If you haven’t seen it yet, Dylan was profiled in the New York Observer today, heading into the launch of Greedy Bastards next week. In it, Dylan talks about where he came from (Saranac Lake, NY in the heart of the Adirondacks), how he grew up (single mom, only child!), and how he went from working at parking lots around Manhattan to Bloomberg LP, to now hosting of The Dylan Ratigan Show.

He also previews a lot about his book Greedy Bastards (by the way, available for preorder here!), digs into his famous rant from August, his work on getting money out of politics, and more. Here’s an excerpt:

“I will do as much as possible to address what I see as the structural misaligned interests in America,” he declared. “I’m hoping that we’ll be able to enlist tens of millions of people.” And to those who question the propriety of such an effort by a newsman, he said, “To the extent to which I am able to acquire and amass and advocate resources around an agenda that is transparent, and people know what I’m doing, it’s what I’m going to do. I’ll start a circus. Are you kidding me? We have to do this. Who cares if Dylan Ratigan is a journalist?”

GREEDY BASTARDS!, Mr. Ratigan said, was conceived as a response to the economic decline of the last three years. It was written with a team of five researchers, a ghostwriter, and a close college friend—a PhD in stem-cell biology—to help “logic-proof” the 245-page text.

That title notwithstanding, the book doesn’t actually go after the bastards themselves, but instead takes aim at a cultural tendency, what the author calls “greedy bastardism,” which can be adopted or discarded at will.

The antidote to greedy bastardism, Mr. Ratigan writes, is a systemic set of values he dubs V.I.C.I. (or vici, Latin for ‘I Overcame’), which translates into Visibility, Integrity, Choice and Interests.

That formula might not be quite vehement enough for some of Mr. Ratigan’s fans, who presumably expect a bit more red meat with their reading. “I’m sure they’ll be taken aback,” he admitted. “They might be a little confused. But I’ll be able to reveal my own process of self-discovery, because my reaction to all of this has been fury and frustration, and what I’ve learned is that it’s not constructive.”

It’s a great profile written by the talented Foster Kamer (@weareyourfek), so check it out and let us know what you think!

FULL ARTICLE: “Dylan Goes Eclectic: As an Advocate Who Hosts a Show, Can MSNBC’s Ratigan Broadcast Nuance to the Masses?