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Real Talk

Middle East Eye
Real Talk
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46 episodes

  • Real Talk

    Why Ana Kasparian is ready to work with the right on Israel

    2026/05/21 | 45 mins.
    "The left loves to lose. They can't get enough of it."
    Ana Kasparian has been an influential and prominent voice in US independent media for nearly two decades.
    The co-host and executive producer of The Young Turks speaks with Mohamed Hashem on Real Talk to make the case for a left-right coalition on Israel, and why she believes the establishment of both parties has failed the American people.
    Kasparian calls out AOC for being outflanked by Marjorie Taylor Greene on Gaza, and explains why she's willing to work with anyone, regardless of politics, to "stop a genocide."
    She also opens up on the personal cost of speaking out: lost jobs, death threats, and Israeli soldiers sending her weapons imagery.
  • Real Talk

    ‘Mom, I’m at our house’: How this war reporter covered the horrors of Sudan’s war | Yousra Elbagir

    2026/05/14 | 1h 21 mins.
    "Mom, I'm at our house."
    Yousra Elbagir is Sky News UK's Africa correspondent. She has been highly praised for her reporting on a war that's been largely absent from mainstream news coverage: Sudan.
    As the fighting enters its fourth year, Sudan has become the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Millions have been displaced as cities are destroyed by a brutal power struggle and foreign interference. But for Yousra, this isn't just work, or a news story. Sudan is also her home.
    In this conversation on Real Talk, she speaks with Mohamed Hashem about her reporting from inside the country, the siege of cities like el-Fasher, the UAE's role in giving the Rapid Support Forces global cover, and Europe’s inaction on the war.
    Yousra also reflects on returning to her family home of 25 years in Khartoum, ransacked by the RSF, and what it means to report a war that is also your own.
  • Real Talk

    Did the US military turn a blind eye to recruiting neo-Nazis? | Matt Kennard

    2026/05/07 | 1h 13 mins.
    "My commanders liked the fact I was a Nazi. They saw it as making me a better warrior."
    Matt Kennard is a British investigative journalist who co-founded Declassified UK, and is also the author of Irregular Army. It’s a book that uncovers how the US military, desperate to fill its ranks during the War on Terror, began looking the other way on things that would once have disqualified soldiers from serving, such as neo-Nazi tattoos, gang affiliations, and mental illness.
    In this conversation on Real Talk, Kennard speaks with Mohamed Hashem about the openly neo-Nazi veterans he met and interviewed, the moral waiver programme that opened the door to convicted felons, and the Rumsfeld Doctrine that was the catalyst.
  • Real Talk

    Why this lifelong Conservative turned on the British establishment | Peter Oborne

    2026/05/03 | 1h 11 mins.
    Peter Oborne spent decades at the heart of the British establishment.
    The award-winning journalist and author of ‘Complicit’ sits down with Mohamed Hashem on Real Talk to break down how the Iraq war set the template for Gaza, and why there is a direct path between the two.
    Oborne also calls out Keir Starmer for not condemning Israeli war crimes, and what it means that Margaret Thatcher was more willing to stand up to Israel than the UK's current prime minister.
    He also opens up on why he walked away from mainstream British media, and never looked back.
  • Real Talk

    She spoke against the Iran War. Her community turned on her | Ariana Jasmine | Real Talk

    2026/04/28 | 1h 8 mins.
    "I don't feel safe with my own people."
    Ariana Jasmine is one of the biggest Iranian-American political content creators, whose videos on Iran's history, the US-Israeli war on the country, and US politics have been widely shared online.
    In this conversation on Real Talk, she speaks with Mohamed Hashem to discuss the Iranian diaspora's split over western intervention, the Pahlavi monarchist movement and its "cult-like" following, and why she believes opposing the US-Israeli war on Iran made her a target within her own community.
    Ariana also reflects on the personal cost of speaking out, the threats, the harassment, and why she refuses to stay silent in spite of it all.
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About Real Talk
Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview series hosted by Mohamed Hashem that explores the unique stories and experiences of a diverse range of guests — from artists, to musicians, to politicians and more.
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