Kyle Edward Kulinski (born January 31, 1988) is an American

political commentator A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

and media host. Kulinski is the host and producer of ''The Kyle Kulinski Show'' on his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel ''Secular Talk'' and is a co-host with his partner

Krystal Ball Krystal Marie Ball (born November 24, 1981) is an American political commentator and media host. She was previously a political candidate, as well as a television host at MSNBC, a regular contributor to '' The Huffington Post'' and a co-host ...

on the progressive podcast ''Krystal Kyle & Friends''. A self-described

left-wing populist Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often consists of anti- elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the ...

and

social democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

, Kulinski is a co-founder of

Justice Democrats Justice Democrats is an American progressive political action committee founded on January 23, 2017, by former leaders from the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley, as well as political commentators Kyl ...

, a progressive political action committee whose candidates refuse donations from corporate PACs.

Early life

Kulinski was born on January 31, 1988, to a family of Polish and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. He was born and raised in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

suburbs of

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He graduated from

New Rochelle High School New Rochelle High School (NRHS) is a public high school in New Rochelle, New York. It is part of the City School District of New Rochelle and is the city's sole public high school. Its student body represents 60 countries from around the world. I ...

in 2006 and Iona College in 2010 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

and a minor in

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

. Kulinski credits his father's premature death due to inadequate healthcare, the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including ...

in his teenage years, and studying the works of

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

as helping to shape his political views.

Career

''The Kyle Kulinski Show''

Kulinski started a

channel in spring 2008, named "Secular Talk", while studying as a

student. Kyle 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

swear words Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

, in sharp contrast to the professional presentation style found in mainstream news outlets. Disillusioned with US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

by the end of his first term, Kulinski began publishing videos full-time, and started broadcasting on

BlogTalkRadio BlogTalkRadio is a web-based platform that allows podcasters and radio sites and talk show hosts to create live and on-demand talk format content for distribution on the web and podcast distribution channels. Its claim to fame is a web-based 'st ...

as ''The Kyle Kulinski Show''. This surge in activity pushed his YouTube subscriber count above 100,000. By 2015, Kulinski was making a living from ''Secular Talk''. Since then, his videos regularly get hundreds of thousands of views. On 16th of December 2022 the channel crossed 1 billion views on YouTube.

Justice Democrats

In December 2016, after the

2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticke ...

, Kulinski—alongside

Cenk Uygur Cenk Kadir Uygur ( ; ; born March 21, 1970) is a Turkish-American progressive political commentator, media host, attorney, journalist, and politician. Uygur is the creator of ''The Young Turks'', an American left-wing, sociopolitical, progressi ...

of ''

The Young Turks ''The Young Turks'' (TYT) is an American progressive news commentary show on YouTube that additionally appears on selected television channels. TYT serves as the flagship program of the TYT Network, a multi-channel network of associated web s ...

'', and

Saikat Chakrabarti Saikat Chakrabarti (born January 12, 1986) is a political advisor and software engineer. He was formerly chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S. representative from New York's 14th congressional district representing portions of The ...

and Zack Exley of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign—created

, a political action committee with the goal of supporting progressive candidates in

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s against Democratic members of congress. Uygur and Kulinski resigned from the group in late 2017. Since leaving, Kulinski has expressed disapproval with the Justice Democrats' political strategy, and has criticized congresspeople aligned with the Justice Democrats for not withholding their votes from House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

in exchange for a House vote on

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...

''Krystal Kyle & Friends''

In January 2021, Kulinski and

started a podcast titled ''Krystal Kyle & Friends'', where they are both co-hosts. Notable podcast guests have included

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...

, Thomas Frank,

Glenn Greenwald Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author and lawyer. In 2014, he cofounded ''The Intercept'', of which he was an editor until he resigned in October 2020. Greenwald subsequently started publishing on Substac ...

Carl Hart Carl L. Hart (born October 30, 1966) is an American psychologist and neuroscientist, working as the Mamie Phipps Clark Professor of Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University. Hart is known for his research on drug abuse and drug ad ...

, Justin Jackson,

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...

Matt Taibbi Matthew Colin Taibbi (; born March 2, 1970) is an American author, journalist, and podcaster. He has reported on finance, media, politics, and sports. A former contributing editor for ''Rolling Stone'', he is an author of several books, co-host o ...

Nina Turner Nina Hudson Turner ( Hudson; born December 7, 1967) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was a Cleveland City Council member from 2006 to 2008 and a member of the Ohio Senate from 2008 until 2014. Turner was the Demo ...

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, political activist, social critic, actor, and public intellectual. The grandson of a Baptist minister, West focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society an ...

Marianne Williamson Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, spiritual leader, and political activist. She has written 14 books, including four ''New York Times'' number one bestsellers in the "Advice, How To, and Miscellaneous" cate ...

, Richard D. Wolff,

Jordan Peterson Jordan Bernt Peterson (born 12 June 1962) is a Canadian media personality, clinical psychologist, author, and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. He began to receive widespread attention as a public intellectual in the late 201 ...

, Vaush, and

Andrew Yang Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...

Political views

Kulinski is cited as a progressive commentator. Kulinski has been noted by ''

The Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' for his commentary regarding various presidential candidates, including

, Joe Biden and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. In Bridgewater State University's journal ''The Graduate Review'', Kulinski has been described as one of the "new organic intellectuals of

." He has described himself as a

agnostic atheist Agnostic atheism is a philosophical position that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity, and are agnostic because they claim that the existence of ...

secular humanist Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality ...

, and a left-libertarian. He characterizes his beliefs as moderate by international political standards, arguing that he is only considered far-left and extreme in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

because "the spectrum of public discourse has shifted to the far-right". Kulinski advocates for

single-payer healthcare Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...

, free tuition at public colleges and universities, a federal

living wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking lab ...

, reduction in military spending, military non-interventionism, abolition of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

, infrastructure spending, the legalization of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

, and the legalization, regulation, and taxation of drugs and

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. Kulinski opposes the use of

biometrics Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify i ...

for the purpose of employee management, characterizing this use as "rank authoritarianism disguised as corporate efficiency for consumer satisfaction."

Campaign finance

Kulinski believes that

campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political a ...

policy is what distinguishes progressive candidates from the mainstream of the Democratic Party, which he referred to as "just

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

-lite." When advocating for candidates endorsed by

, 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."

Electoral politics

Kulinski supported

in the 2016 Democratic primary election, and later voted for Jill Stein. While critical of

, he described her as the "lesser of two evils" in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

against

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

and said that people in swing states should vote for Clinton to stop Trump from winning. After Trump's election, Kulinski expressed his belief that

progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techn ...

and liberals could successfully lobby President Trump to pursue policies such as infrastructure spending and

economic protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

. Kulinski criticizes the

Never Trump movement The Never Trump movement, also called the #nevertrump, Stop Trump, anti-Trump, or Dump Trump movement, began as an effort on the part of a group of Republicans (known as Never Trump Republicans) and other prominent conservatives to prevent R ...

and discourages praising Republicans who criticize Trump, stating "establishment Republicans want Trump to do every single thing he’s doing, minus the mean tweets." After then-candidate Joe Biden became the presumptive winner of the

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 Un ...

, Kulinski stated that he would not support Biden, even if it meant

winning. When commenting on this position, Kulinski mentioned that he encourages his critics to "blame him" if 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 Mehdi Raza Hasan (born July 1979) is a British-American political journalist, broadcaster and author of Indian descent. Hasan has been the host of ''The Mehdi Hasan Show'' on Peacock since October 2020 and on MSNBC since February 2021. In 2 ...

criticized Kulinski for this view, stating: "If you’re ok with a

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...

winning a second term, I question your 'left-wing' credentials." Television host

Joy Reid Joy-Ann M. Lomena-Reid (born December 8, 1968), known professionally as Joy Reid, is an American cable television host, MSNBC national correspondent, liberal political commentator, and author. She hosted the weekly MSNBC morning show, ''AM Joy' ...

concurred with Hasan's criticism of Kulinski's position.

Social issues

In 2014, when then-

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

host

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...

made a speech comparing fighting against gay rights to fighting against

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, 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 Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

of treating people equal and treating people right." Kulinski has criticized religiously motivated opposition to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

, arguing that, according to his interpretation of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

, abortion is permissible in

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

Personal life

Kulinski became engaged to fellow political commentator

in September 2022.

References

External links

*
Secular Talk
on

Krystal Kyle & Friends
podcast on

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulinski, Kyle 1988 births 21st-century American journalists 21st-century atheists Activists from New Rochelle, New York American agnostics American anti-war activists American atheists American humanists American male journalists American media critics American online journalists American libertarians American people of Italian descent American people of Polish descent American podcasters American political journalists American political commentators American radio DJs American radio producers American opinion journalists American religious skeptics American secularists American social commentators American social democrats American talk radio hosts American web producers American YouTubers Critics of creationism Critics of religions Free speech activists Iona College (New York) alumni Journalists from New York (state) Left-libertarians Left-wing populism in the United States Living people American male YouTubers Non-interventionism Progressivism in the United States Secular humanists Social critics The Young Turks people YouTube critics and reviewers New Rochelle High School alumni