The Young Turks (TYT) is the largest online news show in the world. I have cited TYT a number of times on The Arcade. In fact, John Iadarola’s GoT commentary was the inciting incident for a piece on Binge Watching. It seems then that a YouTube Digest is well overdue.
However, a conventional YouTube Digest may prove insufficient to the task, for TYT is not just one channel. Rather it is a series of channels, mostly owned by the parent company, TYT Network. The flagship program, The Young Turks, concerned with headline news and politics, is hosted by Cenk Uygur (founder) and Ana Kapserian. However, other shows include:
- TYT Interviews – Conversations with interesting persons (you probably picked that up right away).
- The Point with Ana Kapserian – Lengthy discussion panel focused on contemporary issues.
- The Rubin Report – Discussion panel of the weeks news, hosted by Dave Rubin.
- TYT University – Advice shows concerning college, sex and dating.
- Pop trigger – gossip, showbiz, celeb controversy, knowingly dubbed a ‘Smart Show about Dumb Stuff’.
- What the Flick – Weekly reviews of Films and TV shows.
- TYT Sports – Again you can probably guess this one.
- Nerd Alert – geek culture and tech news. Small wonder they’ve been on the Arcade recently.
- The Jimmy Dore Show (TYT Comedy) – Satirical channel.
- Styleogue – A new addition on clothes and fashion.
As far as its origins go, the show started on Sirius Satellite Radio before moving to Current TV (founded by Al Gore) and then breaking onto YouTube. For a more comprehensive history of the network, see the interviews given by Ana and Cenk on The Joe Rogan Experience (incidentally an excellent podcast and YouTube channel in it’s own right). The Company & FAQ pages may also be useful.
The network is really based on a single precept – it is the duty of those that report the news to speak the truth to power and established news outlets have failed to do so. Unlike their doctrinaire competitors, TYT refuses to tow the line. Some will inevitably find TYT’s unfamiliar approach unsettling, at least at first. For my part, I was unsure to begin with. However, the fact that the hosts don’t speak in measured tones is part of the appeal, the informal tone being a measure of the information they impart. They are all unscripted and direct, in stark contrast to those network anchors that treat headlines as a bizarre, monotonal soliloquy – a description bound to ring bells the world over. To evidence the point, one needn’t look further than Cenks dissections of ISIS such as:
More than that, at TYT they are uninterested in consensus within their own network, never mind with other networks. When discussing the Eric Holder’s term as Attorney General, opinions radically differ.
Ben Mankiewicz (rightly or not) makes his case without censure and does not kowtow to the opinions of his fellow panelists. Compared to other news outlets, where hosts present a united front, such a scene is near unimaginable with TYT. It is also unimaginable, in an age where networks chase numbers, that a network news show would criticize capital punishment when it is currently polling at 63% approval (according to a Gallop poll). However, Ana and John, unpack the issue with unabashed incisiveness:
At this stage you would be correct in surmising that these folks do a lot. Nevertheless, the people at TYT are neither content spectators, nor are they content to be merely spectators. The systemic, overarching problem with the US politics (foreign and domestic) is the presence of money in politics. Specifically, TYT has identified corporate person-hood, legalized bribery and corruption as the root problem in American public life. So, to affect real change, Uygur and his Turks formed Wolfpac, a political action committee intent on no less than a 28th amendment to the US constitution. By overturning the Supreme Court rulings that concentrate political monopoly to campaign financiers (multinational corerations and the top 1% of earners), the amendment will restore balance. The plan of attack is simple. If enough states in the union (34 out of 50) call for a constitutional amendment it will go to a constitutional convention to be voted on.
For any interested in understanding the world they live in, TYT is a resource you cannot ignore. And to think it all began as a recorded radio show in somebody’s living room.
