In the wake of the Bill Maher and Ben Affleck debate on radical Islam on “Real Time With Bill Maher” a few weeks ago, The Young Turks streamed an interview between Cenk Uygur and Sam Harris last night, author of Project Reason and another at the desk during that “Real Time” discussion. It’s a talk show feedback loop: Uygur had Reza Aslan on the show, Aslan challenged Harris, Harris is invited.
More intriguing than the debate, though, is that the interview came about because fans pushed for it on social media. There are various “TYT Talk” and hashtags for the show’s weekday broadcast.
The network itself offered a live-stream of the interview exclusively for its paying members last night and Uygur and Harris were both welcoming questions from social media to guide the debate. The network streamed the interview as a way to expand upon current membership benefits and, according to a statement, “continue [to] push to build revenue and value off YouTube.”
The perks are more entertaining than most Kickstarter campaigns: for $10/month fans get the “Entire Main Show & Post Game Show ad free, podcast network shows,” but for a $100 or $1,000? Conference calls with the hosts or a one -on-one call with Cenk Uygur once a month. Talk about engagement. You can see the full interview with Harris below: