Murtaza Hussain is a reporter at Drop Site News, a non-aligned, investigative news organization. He focuses on national security, foreign policy and human rights. A 2026 PEN America nominee, his work frequently appears in outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian. He is recognized for his analysis of US foreign policy and civil liberties. He's also a fellow Substacker and YouTuber.

He didn’t set out to be a journalist but the Arab Spring pulled him into a career spent chasing the truth across wars, systems, and stories that don’t always want to be told. In this conversation, Murtaza Hussain names what he sees as a real decline in American culture, intellectually, politically, and spiritually, and wrestles with how we got here. And by the end, it turns into something more personal: what it takes to hold onto meaning, faith, and clarity in a world that feels increasingly disorienting.

Murtaza mentions his article - Christie's Conspiracy: The Real Story Behind the Four Dix Five Terror Plot

Our sponsor is The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University, here in Cincinnati, which is dedicated to deepening understanding across faiths and promoting systemic change.

Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

This week’s guest is Brian Alexander.

An award-winning journalist and author, Brian has written about American culture for decades. He is a two-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. He has also been recognized by Medill School of Journalism’s John Bartlow Martin awards for public interest journalism, the Association of Healthcare Journalists, and other organizations. He has been a columnist for NBC News. He grew up in Lancaster, with a family history in the glass business.

You can preorder his newest book - The Mayor: One Poor City's Fight to Bring Back Government and Save the Nation's Soul.

In this conversation, we speak to Brian about his book, Glass House: The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town, where he uses the story of his hometown, Lancaster, Ohio, to show how seeds sown 35 years ago have sprouted to give us Trumpism, inequality, and an eroding national cohesion. This conversation explores what happens when work, dignity, and community are stripped from a place and what it reveals about the soul of America. We talk about the forces hollowing out towns like Lancaster, Ohio, and the human cost behind economic transformation. And ultimately, we ask what it means to belong, to make something real, and to hold onto hope in the middle of it all.

Our sponsor is The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University, here in Cincinnati, which is dedicated to deepening understanding across faiths and promoting systemic change.

Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.

Avenue M is hosted by Haroon Moghul and Joey Taylor. We’re two men on a journey of faith and meaning. In most episodes, we sit down with a remarkable guest to unpack the moments that shape us, the struggles that build us and the questions that intrigue us.

In this live conversation, we wrestle with what it means to keep showing up to spiritual practices—even when they don’t seem to be “working.” We explore the tension between personal spirituality and communal religion, asking whether faith is about feeling something or being formed over time. Along the way, we land on a quieter, harder truth: maybe the point isn’t perfection or progress, but the willingness to keep returning.

Our sponsor is The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University, here in Cincinnati, which is dedicated to deepening understanding across faiths and promoting systemic change.

Avenue M is produced by Bespoken Live with music by Zach Swelber, who plays in Circle It and Mosant.