‘We’re Gonna Be Killed By the Dumbest Fascists’ - Wajahat Ali on the Future of America

This episode is sponsored by Odoo. Go to https://www.odoo.com/notkidding to try it for free. This episode is sponsored by Avocado Green Mattress. Go to https://www.avocadogreenmattress.com/... to check out their furniture sales. Mehdi and Wajahat Ali (‪@YouTubeWajahatAli‬) have been friends for almost two decades. And just like with any good friend, there’s a lot the two don’t agree on, from who they think the best Bond actor is to whether there are alliances the left can make with the far-right on Israel. But one thing they do stand together on is just how vital immigrants are to America. In fact, it’s the premise of Waj’s memoir, Go Back to Where You Came From, which he calls both a “love letter to a country that doesn’t love us back” and a “warning to a country about what happens when you go against the immigrants.” Waj discusses his experience growing up as the child of Pakistani immigrants and Mehdi chimes in with his experience being an immigrant to the U.S. They also talk about America at 250 and the dueling 4th of July speeches between Zohran Mamdani (very good!) and Donald Trump (very bad!). “There were MAGA people on the mall who told journalists that it was ‘liberals in the weather service’ trying to ruin the Trump speech on Saturday night,” Mehdi says. “They literally see the storm destroying the sets and they're like, ‘We don't believe the liberals in the weather service.’” Waj says. “It's a cult, man.” In this intimate and hilarious conversation, the two also discuss: Waj’s parents being sent to prison. Donald Trump intervening in the World Cup. Extremism in the U.S. versus the UK. The rise of Islamophobia. And… the Epstein Files. CHAPTERS: 00:50 - Opening montage 1:57 - Intro 4:12 - How Mehdi and Waj met 6:00 - Pakistanis in movies 8:50 - Who is the best James Bond? 10:24 - U.S. vs. UK racism 13:08 - White supremacists’ dirty asses 18:30 - World Cup 22:05 - Dumbest fascists 23:30 - War on immigrants 27:15 - Waj’s parents in prison 37:05 - America 250 44:50 - Michael Knowles 48:20 - Waj’s trip to Israel 54:54 - Manufactured Islamophobia 57:02 - Can we trust right-wingers? 59:58 - The Epstein coverup This interview was published several days earlier on Zeteo.com. If you want early access to exclusive content and hard-hitting, independent journalism, subscribe on Substack here: https://zeteo.com/subscribe Watch, listen and subscribe to ‘We’re Not Kidding’ on Substack: https://zeteo.com/s/were-not-kidding-... Listen to ‘We’re Not Kidding’ as a podcast: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ogT7Zv... Find Zeteo: Twitter:   / zeteo_news   Instagram:   / zeteonews   TikTok:   / zeteonews   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/zeteo.com Find Mehdi: Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasan Twitter:   / @mehdirhasan   Instagram:   / @mehdirhasan   Tik Tok:   / mehdirhasan   Credits: Hosted by Mehdi Hasan Guest Host: Wajahat Ali Executive Producer: Kiran Alvi Senior Producer and Editor: Frank Cappello Music: Andy Clausen Design: Alicia Tatone Mix Engineer: Valentino Rivera Title Animation: Ehsaan Mesghali Special thanks: Kennedy Garmong To advertise on the show, contact [email protected] or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/networ...