Konstantin Vadimovich Kisin / b. 1982 / Moscow, Russia, USSR / Comedian, Author, Political Commentator, Podcaster
Note: The sources of the following quotations are provided where known; the remaining quotes presumably derive from Kisin’s extensive online essays, interviews, and podcasts.
Biden
Triggernometry co-host Francis Foster: Everybody knows that Joe Biden isn’t in charge. He simply can’t be.
Konstantin Kisin: He could be, but that’s worse.
“Trump Must Win to Avoid Prison,” interview with Scott Adams, Triggernometry, September 13, 2023.
Comedy
Comedy is about pushing boundaries, challenging conventions, and making people think while they laugh.
In comedy, there are no sacred cows. Everything is fair game for humor.
A good comedian can make you see the absurdity in everyday life and make you question the status quo.
Being a comedian means speaking your mind, even if it’s uncomfortable or controversial.
COVID-19
I’m against mandates and I’m against mandates of vaccination, right? People are free to have the vaccination, people are free to wear a mask, people are free to do whatever they want, right? But I think, if you look back, the idea that people shouldn’t be forcibly injected with medical things that they don’t wish to have, came out in 1945 [during the Nuremberg trials—ed.] for very good fucking reason. Very good reason. And the fact that that became a controversial thing to say. . . . No! No, no, no. People came together in Nuremberg for a very good reason and decided we’re not going to let this happen again. And the fact that people were willing to just completely overlook that. This is the thing, they flip everything on its head.
“Leader of Canadian Freedom Convoy SPEAKS OUT,” Triggernometry, September 27, 2023.
Freedom
Freedom, human rights, tolerance, peace and prosperity are like the eternal flame that must be guarded, nurtured and never, ever taken for granted.
An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West (2022).
We have forgotten that the prosperity, safety, life expectancy, stability and freedoms we enjoy did not just fall out of the sky. They were built, over centuries, on philosophical and moral foundations that have withstood the test of time. They were defended over and over again by our ancestors who bled to defend them. They were refined in the crucible of fierce political and ideological debates.
An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West (2022).
Free Speech
Suppression of free speech is a symptom of tyranny.
It’s important for everyone to do their bit in defending free speech. Including you. Yes, technically we already have it. But every successive generation still needs to defend it. Why? Because it’s constantly at risk of attack from people who think they know better. And how free is speech if there are serious consequences, such as unemployment and character assassination?
An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West (2022).
Free speech is not some right-wing reframing of whatever; it is the foundation of Western civilization.
Speech to Oxford Union, “Woke Culture HAS Gone Too Far,” January 12, 2023.
When you have some kid, who works for Twitter in the Philippines, censoring a Nobel price winning scientist, speaking about his area of expertise, I think we’ve lost the plot
Interview, “WE’VE LOST THE PLOT!,” Bill Maher show, Triggernometry, June 21, 2023.
One of the things people don’t say enough about free speech is “Yes, it causes harm but the harm is worth it.” And we don’t make that argument because it’s too honest and complicated and unpleasant.
Interview, “Why Is Everyone Losing Their Minds?,” Chris Williamson show, October 23, 2023.
Global Warming
This country is responsible for 2 percent of global carbon emissions, which means that if Britain was to sink into the sea right now it would make absolutely no difference to the issue of climate change. You know why? Because the future of the climate is going to be decided in Asia and in Latin America. By poor people who couldn’t give a shit about saving the climate. . . . Do you know why? Because they’re poor. . . . 120 million people in China do not have enough food. I don’t mean that they don’t get dessert, I mean they suffer from malnutrition. That means that their immune system is breaking down because they don’t have enough food. You’re not going to get them to stay poor.
Speech to Oxford Union, “Woke Culture HAS Gone Too Far,” January 12, 2023.
International Affairs
Rather than us exporting liberal democracy to these countries instead we’re importing Chinese style authoritarianism.
Interview, “Konstantin Kisin On Free Speech, Vladimir Putin, Jordan Peterson, Greta Thunberg, & Bitcoin,” Anthony Pompliano show, January 23, 2023.
Kisin on Kisin
If there is one thing my Soviet childhood taught me, it’s that subscribing to someone else’s ideology will always inevitably mean having to suspend your own judgment about right and wrong to appease your tribe. I refuse to do so.
An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West (2022).
I actually get invited on TV a lot nowadays, and I don’t do as much of it as I used to. And part of the reason is that once you’ve [got] the heroin of a long term conversation, why would you drop down to methadone? This is so much more fulfilling and satisfying. We’re sitting here for a good chunk of time, you’re giving me the space to speak, you’re not talking over me, you’re not trying to make me look bad . . . and [in corporate media] you get three minutes to make one point. And look, there’s a market out there for that [but] I enjoy this. I enjoy having a conversation [and] connecting with somebody, getting to know how they think and them getting to know how I think, disagreeing where there’s disagreement but doing it in a constructive way as opposed to going for the click bait and all of that. That is a really fulfilling part of doing Triggernometry for me. We get to interview fascinating people . . . and we just sit and learn. . . . How many people get the opportunity to sit down with a great mind for an hour and just engage, and speak, and listen, and think about the world? To me, that is incredibly gratifying. And I don’t think that if i was hosting something on TV [that] I’d get a chance to do that.
Interview, “Konstantin Kisin On Free Speech, Vladimir Putin, Jordan Peterson, Greta Thunberg, & Bitcoin,” Anthony Pompliano show, January 23, 2023.
We come from generations of people who were killed for their beliefs. Well, I’m not going to dishonor them.
“Is It Brave to Say What You Think?,” Triggernometry, June 30, 2023.
Laughter
Laughter is a universal language that can bridge cultural divides and bring people together.
The Media
The media . . . is not yours to co-opt or use to spread propaganda. You are merely stewards of the industry.
An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West (2022).
Opinion Polls
You’ve got to be careful with opinion polls in totalitarian regimes.
Racism
The only way to deal with the problem of racism is to treat people on the content of their character and nothing else, and the fact that woke culture seeks to overturn that is a new form of racism that we must all oppose.
Speech to Oxford Union, “Woke Culture HAS Gone Too Far,” January 12, 2023.
Triggernometry
We don’t have a budget to employ a bunch of people to do extensive research on things or to do fact checking for us. So we can’t do certain things that the mainstream media can do, and should do. The problem is the mainstream media isn’t doing it either. . . . There’s a really important role for the mainstream media. I just wish they’d play that role. . . . New media has its own problems. It over rewards charisma. It over rewards passion. It massively under rewards any attempts to cling to truth. It encourages people to go off in the pursuit of the most exciting take, and truth isn’t always exciting. The truth is we need a vibrant ecosystem in which all of these different pieces play their own different roles, which is why I’m in favour of maximum freedom because that’s when you get everybody doing their thing. Over time people who want wholesome content if you like, when it comes to fact or information or whatever, can seek it out. Because people aren’t stupid.
Interview, “Why Is Everyone Losing Their Minds?,” Chris Williamson show, October 23, 2023.
Women
I think, it doesn’t apply to everybody, caveat, for most women the greatest gift their partner can give them is the opportunity, if they want to be at home with the children, to do that.
Interview, “Why Is Everyone Losing Their Minds?,” Chris Williamson show, October 23, 2023.