Dr. Mostafa Salari Rad: The Hidden Powers of Ramadan Fasting

Meet Dr. Mostafa Salari Rad, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at the New School in New York City. Born in Iran in a Shia Muslim practicing family, he always had an interest in philosophy, psychology, social science. He wondered why people behaved the way they did, why countries developed the way they did, and later, as a high school student in Japan, when he was the only person observing Ramadan, he started asking deeper questions about the self control he had to exert to fast, as Ramadan asked of him, from sunrise to sunset. Perhaps the first time, Dr. Rad questioned, why am I doing this? Why isn’t anyone else doing this? What does this ritual mean? When Dr. Rad decided to pursue a PhD in psychology, he focused his research on the fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which the vast majority of the 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide observe. He wanted to find out more about the psychological, behavioral, and social benefits of fasting, and he especially wanted to better understand the self-control Ramadan requires. Listen and learn more.     •     Read the transcript of this episode     •     Learn more about Dr. Rad's research     •     Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts     •     Find us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube     •     Share your comments, questions and suggestions at info@storiesofimpact.org  Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Om Podcasten

In every episode, we travel the world and dive deep into the intersection of spirituality and science on Stories of Impact, The American Writing Awards Science Podcast of the Year. Every first and third Tuesday of the month, writer, performer, producer Tavia Gilbert and journalist Richard Sergay bring you a new conversation that offers uplifting explorations about the art and science of human flourishing. This project was made possible through the generous support of a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation.