Magid Magid: Meeting Strangers On Chat Roulette & Other Unexpected Loneliness Cures

It's MAGIC Magid! This week’s guest, former Lord Mayor of Sheffield Magid Magid – often referred to as Magic Magid – is the first politician to appear on the show, and what a joy it was to speak with him. Magid is an absolute powerhouse: arriving in the UK at the age of four as a Somali refugee, he went on to become Sheffield’s youngest ever Mayor, taking up the role in 2018 at the age of 28, and also the first Muslim person to hold the position. He later went on to be a Member of the European Parliament in 2019 ahead of the UK leaving the EU. To add yet another accolade to this list – Magid was named as one of TIME Magazine’s top 100 global rising stars of 2019. During our conversation, we discuss how taking part in a month-long drug trial saved him from a period of intense loneliness, to the power of the internet to forge connections with strangers during a pandemic. We also discuss the value of prayer for Magid, who says praying five times a day – as part of his Muslim faith – helps to facilitate his alonement. I hope you’ll find this conversation just as surprising and inspiring as I did.

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Magid Magid's book, The Art of Disruption: A Manifesto For Real Change, is out now – order it on Amazon today.

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My book, Alonement: How to be alone and absolutely own it, is available to order now on Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org and all good booksellers.

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