Daniel Bessner – Managing American Decline in the Trump Era
Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comPre-order Glenn's forthcoming book, SELF-CENSORSHIP. Available here or wherever you get your books: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=self-censorship--9781509567409Video Links0:00 Intro 1:10 Glenn meets the young Marx 2:32 The new wokeness of the political right 8:30 What is the democratic counterpart of foreign policy and national security run by experts? 17:04 Russia’s motivations: Fear of NATO or imperial ambitions 21:41 Danny: Zelenskyy made a huge misstep in the Oval Office 26:12 Does China have global security ambitions? 35:09 Ending the Middle East’s post-Ottoman redefinition 39:42 Danny: It’s gotta be rough to be Peter Beinart 43:46 Why we don’t need Hitler to explain Trump’s authoritarianism 56:29 Danny: We’ve been in the midst of a constitutional crisis since the 1940s 57:58 Can the nuclear taboo hold?Recorded April 19, 2025Links and ReadingsDanny’s podcast, American PrestigeKarl Marx’s Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page’s paper, “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens”Walter Lippmann’s book, Public OpinionDanny’s book, Democracy in Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense IntellectualTranscript of Matt Lauer’s 1998 interview with Madeline AlbrightPaul Thomas Chamberlain’s book, The Cold War Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long PeaceLindsey O’Rourke’s book, Covert Regime Change: America’s Secret Cold WarPeter Beinart’s book, Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza: A ReckoningGlenn’s conversation with Peter BeinartGlenn’s memoir, Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black ConservativeDanny’s Jacobin piece, “This Is America”James Whitman’s book, Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race LawCarl Schmitt’s book, The Concept of the Political 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
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1:02:10
Alex Shieh – Bloat at Brown University
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 bonus episode of The Glenn Show, I talk with Brown University sophomore Alex Shieh about Bloat@Brown, his website calling out Brown administrators whose roles, he says, may violate federal discrimination laws. We talk about why he started Bloat@Brown, diversity of thought on campus, class-based affirmative action, and the role of diversity on campus.This bonus episode is available in its entirety to full subscribers, without whom The Glenn Show would not be possible. If you want to listen to the full version of this episode and our other bonus content—including monthly Q&As with John McWhorter—go to https://glennloury.substack.com and sign up.
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2:58
John McWhorter, Cornel West & Robert George – Truth, Faith, and Reason in an Age of Division
Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.comPre-order Glenn's forthcoming book, Self-Censorship. Available here or wherever you get your books: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetai...Video Links0:00 Intro 1:12 Attacks on the university from within and without 9:50 Ground News ad 11:43 Reshaping institutions by force and by argument 20:56 Critiquing the Gaza War without antisemitism 22:30 Reforming para-academic institutions 32:07 Is there a potential conflict between commitments to truth and commitments to diversity of thought? 39:19 Caught between “casual relativism” and “fierce absolutism” 52:18 Cornel: There is no “mic drop” argument on Gaza or anything else 55:19 The straight-jacket of emotional over-investment 1:00:36 The role of faith in the search for truth 1:10:19 Finding faith beyond reason in Stephen SondheimRecorded April 12, 2025Links and ReadingsRobbie and Cornel’s new book, Truth Matters: A Dialogue on Fruitful Disagreement in an Age of DivisionPlato’s RepublicThomas Kuhn’s book, The Structure of Scientific RevolutionsEugene Genovese’s book, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves MadeAntonio Gramsci’s book, The Prison NotebooksWilliam Blake’s poem, “London”Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, Fides et RatioGenesis 22, King James VersionShakespeare’s HamletGlenn’s memoir, Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black ConservativeMandy Patinkin sings “Finishing the Hat” from Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George 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
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1:17:31
Larry Kotlikoff – Can the US Survive Tariff Turmoil?
Support The Glenn Show at http://glennloury.substack.comVIdeo Links0:00 Intro 0:45 Why Trump’s tariffs alarm economists 8:18 Are the tariffs designed to offset Trump’s tax cuts? 11:30 Larry’s break with Senator Ron Johnson 14:16 Larry: We’re not in a trade war with other countries, we’re in a trade war with other people 22:44 Is Trump under the sway of a foreign power? 28:45 What measures should investors take to protect themselves from tariff-generated market volatility? 35:46 The possible silver lining in the economy under tariffs 41:32 The hypothetical third-party billionaire who could defeat Trump 44:46 The social security Ponzi scheme 54:50 Larry’s plan for fixing social security 57:29 Are other aging nations facing the same social security crisis as the US? 1:02:23 The failure of checks and balancesRecorded April 4, 2025Links and ReadingsLarry’s SubstackLarry’s company, Economic Security PlanningThe MaxiFi PlannerTIPs LadderRajiv Sethi’s Substack, Imperfect InformationLarry’s book, You’re Hired: A Trump Playbook for Fixing America’s Economy 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
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1:04:05
March 2025 Q&A
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.comFor the March 2025 Q&A, John and I take questions on getting outside our bubbles, the first hundred days of the second Trump administration, the Department of Education, contemporary black writers, race and advertising, the assumption of good faith, and undocumented immigration.The Glenn Show is supported almost entirely by listeners, viewers, and readers. If you're not year a full subscriber, please consider becoming one at https://glennloury.substack.com. You'll get access to monthly Q&As, commenting privileges at the newsletter, and lots of bonus content. And if you're already a full subscriber, thank you for all you do.
Race, inequality, and economics in the US and throughout the world from Glenn Loury, Professor of Economics at Brown University and Paulson Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute glennloury.substack.com
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