"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 April last year he took his class to one of the encampments, a decision that resulted in two students making complaints to the university, which have since resulted in a formal investigation.

Speaking to Mohamed Hashem, he condemns the ongoing witch-hunt against pro-Palestine activists by Columbia administrators and the Trump administration, especially in the wake of Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest.

He urges the university not to capitulate to the Trump administration’s demands given to the university to reinstate $400 million in federal funding. 

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

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 this experience, what it taught her, and the state of crackdowns by US universities on pro-Palestinian activism. 

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem. 

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

“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 backlash faced by Jewish scholars who speak out, and the implications for international law and human rights.

Segal is currently the associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University.

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem.

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

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 Wolff who claims that the Brics coalition (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will have an economic edge over the US. 

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem.

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

"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 explain how the power and influence Musk currently holds over the federal government, and why “no one’s talking about Steve Bannon anymore”. 

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem.

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

“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 experience operating on Palestinian patients at Gaza’s hospitals.

Rose worked in Gaza twice in 2024 - at the European Gaza Hospital in March and the Nasser Hospital in August - and spoke with us ahead of her planned return to the besieged enclave in February 2025.

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem. 

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

“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 faced by many journalists in the field, including those of Arab heritage: “Many of us looked at our places in the industry.”

The British-Iraqi journalist also shared insights from some of her acclaimed work in the field, which included reporting from Gaza in 2021, the last English-language interview with Yahya Sinwar (the former Hamas leader who was killed in 2024), as well as her reports on Sheikh Jarrah, the Russia-Ukraine war and an upcoming MEE documentary on Lebanon.

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

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 embarking on her journey back to Syria, Wafa joined us for a personal conversation, reflecting on the fall of Assad, her life in Germany and her relentless fight to find her father. 

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem.

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

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 nearly 15 years living in the Middle East, including Syria, up until the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. He’s also the author of a forthcoming book on Syria. 

Today on Real Talk, we take a look at Syria’s history under Hafez al-Assad and unpack how Bashar continued his father’s authoritarian rule after his death in 2000. 

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem.

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm

“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 called Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide, spoke to us about his views on Israel-Palestine and the role of the pro-Israel lobby in American politics. 

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview programme hosted by Mohamed Hashem.

Catch all our Real Talk episodes on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1yRh7NMaNqOTpWkGSJPC8kIm