Real Talk

“The existence of a Palestinian student or pro-Palestine students on campus is an issue for [Columbia].” Mahmoud Khalil became the face of the US government’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protests across American campuses. A Columbia University graduate, he was one of the lead negotiators during Columbia’s Gaza solidarity encampments — a movement that quickly spread across universities worldwide. Wh...

“What I experienced is a glimpse of what Palestinians have to go through.” Prominent labour activist Chris Smalls speaks out after returning to his home in the United States following his detention in an Israeli prison. Weeks ago, Smalls decided to join the Handala flotilla, which sailed towards Gaza in an attempt to break Israel’s siege. Now, after Israeli forces intercepted the ship in internati...

“I haven’t worked in a very long time.” What are the repercussions of speaking out for Gaza in Hollywood? In this Real Talk interview, US model and actor Indya Moore opens up about the cost of speaking out for Gaza, describing the “devastating” fallout with her former agents at CAA over her use of the word “genocide” and for her support for Palestine. Indya, who in 2019 was named as one of Time’s...

‘These journalistic institutions have done far more to support the genocide than… Starbucks or McDonald’s’ Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mona Chalabi joins Real Talk to unpack how mainstream media coverage has enabled Israel’s war on Gaza, and why she’s calling to boycott outlets aiding that effort. She also reflects on how many of these same patterns were present in the run-up to the Iraq War...

“I was sold a lie.” One of Britain’s most acclaimed historians slams the country’s education system - which he feels has distorted the history of Palestine, portraying it as an “empty desert” before 1948. In this Real Talk interview, William Dalrymple shares his views on Britain’s historical responsibility towards Palestine, and calls out the UK government’s ongoing cooperation with Israel, includ...

“I have no business with genocidaires.” That’s how artist, poet and activist Saul Williams describes his refusal to stay silent on Israel’s war on Gaza.  In this Real Talk interview, Williams opens up about witnessing apartheid in Israel-Palestine, losing friends and work for speaking out, and the responsibility artists have in the face of propaganda and empire. We also explore his critique of US...

Bilal Hassan is a Pakistani doctor who also happens to be one of the most popular travel storytellers from his country.  He is a content creator whose work captures the people, the cultures, the food and the human connections across Pakistan.  But then, conflict erupts and fighting escalates. Nearly 70 people are killed in a matter of days in India and Pakistan, including civilians in Kashmir on b...

“The point was to make people aware… The world knows now who [Microsoft] truly are, and what they’re doing.” As Microsoft celebrated its 50th anniversary with a panel featuring Bill Gates, one employee stood up and disrupted the event. Her message: Microsoft is complicit in Israel’s war on Gaza.  The young software engineer, Vaniya Agrawal, was then fired by Microsoft. Now, she’s speaking out.  In...

‘The crimes [in Gaza] are so egregious that are being carried out... The attempt to cover them up and whitewash them is failing’  Since 7 October, western media coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza has come under intense scrutiny, particularly for the language and terminology used by many outlets. As a result, the coverage has been accused of bias against Palestinians effectively providing cover for I...

"You can’t be a filmmaker. You’re Palestinian - no one will care." Cherien Dabis is a Palestinian-American filmmaker and actress constantly working to break new ground for Palestinian representation in Hollywood.  In 2022, she made TV history as the first Palestinian ever nominated for an Emmy, for her work on “Only Murders in the Building”. Throughout her career, Cherien has pushed back against o...

In The World After Gaza, acclaimed Indian author Pankaj Mishra reckons with Israel’s war on Gaza and its far-reaching moral and geopolitical consequences. He situates the onslaught within the broader context of western colonialism while grappling with a critical question: What does the world look like after Gaza? Mishra joined us on Real Talk to discuss the book’s key themes, including the Holocau...

"The more they offer the Trump administration, the more the Trump administration is going to ask - and the demands in that letter [sent to Columbia] are absolutely unacceptable." In this Real Talk interview, Columbia humanities professor Bruce Robbins reveals why he’s concerned he could be "thrown to the lions" over steps he took during last year's campus protests. Robbins speaks about how in Apri...

Over a year ago in January 2024, Jewish-American academic Maura Finkelstein found herself placed on administrative leave by her institution at the time: Muhlenberg College.  A few months later she was fired, despite having tenure.   The reason? She was told it was because of a post she shared on her Instagram story which heavily condemned Zionism.  Finkelstein joined us on Real Talk to reflect on...

“From the moment Israel was created, there’s this idea that it is unimaginable that it can perpetrate any crime under international law, let alone genocide.”  US-Israeli genocide scholar Raz Segal was the first academic to label Israel’s war on Gaza a ‘textbook case of genocide’ in 2023. But that also came with a price.  The prominent Israeli-American historian delves into the context, the intense...

Will Brics nations pose a real challenge to Donald Trump’s second term in office? And how do Trump’s tariffs stack up against this rising bloc?  US economist Richard D Wolff joined us for an extended conversation on Trump, tariffs, Brics, as well as the US plan to ‘take over’ Gaza.  “This is difficult here in the US for people to hear, but it’s the truth. The American empire is declining,” argues...

"Elon Musk has been given by Trump… almost dictatorial power”  Today we’re taking on the MAGA ‘civil war’ that’s publicly erupted within Donald Trump’s own ranks.  Did Elon Musk and the tech billionaires already win the battle for Trump’s ear against Steve Bannon’s nationalist right?  US historian Rick Perlstein is one of the leading voices on America’s conservative movement. He joins us to explai...

“I don’t believe this is about Israel’s security.” What’s it like to be a medic inside Gaza’s shattered healthcare system? British plastic surgeon Dr Victoria Rose joins us on Real Talk to share her first-hand account of the harrowing scenes she witnessed in Gaza.  She opens up about why she believes Israel is “definitely” targeting medics, how this has become a “war on children”, and her experien...

“If you’re an Arab, specifically a Palestinian journalist…you are political. Your identity is political.” We recently sat down with award-winning journalist and filmmaker Hind Hassan for a reflective conversation that delves into Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Russia-Ukraine.   We also discussed Western media’s coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, with Hind reflecting on the challenges fac...

Nearly 12 years after her father was arrested in 2013, and days after Bashar al-Assad was toppled, Wafa Mustafa is now going back to Syria driven by a determination to find him.  Wafa has not returned to her home country since escaping over a decade ago, shortly after her father, Ali, was forcibly disappeared by Bashar al-Assad’s government forces during the Syrian uprising.   Speaking just before...

How did Hafez al-Assad rise from an army officer to establish a dynasty that brutally ruled Syria for 54 years? From seizing power in 1970 to the Hama massacre, and Bashar inheriting power, Professor Joshua Landis joined us for an in-depth conversation on the Assad family’s rise to power. Landis, chair and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, has spent near...

“AIPAC is a pro-Israel lobby and they need to be defeated for that reason. But they also represent white supremacy and everything that comes with that.” US congressman Jamaal Bowman reflects on losing his seat after AIPAC poured millions into his Democratic primary to unseat him, reportedly making it the most expensive House primary race in US history. The progressive member of ‘The Squad’, who ca...

“I can’t watch a guy plugged up to an IV burned alive.”  Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of America’s most celebrated writers. His latest book, The Message, took him to Senegal, South Carolina and Israel-Palestine.  The book has been both praised and slammed for calling out Israeli apartheid. Coates joined us to reflect on the backlash, but also takes his time to offer a deeper perspective on the Gaza gen...

“The relationship with Israel is in a different league entirely”  In light of Israel’s multi-front war in the region, including Gaza, Lebanon, and the escalation with Iran, how can we understand the US-Israel ‘special relationship’?  And where does the pro-Israel lobby in the US fit inside this framework?  That’s what we’re asking Harvard professor Stephen Walt, who joined us for an extended conve...

“It happens because of years of anti-Muslim, anti-migrant hatred.”  It’s been several months since Humza Yousaf stepped down in May 2024. Now, the Scottish former First Minister, who in 2023 became the first Muslim leader of a western democracy, is sounding the alarm.  In one of the longest interviews he’s given since resigning, Yousaf warns of rising Islamophobia in UK politics, the far right thr...

“I now rage that my government is behaving the way it’s behaving.”  As Israel’s war on Gaza, and now Lebanon, continues with no end in sight, we’re delving into why America’s Gaza policy failed.  Today on Real Talk, we’re joined by Matt Duss, former foreign policy adviser to Bernie Sanders and the executive vice president at the Center for International Policy.  We discuss how President Joe Biden’...