WATCH: The Young Turks Celebrate 15 Years of Tommy Christopher — And Their 20th Anniversary

The Young Turks founder and host Cenk Uygur and co-host Ana Kasparian celebrated the 20th anniversary of the pioneering online news program, as well as their most important contribution to society: me.

On Monday’s edition of TYT, Mr. Uygur and Ms. Kasparian teased their anniversary show, and dropped a slick humblebrag that you might not have known about — they helped Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher (me) score his first paying gig in media:

Cenk Uygur: Welcome to The Young Turks, Cenk Uygurwith you. Oh my God, we’re 20. Cheese-um, Lord Mercy.

Ana Kasparian: Can’t even drink yet.

Cenk Uygur: OK, that’s well, that’s true, that’s true, but it’s been a long 20 years and we’ve snuck in a couple of drinks along the way. But we are the OGs of digital media. We’ve been around all this time. First, original talk show for Sirius Satellite Radio, been on Air America, MSNBC, Current TV, you name it. We’ve been there, even AOL Newsbloggers back in the day.

Ana Kasparian: I remember those days.

Cenk Uygur: That’s right. Old friend Tommy Christopher now at Mediate also from there, we helped him get on there. So a lot of things along the way. But we’re going to reminisce about all of that in the 20th anniversary special, which is right after The Young Turks. So stay right here and it’s freely available to everyone, even though it’s a bonus episode. We’re opening this up to everyone to celebrate. So stay right here at 8:00 O’Clock Eastern tonight and we’ll talk about all the good old days and the impacts that we’ve had and the amazing 20 years that we’ve lived.

Yes, it was 15 years ago that Cenk and his crew helped get me a blogging gig for AOL, which led to my invention of the AOL News White House beat (if I had a nickel for everyone who said “AOL News? There’s an AOL News?”), and eventually, my lengthy association with Mediaite.

My thanks, and the thanks of a grateful nation, are theirs until the light of the world fades and the sands of time run out.

Oh, yes, and they also crossed 20 billion lifetime views last week, and now feature a network of shows and podcasts that continue to expand their reach into online media.

Watch above via The Young Turks.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.