Real Talk

'Hundreds of people are coming to my events, many of them Jewish, and they tell me I gave them their ancestors back'

Molly Crabapple is an Emmy Award-winning artist, author and journalist. Her new book, Here Where We Live Is Our Country, tells the largely forgotten story of the Jewish Labour Bund, a secular, socialist, anti-Zionist mass movement founded in 1897 that at its peak was the largest Jewish political organisation in Eastern Europe.

The Bund believed that Jewish people had the right to stay in their homes, and refused to accept that the answer to antisemitism was a Jewish ethnostate in Palestine.

In this conversation on Real Talk, Molly sits down with Mohamed Hashem to talk about her Jewish identity, her 2015 reporting trip to Gaza, seven years of archival research, and what the Bund's story means during this time.

‘I regret losing my job. Not what I said’

Mark Bonnick worked at Arsenal for 22 years. Then on Christmas Eve 2024, the former kitman was fired over posts he made on X criticising Israel over the genocide in Gaza.

Arsenal accused him of bringing the club into disrepute. The case was quickly framed by media outlets as one of antisemitism. But reports later revealed that the Football Association told Arsenal his posts had not breached any of the governing body's rules.

Mark is now suing Arsenal for unfair dismissal.

In this conversation on Real Talk, he sits down with Mohamed Hashem outside the Emirates Stadium, as Arsenal prepare for the Champions League Final, to tell his story for the first time.

"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.

"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.

"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.

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.

"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.

“Can I curse on this?”

Hasan Piker is one of the most influential political streamers in the world, followed by millions across platforms who tune in daily to watch him dissect news, culture and global politics in real time.

In this wide-ranging conversation on Real Talk, he sits down with Mohamed Hashem to discuss the Epstein files, Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the state of the Democratic Party, and the backlash over his anti-Zionist stance.

The left-wing commentator reflects on the personal and professional cost of speaking out, the limits of platform censorship, and what shaped his understanding of US power and hegemony.

What was Jeffrey Epstein doing for Israeli intelligence?

A new series of reports by Drop Site News has been examining this very question.

Drop Site journalist Murtaza Hussain joined Mohamed Hashem on Real Talk to examine Epstein’s lesser-known ties to powerful figures inside Israeli political and intelligence circles.

Hussain explains how Epstein formed a relationship with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and how a senior Israeli intelligence officer stayed on his estate for weeks at a time.

This conversation delves into the reports and email leaks about the wider network surrounding Epstein, and explores how his activities reached other countries, like Russia, Syria and India.

If AI is an empire, Karen Hao is saying you can resist it.

“We don’t need empires to benefit from AI.”

Hao is an investigative journalist and author of Empire of AI, she joined Mohamed Hashem to share what she saw while embedded inside OpenAI.

In this conversation, she reveals the inner workings of Silicon Valley, such as how CEOs like Sam Altman shape the story of AI, and what all that means for society, labour and the global economy.

Hao explains why AI is not inevitable, how ordinary people can reclaim agency over the technology shaping our future, and why resistance is already forming around the world as we grapple with the questions surrounding this new technology.