Bill Maher welcomes back a controversial guest on tonight’s new Real Time

Tonight’s guests on an all-new episode of Real Time with Bill Maher are sure to heat up the conversation.

What could be better on a cold January night than an all-new episode of Real Time with Bill Maher? How about one with a returning guest who opposes Bill Maher’s view on almost every major political and social issue?

Tonight marks the second new episode of Real Time’s 17th season. After last week’s episode, it sure looks like this season is picking up right where an entertaining season 16 left off back in November.  

Helping build that momentum has been the ongoing government shutdown. The partial stoppage has been a disaster from the start. It has kept thousands of federal employees without pay and threatened public safety. The topic does lend itself to debate over political issues and that is the specialty of Real Time with Bill Maher.

So it is fair to expect that to be a lead topic of conversation on tonight’s all-new episode. There is also the good chance that Maher and his guests will cover this morning’s arrest of President Trump’s adviser and associate Roger Stone.

Let’s take a look at who will be joining Bill Maher on the show tonight. You’ll really want to tune in to this week’s show.

Top-of-show

The show will kick off with a one-on-one interview between Maher and conservative commentator Ann Coulter. Plenty of people are familiar with Coulter and the outspoken has never backed away from controversy.

Coulter has been on Real Time before. She’s discussed her thoughts on immigration as well as her support for President Donald Trump. So with border security a major sticking point in the government shutdown, you can expect her and Maher to go head-to-head on the issue.

Mid-show interview

Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul will then join Bill Maher. McFaul also has experience working for the U.S. National Security Council and helped develop President Barack Obama’s foreign policy towards Russia.

This will be McFaul’s first appearance on Real Time. He should provide some valuable insight on U.S.-Russian relations. And following the Roger Stone news, Maher will definitely look to McFaul to comment on what it all means for the Mueller investigation and future policy towards Russia.

The panel

Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana makes his second visit with Maher when he joins the panel tonight. Tester is considered a moderate or centrist Democrat. He will be able to comment on negotiations regarding the government shutdown and how close Congress is to a resolution.

Heather McGhee is a senior fellow and former president of the think tank Demos. McGhee has worked in the past with Senator Elizabeth Warren on economic equality and recently suggested that Warren was a worthy candidate for president. McGhee will weigh in on U.S. economic policy as well as the field of 2020 candidates.

Joshua Green is a columnist whose work has appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, The Boston Globe, and The Atlantic. He has been closely following the Mueller investigation and will likely have a lot to say about Roger Stone’s arrest. Tonight will mark Green’s sixth appearance on Real Time.

Real Time with Bill Maher airs tonight, Friday Jan. 25 on HBO at 10:00 PM ET. It should be a very, very entertaining episode with Ann Coulter coming to visit and tension over the shutdown growing by the day. Be sure to check back in with Last Night On for all the Real Time highlights!