Misha is a Pakistani-American writer, podcast host and producer, on a mission to make things that inspire awe. She is the founder and CEO of Dustlight Productions, 2022 Tribeca and...
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Misha is a Pakistani-American writer, podcast host and producer, on a mission to make things that inspire awe. She is the founder and CEO of Dustlight Productions, 2022 Tribeca and Webby winner, and Ad Week’s 2019 “Producer of the Year.”
She’s currently writing a book which will be published by Little Brown. Misha’s nonfiction debut will unveil a progressive, largely ignored vision of faith, and how her understanding of Islam is not only compatible with modern ideas around sex, politics and everything in between, but informs them in ways we’ve never considered before.
Misha is also hosting and executive producing season 2 of Hello, Nature by REI Co-Op Studios & Dustlight, presented by Subaru. The show tells the history and present day story of nature in America through BIPOC voices. It was selected as a Webby honoree for Best Sustainability and Environment podcast in 2022. Season 2 of the podcast drops in Summer 2023.
Previously, she was the creator and host of Tell Them, I Am, presented by Higher Ground Audio and Spotify and produced by Dustlight. In Ramadan 2021, she hosted and executive produced season 2 of the podcast, which was announced in Rolling Stone. The second season is a 2022 Webby Honoree for Best Series, and winner of Best Diversity and Inclusion podcast, and has been featured in Vogue, It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders and The Tamron Hall Show. In its debut year— 2019— the LA Times called Tell Them, I Am “quietly revolutionary.” The New York Times called it “hypnotic listening” and TIME, The Atlantic, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post and the NYT Podcast Club named it one of their best podcasts of 2019. The series is about the small defining moments in our lives— the voices are all Muslim; the stories are universal. You can learn more about season one from this interview on All Things Considered.
Misha is an Executive Producer on Renegades: Born in the USA and The Michelle Obama Podcast, produced by Dustlight, in collaboration with Higher Ground Audio and Spotify; and on the Tribeca-winning podcast, Mother Country Radicals produced by Dustlight in collaboration with Crooked Media and Audacy.
Before starting Dustlight, Misha produced The Big One: Your Survival Guide, named one of TIME, The Atlantic, Thrillist, Vulture, IndieWire and NYT Podcast Club’s best podcasts of 2019. The New Yorker’s Sarah Larson called it “riveting” and “strangely reassuring.” All this podcasting started in 2017, with her autobiographical series, Beginner, about learning to belong as an immigrant in America.
When Misha wants to give her ears and voice a break, she hosts Quran Book Club on IGTV, makes jokes on McSweeney’s and writes serious things for the Wall Street Journal. Sometimes, she naps. But that’s not featured anywhere.
Misha got her B.A in Philosophy from UC Irvine, and got her Masters in Journalism at Northwestern University. She has taught as an adjunct professor at USC Annenberg, and at the Transom Radio Workshop.
After getting tons of questions about making podcasts, Misha wrote an online guide for those entering the industry or dabbling in podcasting. If you want to learn how to make them yourself —for fun or for work— check out How To Make a Podcast.
