498. Endless Sushi and Boundless Suppression (w/Maryam Banikarim and John Fugelsang)
Fake the Nation
Headgum & Negin Farsad
4.4 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2026
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, comedian and host of Fake the Nation, Negin Farsad, is joined by comedian and author of New York Times bestseller Separation of Church & Hate, John Fugelsang; plus CMO of everything and host of the podcast The Messy Parts, Maryam Banikarim. They start things off with cultural shenanigans that involve the popularity of sushi among kids and the use of AI in very expensive matchmaking. In politics, they look at the heartbreaking situation in Iran and Minneapolis and the strange parallels we see for freedom fighters everywhere. They end on hope because that's what everyone needs right now. This episode was taped at the incredible P&T Studio in NYC's Lower East Side.
Follow Everyone!
@NeginFarsad everywhere
@Mbanikarim on IG & TikTok
@johnfugelsang
Check out Fugelsang's new book!
Check out Mariam's The Longest Table and set one up in your neighborhood!
Support the show at Patreon.com/neginfarsad
Rate Fake The Nation 5-stars on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!
Host - Negin Farsad
Producer - Rob Heath
Theme Music - Gaby Alter
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, hello. This is Vick the Nation where we talk about news, we kivetch about culture, and where we scream at current events, but then we try to turn that scream into a more constructive form of action and optimism. |
| 0:12.1 | I'm your host, Nagin Farsad, and while the Trump administration doubles down on ICE criminality, I double down on the American people. |
| 0:19.8 | Americans were out this weekend. |
| 0:21.0 | Over 5 million turned out in over 2,000 protests against ICE throughout the country. |
| 0:26.5 | And that, my friends, is the real America. |
| 0:29.7 | Today, we'll talk about the horrific events and political reactions that are inspiring that kind of turnout. |
| 0:35.1 | And we'll talk about what's happening in Iran. |
| 0:37.0 | We'll also have |
| 0:37.6 | some fun with the sushi boom among the elementary school set and the use of AI for dating apps. |
| 0:44.7 | And folks, the panel that we have assembled for you today is so incredible. |
| 0:50.7 | First of all, you're joined by a fake thethe-nation favorite. He's an alum. |
| 0:54.7 | He's been on. |
| 0:55.5 | You love him. |
| 1:30.5 | He is the host of the series Ex-M Show. Tell Me Everything, which you should be tuning into, which parts of I believe you can download as a podcast. It's a free podcast called My Name is the name of the podcast. And you'll know his name in a moment. He also has a New York Times bestselling book called The Separation Between Church and Hate. And oh my God, I love this book. It's the book I've been waiting for. It is the one and only John Fugel saying, hey, John. Thank you so much, Nicky. Oh, my God. And John is one of my oldest comedy buddies. So it's always amazing to see you in a room. |
| 1:30.9 | Thank you. |
| 1:33.7 | I hope you don't mind that all I want to do is ask questions about Iran. |
| 1:34.3 | Yeah, no. |
| 1:39.4 | And that's the only thing that's coursing through my brain, which makes so much sense that we also have this other panelist joining us. |
| 1:43.9 | She is forming the Iranian sandwich with me today. |
| 1:47.6 | She was the CMO of many, many Fortune 500 companies like Hyatt and Univision. And she is just, like, |
| 1:56.7 | has a resume that's taller than me. She has incredible smarts and is now hosting the podcast, the messy parts, where you get to hear how amazing she is on your own. |
| 2:09.4 | I've had the honor of, like, having her be one of my only Persian friends in America. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Headgum & Negin Farsad, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Headgum & Negin Farsad and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.