The Young Turks (TYT) is an American populist progressive[6][7][8][9][10] news commentary show live streamed on social media platforms YouTube and Twitch.

[citation needed] In addition to being carried on YouTube and Twitch, it is also currently available on Amazon Prime Direct, iTunes, Hulu, Roku, and on social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

[14][15] It has spawned two spin-off television series, one that aired on Current TV[16] from 2011 to 2013 and a second that debuted on Fusion in 2016 as a limited-run program developed to cover the 2016 United States presidential election.

[26] The two-hour main show is usually hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, with a rotating cast of other progressive co-hosts, including John Iadarola, Jayar Jackson and more.

Uygur has regular bits and on-air interaction with other staff members who create and run the show, including among others Jesús Godoy, Dave Koller, Jayar Jackson and Steve Oh.

Along with Iadarola and Jackson, other fill-in hosts and recurring guests include series co-creator/contributor Ben Mankiewicz, television personality Brian Unger, Becca Frucht, Brett Erlich, Wes Clark Jr., Michael Shure, Cara Santa Maria, RJ Eskow, Gina Grad, Samantha Schacher, and Jayde Lovell.

[30] The Young Turks was the first daily streaming online talk show, having begun airing in that format in 2006,[23] with an official website on the internet and a channel hosted on YouTube.

[31] At roughly the same time, Jill Pike left to pursue a job in Washington, D.C. Ana Kasparian, then working as an intern for the program, was hired to do pop culture-focused segments.

[18] Uygur and co-host Kasparian applied a populist left branding and programming strategy that made TYT a successful global online organization, with larger numbers of YouTube subscribers and viewers than several other notable news networks like FOX, MSNBC and CNN.

[32][33] The presence of TYT on YouTube has given the network a platform to democratize production of content and practices associated with its online distribution through an ability to share, comment and like material on its channel.

[18] TYT nonetheless has relied on small grassroots financial contributions from its viewers that gave it the ability to emerge as an alternative media organization that does not advocate for the interests of corporations.

TYT stated it would use the funds to "hire additional management execs and creative talent, as well as enhance its subscription-video offering and expand marketing initiatives".

[14] Due to popular demand from viewers, TYT established an online outlet selling its own label branded merchandise, such as t-shirts, that are often designed and voted upon through the input of its audience.

In a September 2006 article, U.S. News & World Report contributing writer Paul Bedard described TYT as "the loudly liberal counter to the right-leaning presets on my Sirius Satellite Radio.

[63][64] Alex Galitsky, who works for the Armenian National Committee of America, stated "If a group decided to call themselves ‘the Young Nazis’, and pitched themselves as a disruptor or anti-establishment news outlet, people would be rightly outraged".

"[66][67] In response to the criticism he has explained that the name of the show was chosen because it is a popular colloquialism traditionally meaning a young radical who fights the status quo.

[71][72] Uygur urged his employees not to, as he stated TYT is a small media organization and the move would endanger its financial viability; however, the network supported its workers holding a secret ballot to unionize.

[48] In December 2024, TYT contributor and mayor of Enfield, North Carolina, Mondale Robinson, resigned live on air over what he views as Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian's shift away from progressive principles and embrace of the Make America Great Again movement and conservative personalities such as Glenn Beck.

Current TV announced the launch of a separate television broadcast of The Young Turks on September 20, 2011, with the program intending to air Monday through Friday evenings at 7:00 pm.

"[76] On January 2, 2013, Current TV was sold to Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera Media Network,[77] which announced plans to reorganize the channel as Al Jazeera America, focusing on world news and investigative content with a more neutral tone; with the move, the channel would discontinue its talk programming slate, including The Young Turks with Cenk Ugyur, which ended its run on Current TV on August 15, 2013, shortly before the network's relaunch.

[38] However, members of The Young Turks' on-air contributing staff, such as Michael Shure (who served as a political and general assignment contributor), Cara Santa Maria (part of TechKnow) and Ben Mankiewicz (who worked as a movie critic), regularly appeared on Al Jazeera America.

The show also featured Cenk Uygur, Jimmy Dore, Ben Mankiewicz, Hannah Cranston, Hasan Piker, and Kim Horcher as contributors, as well as Fusion reporters and celebrity guest hosts.

[124] This involves TYT referencing news from mainstream sources and providing its own content analysis by connecting it to different narratives and discourses related to the social realities of its audience.

[124] In similar coverage of shootings, TYT has provided information on gun and crime related homicide numbers and placed into context the laws, police training and additional factors that worsen the situation.

[33] The network has been critical of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and its supporters like Hillary Clinton, whereas TYT approved of Senator Bernie Sanders' opposition to it.

[130] TYT was the first network to give airtime to progressive candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to discuss policies and contrast themselves from electoral opponents on its shows like Rebel HQ, a half an hour interview based program created in 2017.

[124] The show informs viewers on how they can contact politicians, assist progressive candidates affiliated or unaffiliated with the Justice Democrats through donations or to participate by volunteering, canvassing and attending events like rallies in local communities.

[132] TYT's online platforms facilitate the encouragement of civic participation with the political system that in 2018 assisted Justice Democrats in getting 7 congressional victories, 25 candidates during the general election and 78 in the primaries.

[133][134] In mid-November 2019, Uygur filed to run for Congress in California's 25th district, a seat recently vacated by the resignation of Katie Hill, an office also being pursued by former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos.

[139] On December 6, 2023, TYT hosted a forum featuring Democratic Party presidential primary candidates U.S. Representative Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, and Cenk Uygur.