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Bassem Youssef, Unlike You’ve Ever Seen Him, on Hope, Despair, and A Year of Genocide

Release Date: 10/24/2024

Could Riz Ahmed Be the First Brown James Bond?

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

This episode is sponsored by Ellydee. To sign up, go to ellydee.ai/mehdi Riz Ahmed is the man of the moment. The Oscar and Emmy award-winning actor is currently on the press tour for not one but two new projects: his TV series ‘’, and a film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘’. But the tour wouldn’t be complete without joining his former school mate and fellow school play actor Mehdi for a special LIVE taping of ‘We’re Not Kidding’ in New York City. The two dig into Riz’s new roles, the state of Muslim representation in popular culture, and making political art. They...

Can You Trust Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson on Israel? Mehdi and Bassem Debate

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

It’s been six months (!) since Bassem Youssef joined Mehdi for an episode of ‘We’re Not Kidding’, and since then Israel has started two new wars, right-wing podcasters have turned on Donald Trump over his war with Iran, and centrist Democrats have mounted a cancellation campaign against leftist streamer Hasan Piker. But before they get to any of that, they dig into Epstein and Mehdi’s with the so-called “Professor Jiang,” the two get into a friendly argument over which terms and ideas qualify as religious tropes and how the weaponization of antisemitism by Zionists has diluted...

Who'll Win the ‘MAGA Podcast Wars’? Krystal Ball and Mehdi on Ben Shapiro vs. Tucker Carlson, AIPAC, and Iran

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

If you’re as terminally online as the rest of us at Zeteo, you may have noticed that conservative podcasters are at war with each other. Ben Shapiro is attacking Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson is attacking Ben Shapiro, and everyone is attacking Mark Levin. So for this week’s ‘We’re Not Kidding’, Mehdi is joined by Krystal Ball, co-host of the massively popular online news show ‘’, to unpack all of the MAGA drama. The two also get into how Donald Trump’s disastrous war with Iran is creating even MORE rifts within the Republican party, Israel and Netanyahu’s role in...

Two Muslim Journalists Walk Into a Podcast - Mehdi and Ayman Mohyeldin on Iran, Gaza, and Media Bias

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

Mehdi and Ayman Mohyeldin have a lot in common: They were both born in the same year, they’re both immigrants and naturalized US citizens, they’re both Muslim, and they both worked at Al Jazeera and then MSNBC (now MS NOW). As Mehdi says to his former colleague, “I look at you and I feel like I’m looking at a taller, better looking, Arab version of myself.” Ayman joins Mehdi in Washington DC for the latest episode of ‘We’re Not Kidding’ to discuss their careers in TV journalism, the failures of Western media on Gaza, and the new US war with Iran. The two discuss Israel’s role...

Meet the Palestinian-American Influencer Exposing 'Genocidal' Israelis Online

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

Since Oct. 7, 22 year-old Palestinian-American influencer Hamzah Saadah has gained international notoriety for doing something that no mainstream news outlet would dare to do: asking regular Israelis what they think about Palestine. The results have been shocking, as Hamzah’s interviews with civilians and soldiers alike demonstrate a comfort and willingness to use “genocidal rhetoric” across Israeli society. Hamzah now joins Mehdi for a live taping of ‘We’re Not Kidding’ at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah to discuss his work on social media and take some questions...

How This Atheist Podcast Star Learned to Love Palestine, Oppose AIPAC, and Defend Muslims

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

As one of the co-hosts of the massively popular podcast ‘’, Jennifer Welch has made a name for herself as a sharp-witted, foul-mouthed, uncomfortable-truth-bomb-dropping political commentator. Whether you’ve seen social media clips of her ranting about Donald Trump’s poorly applied makeup or watched her eviscerate Sen. Cory Booker on AIPAC during their viral interview, Jennifer is shaking up the way liberal media thinks about political punditry. Now, she joins Mehdi on ‘We’re Not Kidding’ to talk about her political journey and rise to fame. Once an “MSNBC liberal” from...

Will They Denaturalize Us? - Former ‘Daily Show’ Comedian Aasif Mandvi on Trump, ICE, Gaza, and Being an Immigrant

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

Aasif Mandvi broke more glass ceilings than you probably realize. If you watched ‘The Daily Show’ during the post-9/11 era, you likely already know the comedian and actor for his biting commentary on Islamophobia, George W. Bush, and the ‘War on Terror’. But did you know he was the political comedy show’s first non-white cast member? Or that he served as the “Senior Middle East Correspondent” and “Senior Muslim Correspondent” even though he’s not from the Middle East or a practicing Muslim? Now, Aasif joins Mehdi on the new episode of ‘We’re Not Kidding’ in...

‘They Make Genocide Jokes’ - Israeli Comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi on Racism, Zionism, and Palestinian Liberation

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

Noam Schuster-Eliassi is what some people might call a ‘unicorn’. She’s an anti-Zionist, Jewish-Iranian Israeli who speaks fluent Arabic and grew up in a tiny village in Israel called the ‘Oasis of Peace’, where Jews and Palestinians voluntarily choose to live together. Noam is now the star of the new documentary ‘!’, which won the at Sundance film festival last year. The film explores her political evolution from growing up as an Israeli poster-child of the “coexistence movement” to becoming a standup comedian determined to dismantle apartheid within Israel. The...

‘Jewish and Muslim Safety Are Intertwined’ - Comedian Ilana Glazer on Mamdani’s Victory and the Weaponization of Antisemitism

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

On the day after Zohran Mamdani’s historic election win, what better ‘We’re Not Kidding’ guest could we ask for than New York City icon Ilana Glazer? The Jewish-American comedian, activist, and ‘Broad City’ creator joined Mehdi in midtown Manhattan to talk about what Mamdani’s victory means for the future of US politics. The two also discuss the recent failures of the Democratic party and whether Mamdani’s win has the power to finally push party leadership to embrace its populist flank. “Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries were not there celebrating last night,” Ilana says....

‘Succession’ Star on Gaza, Iran, and the 10 Rich People Who ‘Run Everything’

We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

If you were a fan of the HBO series ‘Succession’ — then do we have a treat for you. On this new episode of ‘We’re Not Kidding’, Mehdi is joined by Iranian-American actor Arian Moayed who played the scene-stealing character Stewy Hosseini on the hit HBO show. Mehdi and Arian unpack the ways our reality mirrors the fictional world of ‘Succession’, like how pro-Israel billionaire Larry Ellison, the world’s second richest man, is buying up media companies Paramount, CBS News, and TikTok. Mehdi also challenges Arian to a new rapid-fire question game called, “Real Billionaire or...

More Episodes

If you’ve been tuning into Zeteo’s flagship podcast, ‘We’re Not Kidding’ for the last six months, you’re going to find this one is a very special episode.

Bassem Youssef returns to WNK for an intimate and heartfelt conversation – one unlike you’ve ever seen on this show. It’s also a version of Bassem none of us, including Mehdi, have ever seen before. “I’m from a very, very, very deep point of desperation,” he tells Mehdi backstage at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre in downtown Toronto. The two met up for this special recording right before Bassem went live onstage for one of the last shows of his sellout ‘Middle Beast Tour.’

It’s been a few months since Mehdi and Bassem last co-hosted WNK, and with so much that’s happened since then and the US elections just on the horizon, they had a lot to discuss: from trying to be hopeful versus feeling helplessness, to witnessing the impunity of Israel reach new heights, to whether the pro-Israel side can be defeated in the media or in Congress.

If you’re looking for a listen that will resonate, that will make you feel seen, after a very long and hard-to-watch year, tune in now.

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