Episode 72: The Book of Dune — Imaginary Worlds

Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune and its sequels tackled a lot of big themes. But at the core of the series is religion as the main character Paul Atreides transforms from a teenage aristocrat into the messianic revolutionary leader of a nomadic desert tribe. And Islam is the religion Frank Herbert borrows from the most. Khalid Baheyeldin, Salman Sayyid, and Sami Shah discuss why the book resonated deeply with them, despite the fact that Frank Herbert wasn't Muslim. And Liel Liebowitz explains why the novel even spoke to him as an Israeli.