Kaj Larsen is an American journalist, correspondent, and producer who has worked for
Vice News
Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...
,
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
NowThis News
NowThis News is a progressive social media-focused news organization founded in 2012. The company posts short (in most cases 15 seconds long) news videos and hyperpartisan content.
History
NowThis News was founded by ''Huffington Post'' co-fo ...
and
Current TV
Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...
. He worked for the ''
Vanguard
The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
History
The vanguard derives fr ...
'' international news documentary investigative reporting show on
Current TV
Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...
beginning in 2005. He produced the documentary series LOCKUP Maricopa County and LOCKUP RAW for
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
from 2010 to 2011. In 2010, he became a producer and correspondent for
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
until he was laid off in 2012 after CNN abolished their investigative news departments.
[ Following CNN he became a correspondent for VICE News and hosted the series VICE on HBO.] In 2016, Larsen hosted “The Runner” original series with Executive producers Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...
and Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...
. He was the senior correspondent for NowThis News.
Larsen has covered international and domestic conflict, including stories about waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboard ...
, ebola outbreaks
This list of Ebola outbreaks records the known occurrences of Ebola virus disease, a highly infectious and acutely lethal Virus, viral disease that has afflicted humans and animals primarily in equatorial Africa. The pathogens responsible for ...
, drug trafficking, Boko Haram, Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
, and the militarization of the Arctic.[
]
Early life
Larsen was born in Santa Cruz, California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. His father was formerly a U.S. Marine. He initially attended the United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
where he played water polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
, but he transferred to the University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...
after two years. He originally aspired to be a Naval Aviator, having taken flying lessons growing up. He graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge o ...
with a degree in political science and later received a master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
, where he was awarded a fellowship from the . He was also a joint fellow at Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism studies.
Career
Military career
Larsen is a combat veteran Navy SEAL
The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting s ...
who served in the War on Terror
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...
during Operation Enduring Freedom. After his five-year active duty service Larsen stayed in the US Naval Reserves earning the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and was assigned as a Maritime operations officer at Special Operations Command Africa.
Journalism
Larsen‘s career in journalism began in 2005 when he joined Current TV, a cable channel created by former Vice President Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
. While at Current TV, Larsen volunteered to have himself waterboarded on TV in an effort to help viewers understand the controversial interrogation technique. Larsen, who had previously been waterboarded during military survival training told the interviewer the technique induced panic and felt, "like having a hot coal in your chest that you can't get out." In 2007, during the controversial hearings for the confirmation of Michael Mukasey
Michael Bernard Mukasey (; born July 28, 1941) is an American attorney and former federal judge who served as the 81st Attorney General of the United States from 2007 to 2009.
Born in New York City in 1941, Mukasey attended Ramaz School, gradua ...
as United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
, the video of Larsen being waterboarded video was widely circulated. Reporting for ''VICE News'' in 2013, Larsen conducted the first on camera interview with James Elmer Mitchell
James Elmer Mitchell (born 1952) is an American psychologist and former member of the United States Air Force. From 2002, after his retirement from the military, to 2009, his company Mitchell Jessen and Associates received $81 million on contrac ...
, whose firm Mitchell Jessen and Associates received $81 million on contract from the CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
to carry out debriefings of detainees and to develop and conduct enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. Mitchell had previously been identified by pseudonym in the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture
The Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program is a report compiled by the bipartisan United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s Detent ...
.
Larsen helped develop the ''Vanguard'' journalism series, which received an Emmy Award. He has reported from Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
, Colombia and Haiti. Larsen also reported on arms trafficking in Mogadishu
Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...
, Somalia.
In 2010, Larsen joined CNN as a correspondent for the Special Investigations and Documentary Unit covering the drug war in Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, the flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
s in Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
. He has appeared as a guest on ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
, and ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''. He was the senior correspondent and host of Current TV's ''The Current Election'' and has consulted on Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime ...
's HBO fictional news program '' The Newsroom''.[ As a producer Larsen worked on ''US Navy Pirate Hunters'', a one-hour special for Spike TV, and '' Lockup'', the MSNBC show about life in an American ]prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
. He has received an Emmy nomination, a Peabody nomination, two Telly Awards, and several Golden Cine Awards. A two time national champion open-water swimmer, he placed third in the Escape from Alcatraz duathalon. He helped launch The Mission Continues, providing fellowships to veterans, and continues to serve on the group's board of directors. He is close friends with Eric Greitens
Eric Robert Greitens (; born April 10, 1974) is a former American politician who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance impropriety.
Born a ...
as both served together in Iraq.[
Larsen began working as a bureau Chief for VICE News is 2014. The same year, 276 school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria. Larsen traveled to Nigeria to embed with the Nigerian military and report on Boko Haram's effect on the region. In a series of reports for VICE and VICE HBO Larsen documented the conflict between the Nigerian Army and Boko Haram by observing firefights and interviewing victims as well as combatants on both sides. Larsen left Vice News in 2016. The following year he was included in an article detailing a culture of harassment at VICE news. Larsen's name was added to a list of influential people from a variety of industries who have faced public accusations of harassment.
In 2019, Larsen appeared on '' The Fighter and the Kid'' podcast with ]Bryan Callen
Bryan Callen (born January 26, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and podcaster. He studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Callen initiated his career as one of the original cast members on the sketch comedy serie ...
to discuss his career in journalism, including being waterboarded on TV and being embedded in Nigeria.
Netflix series
Larsen created and served as the executive producer for the 2020 Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
documentary series '' The Business of Drugs'', which tracks the economics of the international narcotics trade.
Veteran services and philanthropy
Larsen has served on the board of advisors of Team Rubicon
Team Rubicon is an international non-government organization (NGO) specializing in disaster response.
History
Team Rubicon was formed in January 2010 following the Haiti earthquake, when William McNulty and Jacob "Jake" Wood led a medica ...
, a veteran service organization that uses disaster response to help veterans transition to civilian life. In addition to serving on the board, Larsen has deployed with Team Rubicon on humanitarian missions to Pakistan and the Philippines to aid those affected by natural disasters.
Larsen was the keynote speaker at the Cupertino Veterans Day dedication of the statue of Matt Axelson and James Suh, two SEALs Larsen had served with, who were killed in action during Operation Red Wings
Operation Red Wings (often incorrectly referred to as ''Operation Redwing'' or ''Operation Red Wing''), informally referred to as the Battle of Abbas Ghar, was a joint military operation conducted by the United States in the Pech District ...
in June 2005.
On June 6, 2018 Larsen and a group of current and former SEALs recreated the original D-day mission of the U.S. Navy Combat Demolition Units, swimming seven miles across the English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
followed by a 30 kilometer march from Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
to Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy. . The event was completed to raise money for the Navy SEAL Heritage Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida
Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Suns ...
. Later in 2018, during the Woolsey Fire
The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties of the U.S. state of California. The fire ignited on November 8, 2018, and burned of land. The fire destroyed 1,643 structures, killed three people, and prompted th ...
in California, Larsen used a private yacht to stage rescue missions in Malibu, delivering supplies and aid to first responders and evacuating residents by paddling back and forth between the yacht and the shore 30 times.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Kaj
American television journalists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Santa Cruz, California
University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
United States Navy SEALs personnel
United States Navy officers
Emmy Award winners
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
American male journalists
Journalists from California
Military personnel from California