Media: Chris Hayes Has Arrived with 'Up'

For an entertaining, informing discussion of the current issues with a liberal slant ...

Word of "Up w/Chris Hayes" has spread beyond a few hundred punk fans. In less than a year on television (and with a chirpy voice, a weakness for gesticulation and a tendency to drop honors-thesis words like "signifier" into casual conversation), Mr. Hayes has established himself as Generation Y's wonk prince of the morning political talk-show circuit.

"Up" comes off as a rebuke to traditional cable shout-fests like CNN's late "Crossfire." Thanks to its early weekend time slot, the program has the freedom to unwind over two hours each Saturday and Sunday. Guests are encouraged to go deep into the issues of the week, and not try to score cheap-shot points to win the debate.

It is a point that Mr. Hayes hammered home at 7:15 a.m. on a recent Saturday, when he strode into the green room off Studio 3A at 30 Rockefeller Center to fill in two guests, both college professors, on the ground rules.

"The first and foremost important rule of the show: we're not on television —- no talking points, no sound bites," he said, his hair still a bed-head tangle and his suit collar askew. "We have a lot of time for actual conversation. So actually listen, actually respond."

An hour later, as the cameras rolled, Mr. Hayes and his guests waded thigh-deep into an analysis of private equity and whether it is bad for the economy. At a table of wonks, Mr. Hayes, who studied the philosophy of mathematics at Brown, came off as the wonkiest as he deconstructed the budgetary implications of tax arbitrage. Opinions were varied and passionate, but there was no sniping, no partisan grandstanding.

For more, see Chris Hayes Has Arrived with 'Up' by Alex Williams, June 22, 2012 at NYTimes.com.