Real Time with Bill Maher – Overtime Episode #709: Van Jones, Thomas Friedman

Date: October 7, 2025
Guests: Van Jones, Tom Friedman
Main Theme: A wide-ranging discussion of current events and societal trends—from political polarization and social media outrage, to climate change, AI, government transparency, and questions of national norms.

Episode Overview

In this overtime segment, Bill Maher hosts political commentator Van Jones and New York Times journalist Tom Friedman for a frank, spirited conversation. The trio tackles viewers’ questions about civil discourse, UFOs, climate change, the impact of AI on jobs, recent foreign policy decisions, and cultural flashpoints like Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance. The panelists share concerns about the erosion of social norms, the rapid pace of technological change, and heightened divisions in American society—sprinkled with wit, some self-deprecating humor, and memorable one-liners.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Civil Discourse in Politics (01:23–02:29)

• Question to Van Jones: Would you have debated Charlie Kirk?
• Van Jones reflects on the recent death of Kirk, sharing an example of reaching out across ideological divides with "disagree agreeably."
  • Quote: “He said, ‘Let's be gentlemen. Let's disagree. Agreeably.’... He was a words not weapons guy. I disagree with his words. He's a words not weapons guy. And we're getting away from that now.” —Van Jones (01:38)
  • He criticizes partisans who attack opponents even after their passing, urging empathy.
  • Quote: "If you got me at 31 years old, I was on the left side of Pluto. There is no telling what you have had me say. So let's give some grace and some space even to our enemies.” —Van Jones (02:14)

2. Government Transparency & UFOs/UAPs (02:31–04:28)

• Should the government be more transparent about UAPs?
  • All agree: Yes, and they question the rationale for the government’s secrecy.
  • Bill Maher jokes about the changing terminology from UFOs to UAPs and references sensational recent sightings.
    • Quote: “I just think there was that thing that bounced off that they fired at something. The Navy military..." —Bill Maher (03:10)
  • Van Jones advocates for more open discussion and media attention, noting the Pentagon’s new reporting requirements.
    • Quote: “If I were in charge of, I don't know, a big, I would do wall to wall coverage of these generals that have to sit there and say there's weird stuff. We don't know what is. To me, that's new.” —Van Jones (03:27)
  • Bill Maher: Argues that being dismissive is a mistake: “There's no scientific reason, Carl Sagan said it. There's no scientific reason why we would necessarily be alone in the universe...” (04:00)

3. Climate Change, AI, and National Security (04:35–06:57)

• Should we view climate change as a national security issue?
  • Tom Friedman: Stresses that both climate change and AI are advancing faster than appreciated.
    • Quote: “One is climate change and the other is AI I think both are coming at us much faster than people realize.” —Tom Friedman (04:41)
    • Warns of “super extremes” in weather and “superintelligence” in AI, predicting rising instability.
    • Quote: “The next two years we're going to see more instability driven by both than at any previous time. And Donald Trump is president. What could go wrong?” —Tom Friedman (05:15)
  • Bill Maher: Laments AI taking jobs far beyond factory work: “Now it's the white collar jobs too. No wonder that I think I read something like 92% in the first half of the year of all the investment of was in AI.” (05:36)
  • Van Jones: Sees risk in economic dislocation—young, educated people unable to find jobs despite doing “all the right things.”
    • Quote: “When your best educated kids get thrown out onto the street with nothing to do, they don't tend to take that well. And so you're talking about sources of instability that I don't think we're taking very seriously.” —Van Jones (06:37)

4. Foreign Policy Chaos & Eroding Norms (08:21–10:36)

• Are we in a ‘war’ with drug cartels/Venezuela?
  • Bill Maher: Mocks the confusion and inconsistency in the administration’s justifications for recent military actions: “I've never heard of Venezuela. But somehow he got into his head that that's where the drugs are coming. So we're attacking this shipping.” (09:14)
  • Tom Friedman: Bemoans the difficulty in discerning truth from distraction under current leadership.
    • Quote: “They do so much crazy stuff that is dishonest. This may be true. I have no idea. ... It's so hard to trust them anymore. That what's real? What's Memorex? What's for this week's headline? What's to divert you from Epstein?” —Tom Friedman (09:38)
    • He warns about the loss of norms: “There are so many things that we thought were laws that are just norms. And Trump has really highlighted that...” (10:05)
    • Recalls Lebanon’s decline, warning America: “It's really hard to get it back. Take it from someone who lived in Lebanon and watched the country unravel.” (10:24)

5. Cultural Divisions: Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl (10:36–12:14)

• Conservative outrage over Bad Bunny’s performance and his criticism of ICE
  • Bill Maher: Suggests there’s a racial component to the backlash.
    • “I assume there is at least some racial element to this antipathy. I don't know.” —Bill Maher (10:58)
  • Van Jones: Observes how cultural divisions make stars out of complete unknowns across generational lines.
    • “We do live in completely different countries now. If you talk to people who are under a certain age, the people who they think are stars are people I've literally never heard of.” —Van Jones (11:19)
    • Mocks the overnight “experts” on Bad Bunny due to viral outrage: “I guarantee you half the people who are criticizing him have never heard of him. But now they are overnight experts on how terrible he is because they saw it on TikTok.” (12:07)
  • Tom Friedman: Good-naturedly confesses total ignorance of social media, to the amusement of all.
    • “I've actually never looked at Twitter, never looked at Facebook, never looked at Instagram, never looked at TikTok, and never smoked a Circle cigarette. And my plan is to die saying all five.” —Tom Friedman (12:14)

Memorable Quotes

• On Civility: “Let's give some grace and some space even to our enemies.” —Van Jones (02:14)
• On Cultural Divisions: “We do live in completely different countries now.” —Van Jones (11:19)
• On Norms and Laws: “There are so many things that we thought were laws that are just norms. And Trump has really highlighted that...” —Tom Friedman (10:05)
• On Alien Life & Secrecy: “There’s no scientific reason ... why we would necessarily be alone in the universe.” —Bill Maher (04:00)
• On Tech & Erosion: “All the good kids ... are graduating off a cliff into massive unemployment right now.” —Van Jones (06:18)
• On Information Overload: “It's so hard to trust them anymore. That what's real? What's Memorex? What's for this week's headline? What's to divert you from Epstein?” —Tom Friedman (09:38)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Debating Civilly After Tragedy: 01:23–02:29
• UAPs/UFO Disclosure & Speculation: 02:31–04:28
• Climate Change & AI as National Threats: 04:35–06:57
• AI, Jobs, and the Economy: 05:36–06:57
• Foreign Policy & The Erosion of Norms: 08:21–10:36
• Bad Bunny Backlash / Generational Culture Gaps: 10:36–12:14

Tone & Highlights

The discussion is pointed but retains an undercurrent of mutual respect. The guests share concerns about lost social cohesion and the trust gap between citizens and leadership. Moments of levity—like Tom Friedman’s boast of never having used social media—balance the weighty warnings of societal fracturing and looming technological upheaval.

For those who missed the episode, this overtime panel provided sharp, timely reflections on the biggest challenges facing the U.S.—infighting, distrust in institutions, technological disruption, and culture war skirmishes—framed by three veteran political observers who remain both deeply concerned and darkly amused by the times.