Episode 9 : SHAMS-TABRAIZ Dead Air with KMRN MDLR

Shams Tabraiz Muzaffar is one of my closest friends. We first met early in college at UT Austin on the steps of Dobie movie theater. While he was initially suspected to be stalking our friend Arun, it turned out we all just happened to live on the same dorm floor. He currently works as a researcher for a healthcare worker’s labor union based in California whose many functions include negotiating better worker contracts, developing policy measures some of which have helped to raise the minimum wage and to expand Medicaid, and helping to reform troubled industries such as the dialysis industry. Prior to California, he spent significant time living, teaching, and working abroad in countries including Pakistan and Eritrea. His family moved to Texas in the early 80’s, and he suspects a large factor in this decision was his dad’s love of Westerns and cowboys. The stories of his parents’ kindness and generosity are refreshingly hard to fathom. From an early age, he could see there was significant injustice in the world, and he has been an activist for most of his life. After taking a ‘break’ to stretch our legs, we unfortunately did not finish our conversation entirely and didn’t delve into his harrowing addiction to ice cream, milkshakes, and fast food.