Sacred Money

A five-part narrative series for BBC Sounds Audio Lab

This series might just change how you think about money, and how money connects us to people we know and people we don’t.

In five episodes, Taqwa Sadiq explores whether Zakat, an Islamic tradition, can help solve the cost-of-living crisis. Her search to answer this question takes us all over the globe and even back in time. From hallowed libraries in Cambridge and a mysterious stone in Turkey, to a flooded farm in Pakistan and modern activism in Chicago. This story opens up questions around identity and belonging, gets to the heart of what it means to be a British Muslim, and explores what happens when ancient traditions are transported to new places and times.

Listen on BBC Sounds, Spotify, Apple Podcasts

Written, produced, and presented by Taqwa Sadiq

(5 x 25-30 min episodes)

See more at BBC Audio Lab Class of 2023 and Radio Academy

A Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts, Series 35 ‘Soundscape’

In this vivid soundscape, Salma travels back in time to an evening in her childhood, growing up in Kano, Nigeria in the 1970’s. Coming home from Christian Missionary school as the sun sets, Salma walks up the garden…

(09.00 mins)

Also selected to broadcast on FBi Radio’s All the Best podcast

Listen here

Sheffield Doc/Fest Podcast Pitch

Breathing Lyrical Wins Second-Prize at the inaugural Sheffield Doc/Fest Podcast Pitch 2023, supported by the Whicker’s

Judges commented, ‘This is a beautifully original and creative proposal. Taqwa gave a compelling pitch that convinced all three judges she has the storytelling talent to lead audiences through the blend of art, science and social issues she imagines. We were impressed by how expansive her proposal is, with episodes focused around race, climate change and personal relationships, all with her own personal journey at its heart.’

Breathing Lyrical

Winner, Charles Parker Prize 2022 for Best Student Radio Feature; BBC Radio 4 (listen here)

Pick of the Week in The Observer, Radio Choice in The Telegraph, Pick of the Day in the Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday, Financial Times Radio Pick

Can a poem change how you breathe?

A young woman’s journey exploring alternative healing for long covid through the power of poetry, rhythm and voice, Islamic mystical conceptions of breath, and the impact of literature on the brain.

Best experienced with headphones. (14:00 mins)

Produced, presented and edited by Taqwa Sadiq