa Rafiq.
2020-05-1002 min
Show & TellShow and Tell #2 - Inspiring Mini Talks at QMUL - Nasta / Howes / Rafiq / Shapiro / EdmundsonShow and Tell is a series of TED-talk style events where speakers from the arts, humanities and creative industries tell their stories at Queen Mary University of London. Find out more: bit.ly/showandtellqm. This episode features Wasafiri magazine editor Susheila Nasta, Medieval broadcaster Hetta Howes, podcaster Raifa Rafiq, researcher Emma Shapiro and puppeteer Edie Edmundson. Full biogs below.
The show is introduced by Beverley Stewart and hosted by Charlie Pullen from the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary.
Charlie Pullen
Charlie Pullen is a PhD...
2020-03-011h 15
Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize Podcast#ReadingWomen: SiblingsIn this episode Zing Tsjeng is joined by chef, bestselling cookbook author and sustainability champion Melissa Hemsley, radio producer, podcast host and writer Joe Haddow and creator and co-host of the Mostly Lit podcast, Raifa Rafiq.
The theme of today's #ReadingWomen book club is siblings. The panel discuss three books that, in various ways, have brothers and sisters at their heart. They are A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore, the Prize's very first winner back in 1996, May We Be Forgiven by A. M. Homes which won in 2013, and The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney, 2016's w...
2020-02-1248 min
@MyCityPodcast#MyCityPodcast: 037 - I'd raise my kids to be both Christian and Muslim!In this episode we are joined by Raifa Rafiq - Lawyer, Author and Podcaster at “Mostly Lit”. With the rising prevalence of interfaith dating, attributed to the cosmopolitan nature of our society, we analyse the realities of coupling across a religious divide.
Topics of discussion include:
* Purposes of dating
* Pros and cons of interfaith dating
* Our opinions and experiences
* Stigmas of being a black Muslim Woman
* Struggles with faith
* Solutions
2019-09-271h 15
The Film ProgrammeWhere to Begin With... Pedro AlmodovarWith Raifa RafiqRaifa Rafiq, of the Mostly Lit podcast, hosts three summer specials called Where To Begin With...In the third edition, she enlists the help of critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Tim Robey to find out where she should begin with the films of Pedro Almodovar, whose autobiographical drama Pain And Glory is released this month.
2019-08-2227 minThe Film ProgrammeWhere to Begin With... Tilda SwintonWith Raifa Rafiq.In a series of three summer specials, Raifa Rafiq, from the Mostly Lit podcast, hosts a new series called Where To Begin With...In part two, she enlists the help of critics Tim Robey and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh to find out where she should begin with the films of Tilda Swinton, who is about to star with her daughter Honor in The Souvenir, released in cinemas later this month. They discuss Tilda Swinton's collaborations with Derek Jarman and Luca Guadagnino, her Oscar winning role in Michael Clayton, and her gender-switching performance...
2019-08-1527 minThe Film ProgrammeWhere to Begin With... Quentin TarantinoRaifa Rafiq, of the Mostly Lit podcast, hosts three summer specials called Where To Begin With...In the first edition, she enlists the help of critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Tim Robey to find out where she should begin with the films of Quentin Tarantino.
2019-08-0827 min
Mostly LitYou Got Served!: Spring Reads, London Buses and DracrysWelcome to Mostly Lit!-This week we discuss our Spring Reads, ask whether corporations can support writers and artists new publishing companies like De Montfort Literature, and we dissect the first two episodes of Game of \thrones. We also challenge Rai to some pop culture quizzes in the Re-Education of Ms Raifa Rafiq.-Books:The 392 - Ashley Hickson-LovenceThink Like A White Man - Nels AbbeyThe Art of Not Falling Apart - Christina PattersonDon't Touch...
2019-04-292h 07
Mostly LitMinisode: Not Just A Black, Muslim Woman by Raifa Rafiq for It's Not About The BurqaWelcome to Mostly Lit!-This minisode is in dedication of It's Not About The Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race, edited by Miriam Khan with an exclusive listen to the essay Not Just A Black Muslim Woman, by Mostly Lit co-host - Raifa Rafiq.-Buy It's Not About The Burqa here.Use Instagram and Twitter with your thoughts on the essays and the book!-When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman...
2019-04-0809 min
Ignite The Full Audiobook Everyone Is Talking About — So Inspiring!It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race by Mariam KhanPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/364998to listen full audiobooks.
Title: It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race
Author: Mariam Khan
Narrator: Saima Mir, Malia Bouattia, Salma El-Wardany, Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Magied, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Afshan D'souza-Lodhi, Salma Haidrani, Sufiya Ahmed, Amna Saleem, Raifa Rafiq, Nafisa Bakkar, Jamilla Hekmoun, Mariam Khan, Coco Khan, Maya Saroya, Mona Eltahawy
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 6 hours 33 minutes
Release date: February 21, 2019
Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 5
Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 2
Genres: Essays & Anthologies
Publisher's Summary:
When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself...
2019-02-216h 33Get Lost In This Life-Enhancing Full Audiobook — Perfect This Weekend.It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race by Mariam KhanPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/364998to listen full audiobooks.
Title: It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race
Author: Mariam Khan
Narrator: Saima Mir, Malia Bouattia, Salma El-Wardany, Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Magied, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Afshan D'souza-Lodhi, Salma Haidrani, Sufiya Ahmed, Amna Saleem, Raifa Rafiq, Nafisa Bakkar, Jamilla Hekmoun, Mariam Khan, Coco Khan, Maya Saroya, Mona Eltahawy
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 6 hours 33 minutes
Release date: February 21, 2019
Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 5
Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 2
Genres: Social Science
Publisher's Summary:
When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself...
2019-02-216h 33Listen to New Full Audiobooks in Literature, Essays & AnthologiesIt's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race by Mariam KhanPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/364998to listen full audiobooks.
Title: It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race
Author: Mariam Khan
Narrator: Saima Mir, Malia Bouattia, Salma El-Wardany, Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Magied, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Afshan D'souza-Lodhi, Salma Haidrani, Sufiya Ahmed, Amna Saleem, Raifa Rafiq, Nafisa Bakkar, Jamilla Hekmoun, Mariam Khan, Coco Khan, Maya Saroya, Mona Eltahawy
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 6 hours 33 minutes
Release date: February 21, 2019
Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 5
Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 2
Genres: Essays & Anthologies
Publisher's Summary:
When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself...
2019-02-216h 33Listen to the Best Full Audiobooks in Non-Fiction, Social ScienceIt's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race by Mariam KhanPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/364998to listen full audiobooks.
Title: It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race
Author: Mariam Khan
Narrator: Saima Mir, Malia Bouattia, Salma El-Wardany, Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Magied, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Afshan D'souza-Lodhi, Salma Haidrani, Sufiya Ahmed, Amna Saleem, Raifa Rafiq, Nafisa Bakkar, Jamilla Hekmoun, Mariam Khan, Coco Khan, Maya Saroya, Mona Eltahawy
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 6 hours 33 minutes
Release date: February 21, 2019
Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 5
Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 2
Genres: Social Science
Publisher's Summary:
When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself...
2019-02-216h 33
The Figure30: Queen Anne, New Year's resolutions and the first baby born from a transplanted uterus in the USIn episode 30, we talk about Yorgos Lanthimos’ film The Favourite, January trends such as veganuary and dry January and the ethical and medical implications of babies born from transplanted uterus. Our three figures are Queen Anne, that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February and the cover of Time magazine showing the first baby born from a transplanted uterus in the US.
Normal People by Sally Rooney (2018)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Normal-People-Sally-Rooney/dp/0571334644
This is Going to Hurt: Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Dr Adam Kay (2017)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Going-Hurt-Secret-Diaries/dp/1509858636/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UT...
2019-01-2244 min
Blacklisted ConversationsTBB Talks to ... Mostly LitDuring Black History the Mostly Lit guys hosted a live session at the BFI. TBB's literature reviewer Priscilla Owusu caught up with Alex, Raqfiq and Derek to find out more about their revolutionary podcast. Named by the Guardian and the BBC as one of the top podcasts of 2017, Mostly Lit is an award-winning books and pop-culture podcast, hosted by Alex Reads, Raifa Rafiq and Derek Owusu.Find out more on Mostly Lit: https://www.mostly-lit.comKeep up to date with Priscilla Owusu via: http://thebritishblacklist.co.uk/author/priscilla-owusu/
2018-12-1628 min
What Am Politics?41 - What Am Diversity? (w/ AlexReads and Raifa Rafiq of Mostly Lit)This week Steve and Richie (two straight, white, middle class, cisgender men) teach you about diversity. Lol jk of course not. That’d be ridiculous.
Instead, we talk to AlexReads and Raifa Rafiq from the [Mostly Lit podcast](https://soundcloud.com/mostlylitpod). We discuss representation, political correctness, freedom of speech, whether the UK will ever have a non white PM and much more.
* * *
[Mostly Lit on Twitter](https://twitter.com/mostlylit?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)
[Dawn Butler on Twitter](https://twitter.com/DawnButlerBrent)
* * *
Recommended reading/watching
[Children of Blood and Bone](https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/to...
2018-04-031h 23