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The Young Turks (talk show)
Encyclopedia
The Young Turks is a progressive
Internet talk show
via live web stream and YouTube
, and starting in late 2011, a weeknight news and political commentary program airing on Current TV
. It was Sirius Satellite Radio
's first original talk programming. The Young Turks claims to be the first Internet TV news show and the world's largest online news show. Video of the show is streamed daily on their website and available as a podcast. The show offers Internet only video content via their YouTube
channel, which averages 1 million views daily (30 million views per month), and has had over 600 million views overall. The Young Turks offers a paid members-only Postgame Show, an Internet only wrap-up show.
Starting Monday December 5, 2011, an hour-long weeknight television version of The Young Turks will premiere on Current TV
. To differentiate itself with the web series, the TV series will be billed as The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur.
was born in Istanbul
, Turkey, and at the age of 8 his family moved to New Jersey, in the United States. He began a talk show in the mold of a public-access television
cable TV show he had done previously called The Young Turk. With the help of friend Ben Mankiewicz
, with whom he had previously worked, his childhood friend Dave Koller, and Jill Pike
they began The Young Turks.
The show's name is a reference to the early-20th century Turkish nationalist-secularist movement
of the same name. However, the reference is intended to be humorous, and does not imply an ideological connection to the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide
.
In 2005, the show received attention for its 99 hour "Live On Air Filibuster" conducted during the Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination
. Hosts including Thom Hartmann
and John Amato
filled in so that the show's regulars could rest or have breaks.
It was announced on August 20, 2007, that Mankiewicz would leave the show and move to a new television show for TMZ. In September 2008, Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons replaced Roger Ebert
and Richard Roeper
as hosts of At the Movies. At roughly the same time, Pike left to pursue a job in Washington, D.C.
, at which point then-intern Ana Kasparian was hired to do pop-culture segments.
During the 2008 elections
, the show developed close ties to Brave New Films
, often airing their ads and featuring personalities such as Robert Greenwald
and Jonathan Kim.
, on Sirius Left 143 and later 146, weekdays from 6-9PM ET, and re-aired on Sirius Talk Central 148 from 12-2PM ET. The Young Turks was the first show exclusively for Sirius Left to air not part of a syndication network. The show was exclusive to Sirius for several years. TYT was also carried by KFH (1330 AM/98.7 FM) in Wichita, Kansas
from 7-9PM CT and webcast
by RadioPower.org.
On February 2, 2009, TYT was removed from the broadcast schedule on XM/Sirius Channel 167, America Left
, and their program was filled by an extra hour of Bill Press. The show returned to XM/Sirius on March 16, 2009. However in late 2010, TYT announced they would leave XM/Sirius radio through their Facebook page, their last show on XM/Sirius was on November 19, 2010.
announced that TYT would launch a weeknight TV edition of the show at 7 p.m. PT on the network beginning sometime in the 4th quarter of 2011. The show will join Countdown with Keith Olbermann
as the second news and opinion program on Current as the network continues to develop a new lineup of programming followed by The War Room with Jennifer Granholm
in January. According to the show's website, the show is introduced as The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur to differentiate itself from the popular web series.
and often includes a co-host. Ana Kasparian serves as co-host during the second hour which focuses on pop culture instead of politics. Some other co-hosts are Ben Mankiewicz
, Wes Clark Jr, Michael Shure, Teresa Strasser
, RJ Eskow, and Gina Grad. Cenk has regular bits and on-air interaction with those who help run the show: Jesús Godoy, Ana Kasparian, Cliff Schecter
, Dave Koller, Jayar Jackson, Tom Hanc, Steve Oh and Andrew Napier.
in the Political category, as well as the 2009 Mashable Open Web Award for the Best Political News Site. In March 2011, the show won a Shorty award
.
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
Internet talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
via live web stream and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, and starting in late 2011, a weeknight news and political commentary program airing on Current TV
Current TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....
. It was Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
's first original talk programming. The Young Turks claims to be the first Internet TV news show and the world's largest online news show. Video of the show is streamed daily on their website and available as a podcast. The show offers Internet only video content via their YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel, which averages 1 million views daily (30 million views per month), and has had over 600 million views overall. The Young Turks offers a paid members-only Postgame Show, an Internet only wrap-up show.
Starting Monday December 5, 2011, an hour-long weeknight television version of The Young Turks will premiere on Current TV
Current TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....
. To differentiate itself with the web series, the TV series will be billed as The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur.
History
Cenk UygurCenk Uygur
Cenk Kadir Uygur , is the main host and co-founder of the liberal Internet and talk radio show, The Young Turks . A naturalized U.S. citizen, Uygur was born in Turkey and raised from age eight in the United States. He worked as an attorney in Washington D.C. and New York before beginning his career...
was born in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey, and at the age of 8 his family moved to New Jersey, in the United States. He began a talk show in the mold of a public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV show he had done previously called The Young Turk. With the help of friend Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz is an American radio and television personality, known for his work as a TV journalist, news anchor, and film critic...
, with whom he had previously worked, his childhood friend Dave Koller, and Jill Pike
Jill Pike
Jill Pike is an American political commentator and activist who currently serves as deputy director of public affairs for the think tank Third Way. Formerly, she was one of the hosts of the talk radio show The Young Turks on Air America Radio....
they began The Young Turks.
The show's name is a reference to the early-20th century Turkish nationalist-secularist movement
Young Turks
The Young Turks , from French: Les Jeunes Turcs) were a coalition of various groups favouring reformation of the administration of the Ottoman Empire. The movement was against the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Sultan and favoured a re-installation of the short-lived Kanûn-ı Esâsî constitution...
of the same name. However, the reference is intended to be humorous, and does not imply an ideological connection to the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
.
In 2005, the show received attention for its 99 hour "Live On Air Filibuster" conducted during the Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination
Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination
On October 31, 2005, Samuel Alito was nominated by President George W. Bush for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to replace the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito had been a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit since 1990 when he was...
. Hosts including Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is an American radio host, author, former psychotherapist and entrepreneur, and progressive political commentator. His nationally-syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, airs in the United States and has 2.75 million listeners a week...
and John Amato
Crooks and Liars
Crooks and Liars is an American liberal blog founded by John Amato. Along with John Amato, frequent contributors include Nicole Belle, Logan Murphy, Mike Finnigan, David Neiwert, SilentPatriot, , Susie Madrak, Nonny Mouse, Kenneth Quinnell, and Howie Klein. Journalist Tina Dupuy is the managing...
filled in so that the show's regulars could rest or have breaks.
It was announced on August 20, 2007, that Mankiewicz would leave the show and move to a new television show for TMZ. In September 2008, Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons replaced Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
and Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
as hosts of At the Movies. At roughly the same time, Pike left to pursue a job in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, at which point then-intern Ana Kasparian was hired to do pop-culture segments.
During the 2008 elections
United States elections, 2008
The 2008 United States general elections were held on November 4. The result was a significant victory for the Democratic Party on the national level, as they increased majorities in both houses of Congress and won the Presidency. Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain in the...
, the show developed close ties to Brave New Films
Brave New Films
Brave New Films is a media company founded by filmmaker Robert Greenwald. Viral videos produced by Brave New Films have been widely circulated on the internet, during the 2008 United States presidential election campaign, and generally disparage Republican candidate John McCain and other prominent...
, often airing their ads and featuring personalities such as Robert Greenwald
Robert Greenwald
Robert Greenwald is an American film director, film producer, and political activist.-Early life:Greenwald was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ruth and Harold Greenwald. He attended the city's High School of Performing Arts...
and Jonathan Kim.
Satellite radio
Prior to signing with Air America, the show was broadcast on Sirius Satellite RadioSirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
, on Sirius Left 143 and later 146, weekdays from 6-9PM ET, and re-aired on Sirius Talk Central 148 from 12-2PM ET. The Young Turks was the first show exclusively for Sirius Left to air not part of a syndication network. The show was exclusive to Sirius for several years. TYT was also carried by KFH (1330 AM/98.7 FM) in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
from 7-9PM CT and webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
by RadioPower.org.
On February 2, 2009, TYT was removed from the broadcast schedule on XM/Sirius Channel 167, America Left
America Left
Sirius XM Left is located at channel 127 on Sirius XM Radio and carries a progressive/liberal talk format. The channel is programmed by Don Wicklin.-America Left :...
, and their program was filled by an extra hour of Bill Press. The show returned to XM/Sirius on March 16, 2009. However in late 2010, TYT announced they would leave XM/Sirius radio through their Facebook page, their last show on XM/Sirius was on November 19, 2010.
Weeknight program on Current TV
On September 20, 2011, Current TVCurrent TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....
announced that TYT would launch a weeknight TV edition of the show at 7 p.m. PT on the network beginning sometime in the 4th quarter of 2011. The show will join Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program that airs on Current TV, where it began airing on June 20, 2011. The program was broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of...
as the second news and opinion program on Current as the network continues to develop a new lineup of programming followed by The War Room with Jennifer Granholm
The War Room with Jennifer Granholm
The War Room with Jennifer Granholm is an upcoming news and political commentary program to be hosted by former Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm on Current TV...
in January. According to the show's website, the show is introduced as The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur to differentiate itself from the popular web series.
Co-hosts
The show is primarily hosted by Cenk UygurCenk Uygur
Cenk Kadir Uygur , is the main host and co-founder of the liberal Internet and talk radio show, The Young Turks . A naturalized U.S. citizen, Uygur was born in Turkey and raised from age eight in the United States. He worked as an attorney in Washington D.C. and New York before beginning his career...
and often includes a co-host. Ana Kasparian serves as co-host during the second hour which focuses on pop culture instead of politics. Some other co-hosts are Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz is an American radio and television personality, known for his work as a TV journalist, news anchor, and film critic...
, Wes Clark Jr, Michael Shure, Teresa Strasser
Teresa Strasser
Teresa Lynn Strasser is an American writer and television personality known for hosting the first season of the home makeover show While You Were Out on TLC. She also co-hosted The Adam Carolla Show.-Personal life:...
, RJ Eskow, and Gina Grad. Cenk has regular bits and on-air interaction with those who help run the show: Jesús Godoy, Ana Kasparian, Cliff Schecter
Cliff Schecter
Clifford D. "Cliff" Schecter is an American political writer, commentator, and operative. Schecter is considered to be a political progressive and wrote a book highly critical of 2008 Republican Presidential nominee John S. McCain; he has a reputation as a pugnacious proponent of progressive...
, Dave Koller, Jayar Jackson, Tom Hanc, Steve Oh and Andrew Napier.
Spin-off series
- In February 2010, What the Flick?! began airing on the show's website, featuring movie reviews by Cenk Uygur, Ben Mankiewicz, and regular guests Matt Atchity of Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
and Christy LemireChristy LemireChristy Lemire is the film critic for The Associated Press and co-host of Ebert Presents at the Movies with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky. She also co-hosts the weekly online movie review show, What The Flick?!....
of the Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. What The Flick?! is produced by Andrew Napier, Ana Kasparian, and Cenk Uygur, and directed by Andrew Napier. - In June 2010, TYT helped launch thetopvlog on YouTube, a vlog channel featuring a variety of liberal political vloggers posted irregularly online.
- In September 2010, TYTSports was launched, featuring Cenk Uygur, Jayar Jackson, and Ben Mankiewicz.
- In March 2011, TYTUniversity, a weekly segment featuring Ana Kasparian and Jayar Jackson, was launched. This segment is based on user-submitted videos relating to college.
Awards and nominations
The Young Turks has won the 2009 Podcast AwardPodcast Awards
The People's Choice Podcast Awards, better known as the Podcast Awards, are an annual set of awards given to the best podcasts as voted by the people...
in the Political category, as well as the 2009 Mashable Open Web Award for the Best Political News Site. In March 2011, the show won a Shorty award
Shorty Awards
The Shorty Awards, also known as the Shorties, are an awards event that honors top short-form content creators on the micro-blogging website Twitter. The awards have primarily been sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and are organized by the co-founders of the Brooklyn-based...
.