The Glenn Show

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn and John examine the killing of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse shot by ICE agents despite video suggesting he had been restrained and disarmed. They debate whether ICE and CBP should be operating in city streets at all, the scope and priorities of immigration enforcement, and the tension between border security, limited resources, and proportional enforcement.The discussion then turns to Davos, where Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sharply criticized the current international order and implicitly challenged US economic coercion. Glenn and John disagree over how to interpret Trump’s posture—from reckless bluster to strategic calculation—and what consequences a more confrontational U.S. stance may provoke globally.This episode features the first half of the livestream. The Q&A will be available to full subscribers on Sunday.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 The crisis of belief and the crisis of speech4:30 Michael: Deport the criminals, leave the gardeners10:37 Michael’s list of the biggest, craziest, and most dangerous conspiracy theories15:47 When trust in institutions breaks down 22:06 Why well-meaning people make absurd claims26:01 Is Trump uniquely dangerous to American institutions?29:04 Where Michael gets his news31:49 How liberal institutions lost the plot36:15 The roots and appeal of QAnon 41:06 Down the Jeffrey Epstein rabbit hole44:47 Michael’s definition of truth 51:23 The stakes of religious belief58:47 Can we live with “I don’t know” as the answer to the big questions?Recorded January 19, 2026Links and ReadingsSkeptic magazineMichael’s new book, Truth: What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still MattersMichael’s book, Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the IrrationalMichael’s book, Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It?The Free PressGlenn’s most recent conversation with Charles MurrayMurray’s book, Taking Religion SeriouslyMartin Rees’s book, Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces that Shape the Universe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This conversation with Daniel Bessner is only one segment from last week’s livestream, which also included a conversation with my team about ICE’s action in Minnesota and an appearance by Murtaza Hussain, who came to talk about his reporting on the Epstein Files. The full show is available here, but only for full subscribers. So if you want access to everything—including viewing privileges for new streams and access to video and podcast versions afterward—consider signing up. The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience supported. We need your help in order to keep delivering the show week after week, along with all the other content we post here. So to those of you who are already full supporters: thank you for all you do. And if you’re not yet a supporter, please consider becoming one.Video Links0:00 Trump’s ambitions in Venezuela2:09 The downsides of American empire5:44 Is Trump protecting US interests or engaging in regime change? 13:42 Ground News ad15:38 Danny’s critique of realist foreign policy23:11 The perverse domestic effects of American militarism32:00 America’s very real but rather weak democracy 35:22 Viewer question: Could wars of conquest revivify America?38:20 Rob’s question: Won’t a $500 billion increase in the military budget create massive inflation? 42:11 Danny: Why buy Greenland when we already have a military presence there?47:49 Trump’s real estate instincts on the global stage51:42 The trials and tribulations of a humble Housing ProviderRecorded January 9, 2026Links and ReadingsDanny’s podcast, American PrestigeLindsey O’Rourke’s book, Covert Regime Change: America’s Secret Cold WarJohn Mearsheimer’s book, The Tragedy of Great Power PoliticsMichael Sherry’s book, In the Shadow of War: American since the 1930sRichard Waterman’s book, Constitutional Ambiguity and the Interpretation of Presidential Power This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comThe Glenn Show kicks off 2026 with a strong episode featuring Murtaza Hussain on the Epstein Files and Daniel Bessner on U.S. actions in Venezuela. The episode opens with discussion of the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent, urging caution and fact-finding amid polarized reactions and official statements. Hussain explores Jeffrey Epstein’s opaque financial dealings and rise to power, while Bessner analyzes the strategic motivations behind recent U.S. intervention in Venezuela, situating it within broader patterns of American empire.Read Murtaza Hussain's reporting for Drop Site.Check out Daniel Bessner's podcast, American Prestige.

The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.Video Links0:00 Why another biography of FDR?3:41 David’s dispute with the “heroic” view of FDR5:56 David: “The main focus of FDR was FDR”10:05 The surprising continuity between FDR’s and Hoover’s monetary policy16:01 Canada’s avoidance of the banking crisis19:50 FDR’s failed attempt to unilaterally set gold prices26:14 Why did FDR intern Japanese Americans, despite his advisors’ opposition?30:45 FDR’s apparent indifference to lynching35:00 David: Roosevelt actively opposed Jewish refugees entering the US41:42 The “unconditional surrender” policy’s negative consequences47:31 Stalin’s victory at Yalta51:28 How David thinks we should teach FDR and WWII history53:54 David weighs in on Darryl CooperRecorded December 30, 2025Links and ReadingsDavid’s new book, FDR: A New Political LifeDavid’s book, The New Deal’s War on the Bill of Rights: The Untold Story of FDR’s Concentration Camps, Censorship, and Mass SurveillanceLarry Kotlikoff’s book, Jimmy Stewart Is Dead: Ending the World’s Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose BankingDavid S. Wyman’s book, The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

Earlier this month, I recorded a conversation with my friend Patricia Agupusi, assistant professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an expert on insurgencies, political violence, and state capture, among other topics. She has lived and worked extensively in Nigeria, where her fieldwork included interviewing Nigerians displaced by political, ethnic, and religious violence. When I asked Patricia to come on the show, I was seeking some background on the Trump administration’s statements about anti-Christian violence perpetrated by Boko Haram in the northern part of the country. I suspected that the situation, while undoubtedly dire for Christians, was more complex than the White House’s messaging made it sound.My suspicions turned out to be correct. In this episode, Patricia offers a nuanced account of terrorism, religious radicalism, interethnic conflict, and government corruption and neglect that has led to the deaths and displacement not only of many Christians in northern Nigeria, but of many Muslims as well. Patricia provides a rich account of the region and its history. It was recorded weeks before the US conducted an aerial strike on Sokoto, a predominately Muslim state that many have described as an unusual choice, if the goal was to inflict damage on major terrorist networks.In this conversation, Patricia expressed skepticism at the efficacy of US military intervention. The strike seems to have done little to change her mind. In an email to me sent after the attack, she wrote:Due to the urgency of the matters under discussion, I’m releasing this episode today, to everyone, for free Normally, only full subscribers get new episodes on Mondays. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.Video Links0:00 Intro: Last week’s military strikes in Nigeria00:36 Getting beneath the headlines in northern Nigeria 3:55 What is Boko Haram?4:28 Childcare intermission: How Glenn and Patricia started working together7:19 Boko Haram’s attack and recruitment strategies 11:44 Patricia: Boko Haram targets both Christians and Muslims13:33 Ground News ad15:25 The complex religious demographics of northern Nigeria 19:16 The history of Nigerian jihad23:27 The state’s complacent reaction to anti-Christian violence33:57 Patricia’s fieldwork with internally displaced Nigerians 36:16 Patricia: Fear and government dysfunction, not poverty, motivate people to join Boko Haram41:14 The surprising popularity of US intervention among Nigerians43:32 Patricia: If the US wants to help, it should sanction politicians and their families54:10 The pointlessness of US military intervention 58:01 The best case scenario for Nigeria’s next decadeRecorded December 4, 2025 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 The shooting at Brown University8:09 The Hanukkah massacre at Bondi Beach11:42 Ground News ad13:34 Searching for a narrative in an information-thin environment17:34 Is the pro-Palestine movement about “whiteness”? 23:26 Glenn: There’s more to Israel-Palestine than race29:44 What does a representative American look like?36:50 Trump’s inflammatory comments about the murders of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer42:40 Trump’s allegedly declining help 51:26 Why John won’t write a memoirRecorded December 18, 2025Links and ReadingsJohn’s book, Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black AmericaWilliam Greider’s 1981 Atlantic article, “The Education of David Stockman”Glenn’s memoir, Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comOn this episode, shootings at Brown University and Bondi Beach, race or colonialism in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the tragic deaths of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer, Trump’s apparently poor health (and John’s speculations thereon), and John’s reasons for not writing a memoir.Plus, our monthly subscriber Q&A.Note: This episode was recorded before the identification of the Brown University shooter.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn this episode, in conversation with Robert Patton-Spruill, Mark Sussman, and Nikita Petrov, I provide an introduction to the life and work of Thomas Schelling and consider how a “Schellingesque” point of view might influence our interpretation of current events, like the Ukraine War, the “human shields” argument in Gaza, the Trump administration’s new national security strategy, nationalist and populist movements throughout the world, and nuclear deterrence today. We also talk about Schellingesque approaches to AI, but that segment of the conversation is available only to full subscribers. The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-supported. To gain access to all our content and to get all future premium and bonus content, become a full subscriber today. Thank you to all free and full subscribers—I couldn't do what I do without you.Video Links0:00 Who was Thomas C. Schelling?8:51 The Schellingesque13:22 Ground News ad15:05 Battlefield commitment and signaling27:00 How deterrence works35:14 Schelling's role in conceptualizing Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove49:08 Europe, Ukraine, and Trump's new national security strategy1:04:41 Why does the US care about immigration in other nations?1:09:02 Glenn: Bill Maher is either dishonest or wrong about asymmetrical war in Gaza17:54 Schelling and Glenn on new nuclear powers1:26:00 The problem of self-commandRecorded December 12, 2025 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn this episode, in conversation with Robert Patton-Spruill, Nikita Petrov, and Mark Sussman, I pay tribute to Tom Schelling’s major contributions and the personal affect he had on me, as a colleague, friend, and, at times, surrogate father figure. We talk about Schelling’s understanding of battlefield commitment strategy, signaling, interstate conflict, and the nuclear weapons “taboo.” We watch a clip of Tom talking about helping Stanley Kubrick to conceptualize his film Dr. Strangelove by gaming out how a doomsday machine capable of launching ICBMs would affect the decisions made by the US and the USSR. I often find myself asking, “What would Tom think?” about one question or another, and here I try to answer that question as it pertains to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. And finally, Tom died before AI developed to its present state. He would have had a field day thinking through its implications, and we try to do him justice.The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comThis is a free segment from a two-hour livestream of The Glenn Show. To watch the whole thing, become a full subscriber. You’ll get access to all TGS content, including video of livestreams, audience Q&As with me and John McWhorter, and lots of other great content. The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience supported. Thank you for all you do.In this TGS Live segment, Glenn Loury and TGS contributor Robert Patton-Spruill discuss Larry Summers's withdrawal from teaching at Harvard and expulsion from the American Economics Association. Glenn and Rob talk about how Glenn's own experience with public disgrace shapes his thinking about Summers's case.Watch the video here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comOn this recording of last week's livestream, we discuss my conversation with a Nigerian development economist, Trump's moves against Venezuela, Pete Hegseth's boat strikes, flooding and winter weather in Gaza, and Bernie Sanders's call for government regulation of AI.Last week, Larry Summers stepped back from teaching at Harvard and was banned for life from the American Economics Association after it was revealed that he maintained a friendship with Jeffrey Epstein even after Epstein pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008. I talk about my own experience with public disgrace, and explain why I think the AEA has acted too hastily in this instance.This recording of the stream is available to full subscribers. We’ll make a long-ish clip available for free subscribers on Friday. But if you want the whole thing, consider becoming a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.

The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-supported. Become a subscriber and join the conversation at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 Paul: The past shows us there’s a basis for hope for this country3:40 The origins of Paul’s new book, American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now11:07 Is the push-pull between liberation struggles and institutional resistance a uniquely American phenomenon?13:31 Ground News ad15:39 The black freedom struggle as a template for change21:37 From civil rights to progressive overreach24:31 Can the Democrats take back lost ground? 30:58 Paul: Trump’s immigration crack-downs are acts of political revenge 35:53 The social triumph and political tragedy of immigration45:54 How modern media fragmented American society52:59 Paul: We need to restrain executive power57:39 The importance of remembering our past without being shackled by itRecorded November 20, 2025Links and ReadingsPaul’s new book, American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to NowAnne Case and Angus Deaton’s book, Deaths of Despair and the Future of CapitalismPauli Murray and Mary Eastwood’s article, “Jane Crow and the Law: Sex Discrimination and Title VII”Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s book, Abundance: How We Build a Better FuturePaul’s American Prospect article, “The Social Triumph and Political Tragedy of Immigration”Paul’s book, The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communication This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comSince we’ve got the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of the week, I’m releasing the first half of the conversation to everyone today instead of this Friday. For access to the entire conversation, including the Q&A, become a full subscriber.This episode's central topic: the vulgarity of our present discourse. Though “vulgarity” doesn’t quite capture what we’re talking about on this show. It’s not news to say that the tenor of public speech has coarsened over the decades—words and phrases that would have been utterly taboo in the media of the 1960s hardly give us pause today. But what does seem new is the sometimes shockingly racist, sexist, and homophobic sentiments that have become a part of “ordinary” political debate. The Overton window is shifting, and it’s not doing it on its own. One force moving it is surely the wide availability of online platforms. Everyone has a camera and a microphone, and as more and more people avail themselves of the communication tools available to them, views that were once filtered out by mainstream and legacy outlets are finding their way to the center of the conversation. But another force moving the window is what’s going on in the world. While I may roll my eyes when, for example, Nick Fuentes touts the virtues of Jim Crow, he’s responding to items in the news, like violent crime committed by black youth, that do need to be taken seriously. Then it’s on to our subscriber-only Q&A session, where John and I took questions about God and morality, the Democrats’ electoral prospects, Black English vernacular, China’s outpacing of American economic growth, AI and education, Looney Tunes, and socialism vs. social democracy, plus questions from the YouTube chat.The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.

The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-supported. To become a full subscriber and receive even more great TGS content, sign up here.Video Links0:00 Howard’s new book, The Projects: A New History of Public Housing5:58 The failed utopianism of American public housing 12:04 The dispossession of urban African American communities 14:54 Ground News ad 16:40 Did reformers have a reason for demolishing the slums?22:01 Changing the culture of public housing30:13 What’s working in public housing33:35 Trump’s plan for a two-year limit on public housing35:25 Howard’s criticism of Zohran Mamdani’s proposed rent freeze in NYC41:13 The causes of homelessness 44:21 The “Move to Opportunity” experiments 48:11 What does it take to ensure that poor neighborhoods are also good neighborhoodsRecorded November 19, 2025Links and ReadingsHoward’s new book, The Projects: A New History of Public HousingScott Davis’s book, The World of Patience Gromes: Making and Unmaking a Black CommunityLe Corbusier’s book, The Radiant City: Elements of a Doctrine of Urbanism to be Used as the Basis of Our Machine-Age CivilizationCatherine Bauer’s book, Modern HousingHerbert Gans’s book, Urban Villagers: Group and Class in the Life of Italian-AmericansHUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration programZohran Mamdani’s “freeze the rent” adMatthew Desmond’s book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American CityUCSF’s homelessness study This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn my latest livestream, TGS contributor Robert Patton-Spruill and I talk about rising tensions with Venezuela, New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani and his proposed policies, Jeffrey Epstein wreaking havoc from beyond the grave, Nick Fuentes’s appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show and ideological rifts on the right, my conception of Black Patriotism, and the uses and pleasures of AI.This recording of the stream is available to full subscribers. We’ll make a long-ish clip available for free subscribers on Friday. But if you want the whole thing, consider becoming a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 Charles’s new book, Taking Religious Seriously 8:31 Why Charles finds the idea of divine creation plausible13:54 Charles’s “road to Damascus” moment19:25 The appeal of Christianity24:51 The evidence for life after death31:38 Charles: “The relative positions of science and religion have flipped”36:42 The trouble with scientism 40:17 Glenn’s steps toward and away from religion51:04 Was The Bell Curve putting making a deterministic argument?Recorded November 4, 2025Links and ReadingsCharles’s new book, Taking Religious SeriouslyCharles’s book, Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980Richard Herrnstein and Charles’s book, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American LifeCharles’s book, Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and ClassCharles’s book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010Martin Rees’s book, Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the UniverseJames Q. Wilson’s book, The Moral SenseC.S. Lewis’s book, Mere ChristianityRaymond Moody’s book, Life after Life: A Groundbreaking Exploration of Near-Death Experiences and the Transformative Insights into the Afterlife, Backed by Scientific Study and Personal TestimoniesSteven Pinker’s book, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comThe first half of the show consists of a pre-recorded interview with political scientist Charles Murray. He’s best known for books like Losing Ground and The Bell Curve—controversial though they may have been, they were grounded in the empirical methods that characterize modern social science. His new book, Taking Religion Seriously, is a somewhat surprising departure from social science into the realm of religion and religious experience. Murray has had, if not a conversion experience, then a kind of awakening regarding the claims of religion: the existence of a divine creator, miracles, and life after death. In this conversation, I ask him how a staunch materialist who, by his own account, doesn’t have a natural capacity for religious feeling has come to value metaphysics. After that I bring on Robert Patton-Spruill to talk a little more about religion, the death of Dick Cheney, Zohran Mamdani's win in the NYC mayoral race, the government shutdown, and Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and the conservative schism over U.S.-Israel policy.The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comWatch and listen to the full, 2-hour episode: https://glennloury.substack.com/p/tgs-live-democrats-leadership-crisisVideo Links0:00 John’s misgivings about Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Zionism7:22 Is anti-Zionism reducible to “good black people vs. bad white people”?11:53 Ground News ad13:40 Democrats try to pull out of a death spiral20:05 John: If Trump can end some wars, I’ll take it22:49 What do Kamala Harris fans see in her?30:09 Here’s what Obama should be doing in his post-presidency40:11 Mourning the end of race50:15 Glenn: Eliminating racial disparities requires developing communitiesRecorded October 31, 2025Links and ReadingsTressie McMillan Cottom’s NYT column, “A Nazi Tattoo Exposes Democrats’ Greatest Weakness”Michelle Goldberg’s NYT column, “I Thought Graham Platner Was Finished. What I Saw in Maine Changed My Mind.”Kamala Harris’s book, 107 DaysDavid Brooks’s NYT column, “Hey Lefties! Trump Has Stolen Your Game.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comLast Friday, John McWhorter and I took our ongoing conversation into new territory: we streamed it live. Eighteen years into our partnership, and we’re still finding ways to keep it fresh! In the first half of the show, we talk about New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani’s position on Israel, which John believes is merely woke moralism. While I’m no fan of Mamdani’s plans for free grocery stores and rent freezes, I press John on whether Mamdani’s views on Israel are as simplistic as he makes them out to be. Perhaps Mamdani’s shocking success in New York is a sign that Democratic voters are sick of the party’s lack of direction and looking for an infusion of new blood. John and I agree that substance-free leaders like Kamala Harris aren’t going to cut it. Trump is running the table at home and abroad, and Democratic leadership seems overwhelmed or, in the case of Barack Obama, strangely passive.Obama was at one time a community organizer, wasn’t he? What happened to that commitment to local communities? I recently witnessed the power of effective grassroots organizing—I tell John about my trip to San Antonio in honor of my friend Ernesto Cortés’s 50th anniversary at Communities Organized for Public Service, an extremely impressive organizing operation. Black communities need leadership like that, and it is in short supply.In the Q&A segment, we answer questions submitted by full subscribers and talk to a couple of them on camera. We take questions on black conservatism in American institutions, AI, race reductionism, test scores in college admissions, the Civil Rights Act, and the government shutdown.The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.Click here to subscribe!

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comLast week’s conference in honor of Thomas Sowell was the culmination of a long year of anticipation, planning, reading, and thinking. In this long excerpt from my most recent livestream, I talk with my editor Mark Sussman about the conference events and my own contributions. I explain the importance of Friedrich Von Hayek to Sowell’s thought and work, and how Sowell extended Hayek’s work. The actor-writer Clifton Duncan drops in to talk about his experiences at the conference. And I recount a conversation that I sat in on between the former secretary of state and the Supreme Court justice that would leave their critics speechless. Legacies are about the resources—intellectual, material, and spiritual—the past leaves to the future. If what I saw over those two days is any indication, those of us who inherit Sowell’s legacy will be very rich indeed.Today’s episode is just one segment from last week’s livestream. If you missed it and want to watch the full recording, click below to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get full recordings of our livestreams, weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn this edition of TGS Live, I talk about the events of the conference, my contribution, and one of the ideas informing my new book project. The conference honored the past accomplishments of Thomas Sowell, but it also pointed to the future. I heard the effects of Sowell’s writing and thinking coursing through vital new work, I met the two young winners of an essay contest about Sowell’s ideas, and I sat in on a conversation between Rice and Thomas that would stun their progressive critics.And speaking of the future, the actor-writer Clifton Duncan, who is working on a one-man show about Sowell’s life and work, came to the conference as well. He dropped into the stream to talk about what he saw and to let us know how his work in progress is shaping up.From there, it's on to politics. Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to American cities may anger his detractors, but crime disproportionately affects black Americans, and some of them are saying they like what they’re seeing from Trump’s actions. Given the broad perception that illegal immigration is bad for black workers, it makes perfect sense that some of them are throwing their support behind Trump’s anti-immigration agenda.We look over some pro-Trump clips from black content creators, and I note that market demand will incentivize the creation of supply. As long as Black MAGA remains a source of fascination for supporters, detractors, and the agnostic, creators will supply the market in search of clicks. It’s hard to say whether those creators are truly as dedicated to the cause as they seem, but they’re going to be here as long as people keep watching.The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, click here to become one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comTucker Carlson has been suggesting that a new civil war may be coming to the US. Is he trying to warn us? Or is he purposefully stoking the fire? Glenn takes Tucker to task.Today’s episode is just one segment from last week’s livestream. If you missed it and want to watch the full recording, click below to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get full recordings of our livestreams, weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comNote: Due to the AWS outage, many online services experienced disruptions throughout Monday. To ensure that everyone receives the episode, I thought it best to hold the episode until Amazon fixed the problem. Apologies for the delay.In this edition of the livestream, we're talking about the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics, creative destruction, nuclear war, Trump's multi-billion-dollar currency swap with Argentina, military strikes on "narcoterrorist" boats, sending the CIA into Venezuela, a combination War on Terror and War on Drugs, Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, "This Week in White Crime," and Tucker Carlson's warning about (or attempt to incite) a new civil war waged over immigration and white Christian nationalism.Recording of the full stream is available to full subscribers right now. An abbreviated episode will be available for free subscribers on Friday. The Glenn Show is almost entirely subscriber-supported. To those of you who are already full subscribers: thank you! If you like what you hear and want more, go to my Substack and become a full subscriber today.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 Happy 60th, John! 2:20 2020 in hindsight 12:05 Ground News ad 14:01 Are Glenn and John helping to shift the Overton window? 18:25 Is Charlie Kirk the George Floyd of the right? 29:53 Ezra Klein and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s conversation about Kirk 34:14 Glenn’s new book idea 41:43 Kirk’s comments on Michelle Obama, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Joy Reid 48:05 The purging of the woke remnant 51:33 The responsibilities of the black intellectual 58:27 Glenn: There is meaning in blacknessRecorded October 6, 2025Links and ReadingsGlenn and John’s first discussion of George Floyd, from May 2020Pete Hegseth’s speech before US military leadershipThe Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”Thomas Chatterton Williams’s Atlantic essay, “The Other Martyr”Glenn’s October 3rd livestream, with Nikita Petrov and Robert Patton-SpruillEzra Klein and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s NYT conversation following the assassination of Charlie KirkCoates’s 2015 Atlantic essay, “Letter to My Son”Glenn’s recent conversation with Jason Riley on the life and work of Thomas Sowell This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comThis week on The Glenn Show, Robert Patton-Spruill and I get into a detailed analysis of a conversation between Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein. The show begins as a debate on their divergent reactions to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, expressed in a New York Times column by Klein and a Vanity Fair piece by Coates. I find Coates’s smug, morally hectoring characterization of Kirk as a hate monger hard to stomach. As much as I admire parts of The Message, his vision of African American history as a struggle against an apparently timeless and all-encompassing white supremacy cannot go unchallenged, and Klein was simply not up to the task. But I am.This is a long segment from my Friday, October 3rd livestream, and there’s lots more in the full episode. To watch that, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. I’m doing another stream next Friday, October 17—we’ll post an announcement with links next week. And John McWhorter will return on Monday for a regular episode for full subscribers (free subscribers will have to wait until next Friday). John and I really get into it on some of the same topics: Charlie Kirk, the Coates-Klein debate, and what being a “black writer” means in the twenty-first century. It’s one of the best episodes of the year, if I do say so myself. You won’t want to miss it.And you’ll want it as soon as possible! To get early access to episodes, video from my livestreams, and much more, become a full subscriber by clicking below. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comLast Friday’s livestream was a hot one. Today I’m posting the video for all who missed it (you have to be a paid subscriber to hear the full version now, but everybody else will get it on Friday). But trust me, this is appointment viewing. I’ll be at Stanford later this week for a conference on the work of Thomas Sowell. But the livestream will return the week following.In the first half of the stream, Nikita Petrov, Robert Patton-Spruill, and I talk about …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comNote: Links and info for my next livestream, which is happening this Friday, October 3 at 1:00 PM EDT, can be found at the end of this post.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comNormally, I release TGS episodes to full subscribers on Mondays and then to the general public on Fridays. But this conversation is a repost from my conversations with Bob Wright at his Nonzero podcast, so I figured I’d make this one an early public release. If you like starting your week off with The Glenn Show, and you’re not yet a full subscriber, consider becoming one by going here. We at The Glenn Show are almost entirely subscriber supported. We need your help to keep the show going. So if you’re already a paying subscriber, thank you for making The Glenn Show possible. Video Links0:00 A message from Glenn1:34 How this conversation came to be2:59 What surprised Glenn most about the Kirk killing8:56 Who (or what) is driving our polarization?17:36 Cognitive empathy for MAGA25:24 Reacting to Charlie Kirk on affirmative action45:04 Are we re-running the 1960s?51:50 Glenn’s latest book, Self-Censorship54:11 Why the Manhattan Institute dropped Glenn1:04:02 Glenn on Gaza: “I can’t bear it.”1:17:27 “Genocide” and other Israel speech code flashpoints1:26:58 Has Trump’s anti-antisemitism push chilled campus speech?1:36:58 A few kind and less kind words for Bari Weiss1:46:44 Are Israel’s defenders hurting their cause?1:52:14 Glenn’s next big projectRecorded September 15, 2025 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

The Glenn Show is almost entirely listener supported. We need your help in order to keep bringing you the conversations you can't hear anywhere else. To get early episodes and much, much more, become a full subscriber at my Substack.You can keep tabs on Clifton’s progress and support his work at his Substack, Becoming Thomas Sowell.Video Links0:00 A Hard Day’s McWhorter3:51 Jimmy Kimmel and the collapse of the“bluegeois” paradigm9:47 Ground News ad11:30 Ideological gatekeeping in the arts17:02 The Gamergate-ification of everything25:50 John: Wokeness isn’t dead, it’s changed shape33:11 Clifton’s one-man show in-progress, Becoming Thomas Sowell35:21 Sowell at Cornell40:10 The challenge to Sowell’s conception of “the civil rights vision”43:36 The pressures of bringing Sowell to the stage45:58 Clifton: I think of Sowell as “the people’s intellectual”Recorded September 20, 2025Links and ReadingsJohn and Clifton’s previous conversation on The Glenn ShowClifton’s Substack, Becoming Thomas SowellThomas Sowell’s book, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political StrugglesSowell’s book, Knowledge and DecisionsThurgood on Amazon PrimeSowell’s book, Black Education: Myths and TragediesDonald Downs’s book, Cornell ‘69: Liberalism and the Crisis of the American UniversitySowell’s book, On Classical EconomicsMark Whitaker’s book, Saying It Loud: 1966—the Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights MovementSowell’s book, Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?Jason Riley’s latest appearance on TGSJason’s book, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas SowellSowell’s memoir, A Personal Odyssey This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn our latest Q&A, John McWhorter and I take questions on troubled black communities, the N-word, issues on which we've changed our minds, ratcheting down political tensions in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination, and how we handle personal security. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported. If you like what you hear, head over to my Substack and become a full subscriber. You'll get monthly Q&As with John McWhorter, and a whole lot more.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comLast Friday, I hosted a livestream featuring Nikita Petrov, Robert Patton-Spruill, and call-ins from viewers. Once again, our topic is the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. We talk about my own cancelation by the Manhattan Institute, warding off the tyranny of the majority, the worrisome comments of truly powerful people like Elon Musk, JD Vance, and Pam Bondi, Ta-Nehisi Coates’s intervention in the Kirk debates, and what I dream the leader of our nation would say (and still can say) as the post-assassination temperature continues to rise. I talk with callers about the dynamics of backlash, plausible deniability, and the spiritual impetus to ease political tensions.Listen, I need your help. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a measly $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. Subscribe at https://glennloury.substack.com

Support The Glenn Show at https:/.glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 Why Marc thinks nothing works6:45 Who decides the winners and losers in public trade-offs?12:50 Penn Station and public interest logjams20:29 Marc: We have Trump because people feel that government doesn’t work28:17 Two progressive conceptions of power33:03 Finding the balance between centralized and dispersed power39:05 Ok, nothing works. So how do we get things working?51:28 Marc: We need a return to Hamiltonian governing55:03 The new class of moderate Democrats trying to get things doneRecorded September 6, 2025Links and ReadingsMarc’s new book, Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It BackMarc’s book, The Vanishing Neighbor: The Transformation of American CommunityRobert Putnam’s book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American CommunityRobert Caro’s book, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New YorkEzra Klein and Derek Thompson’s book, AbundanceJennifer Pahlka’s book, Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do BetterYoni Applebaum’s book, Stuck: How the Privileged and Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn this episode, co-hosted with my editor Mark Sussman, I talk with viewers about the murders of Charlie Kirk and Iryna Zarutska, the “black crime” canard, the effects of immigration on black employment, and other weighty topics. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. A call from Richard Kim—a newly tenured professor of philosophy at Loyola University in Chicago—gave me the opportunity to reminisce about Father Richard John Neuhaus, a friend who offered me great comfort during one of the most difficult periods of my life. And of course, we hear from Robert Patton-Spruill aka the Landlord Guy aka the Housing Provider aka the Evil Landlord.In order to keep doing these streams and recording weekly episodes of The Glenn Show, I need your help. Anybody can tune into our livestreams as they happen. But if you’d like to watch the video later, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a measly $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. To subscribe, go to https://glennloury.substack.com

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 The upcoming Hoover Institution conference honoring Thomas Sowell 5:37 Sowell’s apprentice work at the University of Chicago 12:58 Ground News ad 14:45 Hayek’s influence on Sowell 19:55 Jason: No one is smarter than the market 24:58 The unconstrained vision vs. the constrained vision 33:04 Sowell’s contribution to economic literacy 37:44 Sowell’s tough early life and his path to Marx ]47:55 Jason: Sowell’s willingness to weigh in on race hurt his career 53:58 Sowell’s evisceration of The Bell CurveRecorded on August 25, 2025Links and ReadingsJason’s writing for the Wall Street JournalJason’s book, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas SowellThoma Sowell’s memoir, A Personal JourneySowell’s book, Knowledge and DecisionsSowell’s book, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political ConflictSowell’s book, Ethnic America: A HistorySowell’s book, Race and CultureSowell’s book, Migration and Cultures: A World ViewFriedrich Von Hayek’s essay, “The Use of Knowledge in Society”Hayek’s review of Knowledge and DecisionsMary Shelley’s novel, FrankensteinSowell’s book, The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social PolicySowell’s book, The Quest for Cosmic JusticeMilton Friedman’s TV show, Free to ChooseRichard Herrnstein and Charles Murray’s book, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American LifeSowell’s American Spectator review of The Bell Curve, “Ethnicity and IQ” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comOn this week's livestream, Nikita and I are joined by filmmaker, professor, master distiller, and "housing provider" Robert Patton-Spruill. And he does not disappoint. He begins by informing me of a connection between us: his father, then a professor of acting and directing at Boston University, used to smoke weed in front of my house. From there we get into a range of subjects, including the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the role of faith and the church in our lives, the power of wealth to create change, AI and ChatGPT, and October 7th. Robert then cedes the stage for a while, and I take calls from viewers Jack Apple, Eric Ingram. William Schafer, Rouxbe, and Scott Kushner.Putting viewers in the spotlight has opened a whole new dimension of the show, and we’re going to keep exploring it. So if you want to talk to me directly, tune into the next livestream, which we’ll be announcing soon. But in order to keep doing these streams and recording weekly episodes of The Glenn Show, I need your help. Anybody can tune into our livestreams as they happen. But if you’d like to watch the video later, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a piddling $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. Subscribe at https://glennloury.substack.com

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 What Thomas Sowell means to Emily 3:54 What’s the difference between a conservative and a classical liberal? 10:59 Ground News ad 12:45 Sowell’s interventions in price theory and microeconomics 19:31 The parallel careers of Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams 24:51 Emily: Trump is not fulfilling Sowell’s vision of liberty 33:37 A Sowellian critique of expert-driven COVID policies 45:08 The risks of uncertainty in Trump’s economic policies 53:46 The future of classical liberalism 58:01 The Mont Pelerin Society’s intellectual landscape 1:01:15 Glenn’s departure from classical liberalismRecorded August 19, 2025Links and ReadingsFriedrich Von Hayek’s book, The Constitution of LibertyHayek’s essay, “Why I Am Not a Conservative”Thomas Sowell’s book, Knowledge and DecisionsBart Wilson’s book, Humanomics: Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations for the Twenty-First CenturyThe Mont Pelerin SocietyJohn Cochrane’s review of Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black ConservativeHayek’s book, Law, Legislation, and Liberty This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comFor the full episode and to support The Glenn Show, visit https://glennloury.substack.comOn this recording of my latest livestream, I sit down with my editor, Mark Sussman. Inspired by a recent memo posted by liberal moderate think tank Third Way, Mark and I talk a bit about the communicative dynamics of progressive nomenclature, e.g., “chestfeeding” rather than “breastfeeding” and other awkward neologisms. Can the Democrats afford to get mired in these debates while they’re facing so much anger and dissatisfaction from their own constituency? We take comments and calls on the subject from viewers familiar and new. Scott Kushner and Robert Spruill pop in to give their views. Mark and I debate Trump and what will happen to MAGA when he eventually either cedes the stage or passes away. We talk about the Minnesota school shooter’s gender identity and what, if anything, it has to do with the awful slaughter at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. And of course, Gaza comes up.I’m loving this new feature of the show, but in order to keep it and all things TGS afloat, I need your help. Anybody can tune into our livestreams as they happen, and we’re making this one available to everyone, but normally if you’d like to watch the video later, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a piddling $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. To subscribe, go to https://glennloury.substack.com

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comOrder Glenn's new book, Self-Censorship, here or where you get your books: Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/683p6kk3 Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4yvz4fta Bookshop: https://tinyurl.com/44rznxwwVideo Links0:00 How woke campus culture degrades mental health 5:47 The rise of “microaggressions” '8:21 The harms caused by discourses of harm 13:47 The digital lives of children 19:08 Why Courtney and Ted produced Coddling themselves 24:56 A Nigerian immigrant’s encounter with campus progressivism 32:36 Is Trump’s anti-DEI posture aiding free speech on campus? 37:58 Ted and Courtney’s decision to homeschool their child41:48 How comedy brings us together 48:26 Ted and Courtney take on the Rob Henderson storyRecorded August 8, 2025Links and ReadingsThe Coddling of the American Mind docThe Coddling of the American Mind bookDead Poet’s SocietyThe Canceling of the American MindGreg Lukianoff conversationCan We Take a JokeCoddling movie SubstackNoam episodesRob Henderson, TroubledRob Henderson episode This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn this edition of the Q&A, Glenn and John take questions on MLK and white moderates, audience capture, civilian casualties in Gaza, "I have to do X" vs. "I get to do X," Trump's performance as president, the role of trustees and administration in determining university policy, and race and genes.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSubscribe to The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comThe livestreaming experiment continues here at TGS. I never know what’s going to come at me. I’m operating outside my comfort zone. Of course, that’s what makes it fun. The callers often ask me to weigh in on a whole range of subjects I’d never think up on my own, like embryo screening and the frustrations of Connecticut landlords. (And speaking of landlords, filmmaker and property owner Robert Spruill is back!) I have no meaningful knowledge in these areas, but now I get to learn a little about them, or at least think them through on the fly. Other topics, like Israel-Palestine, student debt, and election security, are more familiar. But I’m still never quite what kind of spin my callers will put on the ball.In other words, the calls are keeping me sharp and engaged. And I love getting to meet my audience in these brief encounters.But in order to keep this going, I need your help. Anybody can tune into our livestreams as they happen, and we’re making this one available to everyone, but normally if you’d like to watch the video later, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. Subscribe at https://glennloury.substack.com

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comThis episode was originally recorded for Danny and Derek's podcast American Prestige and cross posted here. Subscribe to American Prestige at https://americanprestige.supportingcast.fm/joinOrder Glenn's new book, Self-Censorship, here or where you get your books:Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/683p6kk3 Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4yvz4fta Bookshop: https://tinyurl.com/44rznxwwVideo Links0:00 The origins of Self-Censorship4:11 Black and conservative in Reagan’s America8:30 The social science hall of fame12:45 Jews, assimilation, and the quantitative revolution17:56 Human universalism vs. ethno-national particularity21:42 Historicizing “the Jew”23:47 Danny: Larry Summers can’t see outside his own neoliberal paradigm27:50 Are we entering a period of, as Marx wrote, “mutual ruin”?30:46 Is capitalism leading us toward nuclear war?37:18 What the Manhattan Institute incident taught Glenn about his own book42:02 Glenn: “I’m rethinking everything”46:40 Is the right reverting to a pre-New Deal political paradigm?51:37 Is Israel a reversion to an Early Modern model of nation-building?58:07 American Jews’s role in Israel’s creation and perpetuation1:03:04 Why Glenn previously censored himself on Gaza1:09:30 Glenn: So far, I’m disappointed in TrumpRecorded August 6, 2025Links and ReadingsDanny and Derek’s podcast, American PrestigeGlenn’s new book, Self-CensorshipJohn Murray Cuddihy’s book, The Ordeal of Civility: Freud, Marx, Lévi-Strauss, and the Jewish Struggle with ModernityCorey Robin’s book, The Enigma of Clarence ThomasGlenn’s City Journal essay, “Clarence Thomas and Me”Seth Schwartz’s book, The Ancient Jews from Alexander to MuhamadOmar El Akkad’s book, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against ThisGlenn’s post, “I Was Fired by the Manhattan Institute. Here’s Why.”Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book, The MessageSam Gindin and Leo Panitch’s book, The Making of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy of American EmpireAvi Shlaim’s book, Genocide in Gaza: Israel, Hamas, and the Long War on PalestinePeter Beinart’s book, Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza: A ReckoningGlenn’s conversation with Beinart This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn our latest livestream, TGS editor Mark Sussman and I discuss Michel Houellebecq's 2015 novel Submission and its rather unpleasant but compelling critique of modern existence, after which we take questions from viewers and callers. We get into some unexpected territory, like life after death (I don’t believe in it), the existence of alien intelligence (it seems probable to me), and psychedelics (that one’s on Mark). I’m truly enjoying these face-to-face conversations with viewers, and I encourage everyone who can call in to do so on our next stream.Anybody can tune into our livestreams as they happen, and we’re making this one available to everyone, but normally if you’d like to watch the video later, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.Subscribe at https://glennloury.substack.com

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 John: Not all of Trump’s demands on Columbia are crazy 3:45 Are the accusations of antisemitism at Columbia apt? 12:43 Ground News ad 14:22 The shifting public perception of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza 24:30 The historical legacy of Gaza’s starvation 27:40 Glenn: There are ways to destroy Israel without an army 32:21 The lull in American race politics 38:22 Has the race debate devolved to Sidney Sweeney’s jeans? 47:27 John’s theory of violent crime among black youthsRecorded August 5, 2025Links and ReadingsJohn’s April 23, 2024 NYT column, “I’m a Columbia Professor. The Protests on My Campus Are Not Justice.”Peter Beinart’s book, Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza: A ReckoningGlenn’s conversation with BeinartTa-Nehisi Coates’s book, Between the World and MeCourtney Moorehead Balaker and Ted Balaker’s documentary, The Coddling of the American MindSidney Sweeney’s American Eagle adJohn’s NYT column, “Do These Jeans Make My Ads Look Racist?”Glenn and John’s conversation with Randall KennedyGlenn and John’s conversation with Keith EllisonThomas Sowell’s book, Black Rednecks & White Liberals This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comOrder Self-Censorship here or wherever you get your books:Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/683p6kk3 Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4yvz4fta Bookshop: https://tinyurl.com/44rznxwwIn this conversation, my editor Mark Sussman and I discuss Kamala Harris’s forthcoming book, 107 Days, and the dire state of publishing. I’ve been reading a lot of Thomas Sowell in preparation for a major address I have to deliver about his work in the Fall, and I suggest that Sowell might say that the declining profitability of writing and publishing might well be a good thing, insofar as it signals the market’s responsiveness to consumer demand and desire. This leads to a debate about the distinction (and perhaps the conflict) between aesthetic and economic value. Then it’s on to a broader discussion of Sowell. Next we move onto the story of a group of people establishing a Christian, LGBTQ-free, whites-only community in Arkansas. We close out with viewer questions about Brown University’s deal with the Trump administration, which somehow leads to a debate about climate science and the epistemological limitations of modernity. And finally, an evergreen topic: black patriotism.In the course of this conversation, Mark and I reference Michel Houellebecq’s 2015 novel, Submission. That’s because we plan to discuss the book on our next livestream, which we’ll announce in the coming days. So if you want to participate in the discussion or simply follow along, read the book. We’ll be taking calls, and I’m very curious what you all have to think of this brilliant, provocative, and (be warned) sexually explicit book.Anybody can tune into our livestreams as they happen, and we’re making this one available to everyone, but normally if you’d like to watch the video later, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 Columbia’s $221 million-deal with the Trump administration4:11 Rajiv: The charges about antisemitism at Columbia are mostly pretextual13:34 How is Columbia’s resolution monitor going to assess merit in admissions?25:31 What really matters in college admissions?29:47 Why Brown’s agreement differs from Columbia’s34:16 Rajiv: If the Trump administration wants to destroy universities, it has the resources to do it40:07 Is Columbia’s Middle East Studies department cooked?43:15 Free speech is dying in universities and flourishing on podcasts (and Substack)50:19 Is a full-scale antisemitic backlash on the way?55:25 The question of genocide59:45 The Gaza War’s historical legacyRecorded August 1, 2025Links and ReadingsRajiv’s post, “The Columbia Deal” at Imperfect InformationRashid Khalidi’s open letter announcing the withdrawal of his courseKhalidi’s book The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017Roland Fryer’s WSJ piece, “DEI Is Worth Saving from Its Excesses” Glenn’s new book, Self-CensorshipColin Wright’s WSJ piece, “Cornell University Discriminated against Me”Dave Smith and Douglas Murray on the Joe Rogan ExperienceGreen Beret vet Tony Aguilar on the Tucker Carlson ShowIsraeli journalist Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps speaks with The Daily about starvation in GazaAvi Shlaim’s book, Genocide in Gaza: Israel, Hamas, and the Long War on PalestineOmer Bartov’s NYT piece, “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn lieu of a regular episode this week, I’m presenting a version of our latest livestream. Last week we debuted what I hope will be an ongoing feature of these livestreams: viewer call-ins. Nikita has been working on setting this up for a while now, and as you’ll see, we’ve still got some kinks to work out. We were able to take a number of calls from viewers, and on that score, this experiment was a resounding success.Anybody can tune into our livestreams as they happen, and we’re making this one available to everyone, but normally if you’d like to watch the video later, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. The Glenn Show is almost entirely viewer supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get weekly episodes of The Glenn Show earlier than their public release, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.Become a full subscriber at https://glennloury.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comIt’s the middle of the summer, it’s hot, and John McWhorter and I are back for another Substack subscriber only Q&A session. In this episode, we take questions about leadership in the black community, critical listening, Percival Everett's novel James, immigration, white women studying black women's history, right-wing identity politics, and the Free Press.The Glenn Show is supported by listeners like you. To watch and listen to the full version of this episode and get all kinds of other benefits, become a full subscriber at https://glennloury.substack.com.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 Glenn and Cornel’s early correspondence 2:20 Cornel: “Brother Glenn ain’t never been just a black conservative” 9:34 Ground News ad 11:10 One-eyed and two-eyed reason 19:33 The Loury family legacy 25:01 Does race still matter? 34:32 The black intellectual in a declining empire 45:56 Keeping nihilism at bay in the black community 51:42 Keep the funk, and die with a smile on your face 55:40 The Democratic Party plantationRecorded July 18, 2025Links and ReadingsGlenn’s memoir, Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black ConservativeToni Morrison’s book, The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and MeditationsRalph Ellison’s book, Shadow and ActThomas Sowell’s book, The Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political StruggleCornel’s book, Race MattersTa-Nehisi Coates’s book, The MessageCornel’s book, Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight against ImperialismTa-Nehisi Coates’s book, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American TragedyColeman Hughes’s book, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind AmericaMahalia Jackson’s rendition of Clara Ward’s, “How I Got Over”John Coltrane’s album, A Love SupremeNiall Ferguson’s book, Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American EmpireGlenn’s book, Race, Incarceration, and American ValuesFyodor Dostoevsky’s novel, The Brother’s KaramazovJoseph Conrad’s novel, Victory: An Island TaleCornel’s 2024 Gifford Lectures This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comVideo Links0:00 Zohran Mamdani’s win in the NYC Democratic primaries 12:07 Ground News ad 14:05 The War on Terror and the War in Gaza 28:54 Should Trump fear Mamdani? 32:02 Glenn: Trump is running the table 42:26 John: Glenn, you’re getting caught up in the Trump Show 48:05 Buckley, Reagan, Goldwater, and the legacy of conservatism 53:56 Glenn’s encounters with Willian F. Buckley 59:30 Remembering Stephan and Abigail ThernstromRecorded July 7, 2025Links and ReadingsJohn’s NYT column, “Wokeness Will Always Be with Us”Peter Beinart’s NYT guest essay, “Democrats Need to Understand That Opinions on Israel Are Changing Fast”“One Last Time” from HamiltonAdam Clayton Powell’s “What’s in Your Hand” speechSam Tannenhaus’s new book, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed AmericaGlenn’s 1991 appearance on Firing LineStephan and Abigail Thernstrom’s book, America in Black and White: One Nation, IndivisibleGlenn’s 1997 Atlantic review of America in Black and White This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe