What happens when women are excluded, silenced and marginalized within religious communities? In the inaugural episode of Scoot Over, Slate journalist Aymann Ismail explores the trouble with rooting out gender exclusion in a group that faces existential threats from outsiders, and what inclusivity in religious institutions and communities looks like.

Melissa Weisz is an actor, producer, writer and consultant with a focus of giving underrepresented individuals and communities a voice. Melissa grew up in the Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, and through her work, aims to “normalize” other-ness so we can all honor and respect those who do not look like us, love like us, or pray like us. She was featured in Vogue’s “American women in transformation", was cast on Netflix’s Unorthodox, and is the co-founder, producer and host of "the forbidden apple podcast" which explores the complex relationship between queer people and religion/faith. www.melissaweisz.com Follow @melissaweisz on instagram. Follow @theforbiddenapplepodcast on instagram. 

Nurjahan Khatun is the founder of a social enterprise which dares women to do what they have been afraid of doing for lack of confidence, inspiration, resources or a combination of these limiting factors. She grew up in a conservative Muslim community in East London, was the first in her family to graduate university, and is now a TEDx speaker, winner of the Mike Nichols Award for ‘Inspiration’ at the prestigious Association for Project Management Awards, and has been a public and motivational speaker for over a decade. Her first book, Hook of Hope, is due to be published in 2021.