Cenk Uygur on Lex

[WonderSeeker]

Here's an interesting media character that doesn't get enough attention.

I already liked Cenk, but this interview blew me away:

Politics is such a hairy area, and most of us (myself included) make asses of ourselves trying to make sense of it and make the discourse better.

Yes, Cenk and TYT have a rep of being boisterous, sometimes over the top. But here was different. I was shocked by the level of nuance he brought. 

I'd also argue that he's a good example of healthy stage green. I say this because he's able to go meta-systemic and far-left, then come back and criticize elements of the left that are untenable or downright stupid (eg, throwing away capitalism, defund the police).

Apparently he started TYT in his apartment back in 2002 with no money and the story goes he turned down an MSNBC contract for a 1M salary to keep his thinking and voice independent. Man has balls. Reminds me of you @Leo Gura, in that you could milk Actualized, yet you stay true to youself and committed to truth.

Also, I think this highlights a good example of someone going outside of the inner core of the social matrix (mainstream media) to be a fresh voice/thinker. Ties in nicely with Leo's top 3 video:

Not saying he's out of the matrix. He's an atheist and has other hangups. But good for politics and free media overall.

- - -

What do you think?

Edited September 7, 2024 by WonderSeeker

[Leo Gura]

Yeah, that was a good interview performance by Cenk.

Cenk's heart is in the right place. But he is delusional in some of his leftist ideals, like when he runs for office, it's just cringe. He's got a bad case of leftist ego.

Edited September 7, 2024 by Leo Gura

[WonderSeeker]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

Yeah, that was a good interview performance by Cenk.

Cenk's heart is in the right place. But he is delusional in some of his leftist ideals, like when he runs for office, it's just cringe. He's got a bad case of leftist ego.

Yeah, his run for office was weird as hell. 

[Hatfort]

It's pretty remarkable if you think about it. A man his age and origin, from a less developed country, who migrated to the USA, has quite progressive ideas. He must have had a journey himself to reach where he is, from deep blue to green, going through a successful orange business endeavor. Also remarkable that his nephew surpassed him!

[Leo Gura]

14 minutes ago, Hatfort said:

Also remarkable that his nephew surpassed him!

Hasan did not surpass him. Hasan is a leftist barbarian.

[Hatfort]

1 minute ago, Leo Gura said:

Hasan did not surpass him. Hasan is a leftist barbarian.

Okay, maybe not intellectually. He is more successful in reaching a bigger audience, and making more money as a result, maybe because of his more entertaining style. I think the left needed someone in the media a bit less serious than the usual pamphlet distributor with the hammer and sickle t-shirt giving lectures on leftism purity. Anyway, he is not stupid either, apart from being quite fluent and articulate, he has some brain too.

[Leo Gura]

14 minutes ago, Hatfort said:

He is more successful in reaching a bigger audience, and making more money as a result

What are you talking about?

TYT has huge reach, bigger than Hasan.

[Hatfort]

3 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

What are you talking about?

TYT has huge reach, bigger than Hasan.

Nope, only Hasan's official YouTube videos have a bigger reach than TYT, and if we count the nonofficial channel views, even bigger. Then there are his live-streaming daily viewers, which are thousands. Hasan is quite bigger than TYT.

[Forestluv]

Lex is like a 0.5 mg dose of Xanax for Cenk. He's chilled out enough that his emotion / passion can help deliver his points effectively. I usually can't listen to Cenk because his emotional displays become too intense for me.

[Hatfort]

27 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Hasan is a baby. TYT has been around for 15+ years.

Consistency in time is something I value too, TYT has it. Hasan has already about 8 years of media career, it's okay for his age, he is not a baby.

Forget about his livestream viewers, he has quite a bigger audience on his official channel only, talking about politics. He's quite big and is having more impact than most leftist online channels, including TYT. Not only teenagers, although a considerable fraction of his audience are, and quite a younger average for sure. But that's the future too, I wouldn't dismiss it.

Edited September 8, 2024 by Leo Gura

[Hardkill]

5 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

What are you talking about?

TYT has huge reach, bigger than Hasan.

what do you believe TYT has accomplished? Do you think that they have been winning in the messaging war against MAGA, the corrupt conservatives, and corrupt neoliberal Democrats? 

Edited September 8, 2024 by Hardkill

[Hardkill]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Yeah, that was a good interview performance by Cenk.

Cenk's heart is in the right place. But he is delusional in some of his leftist ideals, like when he runs for office, it's just cringe. He's got a bad case of leftist ego.

Btw, he claimed in that video that he considers himself to be center-left.

He also said in an interview he did with PBD that he’s a mainstream progressive and doesn’t agree with radical leftists who are for open borders, defunding the police, obsession with woke terms, toxic left-wing culture war messages, etc. 

Do you buy that?

[Leo Gura]

37 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

Do you buy that?

I do.

Cenk is very reasonable unlike Hasan.

Marxist leftists are the worst.

Edited September 8, 2024 by Leo Gura

[Hardkill]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

I do.

Cenk is very reasonable unlike Hasan.

Marxist leftists are the worst.

Yeah, I do believe that Cenk's political stances aren't far left.

Marxism is indeed too far to the left.

But does Cenk have to come off as a blowhard who sounds so extreme a lot of times?

[Leo Gura]

30 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

But does Cenk have to come off as a blowhard who sounds so extreme a lot of times?

He's an egotistical jackass, so that cannot be helped 

[Whitney Edwards]

32 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

Yeah, I do believe that Cenk's political stances aren't far left.

Marxism is indeed too far to the left.

But does Cenk have to come off as a blowhard who sounds so extreme a lot of times?

He even thought he would be president. 

[Hardkill]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

He's an egotistical jackass, so that cannot be helped 

Well, do you think that TYT has been helping progressives/liberals and Democrats win the messaging war against MAGA, the corrupt conservatives, and corrupt neoliberal Democrats? 

[WonderSeeker]

57 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

Well, do you think that TYT has been helping progressives/liberals and Democrats win the messaging war against MAGA, the corrupt conservatives, and corrupt neoliberal Democrats? 

What do you mean by this question? 

TYT winning versus other media companies? Versus political movements? 

Elaborate 

[WonderSeeker]

10 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

He's an egotistical jackass, so that cannot be helped 

10 hours ago, Buck Edwards said:

He even thought he would be president. 

Of course he's full of ego and arrogant. (I think he knows this to an extent)

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, Hardkill said:

Well, do you think that TYT has been helping progressives/liberals and Democrats win the messaging war against MAGA, the corrupt conservatives, and corrupt neoliberal Democrats? 

I think so.

TYT helps pull people into healthy progressivism. They do a good job deconstructing a lot of right-wing BS, and also some centrist BS.

Edited September 8, 2024 by Leo Gura