Francesca Kate Fiorentini (born September 10, 1983) is an American journalist, progressive

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

and comedian.

Early life and education

Fiorentini is a second-generation American daughter of immigrants. Her mother is Chinese and her father is Italian. She grew up in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, and graduated from

Menlo-Atherton High School Menlo-Atherton High School (known as M-A to locals) is a four-year public high school secondary school located in Atherton, California. Menlo-Atherton is part of the Sequoia Union High School District.

in 2001. From 2001 to 2005, Fiorentini studied

feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or Philosophy, philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's Gender role, social roles, experiences, intere ...

and colonial studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Her baccalaureate thesis was entitled ''Ideas for Action: Postcolonial Feminism''.

Career

Fiorentini began her journalism work in 2004 with ''

War Resisters League The War Resisters League (WRL) is the oldest secular pacifist organization in the United States, having been founded in 1923. History Founded in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I, it is a section of the London-based War Resisters' ...

'' and '' Left Turn''. From 2013 to 2019, Fiorentini was a host and senior producer at AJ+, the digital media outlet of

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

. She was the host of AJ+ show ''Newsbroke''. The channel presented comedic spins on current events, with a focus on outreach to younger audiences. The program covered both current events, as well as larger issues such as white fragility, labor unionism,

toxic masculinity The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxi ...

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

, and

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

. ''Newsbroke'' was shortlisted for an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Short-Form Variety Series in 2018. The program was discontinued during June 2018. From 2016 to 2025, Fiorentini appeared on network ''

The Young Turks ''The Young Turks'' (''TYT'') is an American progressive and left-wing populist sociopolitical news and commentary program live streamed on social media platforms YouTube and Twitch, and additionally selected television channels. ''TYT'' se ...

'' as a guest and contributor. She was one of the hosts of The Young Turks show ''The Damage Report'' hosted by John Iadarola. On March 26, 2025, her former boss,

Cenk Uygur Cenk Kadir Uygur ( ; ; born March 21, 1970) is a Turkish-American political commentator, media host, and attorney. He is the co-creator of ''The Young Turks'', a progressive and left-wing populist sociopolitical news and commentary program. I ...

, released a video where he explained why he was firing Fiorentini. Since 2018, she has hosted her own podcast, ''The Bitchuation Room''. In December 2019, Fiorentini hosted the special ''Red, White & Who'' on

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

discussing the state of healthcare in the United States and the importance of healthcare to American voters beyond the partisan divide. The program traveled to the states of

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

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

to talk to voters and featured interviews with political figures such as Senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

. Fiorentini concluded in the program that "healthcare in America is often overpriced and even dysfunctional, but it’s the lack of transparency that can be the most insidious". Since January 2025, Fiorentini has co-hosted the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

show ''America Unhinged'' with Wajahat Ali on the Zeteo network, which is run by

Mehdi Hasan Mehdi Raza Hasan ( ; born July 1979) is a British and American progressive broadcaster, writer, and founder of the media company Zeteo. He presented ''The Mehdi Hasan Show'' on Peacock from October 2020 and on MSNBC from February 2021 until ...

Personal life

She lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with her husband Matt Lieb who also started out as a stand up comedian before becoming an activist. They have a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiorentini, Francesca Living people American journalists American people of Chinese descent American journalists of Chinese descent American people of Italian descent American women of Chinese descent in politics New York University alumni The Young Turks people 1983 births Menlo-Atherton High School alumni People from Palo Alto, California, by occupation Progressivism in the United States Comedians from California American comedians of Chinese descent American women comedians American comedy YouTubers YouTubers from California American satirists American women satirists American political commentators American alternative journalists