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What Now? With Trevor NoahMehdi Hasan: The Freedom to Speak
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Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- June 18, 2026
- Duration
- 1h 33m
- Channel
- What Now? With Trevor Noah
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
What do Premier League football, corporate newsrooms, and 90s action movies have in common? More than you’d think, apparently. This week, Trevor and Eugene sit down with award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan to discuss fandom, media, and the strange ways everything connects. They debate the beautiful absurdity of sports loyalty, the pressures and limitations of corporate TV, and Mehdi’s decision to leave that world behind and build an independent platform of his own. Then, because no conversation is complete without a few unexpected detours, the three dive into a surprisingly passionate debate over the glory days of classic action movies. If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the channel here: http://bit.ly/SubscribeTrevorNoah Or follow the podcast on your other favorite platforms... SiriusXM Apple Podcasts - https://bit.ly/WhatNowOnApplePodcasts Spotify - https://bit.ly/WhatNowOnSpotify 0:00 - JCVD vs. Jason Statham debate 1:49 - Language rules 3:04 - Starting your own thing: freedom vs. more work 4:00 - Life after corporate media – saying what he wants 4:52 - What corporate media wouldn't let him say 7:21 - Calling out fascism, genocide & racism in the media 12:18 - Fascism is a process, not an overnight event 14:06 - Is every US president destined to go to war? 17:47 - Was Trump ever really anti-war? 18:01 - Mehdi moves to America & Trump's golden escalator 22:11 - Being consumed by Trump as a Muslim immigrant 24:23 - What brought Mehdi to the US 26:00 - Liverpool FC & the brown Muslim football fan pipeline 32:41 - Zoran Mamdani: the anti-war left-wing candidate 38:21 - Why Democrats keep losing the messaging war 40:46 - Is any US president truly anti-war? 45:27 - When Mehdi started saying "we" about America 52:51 - Mehdi's family background & how he got into journalism 1:04:22 - The Satanic Verses & questioning everything 1:07:33 - Jason Statham movies & what Mehdi loves about America 1:14:34 - Journalism with a point of view vs. fake neutrality 1:17:27 - Mehdi on the Jubilee debate show – sitting with white supremacists 1:21:01 - Being afraid in Trump's America day to day 1:22:09 - Why Mehdi can't stop seeing everything through politics 1:27:11 - Action movies, childhood heroes & being bullied 1:29:50 - Media manipulation, online grift & paid influencers
SPEAKERS
Mehdi Hasan
guestJournalist and political commentator; founder of Zeteo (2024) and former MSNBC/NBC and The Intercept contributor.
Trevor Noah
hostComedian and media personality; host of “What Now? with Trevor Noah.”
Eugene
hostOn-mic co-host/sidekick on “What Now? with Trevor Noah.”
Eugene
hostOn-mic co-host/sidekick on “What Now? with Trevor Noah.”
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of What Now? With Trevor Noah, featuring Mehdi Hasan and Trevor Noah, Mehdi Hasan: The Freedom to Speak explores Mehdi Hasan on independent media, naming fascism, and speaking freely Hasan argues that corporate newsrooms constrain language and framing—especially around Israel/Palestine—pushing journalists away from terms like “genocide,” “apartheid,” “fascism,” and “racism.”
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