1. How old are you and what state do you live in?
I am 41 and live in Illinois with my husband and our 3 miniature Schnauzers.
2. When did you become a member of TYT?
I can’t remember honestly, it was the fall after memberships were available 2004 or 2005 maybe. I believe my current member standing is or was Member #8.
3. How do you consume the show?
Nowadays I primarily watch the previous day’s show using the player on the TYTNetwork member pages directly. I don’t have to commute like I had years ago, so I rarely download shows until I have to due to issues.
4. What field do you work in?
I work for a wireless company as part of internal reporting and administrative operations.
5. How would you describe TYT in 5 words or less?
Honest and Informed Progressive Commentary.
6. Do you have a favorite TYT moment?
Wes Clark Jr. playing Guitar and Singing
7. Who is your favorite co-host? Why?
That really is a tough one, I have to say Ben. I’m classic TYT. Too often, as much as I admire Cenk, he can roll over Ana and John at times and Ben not only can hold his own but also brings out the best in Cenk, their history together matters. My dream team includes Cenk, Ben and Wes Clark Jr .
8. What motivated you to take the extra step of becoming a paying member?
In all honesty, after the show leaving Sirius I was so afraid of losing this amazing show that I had found that really changed the way I accepted “the news”. The 2002-04 Fox, CNN and MSNBC “News” simply hyped the same pro-conservative message. This is even before they went really bat-crap crazy. The Young Turks continued to be a voice of reason among the chaos. They were looking for the stories that were important but also those that were buried.
For a few years, I had 2 memberships, after the collapse of Air America I held a $25 level but in 2012, the recession finally hit home and my husband’s job was cut to part-time, then took a cut in pay to return to full time work. We were cutting it too close and had to stop the $25.
The $10 is still affordable for us and I still believe that the show serves a very important purpose in providing honest and informed commentary away from corporate or establishment influence. Unfortunately NPR has been scrubbed over the years relying more on private (conservative) donations so they have rolled back programming in some cities to prevent documentaries and shows from being broadcast.
Watching the videos is a great perk but as silly as it may sound, I feel like a small part of TYT. We have taken such a hit financially I wasn’t able to participate in the studio funding but I was very proud to support the team as they transitioned between Cenk’s MSNBC to Current’s Young Turks show. (I will admit feeling a little left behind because Current is a premium channel in our area and we cut cable out in 2012, so I was SOL either way.)
9. Are you surprised that the The Young Turks has grown into a multiplatform network of multiple channels?
Surprised? No! You see, I had a dream of this online network platform that would one day rival the major cable networks. I e-mailed The Young Turks and told them they should form TYTN (Pronounced “Titan”). Of course, I was hoping for more news type shows and the hope of a 8 to 12 hour “loop” so that I could just login and not have to look for something. I had the inside scoop because Cenk actually replied back to me directly and told me that there was already a plan in motion to expand and develop the TYT Network.
10. Cenk often talks about the TYT brand as “truth telling.” What does this mean to you as a member?
I can see that in The Young Turks. I obviously have a bias and I believe it is from years of earned trust. It’s more than stories where there was a need for “correcting the record” but it goes further in citing sources and calling out opinion from news. The Young Turks is also the standard barer in bringing the audience to not only “connect the dots” but to understand beyond the moment’s events are connect and how they are connected. Usually it begins with “Follow the money Lebowski! It’s the money! It’s always the Money!”
11. Which TYT host would you get coffee with? Which one would you go to the bar with? Who would you have dinner with?
Does it have to be a host?
I would love to have coffee with Jesus so I could talk to him about how he directs the show and the progression from the early audio only days, he has to be 3 seconds ahead it seems. I think it would be great to go out to a bar with Dave Rubin and we can discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict. Of course, we could just hit the clubs too and check out all of Dave’s moves. I would love to have dinner with Jimmy Dore. I think that would be a great conversation on well…anything really. As much as I would love to “hang-out” with Cenk at any or all of the scenes, I think I would be too star-struck and would end up sounding like a babbling idiot.
12. If you were a co-host on the show, which story would you cover? Why?
That is another tough one, so many passions so little time. I would say at the moment it would be…
ISIS (ISIL/IS) Pick your ending –
- A) Similar to North Korea Isolation(Pre-Bush 43): “Demilitarize” and confine (fight to prevent any more land acquisition) and through international allies deny financial and trade support.
- B) Expanding Israel-Palestinian Perpetual War: The U.S. Military and allies can establish DMZ and we can look forward to a century more of war spotted with brief periods of peace. Stalemate with local civilians and our soldiers paying the price.
- C) UN/NATO Humanitarian: We remove ourselves from the region and allow it to play out, acting only to assist refugees and prevent genocide if possible. It is ridiculous for anyone to accept or believe that “kill them all” is a strategy, it has never worked. Have we not learned anything? To avenge the loss of more than 3,000 American’s we sacrificed more than 10,000 and injured 10X as many between the 2 wars in the last decade, we should not actively engage or select a side to win. Continuing to support one side over another is folly in supporting the same tyrants and dictators the military industrial complex. Then it’s just a matter of who betrays who first, us or them and meanwhile our mutual “enemy” not only continues to exist but thrives.
- D) The best strategy is not to play the game. We should stop letting foreign terrorists dictate our policies. The terrorists didn’t shred our Constitution, “we the people” elected those that did out of fear and misplaced patriotism. Instead of building up the military we should re-invest in energy independence with wind, solar and biofuel and build new industries so that their oil has no value. Deprive them of international trade and finance. They are only as important as we make them. Without us, they are nothing but a bunch of radicals trying to provoke the world into coming closer. so they can attack them. We should not play into their hands and continue to provide access to new recruits. The response should be “we shall not be moved”, not “we will move heaven and earth to destroy you”.
…
My runner up topic would be the stranglehold that student debt has and will continue to have over our economy as more and more people are looking to see how much, if any, will be left out of their social security check after their student loan payment is taken out. My friend is paying as much per month on her student loan as I am paying for my mortgage. She is buying a 2nd house without actually having a house to show for it. Without action from Congress, she will be paying for this loan for another 25 years. She is a year younger than I am. She will be 65 assuming she can maintain that level of expense without risking her health, job or home.
Also.. Elizabeth Warren for…. Majority Leader (or Minority Leader if it happens). As much as I dream of an Elizabeth Warren presidency, I have to say our sacrifice should be to leave her in the Senate. She could be our generations Ted Kennedy without all of the other drama. I believe she would be an effective majority leader with the ability to make use of those powers keeping the independence of the congress from the executive branch.
13. Have you ever communicated with other TYT fans? If so, how?
I have met other TYT fans in passing in my area or traveling for work. I wore my TYT shirt to a local meeting and had another attendee seek me out to tell me that he liked The Young Turks too. I’m pleasantly surprised when I meet someone that appreciates TYT as much as I do. I don’t usually follow the social sites Facebook and Twitter but I do have accounts and have had people connect with me only because of TYT.
14. Has the show convinced you to change your position on a particular issue?
I don’t know that I would say I changed my position, I’m sure there’s something. Too often I say, that The Young Turks finally caught up with me where I’m telling my friends and family about something in the news and a day or two later, I hear Cenk parrot my words. I would say that the show informs my opinion. I particularly like the “power panels” when people don’t agree or even agree to disagree. I think the “losses” in our media age today are civil discourse and the erosion of the line between fact, reality and opinion. The Young Turks informs my opinion even when I’m not viewing them. When I read a story, I pay attention to the source. I’ll Google the author and read background because too often the “democratic” side is being represented by another corporatist. Following the money is important and knowing whether the story is marketing, generalized information, traditional news report , opinion piece or even satire. I find that I’m more discerning of news thanks to the Young Turks and it’s not because they “approve” of an author but they actually taught me to want to verify for myself. They taught us how the Right-wing gets their “ditto-heads” to fall in line and how not to fall for the same tricks from the left. 2 or 3 articles on the story isn’t enough if both are simply re-writes of the original and not a new source or other credible news agency or reporter validation. (Which honestly is few and far between anymore save Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi.)
15. Have you ever referred membership to anyone? If so, what did you say?
Anytime I’m in progressive company or the conversation turns to politics, I’m a poster child for The Young Turks. Since The Young Turks isn’t corporate media, it’s not a commercial break, it’s a work break. Sometimes it’s a couple minutes, sometimes, it can be 15 minutes but as a member I get the whole show in a compressed format without losing anything. I can also “catch that again” being able to back up and restart or skip ahead. They are a small company and you have to be patient, that’s why I always wait until the next morning or afternoon.
*****
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