Aymann Ismail

Thursday, October 1 at 6:30PM

Washington County Library – R.H. Stafford

8595 Central Park Place, Woodbury

In-Person Event

Aymann Ismail is an award-winning investigative reporter, photojournalist, essayist, and podcast host. His work centers around the interplay between personal identity, religion, and politics. Ismail is best known to many as a long-time staff writer for Slate, where he both wrote and produced “Who’s Afraid of Aymann Ismail?” In this 15-episode series, the journalist confronts anxieties and misconceptions around Islam in America by interviewing a wide range of individuals – from progressive Muslim comedians to ex-Muslims, and even members of his own family. Ismail also co-hosted American Muslims: A History Revealed, a six-part PBS series reexamining well-known chapters of U.S. history through perspectives overlooked in textbooks. His autobiographical debut, Becoming Baba: Fatherhood, Faith, and Finding Meaning in America, hit shelves in July 2025 and receives a paperback rerelease this summer. Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz called Ismail’s book an American Odyssey. “Guaranteed to steal your heart, Becoming Baba is a profound meditation on what it means to build a self and a family in an often unwelcoming land.”