WATCH: Saad Mohseni Joins The Daily Beast Podcast

With the ruling of a judge in Nevada this past weekend, media mogul Rupert Murdoch remains engaged in a Succession-worthy fight with members of his own family. On The Daily Beast Podcast this week, the “Murdoch of Afghanistan,” CEO of Moby Media Group Saad Mohseni and author of Radio Free Afghanistan spoke about the broader battle his business face with censorship and restrictions under Taliban rule.

Amid a governmental rollback of rights for women and girls in the country, Mohseni told co-hosts Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee that “women continue to work for us. We’ve tripled the number of women in our newsroom since 2021... They present the news, they’re (out in) the field, behind the cameras.”

Mohseni argued that Taliban rule should not be seen as “monolithic” and can be negotiated with. “Disengagement is not the answer,” he urged. “Baby steps are necessary to sustain progress and push for inclusivity.”

The Daily Beast’s Special Correspondent Harry Lambert returned to the podcast to discuss the Internet’s current main character: Luigi Mangione, who was arrested this week at a McDonalds in central Pennsylvania and charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The American public reaction to the sensational shooting has been explosive, with Mangione mythologized as a figure railing against healthcare injustices. But that narrative may not be sustainable: “It’s seeming to go down a sadder path, not so much a Robin Hood path, but more of a mental illness path,” Bee reflected.

Are Americans Hot For Luigi, or Heated Over Health Care?THIRST TRAP

Jill Filipovic

On the tragic security cam footage of Thompson’s killing, Lambert noted, “You don’t want to watch (a video of) someone being killed, but it’s only once you watch it that you no longer think this is a joke in any way.”

Sometimes comic relief helps, however, especially at the star-studded Comic Relief gala in New York earlier this week. Both Bee and Coles—a co-chair of the event—were in attendance, and recounted a mortifyingly perfect moment featuring Coles' vegetable chips. Listen along for the details.

New episodes of The Daily Beast Podcast are released every Thursday. Like and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. And click here for email updates as each new episode drops.