Ali A. Rizvi: Reading Bootlegged Bertrand Russell in Pakistan (Full Interview)

His book, "The Atheist Muslim: A Journey from Religion to Reason" has earned him death threats that make a return to his childhood homes impossible.

He's known as The Atheist Muslim to some. For others, he's the Secular Jihadist. Ali A. Rizvi was born and raised in a bubble inside a bubble: in a middle-class liberal family in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia (he also spent time in Pakistan and Libya). Today, he lives in Toronto, Canada with his daughter. His writing on secularism, jihad and rationality has appeared in The Huffington Post, CNN and more. He's been a guest on The Rubin Report, The Joe Rogan Experience, The Saad Truth and other podcasts, and he co-hosts Secular Jihadists.

Will Conway and Ali Rizvi discuss the psychology of extremism (on both sides), the reverse culture shock of emigrating to Canada, Islam, standing up to the Twitter mob, cancel culture, the alignment between science and faith, and developing compassion for beliefs different from your own.

This is Ali A. Rizvi's full interview on the Baggage Claim podcast: travel stories no one tells. New interviews twice a month. In the meantime, Baggage Claim also has plenty of immersive travel stories designed to transport you to another world - those come out whenever they're ready.

Text POD to (332) 877-9540 to join a wonderful community of travelers and definitely get a call from host Will Conway. Text MEMBER to that same number if you're interested in bonus questions from this and other interviews about amazing humans around the globe, long-form thoughts and essays and more. Outside the United States and Canada or just not into texting strangers? Fair. Visit heybaggageclaim.com. Music is by Kit Conway of Stello. Show notes, weird trivia and credits are available at: https://www.heybaggageclaim.com/ali_rizvi_reading_bertrand_russell_pakistan