The Glenn Show

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn and John McWhorter sit down with Tyler Austin Harper, whose Atlantic cover story documents his decision to resign from a tenure-track position at Bates College. Harper offers an insider's account of an institution compromising scholarly standards and treating him as a token in the service of sweeping racial justice policies — a story of administrative pressure, faculty self-censorship, and mission drift. Note: this episode was originally recorded with an additional segment on Jason Arday, the former Cambridge professor who was found dead on August 14th. Out of respect, that portion has been withheld; a separate episode addressing the full Arday story is forthcoming.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comBuy Norman Finkelstein's new book, Gaza’s Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High PlacesNearly three years after October 7th, Glenn and John McWhorter host two guests with sharply opposing views on Israel and Gaza — in succession rather than debate, to prioritize clarity over conflict. First, Norman Finkelstein discusses his forthcoming book Gaza's Gravediggers, which examines failures within the international human rights community to protect vulnerable civilian populations. Then Free Press columnist Eli Lake argues that Israel's military response has been broadly justified and warns against the growing influence of anti-Israel sentiment in Democratic politics. Glenn and John interrogate both positions in good faith — not to reach a tidy verdict, but to model the kind of serious engagement the subject demands.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn welcomes back Delano Squires, director of the Heritage Foundation's DeVos Center for Human Flourishing, to discuss his new book, The Vanishing Black Family: How Welfare and Feminism Made Marriage Optional and Children Vulnerable. Squires argues that failures of black political and religious leadership, combined with a welfare system that has done more harm than good, have contributed to the near-disappearance of two-parent households in many black working-class communities. Glenn pushes back on some of Squires's more ambitious claims — including his opposition to gay marriage and his framework of children's rights from conception — while finding common ground on the urgent need to strengthen the black family.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn and John McWhorter open with John's recent New York Times column on Stuyvesant High School's vanishingly small number of black admits. Both reject calls to eliminate the admissions test as racist, arguing the problem is inadequate preparation — and that the real damage is done by those telling black students that academic excellence isn't for them. A wide-ranging subscriber Q&A follows, touching on AI, phonics, contrarianism, and Social Security. Then English professor Tess Chakkalakal joins to discuss her biography of Charles Chesnutt, the underappreciated African American writer whose opposition to racial categorization altogether makes him a provocative figure to reckon with in 2026.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn sits down with political scientist Steven Teles of Johns Hopkins to discuss one of higher education's most stubborn problems: ideological homogeneity. University faculties lean dramatically further left than the broader population, and in some humanities and social science disciplines, the imbalance has become self-reinforcing — conservatives self-censor or don't enter the field at all, shutting down internal debate and compromising academic freedom from within. Teles is working to change that through Johns Hopkins's new Agora Institute and School for Government and Policy, building cross-ideological bridges with institutional backing. Glenn sees the effort as urgent: the Trump administration's funding threats have turned an epistemological problem into an existential one.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn brings back Andrew Day, senior editor at The American Conservative, to make sense of the war-skeptical right's position on the Iran War. With seventeen Americans already killed and peace talks stalled, Day argues Trump's decision to go to war is flatly incompatible with America First principles — delivering no clear national benefit while disrupting supply chains and rattling markets. Day's sharpest claim: Israel's interests drove the U.S. into this conflict, and with American opinion toward Israel souring even among Republicans, continuing to act in lockstep with Tel Aviv could prove fatal to the MAGA coalition by 2028. Another ill-advised Middle East war, another political casualty in the making.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comJohn McWhorter returns as Glenn and John reflect on the nation's 250th birthday and the state of Black America. Both express disappointment — not at racism's persistence, but at cultural attitudes that continue to hold Black Americans back. Using the Karmelo Anthony case as a touchstone, they push back hard against victimhood narratives that treat race as a mitigating factor for individual wrongdoing. But Glenn and John diverge on colorblindness: while John laments the persistence of racial identity, Glenn argues that race as a positive site of collective identification — embodied in institutions like the black church — remains valuable and shouldn't be abandoned in the name of an abstract principle.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Subscribe to The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comLast week’s Independence Day installment of The Glenn Show brought the team together—along with special guest Rajiv Sethi—to talk about American identity, broadly conceived, on the occasion of the nation’s 250th birthday. Who were we, and who are we? What face do we present to the rest of the world? What makes American culture “American”? How do we manage the social challenges facing a coherent nation comprising an uncountable plurality of ethnic, racial, religious, and political groups?The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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.comBB asks what Glenn and John think of Steven A. Smith’s political commentary. Russell Harvey wants to know what the role of debate is in our society, and whether a debate has ever changed Glenn's or John's mind on any substantial issues. Stan asks why college-educated white women support “wokeness” at such high rates. Jason asks whether Glenn and John ever had intellectual discussions with AI tools. Michael asks John for his opinion of Zohran Mamdani’s first six months as New York City mayor. Robert Redd asks how much damage Trump has done to conservatives’ image, and is it their responsibility to repair that damage. And finally, Max asks if Glenn and John have engaged with any arguments from natural theology, and whether they have intellectual—rather than spiritual—accounts of their own beliefs about the existence or non-existence of God.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content. Go to https://glennloury.substack.com

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comRecorded amid Glenn's vacation, this month's conversation with John McWhorter covers New York politics, crime, and culture. They discuss Mayor Zohran Mamdani's growing influence after his endorsed candidates swept their Democratic primaries, signaling a possible left-wing realignment within the party akin to the Tea Party's and MAGA's reshaping of the right. They also dig into the trial and sentencing of Karmelo Anthony for the killing of Austin Metcalf, weighing competing explanations — including a Sowellian theory of cultural inheritance — and Glenn's skepticism toward treating the case as fundamentally racial rather than personal and circumstantial.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comLongtime friend of the show Robert Wright joins Glenn to talk about The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning, which argues AI deserves serious attention — including from its doomers. Wright contends that responsible global coordination, however improbable it seems amid current geopolitical turmoil, is essential to steering AI toward humanity's benefit rather than catastrophe. He points to the near-miss global minimum corporate tax agreement as a hopeful precedent. Glenn reflects on how quickly once-speculative science fiction scenarios, like recursive self-improving AI, have become urgent real-world dilemmas.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comHarvey Mansfield, the eminent political philosopher who spent over seven decades at Harvard, joins Glenn to discuss his new book, Where Harvard Went Wrong: Fifty Years of Commentary that Fell on Deaf Ears. Mansfield argues that Harvard has traded its commitment to truth for an overbearing political emphasis on equality — fueling grade inflation, racially discriminatory admissions practices, and the erosion of genuine academic standards. Glenn reflects on the irony that meaningful reform began only after Mansfield's retirement, and suggests that decades of ignored warnings may have contributed to Harvard's recent string of public embarrassments. A searching conversation about elite institutions, democratic values, and what universities owe the students they serve.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn sits down with Michael Poliakoff, president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, to discuss the crisis facing American higher education. Despite the university system's extraordinary contributions to innovation and democracy, Poliakoff argues it is failing at a core mission: civic education. Students graduate without foundational knowledge of American history and principles, while faculty too often emphasize the nation's failures over its ideals. ACTA's new Broadside for the Nation calls for stronger trustee oversight and mandatory civics requirements. Glenn finds the recommendations promising, provided academic freedom is preserved — and offers a defense of genuine patriotism as something that includes, rather than forecloses, honest criticism of the country.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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.comLast month, John McWhorter and Glenn explored the latest tranche of questions from full subscribers. They start off talking with TGS writer and editor Mark Sussman about Christopher Nolan’s casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy in his new adaptation of The Odyssey. Aaron Kara asks if diverse societies can sustain social systems in which racial identities bear uneven cultural caches. Glenn often says “Tolstoy is mine” as a way to exemplify our shared inheritance of the Western tradition. John Bingham asks if non-African Americans would be equally authorized to say “Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King are mine.” As a new mother, Maddie Fontaine asks whether one ever truly gets over the fear that comes with letting your children become independent and move freely through the world. Martha Rodgers Boyles asks Glenn and John to discuss the influence of the late Robert Woodson Sr.Stan asks whether the country would react differently than it did in 2020 if there was another George-Floyd-type incident tomorrow. In the chat, Chris asks John to clarify a feature of Black English. TGS contributor Robert Patton-Spruill presents a clip of an actor reciting the prologue to Romeo and Juliet with a Southern drawl and asks John if it bears any resemblance to what an Elizabethan accent would have sounded like. Robert Redd and Clifton Roscoe have some comments about respectability politics. And finally, Yan Shen points out that, while tolerance for black grievance has decreased, tolerance for white grievance has increased.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, 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.comJohn McWhorter returns for another wide-ranging conversation, starting with his latest book-in-progress on American English dialects and his remarkable productivity as a writer. From there, Glenn and John tackle the social media controversy over Lupita Nyong'o's casting as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan's upcoming Odyssey adaptation, weighing in on race, casting norms, and where society should ideally be headed. They then take on the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais and its implications for the Voting Rights Act — a take sure to generate pushback. The conversation closes with the Memorial Day "teen takeover" chaos in Chicago and Glenn's pointed criticism of Mayor Brandon Johnson's response.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn sits down with Israeli-American historian Omer Bartov to discuss his new book, Israel: What Went Wrong—a rigorous and deeply personal account of the contradictions at Israel's founding and how they've shaped the country's present. Bartov traces the legal, political, and religious tensions that have fueled belligerence in the occupied territories and eroded democratic norms at home, all while grappling with his own complicated relationship to his homeland. Glenn, neither Jewish nor an expert on Israeli politics, finds in Bartov a credible and emotionally honest guide through an extraordinarily complex situation. Whether you agree with Bartov or not, his expertise demands serious engagement—and that's exactly what this conversation offers.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn welcomes back actor and writer Clifton Duncan to discuss the challenges facing artists in an era of intense political polarization. Clifton is currently developing a one-man show about the life and work of Thomas Sowell, and also writes about art, politics, and identity on his Substack, The State of the Arts. The conversation explores a delicate tension: while politics has always inspired great art, ideological conformity can suffocate it. Clifton argues for art's intrinsic value and its unique power to illuminate universal human experience through the specific and singular. It's a crusade against philistinism, and Glenn happily counts himself an ally.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comTaking a break from headlines, Glenn turns inward — reflecting on family as a source of stability amid political and personal upheaval. He's joined by his son, Glenn Loury II, for one of their occasional recorded conversations. Together they explore how family relationships evolve over time, keeping the memory of Glenn's late wife Linda Datcher Loury alive through a reading group with son Nehemiah, and looking ahead to Nehemiah's first child. They also discuss their relationships with their partners and Glenn's retirement from teaching. Fans of his memoir Late Admissions will find this a welcome update. Honest, warm, and reflective — a reminder of what matters most.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn hosted a cross-spectrum foreign policy debate featuring Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid, American Conservative writer Andrew Day, and University of Washington historian Daniel Bessner. The central question: what role should American power play in the 21st century? Hamid, author of The Case for American Power, defended robust U.S. military engagement abroad, while Day and Bessner — from the right and left, respectively — pushed back with skepticism of American empire. Surprisingly, the ideological poles found more common ground than expected. Glenn reflects on whether hawkishness has fallen out of favor across the political spectrum after decades of costly interventions, and what that might mean for America's future.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comScott Dolan asks what our best path forward is after Trump. Aaron Cara presents a theory about Glenn and John's disagreement over Trump’s presidency. Michael Maloney asks what Glenn and John think of a recent study of deceptiveness and claims of consciousness by AI. Jason proposes an intriguing parallel between AI and the cotton gin. Yan Shen asks what, if anything, the Dune novels can teach us about the Trump era. And finally, BB asks how important Glenn and John think “technical expertise” is when commenting on issues of broad social concern.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn and John McWhorter reunite for their monthly conversation, starting with a familiar disagreement: Trump. John reduces Trump's governing philosophy to one word—"a*****e"—arguing his personality explains his chaotic, norm-breaking style. Glenn isn't so sure. He sees Trump as a more conventional figure responding to structural forces larger than any one leader, and argues that personality-based explanations substitute for the harder work of substantive analysis. This connects to Glenn's recent essay on moral language in public discourse—how loaded terms like "genocide" (or "a*****e") can short-circuit rather than advance reasoned debate. The conversation closes with John's New York Times piece on DEI and AI, and how both breed a corrosive, unresolvable suspicion around individual achievement.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn this episode, Glenn hosts a virtual roundtable on incarceration, crime, deterrence, and community, drawing on two key texts. In the first hour, he spoke with Jeffrey Seaman, co-author of a Fordham Urban Law Review article arguing that true racial injustice lies not in the treatment of Black offenders but in the chronic under-provision of justice resources to Black victims. Better police clearance rates, they contend, would strengthen deterrence and make Black neighborhoods safer. In the second hour, sociologist Robert Sampson discusses his new book, Marked by Time, arguing that strong communal social bonds reduce crime more effectively than punitive policing. Political scientist Ben Peterson also joins the debate. The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn and Ben Peterson discuss his forthcoming book on how informal institutions — families, churches, neighborhoods — maintain social order where law and markets cannot. Peterson argues that reputation enforces norms more effectively than regulation: your neighbor's judgment carries more weight than a police citation. They explore criminal justice reform, where Peterson observes that "the left misses morality, the right misses grace"; racial inequality as a supply-side problem — the failure to develop human potential through socialization and family structure; and the spiritual dimension of human agency, which Glenn defends even as he acknowledges many of his colleagues would dismiss it. The conversation echoes themes from Glenn's recent discussion with Steven Pinker on common knowledge and shared norms.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comLast week's livestream featured Robert Cherry, emeritus professor of economics at Brooklyn College and author of a new book, Arab Citizens of Israel: How Far Have They Come? Bob is a labor economist who spent forty years studying discrimination in the U.S. labor market. His involvement with NGOs working in the Arab sector eventually led him to apply that same analytical lens to the situation of Arab citizens within Israel proper—not Gaza, not the West Bank, but the two million Arabs who hold Israeli citizenship. In this episode, Glenn and Robert Cherry debate the status of Arab Israelis and the policies of the Israeli government.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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 Glenn and John's monthly Q&A sessions, they tackle subscriber questions about funding for the Iran War, Trump Derangement Syndrome, meritocracy, Israel, and other topics.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, 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.comGlenn and John McWhorter agree the war in Iran is a bad idea—so why can't they agree on anything else? On last week's livestream, the two clashed over what's driving the conflict, how it's being conducted, and whether Trump is capable of strategic thinking. John isn't troubled by targeted strikes on Iranian leaders like Ayatollah Khamenei; Glenn calls those strikes what they really are—assassinations—and warns that normalizing such a policy would destabilize the world. Glenn also pushes back on John's view that Trump is acting without foresight, noting that experienced military leaders are guiding operations. Despite deep misgivings, Glenn hopes Trump succeeds—because the alternative is too catastrophic to contemplate.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comGlenn Loury welcomes Steven Pinker to discuss his new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows. Pinker—author of The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Rationality—explains how “common knowledge” works in everyday life. Drawing on vivid examples—from a Soviet-era joke about dissent to the rise and fall of GameStop and crypto ads during Super Bowl LVI—Pinker shows how shared awareness shapes seduction, threats, markets, and politics. Loury and Pinker explore how strategic ambiguity, spirals of silence, hierarchy, and nuclear policy all hinge on a familiar question: not who knows what, but who dares to say aloud what everyone knows.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comLast week’s livestream presented a panel of guests whose political orientations and positions on the Iran War demonstrate the scrambling effect this conflict is already having on domestic political alliances. On the anti-war side, we have historian, foreign policy expert, and man of the left Danny Bessner of the University of Washington and the American Prestige podcast. He’s joined by Andrew Day, senior editor of the American Conservative. I haven’t made a side-by-side comparison of their political views, but I don’t imagine they agree on much. This war is an exception.On the other side, we have my friend Larry Kotlikoff, an economist at Boston University, a liberal, and an adamant defender of the war in Iran. His Substack post after the initial bombing runs in Iran effusively praised Donald Trump’s leadership, which might come as a surprise to those who know Larry’s work—he’s had few compliments for the president before now. Listen now to hear this (occasionally heated) debate.The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn this segment from last week's livestream, Glenn and Boston University economist Larry Kotlikoff talk about the national debt, social security, personal finance, fiscal policy, and China’s seemingly inevitable path to becoming the dominant world economic power. Are Trump's tariff policies as wrong-headed as they seem? And should we be putting boots on the ground in Ukraine?Larry's Substack, Economics MattersThe Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, 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.comOn this livestreamed edition of the Q&A, John McWhorter and I took questions from full subscribers here at the Substack. Austin Ball asked for our thoughts on Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference. Art Eckstein asked for our thoughts on what he characterizes as the humanitarian left’s silence about the deaths of thousands of Iranian protesters last month (this stream happened before the U.S. and Israel’s strikes on Iran). TunaFortuna asked for our thoughts on originalism vs. the living constitution. BB asked us why so much of the black cognoscenti opposes respectability politics even as they embody it. Stan asked if the U.S. will someday “move beyond race.” And finally, Robert Patton-Spruill and Mark Sussman pop into the stream to suggest that I, Glenn Loury, may be the founding father of the “quarter-zip movement,” even though I’d never heard of it.Recorded February 21, 2026The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, 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.comOn this segment from my latest livestream, John McWhorter and I are joined by journalist Tyler Austin Harper of the Atlantic. We discuss Tyler's latest piece for the magazine, which focuses on the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's influence over humanities research in the U.S. Tyler argues that the half-billion-plus dollars Mellon awards each year has allowed it to shift humanities scholarship toward an activist model, with identity-based social justice as its main concern.Tyler's Atlantic article, "What Is the Mellon Foundation Doing to Higher Education"The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&As 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

The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-supported. If you’re not yet a full subscriber and want access to livestreams, Q&As, commenting, and other good stuff, click below to support TGS. We can’t do what we do without you.Click here to become a full subscriber.Video Links0:00 Chloé’s theory of enchantment3:54 Can a legal remedy solve a spiritual problem?4:29 The human problem of stereotyping8:26 Why Chloé thinks the rise of white identity politics was “totally predictable”10:56 Ground News ad12:46 Derrick Bell’s case against Brown v. Board of Education14:49 The subject-citizen in Israel and the U.S.17:01 Chloé’s year of mourning19:09 Can a listening campaign help ease tensions in Israel?23:26 An “aha” moment in Bethlehem28:34 Chloé critique of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s analysis of Israel-Palestine31:56 Does race have a future?Recorded February 13, 2026Links and ReadingsTheory of EnchantmentChloé’s Substack post, “The First CRT President”Derrick Bell’s essay, “The Unintended Lessons in Brown v. Board of Education”Derrick Bell’s book, Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of RacismChloé’s Substack post, “The G-Word”James Baldwin’s book, The Fire Next TimeTa-Nehisi Coates’s book, The MessageColeman Hughes’s book, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind AmericaThomas Chatterton Williams’s book, Self-Portrait in Black and White: Family, Fatherhood and Rethinking RaceBáyò Akómoláfé’s home page 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 of The Glenn Show, Glenn hops on the Friday livestream just hours after landing at Logan Airport following a Stanford lecture on self-censorship at the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society. Still running on adrenaline from the event, he talks with editor Mark Sussman about the influence of Kenneth Arrow, why self-censorship should be analyzed as a value-neutral phenomenon, and how the audience responded. In the second half, Glenn is joined by writer and Theory of Enchantment founder Chloé Simone for a wide-ranging conversation about race, identity, spirituality, and politics—from the effects of recent DEI rollbacks to Israel, Palestine, and the future of racelessness.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comIn this excerpt from last Friday's livestream, Glenn formally introduces a familiar face to the audience: Robert Patton-Spruill. A regular presence on and off camera, Rob shares the winding personal and professional journey that shaped him, from growing up in a politically connected extended family in Boston to working in film and finding his own voice as a writer and director. He reflects on the influence of his father, James Spruill, his experiences in the film industry, and encounters with figures like Public Enemy's Chuck D. The conversation ranges widely, linking Rob’s lived experience to broader ideas about social capital, community, and practical paths to progress.Livestreams are available to full subscribers, both as they happen and later in video and podcast form. We’ll release shorter segments to the public later, but if you want the whole shebang, become a full subscriber today. 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. 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 edition of my monthly Q&A session with John McWhorter, we invited a handful of subscribers to record their video or audio to be played during our livestream. I think it worked great—I loved hearing everyone’s voices and seeing their faces. We’re definitely going to keep this feature around. And if you want to hear and see your fellow TGS fans, and you’re not yet a subscriber, please consider becoming one.We start off the Q&A with a question from John Bingham, who wants to know if a PhD in economics is still worth pursuing when AI works so well as a substitute teacher, even at that high level. Neil asks whether excessive attention to the Israel issue within academia is leaving the larger biases within the university unaddressed. Lennart asks Glenn to comment on an exposé about a behind-the-scenes political struggle at UATX. RAO asks what colleges are doing to promote civil discourse across identity lines. Adam Gorski asks John an insightful question about his categorization of wokeness as a religion. Joe Nalven asks who’s to blame for the ICE shootings in Minneapolis: protesters, law enforcement, or the media? Neal Gittleman asks whether John and I were being irresponsible in speculating about the motivations of the mass shooter at Brown University before the facts were in. And finally, Jason expresses his appreciation for the show and John’s role in it.Thanks to everyone who wrote in and sent us recordings, and to all of my subscribers. The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-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 free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comSupport The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comThis episode features a wide-ranging conversation on identity politics and global disorder. Glenn opened by discussing his recent UnHerd column on Elon Musk’s warnings about race war and calls for white solidarity, arguing that Musk exemplifies a troubling turn toward identity politics on the right and serves as a powerful “permission-granting” figure for fringe ideas. Robert Wright then joined to assess the unraveling rules-based international order, highlighting the hypocrisies exposed by Mark Carney and the broader implications of U.S. power. John Mearsheimer added a realist critique of Donald Trump’s disregard for international norms. The discussion also addressed Gaza, free speech, and the risks of conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism, before closing on Trump’s actions in Greenland and Venezuela and signs of resurgent American imperialism.These livestreams will now be available only to full subscribers, both as they happen and later in video and podcast form. We’ll release shorter segments to the public later, but if you want the whole shebang, become a full subscriber today. 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.

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.