Ahmed Ali Akbar (journalist)

Ahmed Ali Akbar is an American writer and podcast host. He hosts See Something Say Something, a podcast about Muslim American life. In 2022, he won a James Beard Foundation Award for Feature Reporting for a story on mango importing.

Education

Akbar is from Saginaw, Michigan.[1] Both his parents were doctors who had immigrated from Pakistan.[2] He attended Haverford College and then the University of Michigan as an undergraduate, graduating in 2011.[3] He earned a master's from the Harvard Divinity School.[4]

Career

While in grad school, Akbar started a blog called Rad Brown Dads, telling the stories of immigrant fathers.[3] He became a staff writer at BuzzFeed in 2014.[2]

Akbar is the host of the podcast See Something Say Something about Muslim American life.[5] Initially based at BuzzFeed, The New York Times called See Something Say Something one of the best new podcasts of the year when it debuted in 2016.[6] IndieWire called the show's episode "Parents" "an ideal example of the casual confidence of See Something, Say Something" and "a sincere supplement to an oft-overlooked part of our national conversation", listing it as one of the 50 best podcast episodes of the year.[7] The podcast became independent, with a supporting Patreon,[8] in 2018 when BuzzFeed closed its audio division.[9]

In 2022, Akbar won a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award for Feature Reporting for his story "Inside the Secretive, Semi-Illicit, High Stakes World of WhatsApp Mango Importing".[10] The story followed on a two-part podcast episode he had made on the subject for America's Test Kitchen.[11]

In November 2022, he began hosting Radiolingo, a podcast from Crooked Media and Duolingo.[12]

Personal life

Akbar moved to New York in 2014.[1] He is married.[13]

References
  1. Salowich, Keith (2017-08-16). "Buzzfeed's "See Something Say Something" podcast draws crowd to talk about Muslim issues". Press and Guide. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  2. Khan, Duriba (2017-03-02). "The Man, The Legend: Ahmed Ali Akbar". Brown Girl Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  3. Khan, Nisa (2017-08-11). "Buzzfeed podcast host leads discussion on Muslims in the media". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  4. "Podcasting on the Rise". Haverford College. February 5, 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  5. Fam, Mariam; Hajela, Deepti; Henao, Luis Andres (2021-09-07). "Two decades after 9/11, Muslim Americans still fighting bias". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  6. Hess, Amanda (2016-12-06). "The Best New Podcasts of 2016". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2018-02-11. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  7. Greene, Steve (2016-12-27). "The 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2016". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  8. Carman, Ashley (2020-06-30). "The hosts of The Nod want Spotify to hand over their podcast". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  9. Spangler, Todd (2018-09-20). "BuzzFeed Shuts Down In-House Podcast Team". Variety. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  10. "Here Are the 2022 James Beard Foundation Media Award Winners". Eater. 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  11. "Desperately Seeking Pakistani Mangoes | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News". WNYC. Archived from the original on 2021-05-22. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  12. Ambachew, Meseret (November 2, 2022). "Crooked Media and Duolingo Partner for Podcast Series". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  13. Haque, Fahima (2020-08-01). "Celebrating Eid al-Adha Amid a Pandemic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
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