'Succession' Star on Gaza, Iran, and the 10 Rich People Who 'Run Everything'

'Succession' Star on Gaza, Iran, and the 10 Rich People Who 'Run Everything'

From We're Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends by Zeteo

October 14, 2025 · 49 min

About this episode

Mehdi interviews Arian Moayed about the parallels between 'Succession' and real-world issues, including immigration, Iranian politics, and the situation in Gaza.

If you were a fan of the HBO series 'Succession' — then do we have a treat for you. On this new episode of 'We're Not Kidding', Mehdi is joined by Iranian-American actor Arian Moayed who played the scene-stealing character Stewy Hosseini on the hit HBO show. Mehdi and Arian unpack the ways our reality mirrors the fictional world of 'Succession', like how pro-Israel billionaire Larry Ellison, the world's second richest man, is buying up media companies Paramount, CBS News, and TikTok. Mehdi also challenges Arian to a new rapid-fire question game called, "Real Billionaire or 'Succession' Character?" As two naturalized US citizens, Mehdi and Arian discuss the recent military-style ICE raids in Arian's hometown of Chicago and the fears that many immigrant communities are feeling in the Trump era. Mehdi and Arian also get into the recent political history of Iran, including the 1979 revolution which led to Arian's family immigrating to the US when he was a child. Arian, an outspoken critic of the Iranian government, explains the importance of Iranian representation and self-determination and offers his own analogy for why Western governments should stay out of Iran's affairs. Finally…

People in this episode

Host: Mehdi

Guest: Arian Moayed

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Artists 4 Ceasefire, HBO, Paramount, CBS News, TikTok

Books & works: 'Succession'

Places: Iran, Chicago

More episodes of We're Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the We're Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends podcast page.