In a conversation with Mehdi for her new contributor segment at Zeteo called ‘Unshocked,’ Jewish activist, academic, and author Naomi Klein calls for an “exodus from the ideological shackles of Zionism.” 

Naomi also reacts to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu comparing student protesters at Columbia University to Nazis, telling Mehdi that when it comes to Netanyahu, “there is nobody more adept at exploiting Jewish trauma, historical trauma, and turning it into a political weapon for his own advantage.”

Mehdi also opens up to Naomi about why he decided to boycott the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. 

“I can't call out what Israel is doing to Palestinian journalists with American-made bombs and then go to a fun, comedy-type dinner with the President of the United States — who's not just responsible for that, but is also not even acknowledging it,” Mehdi tells Naomi. 

In 2007, Naomi wrote The Shock Doctrine, a best-selling book that explains what happens when a national crisis throws citizens into a state of shock and how the powerful exploit those moments.

Although it may be one of her most popular books, Naomi tells Mehdi that she dreams of a day where The Shock Doctrine will no longer be relevant, where people can stay grounded even in times of chaos. 

“The idea for calling this segment ‘Unshocked’ — it's not to communicate a kind of world weariness, like nothing can shock me… It's the idea of what I'm hoping we can do together, which is yank us out of shock through analysis, facts, history, and really rooting us in reality,” Naomi explains.

Look out for ‘Unshocked’ with Naomi Klein every month, where she and Mehdi provide deeper analysis on various topics related to current events, religion, politics, ideology, and more. To sign up, click your profile icon in the top right corner of the Substack page, go to “manage subscription,” and scroll down to select.

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