Loading summary
A
My name is Charlie Kirk. I run the largest pro American student organization in the country, fighting for the future of our republic. My call is to fight evil and to proclaim truth. If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're going to end up miserable. But if the most important thing is doing good, you will end up purposeful. College is a scam, everybody. You got to stop sending your kids to college. You should get married as young as possible and have as many kids as possible. Go start a Turning Point USA College chapter. Go start a Turning Point USA High School chapter. Go find out how your church can get involved. Sign up and become an activist. I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade. Most important decision I ever made in my life. And I encourage you to do the same. Here I am, Lord.
B
Use me.
A
Buckle up, everybody. Here we go. The Charlie Kirk show is proudly sponsored by Preserve Gold. But the leading gold and silver experts and the only precious metals company I recommend to my family, friends and viewers.
C
All right, welcome back to the Charlie Kirk Show. We are joined by Alan Bakari. He's from the foundation for Freedom Online. He's been a guest on this show multiple times in the past. So it's good to have him back. You can find him at X Alembicari. B O K H A Alan, welcome back to the Charlie Kirk Show. It's good to see you.
D
Good to be back on.
C
Yeah, it was wonderful. So we are here to talk about Netflix and Warner Brothers.
B
The Netflix Warner Brothers merger yet again. We've talked a bit about this, but you have a new piece in the American Conservative where you say it's quite the headline. It's Netflix swallowing Warner Brothers would create a monster. So that sounds like a fun discussion to have. So why don't we just give it to you? Why would you know? You're from the foundation for Freedom Online. How does giant media company buying other giant media company undermine Freedom Online?
D
Well, I mean, first there's a clear cut, you know, competition case to be made here.
C
Right?
D
I mean, so Netflix is already the largest streaming platform in America with 81 million subscribers. If this deal went through, there'd be 50 million. Almost 50 million subscribers. Subscribers more than their closest competitor. So that's just the clear cut and competition case. You know, concentration of markets always leads to declining consumer choice and declining consumer standards. So there's that issue. But there's also the wokeness question. I mean, there's the wokeness question here as well. Most of Silicon Valley, most social media platforms have been fairly Sympathetic to where they've been going over the last three or four years, they've done a little bit of a U turn, especially in case of x on their 2016-2024 era censorship policies. They've rolled back some of those censorship policies. YouTube, for example, has unbanned a number of prominent creators that had banned during the worst of censorship. So, you know, many of the social media platforms have rolled back their censorship policies. And in a way, social media, you know, it's inherently disruptive to the legacy media. Right. So even when, even at the height of censorship, when trust and safety departments were banning conservative commentators, the logic of social media was to disrupt the legacy media and the post war liberal order, which it held up. Now, Netflix is not like that at all because they're a studio first and a technology company second. So even though they're disrupting hot Hollywood, you could say that they've definitely done that because they're a studio first. They still have that ideological gatekeeping role. In a way. They combine the worst elements of post 2016Silicon Valley wokeness with Hollywood liberalism to create something that's worse than both. So, I mean, I'm not sure why any Republican administration want to give a company like that more power.
B
Yeah, I like this line that you have in your piece where you just say, well, what makes Netflix notable is not just its size but its ideological consistency. So we saw that Microsoft retreated from its partnership with NewsGuard. They've cozied up to the administration. Meta. Mark Zuckerberg came out and said, we're dialing back, fact checking. We're not going to be the speech police. Google's cozied up to the administration. We've had all of this. But Netflix, it's sort of permanently 2020 over at Netflix. Would that be a fair description?
D
That's a very fair description. You just have to look at Reed Hastings reaction to Peter Thiel backing Trump back in 2016. He sent him an angry email saying, I can't believe you did this. You have terrible judgment for backing Trump. Whereas someone like Mark Zuckerberg was a lot more even handed. Even when he was aligned himself personally against Trump. He put out some statements saying he respected diversity of ideological viewpoints. So that really shows that Netflix is all in for progressive ideology. And, and that really makes sense when you consider that they're a combination of a Silicon Valley tech company with a Hollywood studio. I mean, those are two types of companies that tend to have very, very woke liberal internal politics. And you can see that in the fact that they put Susan Rice on their board in 2018 and brought her back after her stint in the Biden administration.
C
Yeah. So Alan, I had kind of more of a basic question actually, and I was like, why do we even have. Why does this company even need to be be sold? Warner Brothers Discovery, and this is by the way, it contains assets like cnn, tnt, hgtv. So it has the linear side then they have this huge library of content. Is there an argument that this company doesn't have to be sold at all or is that off the table at this point?
D
I'm not sure why it has to be sold either. It seems nothing more than a power grab by Netflix to increase its market share even further. Like I said, it's all already the biggest company in the market for streaming and this would make them even huger. And like you said, it also gives them more power over the news cycle in addition to a monopoly on storytelling and entertainment franchises with their ownership of cnn.
C
Yeah, well, and so that's the interesting. I kind of wonder what's gonna happen with CNN in this mad dash to sell it.
B
I think we've seen this where there's been pressure where they might just have to spend, spin it off or change that or dial it back. And I do wonder if that could be the cheap way that they satisfy the administration. Is this administration, I think it would be fair to say they. President Trump, he's a very television aged person. He watches a lot of tv, he's on TV all of the time. He thinks a lot about Fox, cnn, Newsmax, all of those. And so he would view CNN as an extremely important part of this deal. Yet in the big picture, it is clear these networks, they're shrinking in importance, especially cnn. I think they're still dead last in ratings. And the future. Is the future in 20 years going to be defined by these news networks? I'm skeptical it is going to be much more decentralized. There will be more options, there will be more independent shows. And I guess I would express the worry that if we just see this as a CNN thing when it's really much more about who's controlling the commanding heights of popular culture.
D
Yes, it's the cultural economy and we shouldn't underestimate that. The power of storytelling, especially its influence over young people. And Netflix is already a meme. I mean, if you go on X and you search for Netflix adaptation, you'll see all sorts of jokes about, oh, Netflix is going to adapt Beowulf and then they're going to make Beowulf into a black lesbian immediately. I mean, you'll see jokes like that. And it's not exactly an exaggeration. These companies really are probably the most liberal and progressive aggressive companies in America today. And, you know, do you really want to give companies like that more power? I think we should be thinking more about how we're gonna, how we're gonna disrupt, how the market can disrupt Hollywood, disrupt these big entertainment studios and that chokehold over culture and the gatekeeping role that they play over, you know, the major, the, you know, the great Western stories that they all control through these IP controller contracts. And, you know, I think there's, there's Silicon Valley definitely has a role there, especially with AI But Netflix is definitely not, not a disrupting agent like some other tech companies have been.
C
So, so to bring the audience up to speed here, so Netflix had the winning bid at $72 billion cash and stock deal for the studios, HBO, Max, DC and gaming assets. So this excluded the cable networks. And, and the expectation was gonna close in 12 to 18 months pending regulatory approval, which is a big thing there. Then Paramount comes in with a hostile counter on December 8th. So earlier this week, an all cash $108.4 billion offer for all of W Warner Brothers discovery at $30 per share. And this is backed by the Ellison family, Jared Kushner's affinity partners and Middle Eastern sovereign funds.
B
Oh, boy.
C
So it promises a faster disclosure and $6 billion in synergies, but raises antitrust flags due to further.
B
Is it better to have, is it better to have the Emir of Abu Dhabi on hbo?
C
I mean, we probably wouldn't get as many, like trans kids, you probably wouldn't gay, trans, whatever, character adaptations. And so President Trump has weighed in demanding CNN's sale in any deal. So to Blake's point, I mean, that's where we find ourselves. So it was interesting as well, Alan, on the other side of this break. So ponder it. Now, you got President Trump come in and kind of took a shot at paramount, CBS with 60 Minutes and Lesley Stahl, and he's demanding an apology. So he's sort of applying pressure equally on both sides of this ledger. So it'll be interesting to see how this does play out. But I think your point is well made. The cultural implications are profound. And I think we'd be wrong, Blake, to downplay too much the power of television and storytelling even in 2025.
E
This is Lane Schoenberger, chief investment officer and founding partner of yrefi. It has been an honor and a privilege to partner with Turningpoint and for Charlie to endorse us. His endorsement means the world to us and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Turning Point for years to come. Now hear Charlie in his own words, tell you about why Refi.
A
I'm going to tell you guys about yrefi.com that is yrefy.com why refi is incredible. Private student loan debt in America totals about $300 billion. Why refi is refinancing distress or defaulted private student loans. You can finally take control of your student loan situation with a plan that works for your monthly budget. Go to yrefi.com that is whyrefi.com do you have a co borrower why Refi can get them released from the loan. You can skip a payment up to 12 times without penalty. It may not be available in all 50 states. Go to yrefi.com that is yrefy.com let's face it, if you have distress or default to student loans, it can be overwhelming because of privacy loan debt. So many people feel stuck. Go to yrefi.com that is yrefy.com Private student loan debt relief why refi.com.
C
Alan, explain what's going on. We've talked about it a little bit on the show already. What's going on with the DSA? Elon Musk X vs Meta it's over these blue check marks that you pay $8 a month to be verified on the platform. They're saying something was untoward there. But doesn't Meta also have paid verification?
E
It does.
D
And you know, just to put this in context, the EU Digital Services act is probably the most dangerous censorship law in the world when it comes to online speech. It was brought in a couple of years ago actually with the cooperation and encouragement of the Biden administration. And X has become was the first company to be investigated under the DSA after months and months of threats from European bureaucrats that actually began right after Musk took over the company. So as soon as Musk took over, Twitter turned it into X and started talking about how he's going to dismantle its internal censorship process. That's when the threats from European bureaucrats started. X became the first company to be investigated, first company to be fined. It's $120 million euros. That's about $140 million. And if X doesn't comply, then the EU has the power to impose periodic penalties of up to 5% of a company's average daily worldwide turnover for each day of non compliance. That's a Massive, massive fine. No company can withstand that. And let's talk about why they were fined. So the EU points to three things. One of them, as you said, was subscriber checkmarks. The second two things, number one, not giving researchers, quote, unquote researchers access to Twitter's ad repository and not giving those same researchers access to Twitter's data or allowing researchers to scrape the platform for data. Now, all three of those things are directly related to online censorship, even if they don't seem so at first. The subscriber check marks is how Twitter insulates itself from advertiser pressure because it gives us a stream of revenue that's not connected to ad revenue. So ad boycotts have less of an impact. Number two, making sure researchers have access to ad repositories. That's so the so called disinformation researchers who are the foot soldiers of censorship, they're the ones who build lists of disfavored content, who build lists of speech to censor and lists of advertisers to pressure for boycott. That's how they operate. That's why they need access to access ads, so they can see what ads are running. And they also need access to Twitter's public data so they can analyze it at scale, figure out which users are talking about the wrong things, which narratives are going viral. Without that access, disinformation researchers are blind. And disinformation researchers are essentially the stasi of the worldwide science censorship complex that was funded by the previous administration and is funded by western governments to control the Internet.
B
Exactly, exactly. Do you know about Travis Brown, Andrew?
C
No.
B
Yeah, you remember this story, right? Right. Alim, he's the antifa aligned researcher. The German government funded this guy named Travis Brown to scrape the data off. I believe it was still, it was Twitter at the time, off of Twitter and then X, then he would just give this to people aligned with antifa to dox people. So for example, I believe when Libs of TikTok got doxxed it was with information that he got off the website.
C
Andy Ngo was involved.
B
Yeah, he went after Andy Ngo as well. And I think the post Millennial, I think all of them got targeted by this guy. And he's considered a researcher. And this is one of the researchers that the European Union is saying you need to give open access to data. I just think it's the most obvious thing in the world. What they want is to permanently use misinformation, hate speech safety. Like these are all the buzzwords that they've used that they used in America before 2022 to just justify unlimited censorship.
C
Yeah. And, Alan, I mean, you do have an accent we can hear. You're not from here. You know, Musk is calling. He's basically saying Western civilization can only be saved if the EU is abolished. I mean, these are. Musk is not holding anything back. He is painting the EU as the chief villain in this story. Do you agree? What can be reformed? I mean, they seem wholly committed to censorship.
D
Yeah. I mean, the European Union has. And European bureaucratic elites have the most incentive to shut down online free speech because look at what's happening in their countries. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden. In all of these countries, young people are turning towards the populist right, and they're turning towards the populist right because they have free speech on the Internet, because they can see information that challenges mainstream narratives. And European elites know if they don't shut that down, it'll be over for them. And the parties, the political parties that support them, they'll just melt away as young voters take over.
C
Yeah. I mean, you would know better than us. However, what's happening in these countries is truly remarkable. Alum. And, I mean, you're seeing the disintegration of the Christian west by mass migration, and young Europeans are fed up with it, as we are, honestly. In the United States, however, we do have a more robust free speech culture. The whole world sort of looks to American conservatism to get their talking points, to get their inspiration. Alan, we hope you'll join us again as this story unfolds. I know there's going to be more twists and turns in the coming weeks, so thank you so much, Alan.
D
Thanks, guys.
C
Connection, open dialogue. These are the things that build communities. Charlie, Kirk, and TikTok share in that knowledge. That's why TikTok has built a space where that kind of listening actually happens. People don't just post, they respond. They build on each other's ideas. You'll see a teacher simplifying a tough lesson so it finally clicks, or a gardener sharing a trick that saved their crop. But what matters most isn't the video. It's what comes next. Someone asking a question, someone else answering with a story of their own. And suddenly people who've never met become a community built on curiosity. When people listen and understand, a shift happens. Walls come down, ideas travel further, and connection, real connection, takes their place. That's what listening does. It reminds us that we're not as different as we may think. And. And that's what makes TikTok so powerful. It's a place where every post can turn into a conversation and every conversation can make a difference.
A
Portions of our program are sponsored in part by TikTok.
C
All right, welcome to the set. Now, Brandon Dray, you're the manager of Frontlines tpusa, you're also a reporter. You started as a reporter, now you're running it. And I would say that of all the sort of divisions or projects within Turning Point, Charlie was potentially the most excited about Frontlines. I can't say that for sure, but there was times, I remember conversations when we were dreaming up what Frontlines was going to be and could become. He was so bullish on Frontlines. So why don't you just describe what tpusa Frontlines is as a starting point?
F
Well, first and foremost, I mean, Charlie was the original Frontlines reporter, right? I mean, he was out there demonstrating what it's like to be a man in the arena. And we're just carrying on that mission, right? So out of the 2020 riots with BLM and protests and all that stuff, a couple years into it, Frontlines emerged as this, like, on the ground journalism wing of Turning Point usa, where we're going out and covering these protests, these riots, and we're getting this exclusive, raw, unfettered on the ground footage and posting it directly to social media. So that way people are getting the real truth of what's happening out there. Instead of the mainstream media, which I was working for at the time, they would cut away from these protests and these riots and they would show the more peaceful side.
C
Mostly peaceful.
F
Mostly peaceful side of things. So, you know, Frontlines was one of those guerrilla journalism style teams that was giving you the raw access to what was happening on the ground. We had a show for a while, it was a half hour show where we would kind of break down the news through original reporting. But now we've grown into this nationwide network of videographers and journalists emphasizing truth, objectivity and integrity, you know, through the Turning Point lens. And, you know, our, our videos are often going viral. We're picking up content that is the mainstream media is now forced to recognize because of its. And, you know, it's just a really exciting time. We, you know, we've obviously have made an impact. We've broken stories, we're, we're getting, we're expanding all the time. We're on campuses showing things that are happening. Like, for example, at Berkeley the other week.
C
Well, let's, let's give the audience. I mean, I know if you're watching, you can see it but let's give the audience a little taste of some of the what frontlines does play. Cut 282 join Antifa.
G
We're always accepting new members.
C
Dying how he live fucking on the side of his mother neck.
G
I think he's scared that we're trying to stop the fascism that he's trying to do in America.
C
Biggest threat in the world today. Biggest threat in the world today. Donald Trump in the usa.
H
Donald Trump in the US the epidemic of left wing violence and antifa inspired terror has been escalating for nearly a decade. These are agitators.
C
On the way home.
F
You transphobic stain anarchists.
H
And they're paid.
G
We're trying to prevent fascists and not bring it on. Got to stand up and fight.
C
Oh yeah. Get his body.
B
Get his body.
G
80% of the political violence comes from those on the right. It's never the Democrats, it's, it's always Republicans.
H
They've used armed gangs to assault local police in cities nationwide.
A
Wow.
C
They're throwing fireworks and mortars. They just threw fireworks to the officer.
D
We have to step back.
A
We'd have to step back.
H
And they've attacked journalists reporting on their crimes.
C
Hey, hey, come on, come on, come.
A
On, come on, come on.
C
Nick Sorter has just been assaulted.
G
Join Antifa. We're always accepting new members.
H
Well, these are bad people. These are people that want to destroy our country. We're not going to let it happen.
C
Yeah, I mean, gosh, you guys put yourself in some pretty radical positions. Really. Truly. How many frontline reporters do we now have?
F
So we have four full time reporters and then we have about five contractors. We're, we're bringing on new people to just have boots on the ground in every part of the country.
C
That's a lot, actually. That's a lot of, that's a bit. I mean, you worked at the Caller. I mean to have nine journalists out in the field doing independent journalism, original journalism, that's like starting to become.
B
That's a significant operation.
C
That is.
B
There's a lot of stuff going on.
C
Yeah. Plus all the staff that you have, the camera crews, the travel, I mean it's a whole operation to make this happen. I want to give some of these guys a shout out because some of them have been on the show. Of course, you know, go ahead at 289. This is Cho show. Jonathan Cho. Jonathan Cho. Tell us about Jonathan Cho.
F
There's one, there's, there's nobody like the Cho show. I mean this guy was in the mainstream media for decades and you know, he was just too based for them. Right. So he, he joined our team.
C
He's up in the Pacific Northwest.
F
He's in the Pacific Northwest West. He covers a lot of Seattle and Portland stories. He's embedded with all these different underground networks where he's getting leads and, you know, often breaking these stories again that nobody else has. He infiltrated two antifa book fairs recently with one of our other contractors, Kevin Kalb 67 Kevin. And they went and discovered where these militants plan and recruit for direct action. And it's at a book fair. Right. And so like for example, the, the riots that happened at UC Berkeley at our, at our Turning Point event the other week, we, we knew about that ahead of time because we got the flyers from the book fair.
C
Well, and you need to give us a heads up so we can alert authorities too.
F
Absolutely.
C
That was the one note I got back from some of our friends was like, hey, next time something like this is going to happen, please let us know. But yeah, so let's hear here. Let's go to Everybody knows Savannah Hernandez, 291. Savannah Hernandez has been on the show a number of times, but by the way, she's been on a lot of shows. She's become a huge star. Savannah Hernandez. There she is, the great Savannah Hernandez. She's, I would say, as far as on the ground, immigration stories, there's nobody better.
F
Nope. And there's only one Sav as well. I mean, Sav happens to be in the right place at the right time every time she travels.
C
Every time.
F
Which is, which is ironic because her travel always gets disrupted. So it just goes to show that, you know, there's something, there's something with her. But she's really good with covering immigration. You know, she's exposing black markets that have been on, you know, a thing for decades. But she's actually showing it in real time and showing how, you know, when the police come or ICE comes, they're. They have a really sick operate like a way of. What do they do? They like pack everything up and then get out of the situation really quickly. And then oftentimes some of these big city police departments, they're complicit in it. Like, they'll turn away and she's exposing that.
C
Yeah. That's amazing. Julio Rosas, 290. So Julio is also with the Blaze, but Charlie and Julio knew each other from like the very beginning of Turning Point. So go this. They go back like 2012, 2013.
F
Yeah. So Julio is a new addition to the team and he was recently embedded with Border Patrol in Louisiana for Operation Catalua Crunch, where. Yeah, he. He got a couple of the. The arrests happening in real time, some of the protesters. He was also in Mexico City recently covering that big Gen Z protest riot that erupted, you know, against this younger generation that are fed up with the cartels down there.
C
Yeah, well, and Julio was also. I think he was in Kenosha for Kyle Rittenhouse. He was one of the journalists on the ground.
F
Yes.
C
Next up, Bo Diddle 292. He's a newer addition to the team, so there's our graphic. TPSA welcomes content creator Bo Diddle Bo. I remember when I saw some of his original content, and he kind of does man on the street stuff. He'll do protest stuff. He'll do all the things, but he's really good at man on the street, getting people's reaction to current events.
F
Absolutely. He's. He's a personality. Right? I mean, he's. He's very observant and he loves asking questions. And that's one of his famous lines. When the left tries to deny him or block him, he'll just say, hey, I'm just out here asking questions. And he asked really objective questions, but he's just got that. That personality that everybody can identify with.
C
Yep. And then here's Caleb Dalmita at 293. So Kalin is. He's kind of an OG on the frontlines crew. And I think, if I'm not mistaken, he has the video with the most views of anybody besides Charlie, I would say, because Charlie had some, like, runaway ones. But besides Charlie, Kaelyn had the most viral video. And I think it was a. It was a sort of a pedophile, like, illegal illicit sex sting thing that he was involved in.
B
Right?
F
Yeah, He's. He's got a couple. One of them involved a pedophile sting. Another one involved him. I mean, it was in that video that we just showed where he got knocked in the face.
C
Oh, that's right. He got assaulted.
D
Yeah.
C
And he was blood everywhere.
F
Yep. So that was another one that went viral. But he's been on the ground. I mean, he was out there in LA at the beginning of the summer. He got flashbanged by one of the cops because he was just in the midst of all the chaos.
C
A new addition that. I think she's doing an Amazing job. 294. Monica Paige. She is our. She's our White House reporter, dc. She covers everything over kind of in the acelic corridor for us, if you will. But she's doing a phenomenal job and she's asked the president a bunch of questions. But then she'll go out on the streets, too. Yep, yep.
F
Yeah. I mean, she's primarily at the White House, but you know, if there's a protest happening or if there's like some sort of man on the street interview that we want her to get, we now have access to the Pentagon. We're part of the new Pentagon press corps. Sorry, Pentagon press corps.
C
Yeah.
F
And she will be covering that as well if there is any major breaking news happening.
C
Last but not least, and I maybe I'm forgetting somebody, but 295, this is Vicki Richter. She's new on the team, right?
F
Yep. Vicki Richter. She specializes in international exposes. We did a really good piece on Brazil and it's alleged CCP ties and this narcotics communism ties. And she's doing another one about the Islam takeover of the West. It's going to be coming out pretty soon, so stay tuned for that as well.
C
Thanksgiving holds so many memories, and I'm sure it's the same for you. Right now there's a girl finding out she's pregnant. In the next couple of weeks, she's going to make a decision. And whatever decision she makes will become her memory of this Thanksgiving for the rest of her life. What will she be thankful for a year from now? You. She'll be thankful that you introduced her to her baby by providing a free ultrasound. And she'll be thankful that she chose life as she prepares for her baby's first Thanksgiving. Take a stand for life by providing an ultrasound with preborn. When a young woman sees her baby on the ultrasound and hears her baby's heartbeat, she is twice as likely to choose life. Just $140 provides five ultrasounds that can save five babies. $280 saves 10 babies. A gift of 15,000 provides an ultrasound machine that can save thousands of babies for years to come. Call 833-850-2229 or click on the preborn banner at charliekirk.com today. Let's go ahead and play. Cut. What were we looking at there, Brandon? So that's pretty intense.
F
So that was in Portland. Sav was out there covering the ongoing protests outside the ICE facility. And I love that clip because it just shows the heart of what we do. I mean, you saw her running. You saw, you can hear her breathing because she's just chasing down these ICE agents that are going after these protesters and rioters that are Disrupting.
C
Is that National Guard? I think that might have been National.
F
That was National Guard, yes, but that.
C
Yeah, I mean, that was a wild scene. And by the way, you saw Nick Sorter getting assaulted. Kalin getting assaulted. I mean, these reporters are putting themselves in harrowing positions to cover these stories that matter. I mean, the amount of courage they display on a daily basis is truly remarkable, and we are very proud and grateful to them here at Turning Point in the Charlie Kirk Show. Blake, I think you would make a really good frontlines reporter. Would I though? I think it's time to send you out on the field. We got Brandon here. What do you want to cover?
B
I don't know. I always think of, like, I like to read, like, papers and stuff. That doesn't sound very exciting.
C
No, see, Charlie was always like bogus.
B
Scientific studio during the break.
C
I mean, you are kind of like the token intellectual that we have around. The white paper guy. The white paper guy. Paper guy. So. Because Charlie was always. We're not a think tank, we're a battle tank. That was Charlie's line. And then we hired Blake and then, you know, we sort of had to, you know, find. Just kidding. No, I think. I think that's. This leads into my question, though. It's inspired by an actual question which is, as you guys have grown, how do you determine your editorial decisions, where you're deploying these now nine reporters across the country?
F
Well, it's a case by case basis. I mean, we're getting leads again, our reporters are embedded into these networks where they're hearing different stories that are about to break or whatever. Right. So it just really depends. You know, we'll look into protests and riot potential protests and planned riots online to see how big they're actually going to get based on social media engagement. You know, we'll go on Reddit, we'll go on Blue Sky. You know, we're looking on X, we're looking on Instagram, we're looking at Blue.
C
Sky so we don't have to.
F
Exactly, right, Exactly.
C
That was Charlie gruesome. What's that?
B
Gruesome.
C
I know, it's. It's dark.
B
It'll destroy your soul over time.
C
It really. Well, man. Honestly.
F
And. But like, simultaneously, like, it's. It's so unimpressive.
D
Right.
F
Like, you go on there and the content that they're talking about or stories are.
C
That's an interesting angle. So. So when you guys are diving into like the underworld, the underbelly of the modern left, you're saying you sort of, you Sort of realize the emperor has no clothes. You're sort of realizing absolutely just how, like, unimpressive as. As you said it is. Yeah.
F
I mean, it's the same song over and over again. Right. They. They have the same talking points. They're not evolving. They're not changing their tune. They're not thinking outside of their box. They're not letting anybody poke a hole in their argument. So they stick in the same place over and over again. And when you see them in the streets protesting, they have the same chant over and over again. Right. Like.
C
Well, it shows coordination, too, that they're all chanting the same stuff.
F
Yeah. And they're totally planned. Right. Like, we see these meetings that are planned where they're teaching all of the protesters the chance. They're teaching them how to not engage with press like us. Right. Or just they have preferred press.
C
And they know you as well. Oh, yeah. They know who you guys are. They know your pictures. They have your images.
F
Well, they love Bo. They love Bo out there. Because anytime Bo is on the street, you have like five volunteers, right? Volunteers, quote, unquote, surrounding Bo Diddle.
B
Yeah.
D
Okay.
C
Why? Why Bo?
F
Because. Because his content goes viral, so they know that if they talk to him, they're gonna end up looking sort of like a clown.
C
Wow, that's fascinating. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what are we doing from a. I mean, there's got to be a lot of stories that you don't pursue because they. They. It's just you can't guarantee the safety of the team. Right, sure. Some of that. I mean, you guys are considering their well being, obviously. And then reporters have discretion whether they'll accept the story or if they want to pursue one. Maybe you. You guys have to say, no, no, no, don't do that one.
F
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's. Look, my reporters will tell me all the time, like, please let me go do this. And I say no just because we need to make sure that A, it's legit and B, you're going to be safe. But like, when Cho and six seven Kevin went to those book fairs, they went undercover, they were wearing masks, they had hidden cams on. So it just. Again, it depends. It's case by case basis.
C
My last question for you is if we have a lead, if somebody out there in the audience has a lead and they want front lines to cover it, how did they get get in touch with you guys?
F
You can reach out to us frontlinespusa.com.
C
So just that you have an email frontlinesa.com there is a there's a tip.
F
Sheet on our Turning Point website and you could always contact through X as well.
C
Brandon Dre, thank you so much.
F
Thank you for having me.
C
You guys are doing amazing work.
F
Thank you. For more on many of these stories and news you can Trust, go to charliekirk.com.
Episode: Is the Culture Apocalypse Upon Us?
Date: December 12, 2025
Host: Charlie Kirk
Notable Guests: Allum Bokhari (Foundation for Freedom Online), Brandon Dray (TPUSA Frontlines manager)
This episode drills deep into what Charlie Kirk frames as "the culture apocalypse": the convergence of mega-media, censorship, and grassroots journalism in America. Topics span the proposed Netflix–Warner Brothers merger, European online speech laws, and Turning Point USA’s Frontlines journalism initiative. Kirk and his guests explore whether America's cultural controllers are pushing society toward irreversible change—and what conservatives are doing to fight back.
[01:29–10:30]
Market Concerns & Cultural Domination
Ideological Entrenchment vs Big Tech Backsliding
The CNN Question & Culture vs. News
[08:33–10:30]
[11:39–17:07]
EU vs. X (formerly Twitter):
Controversial Data Scraping
Big Picture
[18:11–36:18]
Mission and Origins
Highlight Clips: Antifa, Protests, Violence
Frontlines Reporter Spotlight
Editorial Decisions and Safety
How to Submit Tips
The episode maintains Charlie Kirk’s unapologetically conservative, activist-driven tone—mixing urgency on cultural topics with occasional humor and camaraderie. Exchanges are feisty, sometimes provocative, especially when discussing ideological “gatekeeping” or the perceived existential threat from left-leaning media and institutions. The show champions its own grassroots journalism as a direct response to what they see as an increasingly hostile cultural environment.
If you missed the episode but want a sense of the urgent conservative narrative regarding the struggles for digital free speech, media consolidation, and on-the-ground reporting, this episode offers a look into the activist mindset shaping America’s right-wing youth movement. Expect tough critiques of Big Media and government censorship, praise for “battle tank” reporting, and a playbook for “fighting the culture war from the trenches.”