It's been a long time coming, but Mehdi was finally joined by the acclaimed Palestinian-American comedian Mo Amer for a very special LIVE taping of 'We're Not Kidding' in Mo's hometown of Houston, Texas. In this wide-ranging, hilarious, and, at times, emotional conversation, the two talk about Mo's groundbreaking Netflix TV series 'Mo', his roots in the Houston comedy scene, and how the past three years of genocide in Gaza has impacted him and his community.
Mo talks about his family's background in Palestine and growing up in the melting pot of Houston – the primary inspirations for his Peabody Award-winning series 'Mo'. Mehdi asks about the series' truly exceptional second season, which explored ICE detention centers, Israeli cultural appropriation, and even depicts life for persecuted Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Mo also gives Mehdi his unfiltered opinion about another famous Palestinian who has stayed silent on the genocide: DJ Khaled.
The two also talk about:
Mo's first American Halloween as a bewildered immigrant child
How Mo got into comedy
Being the first Arab-American to sell out Radio City Music Hall
Whether James Talarico will turn Texas blue
The best places to eat in Houston
And they play a Texas-themed version of 'This or That'
They also take questions from the audience of 1,500 people in Houston about comedy as resistance, the best ways to support the Palestinian diaspora, and Muslim representation on the stand-up stage.
This interview was published on Oct. 28, 2026 on Zeteo.com. If you want early access to 'We're Not Kidding' and to support Zeteo's independent journalism, subscribe on Substack here: https://zeteo.com/subscribe
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Credits:
Hosted by: Mehdi Hasan
Guest Host: Mo Amer
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: Yezen Saadah
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