We’re Not Kidding is a show where funny people talk about serious things, hosted by Zeteo founder and CEO Mehdi Hasan and regularly featuring internationally ac...
Politics, Sport, and Free Speech Hypocrisy, with Jemele Hill
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.comLive from New York — it’s ‘We’re Not Kidding’! This past week, Mehdi traveled to the ‘On Air Fest’ in Brooklyn for a very special LIVE taping of ‘WNK’ with award-winning sports journalist and broadcaster Jemele Hill. You may remember Jemele from the first Trump administration, when political ‘nepo baby’ and then-White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called for ESPN to fire Jemele for calling Donald Trump a white supremacist. In this wide-ranging conversation, Mehdi and Jemele discuss Trump and Elon Musk’s recent attacks on the press and the dangerous behavior of mainstream journalists who value access over solidarity. They also dig into the crucial intersection of sports and politics, including Trump’s historic Super Bowl appearance, the capitulation of (some) professional sports leagues, the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics, and whether the NFL is responsible for Trump running for president. “To be honest, I sort of blame the NFL because we have to deal with Trump in this capacity,” Jemele says. Intriguing, right? SUBSCRIBE TO ZETEO TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND UNFILTERED JOURNALISM: https://zeteo.com/subscribeWATCH, LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO ‘WE’RE NOT KIDDING’ ON SUBSTACK: https://zeteo.com/s/were-not-kidding-with-mehdi-and-friendsFIND ZETEO:Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeteo_newsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeteonewsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zeteonewsFIND MEHDI:Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasanTwitter: https://twitter.com/@mehdirhasanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/@mehdirhasanTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mehdirhasanFIND JEMELE:Twitter: https://x.com/jemelehillInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jemelehill/‘Spolitics’ with Jemele Hill: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-spolitics-222755070/CREDITS:Hosted by: Mehdi HasanGuest Host: Jemele HillExecutive Producer: Kiran AlviSenior Producer and Editor: Frank CappelloMusic: Andy ClausenDesign: Alicia TatoneMix Engineer: Valentino RiveraTitle Animation: Ehsaan MesghaliSpecial thanks: Stephen Wentzell
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47:48
Is Trump 'Daddy'? – with Bassem Youssef
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.comMehdi is once again joined by ‘We’re Not Kidding’ powerhouse Bassem Youssef for a raw and honest conversation about the state of the world. To steal a phrase from MAGA Republicans speaking about Donald Trump — “Daddy is home.” Mehdi and Bassem unpack the first few weeks of Trump’s second term, including the escalating violence in the West Bank occurring during the “fake” Gaza ceasefire. The two also debate whether the US empire is beginning to collapse, if organized resistance movements are at all effective, and if Trump and the Republicans are more honest than Joe Biden and the Democrats. “You prefer to deal with the wolf rather than the wolf in sheep's clothing,” Mehdi asks Bassem, who also shares his opinion on Elon Musk’s controversial hand gesture and his uniquely noxious flavor of South African racism.SUBSCRIBE TO ZETEO TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND UNFILTERED JOURNALISM: https://zeteo.com/subscribeWATCH, LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO ‘WE’RE NOT KIDDING’ ON SUBSTACK: https://zeteo.com/s/were-not-kidding-with-mehdi-and-friendsSNAG ZETEO’S BRAND NEW MERCH:https://shop.zeteo.com/FIND ZETEO:Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeteo_newsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeteonewsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zeteonewsFIND MEHDI:Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasanTwitter: https://twitter.com/@mehdirhasanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/@mehdirhasanTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mehdirhasanFIND BASSEM:Twitter: https://x.com/ByoussefInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bassem/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bassem?lang=enCREDITS:Hosted by: Mehdi HasanGuest Host: Bassem YoussefExecutive Producer: Kiran AlviSenior Producer and Editor: Frank CappelloMusic: Andy ClausenDesign: Alicia TatoneMix Engineer: Valentino RiveraTitle Animation: Ehsaan Mesghali
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34:58
Taking On the Tech Oligarchs, with Taylor Lorenz
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.com‘We’re Not Kidding’ is back! After a not-very-relaxing holiday break, Mehdi is joined by tech and online culture journalist (and new Zeteo contributor!) Taylor Lorenz to discuss the new age of American oligarchy. Trump is back in office and his inauguration was a star-studded showcase of spineless tech billionaires. Mehdi and Taylor also unpack the dumbfounding blunder of Democrats’ TikTok ban, why private ownership of social media platforms by “red-pilled billionaires” is actually BAD for free speech, the MAGAfication of Elon Musk, and whether Mark Zuckerberg looks cool now. Taylor also pushes back against the argument made by Zeteo guest writer Will Stancil, who called for Democrats to go to war with social media companies. “Then just get on board with Republicans! This is the problem, is people like that. That is so stupid!” SUBSCRIBE TO ZETEO TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND UNFILTERED JOURNALISM: https://zeteo.com/subscribeWATCH, LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO ‘WE’RE NOT KIDDING’ ON SUBSTACK: https://zeteo.com/s/were-not-kidding-with-mehdi-and-friendsFIND ZETEO:Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeteo_newsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeteonewsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zeteonewsFIND MEHDI:Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasanTwitter: https://twitter.com/@mehdirhasanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/@mehdirhasanTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mehdirhasanFIND TAYLOR:Twitter: https://x.com/TaylorLorenzInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzCREDITS:Hosted by: Mehdi HasanGuest Host: Taylor LorenzExecutive Producer: Kiran AlviSenior Producer and Editor: Frank CappelloMusic: Andy ClausenDesign: Alicia TatoneMix Engineer: Valentino RiveraTitle Animation: Ehsaan MesghaliSpecial thanks to: Stephen Wentzell
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40:07
"Holy Sh*t, We're Being Lied To": Huda Kattan, CEO of Huda Beauty, Speaks Out
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.comIf you’ve followed Mehdi’s career, you know he’s interviewed heads of state, members of Congress, homicidal mercenaries, and even terrorists. But this may be Mehdi’s most intimidating guest yet — Huda Kattan — the superstar beauty influencer, activist, reality TV show host, and founder and CEO of international beauty brand 'Huda Beauty'. Funnily enough, Huda was also nervous to sit down with one of her personal role models.Huda opens up to Mehdi about growing up in Tennessee and the moment she realized that US media is oftentimes propaganda: “That was the moment where I was like, holy shit, we are being lied to. We're being told stories for the sake of specific agendas.” They also talk about the launch of 'Huda Beauty', the lack of diversity in the beauty industry, celebrities who have stayed silent on Gaza, and Huda's activism on Gaza and Palestine. “You don’t want people who support genocide to use your products?” Mehdi asks. “Absolutely not. You’re not allowed.” Huda replies. Subscribe at Zeteo.com to watch the full interview.SUBSCRIBE TO ZETEO TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND UNFILTERED JOURNALISM: https://zeteo.com/subscribeWATCH, LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO ‘WE’RE NOT KIDDING’ ON SUBSTACK: https://zeteo.com/s/were-not-kidding-with-mehdi-and-friendsFIND ZETEO:Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeteo_newsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeteonewsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zeteonewsFIND MEHDI:Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasanTwitter: https://twitter.com/@mehdirhasanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/@mehdirhasanTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mehdirhasanFIND HUDA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huda/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@huda?lang=enCREDITS:Hosted by: Mehdi HasanGuest Host: Huda KattanExecutive Producer: Kiran AlviSenior Producer and Editor: Frank CappelloMusic: Andy ClausenDesign: Alicia TatoneMix Engineer: Valentino RiveraTitle Animation: Ehsaan Mesghali
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39:37
The One Where Hasan Minhaj Meets Mehdi Hasan
Hasan Minhaj and Mehdi Hasan don’t just share a common brown name… actually, that may be all they have in common. One loves to debate, the other avoids it like the plague. One is obsessed (sorry, Mehdi) with Twitter, the other avoids it like the plague. And one knew months ago that Trump was going to win, and with record levels of Black and Brown support.They also talked about Joe Rogan and diagnosing what’s the matter with men these days, pseudo-intellectualism, Hasan’s latest Netflix special - including the perplexities and paradoxes of “Beigistan”, and yes, the whole ‘Daily Show’ thing with Hasan and the New Yorker. SUBSCRIBE TO ZETEO TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND UNFILTERED JOURNALISM: https://zeteo.com/subscribeWATCH, LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO ‘WE’RE NOT KIDDING’ ON SUBSTACK: https://zeteo.com/s/were-not-kidding-with-mehdi-and-friendsFIND ZETEO:Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeteo_newsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeteonewsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zeteonewsFIND MEHDI:Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasanTwitter: https://twitter.com/@mehdirhasanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/@mehdirhasanTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mehdirhasanFIND HASAN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HasanMinhajInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/hasanminhaj/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hasanminhajCREDITS:Hosted by: Mehdi HasanGuest Host: Hasan MinhajExecutive Producer: Kiran AlviSenior Producer and Editor: Frank CappelloMusic: Andy ClausenDesign: Alicia TatoneMix Engineer: Valentino RiveraTitle Animation: Ehsaan Mesghali This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe
We’re Not Kidding is a show where funny people talk about serious things, hosted by Zeteo founder and CEO Mehdi Hasan and regularly featuring internationally acclaimed comedian Bassem Youssef. Each episode, Mehdi is joined by a renowned guest host for a sometimes lighthearted, sometimes vulnerable conversation about topics they can't discuss anywhere else. zeteo.com
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