Cenk Uygur

Sometimes it's super direct. When I was a host on MSNBC, I had a company that I was criticizing in my script and management looked at it. And by the way, I used to go off prompter a lot and it drove them crazy. Not because I wasn't good at it. I think my ratings went up whenever I went off prompter, but because they couldn't pre-approve the script. And what do they want to pre-approve?

Sometimes it's super direct. When I was a host on MSNBC, I had a company that I was criticizing in my script and management looked at it. And by the way, I used to go off prompter a lot and it drove them crazy. Not because I wasn't good at it. I think my ratings went up whenever I went off prompter, but because they couldn't pre-approve the script. And what do they want to pre-approve?

Hey, are you going to criticize one of our sponsors, one of our advertisers, et cetera? So we had a giant fight over it, and the compromise was I moved them lower in the script but kept them in the story, right? So sometimes it's super direct like that, but way more often it's implicit. It's indirect. You don't have to say it, right?

Hey, are you going to criticize one of our sponsors, one of our advertisers, et cetera? So we had a giant fight over it, and the compromise was I moved them lower in the script but kept them in the story, right? So sometimes it's super direct like that, but way more often it's implicit. It's indirect. You don't have to say it, right?

Hey, are you going to criticize one of our sponsors, one of our advertisers, et cetera? So we had a giant fight over it, and the compromise was I moved them lower in the script but kept them in the story, right? So sometimes it's super direct like that, but way more often it's implicit. It's indirect. You don't have to say it, right?

So I give you a spectacular example of it so that you get a sense of how it works implicitly. So since G is a giant defense contractor, they own MSNBC at the time of the Iraq war. They fired everyone who was against the Iraq war on air. So Phil Donahue, Jesse Ventura, Ashley Banfield, but Ashley Banfield, they did something different with. Okay. She was a rising star at the time.

So I give you a spectacular example of it so that you get a sense of how it works implicitly. So since G is a giant defense contractor, they own MSNBC at the time of the Iraq war. They fired everyone who was against the Iraq war on air. So Phil Donahue, Jesse Ventura, Ashley Banfield, but Ashley Banfield, they did something different with. Okay. She was a rising star at the time.

So I give you a spectacular example of it so that you get a sense of how it works implicitly. So since G is a giant defense contractor, they own MSNBC at the time of the Iraq war. They fired everyone who was against the Iraq war on air. So Phil Donahue, Jesse Ventura, Ashley Banfield, but Ashley Banfield, they did something different with. Okay. She was a rising star at the time.

She goes and gives a speech in Kansas, not really even having a policy position, but just talking about the actual costs of this Iraq war and how we should be really careful. They hate that. So they take their rising star and they take her off air. Okay. And she goes, okay, good. Let me out of my contract. It's okay. I'll go because she was such a star at that time.

She goes and gives a speech in Kansas, not really even having a policy position, but just talking about the actual costs of this Iraq war and how we should be really careful. They hate that. So they take their rising star and they take her off air. Okay. And she goes, okay, good. Let me out of my contract. It's okay. I'll go because she was such a star at that time.

She goes and gives a speech in Kansas, not really even having a policy position, but just talking about the actual costs of this Iraq war and how we should be really careful. They hate that. So they take their rising star and they take her off air. Okay. And she goes, okay, good. Let me out of my contract. It's okay. I'll go because she was such a star at that time.

She could have easily gotten somewhere else. And they go, no, we're not going to let you out of your contract. Why not? Were you going to pay me to do nothing? Yeah. Okay. Not only that, we're moving your office. Where are you moving it to? They literally moved it into a closet. Okay. And they made sure that everybody in the building saw her getting taken off the air and moved into a closet.

She could have easily gotten somewhere else. And they go, no, we're not going to let you out of your contract. Why not? Were you going to pay me to do nothing? Yeah. Okay. Not only that, we're moving your office. Where are you moving it to? They literally moved it into a closet. Okay. And they made sure that everybody in the building saw her getting taken off the air and moved into a closet.

She could have easily gotten somewhere else. And they go, no, we're not going to let you out of your contract. Why not? Were you going to pay me to do nothing? Yeah. Okay. Not only that, we're moving your office. Where are you moving it to? They literally moved it into a closet. Okay. And they made sure that everybody in the building saw her getting taken off the air and moved into a closet.

The closet is the memo, right? That's the memo to the whole building. You better shut up and do as you're told. Okay. So that way I don't have to tell you and get myself in trouble. It's super obvious. There are guardrails here, and you are not allowed to go beyond acceptable thought. And acceptable thought is our sponsors are great, politicians are great, the powerful are great.

The closet is the memo, right? That's the memo to the whole building. You better shut up and do as you're told. Okay. So that way I don't have to tell you and get myself in trouble. It's super obvious. There are guardrails here, and you are not allowed to go beyond acceptable thought. And acceptable thought is our sponsors are great, politicians are great, the powerful are great.

The closet is the memo, right? That's the memo to the whole building. You better shut up and do as you're told. Okay. So that way I don't have to tell you and get myself in trouble. It's super obvious. There are guardrails here, and you are not allowed to go beyond acceptable thought. And acceptable thought is our sponsors are great, politicians are great, the powerful are great.

So it's very difficult but doable, and we will do it. But in order to do it, the populist left and the populist right have to unite. And by the way, that is why we have the culture wars.

So it's very difficult but doable, and we will do it. But in order to do it, the populist left and the populist right have to unite. And by the way, that is why we have the culture wars.

So it's very difficult but doable, and we will do it. But in order to do it, the populist left and the populist right have to unite. And by the way, that is why we have the culture wars.