Mehdi Unfiltered

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Mehdi Unfiltered

A new weekly show that delivers unfiltered news, bold opinions, and challenging interviews you won't find elsewhere. zeteo.com

  1. Musk and Ramaswamy Want To Cut Trillions From the Budget — So Why Not Start With the Pentagon?

    41 MIN AGO

    Musk and Ramaswamy Want To Cut Trillions From the Budget — So Why Not Start With the Pentagon?

    By now, you’ve probably heard that Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead the new Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE, a reference to the 2013 meme that has since been co-opted by a lot of crypto bros and incels. The duo have their sights set on wiping two trillion dollars’ worth of US spending to make the government more efficient. And nothing screams “efficiency” like creating a whole new department and hiring two people to do the same job. But as Elon Musk goes on tweet sprees about how ridiculous government spending can be, Zeteo is riding to the rescue. In the spirit of the US coming together post-election, Mehdi lays out four ways Vivek and Elon can help save taxpayer money and make the US government more efficient. By cutting from America’s ginormous and bloated defense budget! Watch the full video above to learn how the US could save over a trillion dollars by cutting from just one government department, but also why Musk may not be keen to do so. And, if you’re a paid subscriber, leave your own suggestions in the comments below. In case you missed them, here are some recent Zeteo stories you might be interested in: This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

    9 min
  2. DEBATE: Is It Time to End the War in Ukraine?

    15 HR AGO

    DEBATE: Is It Time to End the War in Ukraine?

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.com What does an end to the war in Ukraine look like? Who will draw the short straw when the dust settles? And has the risk of nuclear war increased since the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to strike inside of Russia with US missiles? These questions and many more are at the core of this debate on ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ between the Quincy Institute’s Eurasia Program Director Anatol Lieven, an author on Russian and Ukraine, and the McCain Institute’s Executive Director Evelyn Farkas, a former Pentagon official under President Obama.  “The only peace deal that's going to hold while Vladimir Putin is in the Kremlin,” says Farkas, who supports Ukraine joining NATO, is one “that includes a security guarantee for Ukraine… that he won't view any peace deal as a ceasefire and attack later.” A fair argument to make, but a dangerous one according to Lieven.  “Article Five is regarded as critical to the security of Europe… by extending it to a country that we've already said that we won't defend, we're not strengthening the effect of Article Five, we're disastrously weakening it.” Mehdi asks both guests whether the United States has any credibility insisting on sanctions against Russia over its occupation of Ukraine, given ongoing and unconditional US support for Israel in occupied Gaza. “I think if you are addressing each policy separately, you just say to yourself, ‘what is the right thing to do in each scenario?’” says Farkas. “You need to look at each on its merits and see whether it aligns with U.S. interests and values.”  Lieven has a very different view, and sums it up in a few words.  “This is technically called hypocrisy, and that is how it is seen in the rest of the world.”  If you are a paid subscriber, you can watch the full debate above to hear why Farkas believes we should take Putin “at his word”, and why Lieven believes time is of the essence for Ukrainian sovereignty. Free subscribers can watch the first two minutes for free, so do please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and financially supporting Zeteo’s journalism.

    2 min
  3. ‘A Starvation Policy’: Former UN Aid Chief on How Gaza Suffering Is on a ‘Different Level’

    1 DAY AGO

    ‘A Starvation Policy’: Former UN Aid Chief on How Gaza Suffering Is on a ‘Different Level’

    Meet Jan Egeland. He’s a giant in the world of humanitarian affairs, having held top positions across renowned humanitarian and human rights organizations over the past two decades. The former Norwegian foreign minister served as the UN’s humanitarian chief before becoming the secretary general of the respected Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Egeland was also on the ground providing relief during the Syrian Civil War and, before that, Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon. He even coordinated relief in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. And, yet, this is how he describes what’s happening in Gaza:  “There are so many horror scenes on our watch, but Gaza is, in a way, just this indiscriminate warfare on quite a different level.”  As humanitarian groups have worked tirelessly to get aid into the area, Egeland also noted how Israel has enacted a “starvation policy” against the people of Gaza.  “Of the few trucks that make it into Gaza, which is besieged, the majority is being looted, plundered, because there is no police there,” he tells Mehdi. “The police was bombed to pieces by Israel, and Israel is giving us aid routes that are unsafe.”  Engeland asks, “How come these gangs can roam freely, loot everything, and be part of a war economy that is enriching some in Gaza, but really meaning that the vast majority are at starvation?”  He was also “not surprised” when the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Secretary of Defense Yoav Gallant last week. “The ICC was not a court created to take African war criminals,” Egeland tells Mehdi. “It was created to take international and potential war criminals. And I'm glad they have now indicted people on both sides because there have been war crimes on both sides in this horrific war.” Watch the full interview above to hear what Egeland, who just returned from Sudan, says about the humanitarian crisis there, and what may be in store for Gaza under a second Trump presidency. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

    17 min
  4. 'Disabled People Should Just Die’: Trump’s Nephew Recounts Shocking Conversations with His Uncle

    19 NOV

    'Disabled People Should Just Die’: Trump’s Nephew Recounts Shocking Conversations with His Uncle

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.com We know a lot about Donald Trump, perhaps more than we’d ever like to know about someone known for being hateful and racist. Given how long he’s been famous for, you’d imagine we’d seen all the layers beneath his spray tan. But we haven’t.   “I know Donald. I've known him so well over the years, decades, during his formative years and business career and his political career,” says Donald Trump’s nephew Fred Trump III, who poured a lot of that history into the writing of his new book ‘All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way.’   Fred’s interview with Mehdi this week gives Zeteo subscribers a behind-the-scenes look into the Trump family, with incredible anecdotes about his uncle and former president, Donald Trump. From uses of the N-word to an instance where he quotes his uncle in the Oval Office saying, “These people [the disabled], the cost, they should just die.”  Trump’s rhetoric towards disabled people cuts deep for Fred, who has a disabled son of his own, and who Trump also apparently said 'should just die' in a separate conversation with Fred, three years after that first one. Rather alarmingly, Fred also tells Mehdi that Trump’s “purpose right now” is “definitely” to get revenge on his enemies. If you are a paid subscriber, you can watch the full interview above to hear how Fred reacted to Trump’s insults in the past, his views of the Republican Party under the leadership of his uncle, and whether he thinks his book marks the end of the relationship with him. Free subscribers can watch the first 5 minutes for free, so do please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and financially supporting Zeteo’s journalism. *Fred Trump III’s new book ‘All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way’ is published by Gallery Books.  In case you missed them, here are some recent Zeteo stories you might be interested in:

    5 min
  5. 6 Things About Trump’s Hawkish New Defense Secretary That Should Scare the Hell Out of You

    14 NOV

    6 Things About Trump’s Hawkish New Defense Secretary That Should Scare the Hell Out of You

    President-elect Donald J. Trump sent shockwaves through the Pentagon this week, after announcing his pick for secretary of defense: Fox weekend host Pete Hegseth, who has zero experience in government.  But frankly, it’s not the lack of experience or his association with right-wing media that should worry people the most – it’s his clear love for war, war crimes, and war criminals.  With apologies to Donald Rumsfeld, he may be about to become the most extreme defense secretary in American history.  Watch the short video above to see Mehdi unpack six of Hegseth’s insanely war-mongering views and ideas, all of which are bound to break Trump’s ridiculous promise to bringing lasting peace – to the Middle East, or anywhere else! Also, make sure to check out Zeteo’s other highlights from this past week: This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

    4 min
  6. EXCLUSIVE: Top Democratic Senator Slams Biden’s “Shameful” and “Weak” Inaction on Gaza

    13 NOV

    EXCLUSIVE: Top Democratic Senator Slams Biden’s “Shameful” and “Weak” Inaction on Gaza

    “President Biden's inaction, given the suffering in Gaza, is shameful,” Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland tells Mehdi on this week’s ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’. “I mean, there's no other word for it.” It’s not often that a top Democratic senator and long-term party loyalist unleashes on a sitting Democratic president, but Van Hollen – who has been critical of the US’s unconditional support for Israel since October 7th – doesn’t hold back in this wide-ranging and exclusive conversation with Mehdi and Zeteo. “If the president doesn't mean what he says,” about holding Israel to account for the lack of aid going into Gaza, adds Van Hollen, “then he should stop saying it because he looks so weak.” For the Maryland senator, Biden has “essentially been played by Netanyahu from day one. And every time the President of the United States says ‘this is what we the United States think is in our interests, please do it,’ he gets the back of the hand from Netanyahu and refuses to take any action.” Van Hollen also criticizes the Biden-Harris administration for failing to uphold the humanitarian aid deadline they set for Israel last month, which has now passed, and questions their motivations. “My concern is this was a political attempt to try to send a message to voters a month ago that, ‘oh, the president really does care about the situation,’” Van Hollen tells Mehdi.  Watch the full and eye-opening interview above to hear more about Senator Van Hollen’s top concerns over a second Trump presidency, whether Democrats have alienated working class voters, and what he made of the Harris campaign touting their endorsement from Dick Cheney.  This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

    24 min
  7. EXCLUSIVE: Dutch Photographer Reveals How the Media ‘Changed the Whole Narrative’ On Israeli Hooligans

    12 NOV

    EXCLUSIVE: Dutch Photographer Reveals How the Media ‘Changed the Whole Narrative’ On Israeli Hooligans

    When chaos erupted in Amsterdam between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax fans, photographer Annet de Graaf watched the violence unfold across the city first-hand.  Her footage of Maccabi fans attacking a Dutch resident went viral, and was picked up by several media outlets, who then spun a different narrative that it was the Israelis being attacked. Headlines poured in about antisemitic attacks in Amsterdam. But these stories largely overlooked on-camera, blatant, anti-Arab racism from Maccabi supporters. In an exclusive interview, de Graaf tells Mehdi that outlets like CNN, BBC World News, and the New York Times “told the opposite of what happened in that footage.” She adds that they erased the responsibility of the Maccabi fans behind the attacks because “the truth is inconvenient.” Watch the video above to hear how de Graaf witnessed the violence unfold and how she’s handling the fallout from the misuse of her footage — and the threats against her from the Islamophobic far right in the Netherlands. For more on the Amsterdam rioting, and how it was misrepresented by the mainstream media, be sure to check out academic Marc Owen Jones’s latest piece for Zeteo: Innocent Israelis, Bad Arabs? How the Media Scripted Amsterdam's Soccer Violence This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

    12 min
  8. EXCLUSIVE: Mehdi Interviews Piers Morgan on Gaza, Israel and Trump

    2 NOV

    EXCLUSIVE: Mehdi Interviews Piers Morgan on Gaza, Israel and Trump

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.com You’ve seen Piers Morgan interview Mehdi plenty of times over the past year. This week, Mehdi and Morgan flipped roles for the first time, with our editor-in-chief sitting down for an exclusive interview with the controversial British broadcaster in New York.  Their discussion starts with Mehdi offering a twist on a classic Morgan question: “Do you condemn Benjamin Netanyahu's terrorism against the children of Gaza?”  As difficult as it is for a defiant Morgan to use the T-word to describe Netanyahu’s brutal actions in Gaza, he goes even further to avoid using the G-word to describe Israel’s relentless assault on the embattled strip. “I think to use the word genocide about what Russia is doing there is the wrong term, and I shouldn't have used it,” says Morgan. “I look at Piers Morgan, I say here's this uncensored person, very bold, outspoken, opinionated man. He says, ‘Syria is a genocide. Burma is a genocide. Ukraine's a genocide’… Israel? ‘No, it's not a genocide,’” Mehdi says to Morgan, perhaps stunned by the latter’s new stance. Oh, and wait until you hear Morgan’s response to Mehdi’s questioning about his amplification of the ‘beheaded babies’ lie! Our editor-in-chief’s exclusive interview with the outspoken British broadcaster was taped a day after former president Donald Trump held a hate-filled rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, which Morgan proudly attended.  “My view of Trump has evolved a lot because I know him personally, I like him personally, some of the things he does I think are very effective, some of the things he does I think are completely wrong,” Morgan tells Mehdi.  Mehdi presses Morgan to defend his friend Trump’s insane rhetoric, unhinged behavior, and long-standing racism. Morgan, you’ll be shocked to hear, pushes back hard.  Watch the full and explosive interview above to hear why Morgan doesn’t think Netanyahu is a terrorist and doesn’t think Trump is a fascist, and what he makes of the US and UK media bias in favor of Israel.  If you are a paid subscriber to Zeteo (thank you!), this exclusive interview is available to you in full, and you can also leave your comments below. Free subscribers get a 15-minute preview of this special interview with Piers Morgan. So do consider becoming a paid subscriber today!

    15 min
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About

A new weekly show that delivers unfiltered news, bold opinions, and challenging interviews you won't find elsewhere. zeteo.com

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  • Channel
    Zeteo
  • Creator
    Zeteo
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    52
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  • Copyright
    © Zeteo
  • Show Website
    Mehdi Unfiltered

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