The Best Episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher Season 9

Guests: Ex-Obama economy adviser Christina Romer, Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Salon editor-at-large Joan Walsh, Palin biography filmmaker Stephen K Bannon and chef Anthony Bourdain. Topics: US credit downgrade, debt ceiling deal, failure of the stimulus package, inability of Democrats to negotiate, 'job creators', defunding of science in America, Rick Perry's prayer festival, escaping poverty, would Hillary Clinton have been better, need for a left-wing tea party equivalent.

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Guests: Journalist Michael Hastings, politician/businessman David Stockman, political commentator Rachel Maddow, economist Stephen Moore, entrepreneur Russell Simmons Topics: Keith Olbermann, Tunisian protests, health care, Ronald Reagan's legacy, gun control, Tucson shooting

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Guests: Pilot Chesley Sullenberger, CNN host Eliot Spitzer, BBC anchor Katty Kay, Daily Beast blogger Andrew Sullivan, comedian Colin Quinn Topics: Government shutdown, Planned Parenthood, US Budget, Objectivism, Libya, reaction to Pastor Terry Jones, Donald Trump, Class conflict

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Guests: PBS host Tavis Smiley, director Kevin Smith, journalist John Heilemann, CNBC host Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, journalist Matt Taibbi Topics: Griftopia, budget cuts, Obama as a bad negotiator, trade unions for government employees, Tea Party Review magazine, Red State, treatment of women in Arab world, Natalie Munroe, Civil War reenactments

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Guests: Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA), journalist Laura Flanders, blogger Andrew Breitbart, author Mark McKinnon, director John Waters Topics: Birther and schooler conspiracy theories, labor union bill in Massachusetts, Romneycare, racism in the GOP, Donald Trump, gas prices, windfall profits tax, censorship on TV, Victory Day in Afghanistan, monarchy in the UK

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Guests: U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, professor Melissa Harris-Perry, former New York Rep. Rick Lazio, journalist Larry King, writer/director Adam McKay Topics: Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign, Republican hyperbolic rhetoric about Obama, Sarah Palin's bus tour, Rep. Anthony Weiner scandal, Lee Atwater, John Edwards scandal, the US budget deficit, link between cell phones and cancer, businessmen as politicians

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Guests: Journalist Ron Suskind, musician and activist Tom Morello, co-editor of Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns John Avlon, former Representative and Director, President, and CEO of The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Jane Harman (D-CA), filmmaker Michael Moore Topics: Obama's first term in office, Ricky Perry's campaign, unemployment, Bill O'Reilly threat to quote, wealthy people unwilling to accept higher taxes, Tony Bennett remarks, artist censorship, occupation of Wall Street, poor people voting against their economic interests

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Guests: Theoretical Physicist Michio Kaku, MSNBC Ed Show host Ed Schultz, ex-RNC Head Michael Steele, ABC News Political Director Amy Walter, author Irshad Manji Topics: US Budget, trickle-down economics, Iraq War, military-industrial complex, France's ban on Muslim clothing, gender inequality in Muslim culture, Jon Kyl, health care in Paul Ryan's budget plan, racism in the Tea Party, National Endowment for the Arts

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Guests: John Fetterman, DNC Vice-Chair Donna Brazile, Reason.com editor Nick Gillespie, actor John Turturro Topics: Republican strategy of no, the US budget, financial services industry, Marcus Bachmann, personal sacrifice in the US, independent voters, Michele Bachmann's migraines, political pledges

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Guests: Assistant to the President Elizabeth Warren, actor Martin Short, political analyst James Carville, political consultant Mike Murphy, Editor-at-large of Reuters Chrystia Freeland Topics: Consumer protection, Tucson shooting, gun control, right wing rhetoric, health care

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Guests: Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, NRO host Will Cain, former Canadian PM Kim Campbell, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), comedian D. L. Hughley Topics: 2011 State of the Union Address, deficit, education, 2011 Egyptian protests, 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing, climate change, evolution

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Guests: Journalist Mona Eltahawy, director Charles H. Ferguson, conservative columnist John Fund, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Topics: Egyptian protests, financial meltdown, RNC in debt, Kepler (spacecraft), NASA going to Mars, Clarence & Ginny Thomas, Civil War celebrations in the south, GOProud at CPAC

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Guests: Syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington, philosopher Cornel West, journalist Hooman Majd, MSNBC host Norah O'Donnell, actor Matthew Perry Topics: AOL-HuffPo merger, Egypt after Mubarak and US reaction, Chris Lee, alcoholism, O'Reilly's interview of Obama, CPAC and homophobia, re-writing Mark Twain

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Guests: Host of Current TV’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” Keith Olbermann, Republican strategist Rich Galen, Fellow at the Eisenhower Institute Jennifer Donahue, author of "The Forever War" Dexter Filkins, actor/comedian Louis C.K. Topics: Exit strategy from Afghanistan, War on terror, Republican presidential debates, Vaccination controversy, President Obama's jobs plan, manhood, Sarah Palin book, Jackie Kennedy, New York congressional special election, Palestinian statehood petition to UN, Al Gore's climate reality project.

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Guests: Tax reform lobbyist Grover Norquist, journalist Michelle Goldberg, CNN foreign correspondent Michael Ware, philosopher Cornel West, Republican strategist Ron Christie. Topics: Herman Cain's creepy ad, Fallout from the Status of Forces Agreement, brutality of treatment of Gaddafi's corpse, Iran, Occupy Wall Street, Newt Gingrich as a big thinker, class warfare, recreational drugs vs. prescription drugs

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Guests: Journalist Peter Bergen, author Michael Eric Dyson, investigative journalist and author Jeremy Scahill, ex-Bush speechwriter David Frum, author Irshad Manji Topics: Death of Osama bin Laden, potential OBL successors, Bush doctrine, Bin Laden's decline of popularity in the Moslem world, celebrations of OBL's death, OBL's goal to bankrupt the US, David Petraeus as CIA director nominee

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Guests: Counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke, author Andrew Ross Sorkin, columnist Reihan Salam, MSNBC analyst Michelle Bernard, actor Harry Shearer Topics: Osama Bin Laden's life in the compound, Pakistan as ally, Newt Gingrich, job gains/losses in the private and public sectors, US Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, education, green energy, John Ensign scandal, pediatricians and gun safety

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Guests: Former Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA), comedienne Janeane Garofalo, columnist Joshua Green, journalist Sharon Waxman, actress Jane Lynch Topics: Tax cuts for the wealthy, climate change, Rick Santorum, Rep. Anthony Weiner scandal, Sarah Palin's gubernatorial record, the Republican field for 2012, cybersex

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Guests: Executive Director of Drug Policy Alliance Ethan Nadelmann, Ann Coulter, The Nation editor and MSNBC host Christopher Hayes, historian Amanda Foreman, Chaz Bono Topics: U.S. debt ceiling, jobs, Michele Bachmann, Keith Ablow on Bill Maher, News of the World phone hacking scandal, Casey Anthony trial, favorable laws for the wealthy

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Guests: Financial-fraud investigator Harry Markopolos, former New York governor Eliot Spitzer; political strategist Margaret Hoover; FreedomWorks president and CEO Matt Kibbe; and emmy-award winning actor Bryan Cranston. Topics: Debt ceiling deal, deficit reduction, tea-party rise, washington and Obama's failure to negotiate, 'The Town' clip to inspire Republicans, drugs in America, Norway massacre, America's secret love of socialism

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Guests: Delaware Atty. Gen. Beau Biden, former N.Y. gov. David Paterson, journalist Alex Wagner, Rep. Darrell Issa, comedian Bill Engvall. Topics: Herman Cain's popularity, the United States national motto, why does Middle America vote for Republicans, climate change, legalizing marijuana, Occupy Wall Street, gay marriage, the Second Amendment, Republicans trusting Jesus over government.

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Guests: Novelist T. Coraghessan Boyle, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA), Washington Post reporter Ezra Klein, actress and comedianne Tracey Ullman Topics: Overpopulation, road quality in the US, Planned Parenthood, Wisconsin Governor, Equal Pay

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Guests: Ray Kurzweil, columnist Ross Douthat, Public Notice executive director Gretchen Hamel, pundit Chris Matthews, comedian Kevin Nealon Topics: Mitt Romney, FEMA, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Republicans rooting for America to fail, Rep. Anthony Weiner scandal, Tracy Morgan, hunting, freedom vs. entitlement, Rick Perry's spiritual solutions to national problems

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Guests: Pastor and Romney critic Dr Robert Jeffress, Magician Penn Jillette, Progressive talk radio host Thom Hartmann, CNBC host Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, American Spectator senior editor John Fund. Topics: The catholic church, faith vs good work, occupy wall street, Herman Cain's '999' plan, agnostics and atheism, morality without fear or reward, Obama's jobs plan, the fillibuster, attempts to dismantle the EPA, attack's on Mitt Romney's mormon faith.

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Guests: EPA Chief Lisa Jackson, novelist Touré, columnist Thomas Friedman, journalist Joshua Green, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow Topics: Attempts to dismantle the EPA, America falling behind on environmental issues, republican pettiness about Obama, drone warfare, death of Ghadafi, immigration, Herman Cain's campaign, need for a third party, occupy wall street, student debt and right wing reaction.

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