1. How old are you and what state do you live in?
30 and I live in London, UK
2. When did you become a member of TYT?
I think it was around 2009
3. How do you consume the show?
Because of time difference I watch the show next day on the website
4. What field do you work in?
I used to be an investment banker, yes, more than that – I covered Oil and Gas industry. I quit in April and am trying to move into social impact investments
5. How would you describe TYT in 5 words or less?
Honest
Personal
Funny
Real
Fair
6. Do you have a favorite TYT moment?
I don’t think I have a particular moment (maybe Cenk describing how his mom put his red socks in the washer with his football uniform and how he had to play in a pink uniform thereafter, or a flying turk or a rolling building in a demolition that went awry) but the moments i like the most is when a political story is broken down with nuances and factual details so certain thing start making much more sense. Also when the story devolves into guys just goofing around (playing Bush quotes or #christianiswatching type thing) is funny and uplifting
7. Who is your favorite co-host? Why?
Ben – he provides a reality check and a different perspective needed some times to reel Cenk back when he’s breathing fire about one thing or another, also great sense of humour
8. What motivated you to take the extra step of becoming a paying member?
Wanted to say thank you for a great show – pretty much the only way i consume American political news is TYT and the Daily Show
9. Are you surprised that the The Young Turks has grown into a multiplatform network of multiple channels?
Not at all – the level of tenacity and hard work has always been evident, no reason why a group of people like this shouldn’t succeed and grow
10. Cenk often talks about the TYT brand as “truth telling.” What does this mean to you as a member?
More than anything (and some times Cenk’s truth is subjective, let’s keep that real too) it means reason, integrity and independence, i.e. sticking to your principles even if that means walking away from a TV contract or pissing off a lot of people and being “the most open-minded man in America” and not confounding your ideas to one school of thought or the other.
11. Which TYT host would you get coffee with? Which one would you go to the bar with? Who would you have dinner with?
Ben or Jimmy, Anna or Dave, Cenk (dinner only because maybe at dinner he won’t need to run anywhere and can actually do what he does best, being a talk show host)
12. If you were a co-host on the show, which story would you cover? Why?
I would spend a lot of time and attention covering the history and effects of American/British/French foreign policies in the world, particularly in the middle East. I think a vast majority of people don’t actually understand the full context (like the full history of American and British involvement in Iraq, I think if people new the historical context, justifying Bush invasion would be – not impossible, but much much much harder to do)
13. Have you ever communicated with other TYT fans? If so, how?
There are London meet ups which I promptly missed but hopefully we’ll do another one. Other than that, no
14. Has the show convinced you to change your position on a particular issue?
Not really, I was pretty on board with the progressive position. My views on the energy policy and climate change are more conservative, but that’s only because i work in the energy industry and have a more nuanced perspective, that is to say – the show tends to go in one extreme direction, for example – renewable energy is the only alternative to fossil fuels, well yes, theoretically, that and fusion, but the reality is much more complicated and nuanced than that, so there has to be a gradual step by step solution, there won’t be just one. But influenced me the most are Cenk’s stories of how he got to this point, and the general message that if you believe in what you are doing and you try hard over and over and over again there’s no reason you shouldn’t succeed. That helped me jump ship and decide to do something else with my life
15. Have you ever referred membership to anyone? If so, what did you say?
A ton of people. Honestly I don’t think anyone signed up as a member but at least 4 started watching the show from time to time. It’s much harder to convince people they need to watch a american political talk show here, in the UK
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