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Kyle Kulinski
Kulinski in October 2018
Personal information
Born (1988-01-31) January 31, 1988 (age 36)[1]
Westchester County, New York, U.S.
EducationIona College (BA)
Occupations
  • Political commentator
  • media host
Political partyDemocratic[2][3]
Spouse
​
(m. 2023)​
[4]
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2008–present
GenrePolitical commentary
Subscribers1.21 million[5]
Total views1.18 billion[5]
NetworkThe Young Turks (2013–2021)
Associated actsKrystal Ball
100,000 subscribers2014
1,000,000 subscribers2023
Kulinski's voice
On the importance of alternative media in politics
Last updated: July 8, 2024

Kyle Edward Kulinski (born January 31, 1988) is an American political commentator and media host. Kulinski is the host and producer of The Kyle Kulinski Show on his YouTube channel Secular Talk and is a co-host with his wife[4] Krystal Ball on the progressive podcast Krystal Kyle & Friends.[6]

A self-described social democrat and left-wing populist, Kulinski is a co-founder of Justice Democrats, a progressive political action committee founded on the principles that the candidates it endorses must refuse donations from corporate PACs.[7]

Early life

Kulinski was born on January 31, 1988, to a family of Polish and Italian descent. He was born and raised in the New York City suburbs of Westchester County, New York. He graduated from New Rochelle High School in 2006 and Iona College in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in psychology.[8] His father, Albert Kulinski (1954–2011), owned a Chevrolet dealership in New Rochelle.[9]

Kulinski credits his father's premature death (which he believes was due to inadequate healthcare), the 2003 invasion of Iraq in his teenage years, and the works of Noam Chomsky as influences that helped shape his political views.[10]

Career

The Kyle Kulinski Show

Kulinski started a YouTube channel in spring 2008, named "Secular Talk", while studying as a political science student.[10] Kulinski indicated from the beginning that the show leans heavily to the left. He presents the news with a "brash" and "in-your-face" tone along with jokes and profanity, in sharp contrast to the formal presentation style found in mainstream news outlets.[11]

Disillusioned with U.S. President Barack Obama by the end of his first term, Kulinski began publishing videos full-time, and started broadcasting on BlogTalkRadio as The Kyle Kulinski Show. This surge in activity pushed his YouTube subscriber count above 100,000.[10] By 2015, Kulinski was making a living from Secular Talk.[10] Since then, his videos regularly get hundreds of thousands of views.[12] On December 16, 2022, the channel crossed 1 billion views on YouTube.[13]

Justice Democrats

Main article: Justice Democrats

In December 2016, after the 2016 United States presidential election, Kulinski—alongside Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, and Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign—created Justice Democrats, a political action committee with the goal of supporting progressive candidates in primary elections against Democratic members of congress.[14] Uygur and Kulinski resigned from the group in late 2017.[15] Since leaving, Kulinski has expressed disapproval with the Justice Democrats' political strategy,[16] and has criticized congresspeople aligned with the Justice Democrats for not withholding their votes from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in exchange for a House vote on Medicare for All.[17]

Krystal Kyle & Friends

On January 1, 2021, Kulinski and Krystal Ball started a podcast titled Krystal Kyle & Friends, where they are both co-hosts.[18] Notable podcast guests have included Jordan Peterson,[19] Russell Brand, Noam Chomsky, Thomas Frank, Glenn Greenwald, Carl Hart, Justin Jackson, Bernie Sanders, Matt Taibbi, Nina Turner, Cornel West, Marianne Williamson, Richard D. Wolff, Vaush, and Andrew Yang.[20][non-primary source needed]

Views

Kulinski is cited as a progressive commentator.[21] Kulinski has been noted by The Hill for his commentary regarding various presidential candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.[22][23]

He has described himself as a progressive, social democrat, agnostic atheist, secular humanist, left-wing populist, and a left-libertarian.[1] Kulinski advocates single-payer healthcare, free tuition at public colleges and universities, a federal living wage, reduction in military spending, military non-interventionism, abolition of capital punishment, infrastructure spending, the legalization of euthanasia, and the legalization, regulation, and taxation of drugs and prostitution.[24] Kulinski is envious of the various economic policies and practices that have been implemented in Scandinavian countries through the Nordic model.[citation needed]

In Bridgewater State University's journal The Graduate Review, Kulinski has been described as one of the "new organic intellectuals of YouTube."[25] Brock University's student paper The Brock Press states that Kulinksi's shows proved "to be excellent pipelines for impressionable right-wingers to hear from the other side of the aisle in a rhetorical manner that appeals to them".[26]

Abortion

Kulinski has criticized religiously motivated opposition to abortion, arguing that, according to his interpretation of the Bible, abortion is permissible in Christianity.[27]

Campaign finance

Kulinski believes that campaign finance policy is what distinguishes progressive candidates from the mainstream of the Democratic Party, which he referred to as "just Republican-lite." When advocating for candidates endorsed by Justice Democrats, Kulinski stated "if somebody gives you a check for a tremendous amount of money, you’re going to look out for them. The Democratic Party is a shell of its former self. Get rid of the corporate money. We need to focus on the issues."[28]

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Kulinski considers that the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is a genocide against the Palestinian people.[29] He also voiced support for 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, comparing them with protests against the Iraq War and against the Vietnam War. In each of these circumstances, Kulinski believes the protesters were "100% correct".[30]

Labor

Kulinski opposes the use of biometrics for the purpose of employee management, characterizing this use as "rank authoritarianism disguised as corporate efficiency for consumer satisfaction."[31]

LGBTQ

In 2014, when then-Fox News host Oliver North made a speech comparing fighting against gay rights to fighting against slavery, Kulinski covered the speech by saying: "Not only is there no comparison, if anything the opposition position on those issues is more like opposing slavery." Kulinski added: "To be in favor of gay rights and to try to treat people equally under the law—that is definitely a movement that is more in line with the idea behind the abolitionists of treating people equal and treating people right."[32]

In 2022, Kulinski received Jordan Peterson on Krystal Kyle & Friends, and argued with him on the issue of transgender identity. Kulinski rejected Peterson's remark that Elliot Page's Esquire magazine cover picture was an attempt to convert children to become transgender.[19]

Social media

Kulinski is an advocate of free speech on social media platforms such as Twitter and YouTube. He opposes limiting the reach of YouTube channels or de-platforming, arguing that freedom of speech should apply to everyone. He believes that, due to the pressure of advertisers, his own channel is being suppressed by the YouTube algorithm.[33]

Kulinski expressed support for the journalists involved with the Twitter Files, and believes their revelations should be covered more by the news media.[33]

Electoral politics

2016

Kulinski supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary election, and later voted for Jill Stein. While critical of Hillary Clinton, he described her as the "lesser of two evils" in the general election against Donald Trump and said that people in swing states should vote for Clinton to stop Trump from winning.[34]

After Trump's election, Kulinski expressed his belief that progressives and liberals could successfully lobby President Trump to pursue policies such as infrastructure spending and economic protectionism.[35] Kulinski criticizes the Never Trump movement and discourages praising Republicans who criticize Trump, stating "establishment Republicans want Trump to do every single thing he’s doing, minus the mean tweets."[36]

2020

Kulinski again supported Sanders in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. After then-candidate Joe Biden became the presumptive winner of the primaries, Kulinski stated that he would not support Biden. When commenting on this position, Kulinski mentioned that he encourages his critics to "blame him" if Donald Trump were to win re-election, as he believed this would have demonstrated that candidates such as Biden require the support of progressives in order to win. Journalist Mehdi Hasan criticized Kulinski for this view, stating: "If you’re ok with a white nationalist winning a second term, I question your 'left-wing' credentials." Television host Joy Reid concurred with Hasan's criticism of Kulinski's position.[37]

2024

In March 2023, Kulinski attended Marianne Williamson's 2024 presidential campaign launch event at Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C.[38] Kulinski covered the early days of her campaign extensively, and Williamson credits him for bringing many young male supporters to her cause.[39][40] After Marianne Williamson suspended her campaign, Kulinski appeared in a birthday video celebration for Jill Stein's 74th birthday. In the recording, Kulinski made his endorsement of Jill Stein's 2024 presidential campaign along with his wife Krystal's.[41]

Personal life

Kulinski became engaged to fellow political commentator Krystal Ball in September 2022.[42][43] On May 6, 2023, Kulinski and Ball got married,[4] and the wedding was officiated by Marianne Williamson.[44][45]

References

  1. ^ a b Kulinski, Kyle (2016). "About". The Kyle Kulinski Show. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "New York Primary Day Y'all!". YouTube. September 13, 2018.
  3. ^ "Tulsi Leaves The Democratic Party". YouTube. October 11, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Corin Chesterson [@cornchipsss] (May 7, 2023). "An incredibly beautiful weekend celebrating two awesome people! 💓🌸❤️🌸 Everything was amazing. Congrats @krystalball and @KyleKulinski" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ a b "About Secular Talk". YouTube.
  6. ^ Olson, Tyler (March 3, 2020). "Sanders campaign rails against 'nervous' establishment, as candidates flock to Biden". Fox News. Fox Corporation. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  7. ^ Stuart, Tessa (November 21, 2018). "Can Justice Democrats Pull Off a Progressive Coup in Congress?". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on February 2, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  8. ^ Kulinski, Kyle. "About". The Kyle Kulinski Show. Archived from the original on December 20, 2017.
  9. ^ "Albert Kulinski Obituary (1954-2011)". The Journal News. April 22, 2011 – via Legacy.com. Albert Joseph "Buck" Kulinski, 56, of Eastchester died on April 20, 2011. Buck was the former owner of Soundview Chevrolet in New Rochelle.
  10. ^ a b c d Kilpatrick, Connor (March 3, 2020). "Kyle Kulinski Speaks, the Bernie Bros Listen". Jacobin. Bhaskar Sunkara. Archived from the original on March 5, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  11. ^ Goldin, Eric (January 9, 2020). "The Passion of Kyle Kulinski". Santa Clarita Gazette and Free Classifieds. Valley Publications. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  12. ^ Brooks, Cale (April 11, 2021). "From Posting to Politics". jacobinmag.com. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  13. ^ Video on YouTube
  14. ^ Grigoryan, Nune; Suetzl, Wolfgang (2019). "Hybridized political participation". In Atkinson, Joshua D.; Kenix, Linda (eds.). Alternative Media Meets Mainstream Politics: Activist Nation Rising. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 190. ISBN 9781498584357.
  15. ^ Stuart, Tessa (November 21, 2018). "Can Justice Democrats Pull Off a Progressive Coup in Congress?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  16. ^ Levitz, Eric (December 22, 2020). "The Left's Most Naïve Cynics Have Turned on AOC". New York Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  17. ^ Uyehara, Mari (January 18, 2021). "Medicare for All Needs a Sunrise Movement". The New Republic. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  18. ^ Schemmel, Alec (February 14, 2023). "Ex-MSNBC host claims she got in trouble for criticizing Hillary Clinton". KATV. The National Desk. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  19. ^ a b Hunter, Brad (July 10, 2022). "Jordan Peterson doubles down on slamming trans star Elliot Page". Toronto Sun. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  20. ^ Ball, Krystal (2021). "Krystal Kyle & Friends". Substack. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  21. ^ Axelrod, Tal (April 10, 2020). "Kyle Kulinski: What went wrong for the Sanders campaign". The Hill. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  22. ^ "Kyle Kulinski: What went wrong for the Sanders campaign". The Hill. April 10, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  23. ^ "Kyle Kulinski on why Biden is beating Trump in the polls". The Hill. June 10, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  24. ^ Kulinski, Kyle; Uyghur, Cenk (February 1, 2017). "Justice Democrats Platform". Medium. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  25. ^ Lydon, Keith (September 28, 2020). "Gramsci in the Digital Age: YouTubers as New Organic Intellectuals". The Graduate Review. V. Bridgewater State University: 34–45. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  26. ^ Nawaz, Haytham (April 4, 2023). "Populism as a strategy for a just political system has its limits". The Brock Press. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  27. ^ Carey, Lodge (May 8, 2014). "'God is pro-choice,' claims US radio host". Christian Today. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  28. ^ Niles, Emma (April 21, 2019). "How Justice Democrats Plan to Give Progressives a Reason to Vote in the 2018 Midterms". TruthDig. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  29. ^ Zeitlin, Alan (February 28, 2024). "Political Commentator Attacked For Israel Stance and…Circumcision???". Jewish Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  30. ^ Lewis, Ray (May 1, 2024). "Twitter co-founder shows support for student protesters amid anti-Israel demonstrations". The National Desk. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  31. ^ Stancil, Kenny (March 24, 2021). "Amazon to Delivery Drivers: Agree to Be Spied On Biometrically or You're Fired". Common Dreams. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  32. ^ "New NRA chief once compared fighting gay rights to fight against slavery". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  33. ^ a b "Joe Rogan Claims Twitter Files Revelations Are 'As Big a Scandal As Watergate'". Mediaite. February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  34. ^ Ladak, Sheikh Jaffer (August 1, 2016). "Thinking of voting for the lesser of two evils in the US elections? Why not vote for someone not evil? - TMV". The Muslim Vibe. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  35. ^ Pfeiffer, Eric (July 11, 2017). "Kyle Kulinski of The Young Turks Says Democrats Need To Change Before They Can Defeat Trump". Good Worldwide. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  36. ^ Moyers, Bill (November 1, 2017). "Trump is more paranoid and vengeful than Nixon -- but his stupidity makes him much more dangerous". The Raw Story.
  37. ^ Wulfsohn, Joseph (April 14, 2020). "MSNBC's Joy Reid rips Sanders supporters for not backing Biden as 'privileged white voters'". Fox News. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  38. ^ King, Ryan (March 5, 2023). "Allies of Marianne Williamson lay out game plan to take down Biden". Washington Examiner. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  39. ^ Featherstone, Liza (April 27, 2023). "Marianne Williamson Is Serious About Running a Progressive Campaign for President". jacobin.com. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  40. ^ Grim, Ryan (April 14, 2023). "Marianne Williamson, Fusing Bernie Sanders and (Early) Jordan Peterson, Is Taking Over TikTok". The Intercept. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  41. ^ Jill Stein (May 11, 2024). Jill Stein Birthday Rally to Stop the Genocide. Retrieved August 2, 2024 – via YouTube.
  42. ^ "Krystal Ball on Instagram".
  43. ^ Secular Talk [@KyleKulinski] (September 11, 2022). "We're engaged y'all! I'm one lucky dude" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  44. ^ Young Progressive Federation [@YoProFederation] (May 7, 2023). "Damn, not only did @marwilliamson get invited to @KyleKulinski and @krystalball's wedding, she showed up! 😳" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  45. ^ Enjeti, Saagar; Grim, Ryan (May 8, 2023). "Breaking Points: CONGRATS to Krystal and Kyle". YouTube. Breaking Points. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
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