Builders of the Broken Bazaar

Dr. Tabish Zaman
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Builders of the Broken Bazaar When systems collapse, people still build. In a world obsessed with billion-dollar startups and tech-driven progress, Builders of the Broken Bazaar turns the microphone towards those who build from the ashes — refugees, migrants, and everyday innovators creating meaning, work, and dignity in the ruins of broken systems. Hosted by Dr. Tabish Zaman, this series dives deep into the informal, the invisible, and the overlooked where entrepreneurship isn’t a choice, but a lifeline. From camps and conflict zones to Britain’s forgotten high streets, we uncover the moral and human frontlines of enterprise: where survival fuels innovation and community becomes the last safety net. Through unflinching conversations with founders, reformers, and thinkers, we challenge the economisation of human effort — moving far beyond Silicon Valley myths to reframe entrepreneurship around social value, solidarity, and repair. When profit stops being the purpose, building becomes an act of defiance, not accumulation. 🎙 “This podcast is for those who rebuild what the world broke not for profit, but for purpose.” 🎧 Listen and subscribe to the voices of those proving that hope doesn’t come from systems, it comes from people.

  1. Mental Health is Infrastructure, Not Self-Care!

    1D AGO

    Mental Health is Infrastructure, Not Self-Care!

    We are constantly told that mental health is an individual responsibility. That "self-care" is the solution. That if we just "optimize" our routines or download the right app, the pain will subside. But what if the real problem isn't a lack of clinical tools, but a resistance to help that doesn't sound like anything people recognize in their everyday lives? In this episode of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr. Tabish Zaman is joined by Arianna Alexander-Sefre, founder and co-CEO of Spoke, to challenge the idea that mental health is merely an individual failing. Instead, they reframe it as a global systemic social issue that requires culture as infrastructure. Together, they explore the "silence" of young men, the capitalization of ancient healing practices into the "wellness industry," and Arianna’s journey in building a platform that integrates clinical psychology with music to reach underserved populations. This episode challenges the idea that clinical therapy is the only gateway to healing. Because care shouldn't require people to be coached or persuaded to access it. It should meet them where they already are. 🎙 “Sound is always there... it meets people without asking them to explain first.” 👉 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@buildersofthebrokenbazaar

    1h 19m
  2. Ep18: This AI is Built for Liberation: Not Just for Profit

    FEB 4

    Ep18: This AI is Built for Liberation: Not Just for Profit

    Episode 18: This AI Is Built for Liberation, Not Just for Profit We are constantly told that artificial intelligence is neutral. That data is objective. That algorithms simply optimise. That harm is an unfortunate side effect of progress. But what if the real question isn’t what AI can do but who it is built to serve? In this episode of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr Tabish Zaman is joined by Said and Hani Chihabi, brothers and founders of Thaura AI, to explore what it means to build technology from the margins rather than for the market alone. This is not a conversation about AI hype or technical superiority. It is not about disruption for disruption’s sake. It is a conversation about power, dignity, and liberation. Drawing on their lived experiences and their work developing Thaura AI, Said and Hani reflect on what it means to build artificial intelligence that resists surveillance, extraction, and domination and instead centres justice, context, and human consequence. Together, they discuss: • Why most AI systems reproduce existing power structures rather than challenge them • How surveillance technologies disproportionately harm already marginalised communities • Why “ethical AI” often fails when it avoids politics and power • What it means to design AI from places shaped by conflict, occupation, and exclusion • How language, culture, and history are erased in dominant AI models • Why liberation must be a design principle, not a marketing claim • How entrepreneurship can be a tool for resistance, not just valuation • What responsibility looks like when technology operates at scale 🎙 “Technology is never neutral, it always reflects who had the power to build it.” This episode challenges founders, technologists, investors, and policymakers to reconsider what responsibility really means in the age of artificial intelligence. Because when AI is built without accountability, it doesn’t just optimise systems it decides who is seen, who is protected, and who is erased. And if AI is shaping the future, we must ask a harder question: Who gets to define that future and at whose cost? Host: Dr Tabish Zaman Guests: Said Chihabi & Hani Chihabi (Founders, Thaura AI)

    1h 4m
  3. Ep17: Growth Is Not the Only Goal

    JAN 21

    Ep17: Growth Is Not the Only Goal

    Episode 17: Growth Is Not the Only Goal We are constantly told that growth equals success. That scaling is progress. That innovation means moving faster, bigger, and further no matter the cost. But what if growth itself has become the problem? In this episode of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr Tabish Zaman is joined by Kasper Benjamin Reimer Bjørkskov, Founder of No Objectives, to challenge one of the most deeply embedded assumptions in entrepreneurship, innovation, and design. This is not a conversation about sustainability as a checkbox. It is not about green growth or better metrics. It is a conversation about repair. Drawing on Kasper’s work in post-growth design, systems change, and collective action, the episode explores what happens when innovation stops chasing expansion and starts taking responsibility for the harm it leaves behind. Together, they discuss: • Why climate collapse and social collapse are the same design failure • How optimisation without empathy leads to extraction, not progress • Why growth has replaced meaning and what that has cost us • How systems are designed to concentrate power rather than distribute care • Why sustainability is an outcome, not a process • What regenerative design requires in a world already in overshoot • Why collective action matters more than individual heroics • How innovation should be measured by restoration, not valuation 🎙 “Not all innovation builds. Some of it repairs.” This episode challenges founders, designers, policymakers, and anyone working inside systems that claim to create value while quietly producing harm. Because if growth is not the goal, we are forced to ask a harder question: What are we actually building for and who does it serve? Host: Dr Tabish Zaman Guest: Kasper Benjamin Reimer Bjørkskov (Founder, No Objectives)

    1h 15m
  4. Ep 16: We Never Paid Attention to This Side of Tech

    JAN 9

    Ep 16: We Never Paid Attention to This Side of Tech

    Technology Isn’t Neutral. It’s Cultural. We are constantly told technology is neutral. That algorithms are objective. That design is “just technical.” But technology doesn’t appear from nowhere. It is built by people, shaped by culture, and assembled through decisions, decisions that increasingly determine who gets a job, who gets a mortgage, and who receives medical care. In this episode of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr Tabish Zaman is joined by Glenn Block (Founder & CEO, ProdSense) to unpack what the tech industry often refuses to name: Neutrality is not the absence of bias. It is often the protection of privilege. This is not a conversation about hype. It is a conversation about responsibility and what happens when innovation scales faster than care. Together, they explore: • Why “neutral technology” is a dangerous myth • How culture shapes design decisions long before launch • What product equity means in practice, not as a slogan • Why exclusion is often designed in, not discovered later • Who is missing from the rooms where products are imagined • How startup culture rewards speed, not accountability • Why accessibility and inclusion cannot be retrofitted after harm • And what responsible innovation should demand from entrepreneurs, designers, and institutions 🎙 “The bias isn’t in the zeros and ones it’s in how we assemble them.” This episode is a challenge to founders, innovators, and anyone building systems that touch other people’s lives. Because if technology reflects our culture, we have to ask: what kind of world are we building and for whom?

    1h 7m
  5. Ep:15 Christmas Special: Rugby isn't the only thing this Club wins at!

    12/19/2025

    Ep:15 Christmas Special: Rugby isn't the only thing this Club wins at!

    At Christmas, we are told stories about generosity and togetherness. But in many UK cities, the reality looks very different. Shrinking public services. Widening inequalities. Communities carrying more with less. In this Christmas Special of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr Tabish Zaman returns to Hull — a city often reduced to statistics, but held together by people. Joined by Paul Hamnett, CEO of the Hull KR Foundation, and Vikki Tate, Employability and Skills Manager, this episode explores how a rugby league club has become a form of social infrastructure. This is not a story about sport. It is a story about belonging, dignity, and civic repair — and what happens when community organisations step in where systems fall short. Together, they explore: • How sport becomes a vehicle for trust and connection • Why community organisations now fill gaps left by shrinking public services • How youth employment, mental health, education, and inclusion intersect • Why prevention is undervalued — and crisis is always more expensive • What real inclusion looks like beyond slogans 🎙 “When a sporting institution becomes social infrastructure, it’s worth asking why it had to.” This episode reframes rugby not as entertainment, but as care. A conversation about leadership rooted in service. About communities holding the social fabric together. And about what Christmas really means in places rarely associated with hope.

    1h 7m
  6. Ep 14: Integrating Into A New Country Is A Two-Way Street

    12/17/2025

    Ep 14: Integrating Into A New Country Is A Two-Way Street

    Integration is often treated as a checklist. Learn the language. Follow the rules. Fit in quietly. But real integration doesn’t work that way. In this episode of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr Tabish Zaman speaks with Montasir Mohamed — entrepreneur, business leader, and refugee-turned-citizen in Finland — about what integration actually looks like when it moves beyond policy and into everyday life. This is not a conversation about charity. It is not about compliance. It is about agency, responsibility, trust, and belonging — on both sides. Together, they explore: • Why integration fails when only one side carries the burden • How language becomes dignity rather than assimilation • Why waiting for stability keeps people stuck • How fear — not culture — blocks belonging • Why refugees are framed as dependents instead of contributors • How entrepreneurship becomes survival, not ambition • What Finland gets right — and where it still struggles • Why policies can open doors, but people must walk through them 🎙 “Integration isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something you build.” This episode challenges the idea that inclusion can be delivered by systems alone. Because belonging is not granted. It is built — together.

    1h 20m
  7. Ep 13: Your Are Being Played by Big Tech

    12/03/2025

    Ep 13: Your Are Being Played by Big Tech

    You Are Being Played by Big Tech In this episode of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr Tabish Zaman speaks with Mona Fowzy — CEO of JaneTech and a software engineer with over 25 years across EA, AOL, Yahoo, CBS, and global scientific labs — about why we don’t need more technology at all. We need less hype, less manipulation, and far more courage to question the systems shaping our lives. Together, they explore: • Why most new technology fixes nothing but extracts everything • How AI, crypto, and surveillance tools manufacture fear, urgency, and dependency • How everyday people are turned into test subjects for corporate agendas • Why engineers have become foot soldiers for political and military power • How Big Tech’s greed has erased usability, access, and trust • Why the most “advanced” products are often the most exploitative • Why real progress won’t come from Silicon Valley, but from ignored communities • And how Palestine reveals exactly who technology was designed to privilege — and who it was built to erase 🎙 “The real risk isn’t being left behind — it’s being led blindly.” 👉 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@buildersofthebrokenbazaar

    1h 10m
  8. Ep 12: Silicon Valley is Lying to You

    11/19/2025

    Ep 12: Silicon Valley is Lying to You

    In this episode of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr Tabish Zaman speaks with Paul Biggar — founder of CircleCI and DarkLang, and co-founder of Tech for Palestine — a leading voice challenging the myth of “neutral” technology. From inside Silicon Valley’s inner circle to the frontlines of digital justice, Paul unpacks the uncomfortable truths about the industry that claims to build the future. Together, they explore: • Why “tech is neutral” was always a lie • How Silicon Valley’s gatekeepers shape inequality and global politics • Why founders are rewarded for silence — and punished for moral clarity • What Israel’s genocide revealed about the tech industry’s complicity • How Tech for Palestine is helping engineers reclaim their voice 🎙 “Technology isn’t broken — it’s behaving exactly as it was designed. The question is who gets to redesign it.” 👉 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@buildersofthebrokenbazaar

    1h 10m
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About

Builders of the Broken Bazaar When systems collapse, people still build. In a world obsessed with billion-dollar startups and tech-driven progress, Builders of the Broken Bazaar turns the microphone towards those who build from the ashes — refugees, migrants, and everyday innovators creating meaning, work, and dignity in the ruins of broken systems. Hosted by Dr. Tabish Zaman, this series dives deep into the informal, the invisible, and the overlooked where entrepreneurship isn’t a choice, but a lifeline. From camps and conflict zones to Britain’s forgotten high streets, we uncover the moral and human frontlines of enterprise: where survival fuels innovation and community becomes the last safety net. Through unflinching conversations with founders, reformers, and thinkers, we challenge the economisation of human effort — moving far beyond Silicon Valley myths to reframe entrepreneurship around social value, solidarity, and repair. When profit stops being the purpose, building becomes an act of defiance, not accumulation. 🎙 “This podcast is for those who rebuild what the world broke not for profit, but for purpose.” 🎧 Listen and subscribe to the voices of those proving that hope doesn’t come from systems, it comes from people.

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