Is America The Bad Guy? with Ta-Nehisi Coates

Hasan sits down with writer and journalist, Ta-Nehisi Coates, to talk about his latest Vanity Fair article, the difference between intelligence and wisdom, and the inherent violence of Empire. Let's cut through the noise together. Go to groundnews.com/hasan to subscribe and get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage Plan, which breaks down to just $5/month with my discount. Co-Creator & Executive Producer: Hasan Minhaj Co-Creator & Executive Producer: Prashanth Venkataramanujam Executive Producer/Director: Tyler Babin Executive Producer/Showrunner: Scott Vrooman Producer: Kayla Feng Producer/ Copywriter: Annie Fick Cinematographer: Austin Morales Editor: Javi Aguiar Assistant Editor: Zae Jordan Talent Coordinators: Tanya Somanader and Kori Schulman Executive Assistant: Samuel Piland 0:00 Introducing Ta-Nehisi Coates 3:19 Ad 4:15 The reaction to “Between the World and Me” vs. “The Message” 11:47 Hasan’s favorite passage from “The Message” 13:39 Confusing intellect for wisdom 17:51 Does America have good intentions? 19:09 Sincerely, President Donald Trump 21:48 Constraints on free speech creating your world 23:28 Do states have a right to exist? 27:00 Discussing “The Next Black President” 31:20 Thinking bigger to fight empire 33:56 What does “Empire” mean? 38:07 Kamala Harris at the 2024 DNC 43:00 Survival-ball 45:15 Blaming undecided voters 49:17 Does it have to be this way? 52:59 Will the progressive Democratic primary wins in New York change the whole party’s approach? 54:52 The 2026 midterm elections 1:00:01 Celebrity 1:05:14 Remaining open to the world YOU CAN WATCH ON CNN.COM/WATCH OR THE CNN APP. New to HMDK? 👉🏾 Watch past episodes https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE6linSnhLs0dd6APJS0_u12PLhQoRXD3 👉🏾 Follow HMDK on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hmdk 👉🏾 Follow Hasan on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hasanminhaj 👉🏾 Follow Hasan on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@hasanminhaj 👉🏾 Listen to the podcast https://lemonada.lnk.to/HasanMinhajDoesntKnowYT And if you haven’t yet, now is a great time to subscribe to Lemonada Premium. Just hit the 'subscribe' button on Apple Podcasts, or, for all other podcast apps head to lemonadapremium.com to subscribe. ———————— THE SHOW: Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know is a long-form interview podcast hosted by two-time Peabody Award-winning comedian Hasan Minhaj. The show features in-depth conversations with politicians, public figures, financial experts, scientists, intellectuals, authors and celebrities. Rather than sticking to standard talking points, Minhaj aims to ask deeper, more probing questions that reveal personal perspectives and challenge conventional narratives. The tone is direct and curious, and focused on uncovering what guests really think beyond rehearsed answers. KEYWORDS: Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know, Hasan Minhaj, Hasan Minhaj podcast, politics, political, political interviews, science interviews, financial interviews, politics interview, history interviews, culture interviews, interviews, political comedy, comedy, political, news, podcast, comedy podcast, politics podcast, Patriot Act, Patriot Act Netflix, issues, current affairs podcast, current events podcast, current events, talk show, trending political news, funny, satire, political satire, celebrity interviews, political videos, Democratic Party, Republican Party, us politics, American politics, long form interview, long form political, history interview, science interview