Ana Kasparian

Journalist, Writer, Speaker and Educator

Ana Kasparian was only supposed to be working with The Young Turks for two weeks, filling in for someone on vacation.

Last Friday — years after those two weeks ended — Kasparian was helping the show celebrate its 10th anniversary with a live, 10-hour streaming.

TYT is an online news show, broadcasted on YouTube, that features Kasparian, along with main host and cofounder Cenk Uygur, explaining and discussing the news.

Kasparian’s two-week stint was back in 2007 when she graduated from journalism school and was interning at CBS Radio.

She was disillusioned with CBS, she told Elite Daily. She wanted a place outside of traditional media that would use her potential to its fullest.

Kasparian was inspired by TYT:

I was there for a day before I realized I wasn’t going to go anywhere.

As she shows everyday on the show, Kasparian is not one to stay quiet when she’s passionate about something. So after her two weeks ended, she told Uygur she wanted to be involved with the show. They created a position for her.

She was still working at CBS, but as her position grew at TYT, she was urged to quit her job at CBS. This was a risk — to leave the established media to try something completely new — but it was one Kasparian was willing to make.

What I wanted more than anything was to feel fulfilled with what I was doing in the media.

Now, Kasparian can be found hosting her own hour of TYT, speaking out on topics like foreign policy, Black Lives Matter and reproductive rights. Kasparian said:

We take these complex political issues and we don’t minimize them, but we simplify them in a digestible way, so even if you have no background in politics you can watch our videos. We will clearly outline what’s happening, why these stories are important, and we’ll analyze those stories.

Kasparian works to have a conversation with her audience, who she says are smart and “really, really good at being bullsh*t detectors” — one of the reasons she insists on being so honest onscreen.

So she speaks openly with viewers, giving her opinion with research to back it up.

TYT challenges its audience to question certain established ideas.

They initially got some flack for criticizing President Barack Obama for failing to address healthcare and racial equality when he got to office — people said as a progressive show, they should support Obama regardless.

TYT also faced criticism at first for their coverage of police brutality from people who believed they were reporting anecdotal, rather than systemic, problems.

Eventually, though, as TYT continued reporting on these issues, the audience came around to understand the work. Kasparian said:

If you’re bold enough to question something that’s been long established … as long as you stay true to that message and you are consistent, the audience will evolve.

With the presidential election going on, Kasparian has seen Millennials care more about the economy, as our generation got the brunt of the recession and is facing student debt, high unemployment rates and stagnant wages.

That’s probably why young people support Bernie Sanders so much, Kasparian said. Sanders appeals to our daily economic worries in a way other candidates, including Hillary Clinton, do not.

Kasparian hopes as the election goes on, Generation-Y pays more attention to foreign policy and money in politics, as well.

By using our votes, we can change how certain issues are handled, including drone strikes and campaign financing.

Although Kasparian is clearly knowledgeable and speaks proudly, she had to overcome some obstacles as a public woman in media.

She explained as a woman, people perceive her as emotional and overdramatic when she’s being passionate, or otherwise simply write her off as unintelligent and mindless.

When Kasparian began hosting at TYT, she would deliver her opinion in an overly calm, rational way so people wouldn’t think she was just being “dramatic.” But over time, she realized not speaking passionately was holding her back — and keeping her from being completely honest with her audience.

With TYT’s 10th anniversary, Kasparian has seen her risk pay off with continued success and, ultimately, fulfillment. Her advice to young people is not to be afraid of taking their own risks and not following the traditional rules. She said:

If you live your life playing by the rules and doing what the established public figures tell you what to do, you’re the least likely to succeed …

If I had followed the directions or the advice of people that were older than me when I was in school, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

'The Young Turks' Host Ana Kasparian Talks About The Wrong Reason To Be Voting For Hillary Clinton

By Josephine B. Yurcaba, Bustle.com

Ana Kasparian, the co-host of political talk show The Young Turks, proudly describes herself as a feminist and notes that it will definitely affect her vote in the 2016 election. Kasparian tells Bustle that the election features a lot of important, feminist issues, like paid family leave and the attacks on Planned Parenthood. That's why, Kasparian says, she doesn't understand feminists who say they are going to vote for Hillary Clinton because we need a woman in the Oval Office, especially if those feminists don't know the ins and outs of Clinton's platform.

"I think that is the worst way of voting in the election possible," Kasparian says. "And so I know that there are some feminists who are arguing, 'Hey, it's about time we have a female president, and as a result I'm voting for Hillary Clinton,' but what about her policy ideas and what she's going to do to the country?"

Policy and accountability are two things Kasparian emphasized a lot during our chat. She was the child of two immigrants: her mother is Armenian and her father is Syrian, and she grew up in a very conservative, traditional Armenian household. For example, she grew up believing that prostitution should be penalized and that there should be harsh penalties for it. Now, she believes that it should be legalized to keep people off the streets and, with regulation, keep them healthy and safe. She also used to have what she calls pretty "ridiculous" views about gay marriage:

I used to think that normalizing same sex marriage was a bad idea because it would make everyone gay. But, then, you grow up and you kind of educate yourself and you realize that's the most ridiculous thing imaginable.

So Kasparian began studying racial inequalities within the U.S. and around the world, and she also saw the problems of working class families in her own Armenian community while she was growing up. Gradually, she says her views changed, and she went into journalism because her mother didn't approve of her pursuing an acting career. Kasparian says that journalism fits, though, because she enjoys calling out politicians who take money from big corporations or celebrities involved in domestic violence cases on The Young Turks.

Her awareness of class and inequality is part of what makes her especially critical of Clinton. She says the former Secretary of State isn't strong enough on getting money out of politics, which she believes has corrupted the democratic process. Kasparian cites the Democratic Forum on MSNBC, when Clinton told Rachel Maddow that she went to NASDAQ in December 2007and told bankers to "stop it" with the subprime mortgages. "That was her idea of being a tough guy against Wall Street," Kasparian says. "Of course our economy underwent a meltdown after that because politicians like her have been given massive campaign donation from the very people they refuse to regulate."

Kasparian says that she believes it's actually destructive to vote for someone "based on nonsensical factors like their sex or their race" because it would disregard the many very serious issues at the center of the 2016 election. Kasparian also says that people seem to be ignoring the fact that American politics "has become a joke," citing the fact that Donald Trump is being taken seriously by Republican voters:

"We've created a system where it doesn't really matter how experienced you are for you to run for president — it really matters how much money you've raised. And Donald Trump has a lot of money, so it makes him able to run for president, which is hilarious because he has no idea what his policy positions are," she says. "We have to change that system. We have to create a system where people who aren't clowns are taken seriously, and people who are clowns are laughed out of the race."

Kasparian says that paid family leave is one of the many feminist issues that should be discussed even more in the 2016 election. She says that the U.S. is the only developed country in the world without a federal paid family leave law, and Clinton hasn't endorsed any specific paid family leave law. Clinton has said that things "have to change" so that the U.S. isn't lagging behind all other developed countries, but she hasn't specified just how much leave she would support, according to her website.

"I know that Hillary Clinton is in favor of maternity leave, but I want it to be part of her platform. I want her to be really strong on that," Kasparian says. "I don't know how I would have kids, and continue on with my career. It would harm my career in so many ways, because I don't have any protection — no federal protection."

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders supports 12 weeks of paid family leave, according to his campaign website, but Kasparian says she supports him more because of his stance on money in politics. She says he is the only "sane politician" who has consistently spoken out against politicians receiving campaign donations from large corporations. But, she says there's one thing that he and other Democratic politicians need to do better:

Planned Parenthood is attacked during every single election cycle. You see some Democratic politicians speaking out against it, but not really. They need to really come out and just punch people in the mouth — theoretically, not literally — and just say, "This is an organization that helps so many underprivileged people in the country, whether it's breast cancer screenings or STD tests or contraceptives." There needs to be a very clear campaign against these people who are smearing Planned Parenthood and I'm just not seeing it.

Kasparian stressed, though, that money in politics is the root of many of the problems between Washington and our economy. She says that millennials need to focus on the issue, but that media also need to call out politicians for what Kasparian called legalized bribery. "The issue is our media and whether they're going to hold politicians accountable for their corruption and for this legalized bribery," she says. "And, unfortunately, they're not going to because they're bought off by the same types of corporations. So, it's this ongoing issue, and the reason I bring up money in politics is because that's really the virus that affects every other issue in the political world today. If you don't get the money out of politics then you're not going to have any real change."