YouTuber Peter Santenello, a journalist who’s travelled the world, turns his gaze on the U.S.

YouTuber Peter Santenello has traveled to 85 countries and lived in five of them. But, for his first book, he turned his lens on his own country — the United States. "

In "Your Fellow Americans: Dispatches from Across the Country We Call Home," Santenello goes to some of the country’s lesser-known corners and documents the people we call neighbors.

And he found a lot more unites us than divides us. He’ll be at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe next week, and The Show spoke with him recently about the book and what he learned writing it.

Full conversation

PETER SANTENELLO: We have such a massive country with so many cultures and ways of living and geographies. And doing the work that I do out in the country, it didn’t really hit home until I got out there. I’m at this full time. I’m constantly coming into new corners of the country, new culture, things I never knew existed. And this book just ties it all together.

LAUREN GILGER: You come at this from an interesting perspective as well, because you spent a lot of your life traveling the world, right? Living in other countries. You went to — is it 85 countries really that you’ve been to in your life?

PETER SANTENELLO: Yeah. ...

LAUREN GILGER: That’s wild. So, I mean, you had that kind of very broad experience, international experience, and then sort of turned your eye to your own country. How do you decide where to go in America?

PETER SANTENELLO: It’s just what interests me the most. What do people not know about? We can talk about Arizona, because you’re in Arizona. Done a lot of videos there. Love Arizona. But what do they not know so well? And that’s what I dive into.

So for an example, it might be, what’s it like, not from the outside of the Amish world, but actually getting in with Amish and getting into their lifestyles. Or the Siberian Yupik people up in St. Lawrence Island who still hunt a whale — and are just as American as you and I, but living in a totally different world. They can actually see Russia from their island. Their island’s three times the size of Maui. ...

So what are things that most Americans wouldn’t think of? And that’s where I find myself.

LAUREN GILGER: Tell us about visiting the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Reservation. I think a great example of almost going to a different country, somewhat literally, in our own country, right?

PETER SANTENELLO: Hundred percent. I’ve done a lot of Native videos. There are 576 federally recognized tribes in the country, and once you start digging in, like most things, it becomes more complicated and nuanced.

And so, for example, Navajo Nation, the size of New Jersey, and let's say Cherokee in North Carolina are two different universes. It would be culture shock for each tribe to go to one another. So they all have a different identity. There’s a lot of feeling in these places, right? ... I don’t know if you’ve been to Navajo Nation, is you detach a little bit from the country. In a way, it is a separate nation.

LAUREN GILGER: Is there something like a thread you think ties together the places you’ve been? Because you’ve been also on ride-alongs in Yuma County, you went and did a piece on Clarkdale and the kind of history of that place ... been in Glendale in the Valley here, looked at Arizonans off the grid. What stands out to you about this place?

PETER SANTENELLO: Well, Arizona is great for filming. The scenery is beautiful, right? Also I’m pretty much guaranteed I’m going to get sun. But I’d say a thread that connects — it doesn’t matter where in the country — but most people, most Americans are proud of where they’re from. They want to share their story. They’re open. They let me in.

You go in curious to any one of these places, of course, some people want to have nothing to do with you, but the vast majority are very open. That’s a beautiful thing about America. After traveling a lot of the world, people are open all over the world, but our culture does have an easy, "Hey, how are you doing?" You say that to a stranger, and they’re like, "Yeah, I’m good. What’s going on?" You know, that sort of casual talk where it’s not like that everywhere.

LAUREN GILGER: That’s interesting. So, I mean, you talk about this in the book, this idea that we talk all the time in our politics and our government, our policy that we’re like this incredibly divided country, and everyone is at odds. But you found something it sounds like very different in terms of not just people being open, but people feeling like we are all still united in some way.

PETER SANTENELLO: Hundred percent. Nobody cares. I’ve never been asked once, "Who did you vote for?" And I could care less who someone voted for, right? I look at them as an individual. Is this a good person I want to spend time with or not? That’s how most people look at their fellow Americans. I don’t feel any deep hatred when you get on a personal level at all.

But what I’m seeing, what I try to get in my channel and in this book, is there’s the on-the-ground reality and there’s the online reality. And most people are living in their bubbles, they’re in their worlds, doesn’t matter where you live. I really don’t step into politics much. That’s not my angle. This is a place I want everyone to feel like they can watch my channel or read my book and get excited about it.

And while most of media right now, I mean, it’s just what’s interesting, and it’s usually trauma and dopamine-driven stories, that’s just the reality of how humans work. ... If nine stories are negative on America, here I’m offering one. You want a little break from the noise? Here, I’ll show you a little break. ... And both are true. There’s problems, there’s all sorts of conflict, but also the stories I’m showing are just as true. So I think it’s good to break up the news cycle with something like I’m offering now.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah, something a little positive. ... Last question for you, Peter. This is interesting, I think, to folks from the outside because you’re going to these places, and so many places, and talking to so many people. What kind of reactions do you get? Like you walk up to somebody, are you filming? Do you say, "Hey, will you talk to me about this thing?" Or do you just start conversations? How are you received around the country?

PETER SANTENELLO: Yeah, that’s the challenge of it. I’m received very well, overwhelmingly people are open and want to share their stories. Now I always say, "Look, I’m making a YouTube video, is it cool if I ask you a question?" I would say 8 out of 10 are like, "Cool. Yeah, sure, no problem." Two out of 10 are going to be like, "No, I’m not interested." And of course I respect that.

So I always ask first. But that’s why shooting in the United States is fantastic. Like you said, I’ve been in 85 countries, shot videos all over the world. People, they're open here. They want to speak. They want to share their stories if they feel you’re coming in with good intention.

LAUREN GILGER: Peter Santenello, YouTuber, independent journalist and author of the new book “Your Fellow Americans: Dispatches from Across the Country.” Peter, thank you very much for coming on The Show. I appreciate it.

PETER SANTENELLO: Thank you, Lauren. Take care.

KJZZ's The Show transcripts are created for audience accessibility. Transcripts are created on deadline with the assistance of AI tools and then edited, and may not be in their final form. The authoritative record of KJZZ's programming is the audio segment.