1. How old are you and what state do you live in?
I am 33 and live in a state of pristine mountains and mighty rivers; British Columbia, Canada’s very own left coast.
2. When did you become a member of TYT?
I became a member in 2011 after trying a few times in 2006 while in Korea teaching English. Apparently it did not like my location for the credit card to work as it is a Canadian Credit card used in Korea for an American show.
3. How do you consume the show?
I usually consume it with dinner.
4. What field do you work in?
I was the Manager at Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza in Trail (241 Crew Cam) but now work at the local Ford Dealership. (We didn’t take the bail out!). Also former City Councillor for the city of Trail BC (population 7700)
5. How would you describe TYT in 5 words or less?
Raw, provocative, unfiltered, paradigm shattering
6. Do you have a favorite TYT moment?
When i got to be on the post game, that was cool. Dunno if Cenk will let me back on though…
7. Who is your favorite co-host? Why?
I like Ben and Michael. I am a ridiculous political nerd so they provide a good amount of humor and insight. Also a bit of a cinephile so I think Ben edges out Michael by a hair!
8. What motivated you to take the extra step of becoming a paying member?
The idea that this network is not a megacorp like all the other news organizations and there have been refusals by Cenk and Steve Oh to not take the mega cash for a bit of integrity makes me proud to support them. When then come to Canada, I will put more cash in too. We need TYT North!
9. Are you surprised that the The Young Turks has grown into a multiplatform network of multiple channels?
No, I am not surprised. I think that there is a need for compelling news and TYT is the pioneer of doing this online. I think it was a natural progression and after TYTNetwork.com and YouTube, Hulu was a natural fit. I would like to see TYT on a weekly basis have a networked show that could reach a larger “old media” audience so as to grow the new media platform. Iadarola doesn’t seem too busy, he can do it!
10. Cenk often talks about the TYT brand as “truth telling.” What does this mean to you as a member?
What I like about this is that if you were to have a sit down with Cenk as a person he is not different from what he is on the show. truth telling has to start with the host being themselves, not a caricature of what people think they should be. If you have an argument about a point there will be a conversation. that is what NEWS should be, report facts and then have a conversation about what happened and why. So often we stop at: “This happened then, this is who it happened to and this is what people say you should think.” As much as they may hate it, media’s job is to EDUCATE and teach people HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
11. Which TYT host would you get coffee with? Which one would you go to the bar with? Who would you have dinner with?
Coffee, Dave, because I think he would just go with little prompting and his deadpan you need to be sober to get some of it. Go to the bar, gotta be Rubin and Jimmy Dore, they would be a RIOT! Dinner, I would have to say Ben, Micheal and Cenk. Introduce a topic and let them loose. Sit back and enjoy…
12. If you were a co-host on the show, which story would you cover? Why?
As a former employee of a major credit card company I would want to cover how a credit card really works. There was a great Documentary with Amex and TYT called Spent: Looking for Change and how the cheque cashing industry is so profitable and the deadly cycle that they set people into is a good start but if people really knew how the personal finance industry is also a crippling whirlpool for some people. If there is one service that we can do to the general populace is to show them how to get out of the cycle of debt and how many lenders want them to STAY in debt. it would be a rather long expose.
13. Have you ever communicated with other TYT fans? If so, how?
We held a small meet up here and I tweet back and forth a bit.
14. Has the show convinced you to change your position on a particular issue?
Yeah, on Obama. In Canada we are looking through the window at american politics so it is a bit too removed for us to see how the current administration is really only a slight bit better than Bush from 2000-08. We have had some very progressive leaders before 1984 but we are slowly moving to the right in all our political parties, which in some ways is okay but the right in Canada is trying to move us in line with the GOP whereas before they would be on the middle of the Democratic Party spectrum. So we are a bit jaded to the American system and still see Obama as a decent president but really he is allowing our PM move us to the right a bit more because he doesn’t seem as crazy as the Tea Partiers.
15. Have you ever referred membership to anyone? If so, what did you say?
To lots of people. I Tell them that it is entertaining and informative, but really American centric for the most part. So c’mon, lets get TYT Canada going!
Download audio and video of the full two hour show on-demand + the members-only post game show by becoming a member at http://tytnetwork.com/membership/. Your membership supports the day to day operations and is vital for our continued success and growth.