The Glenn Show

I know this week everyone is expecting one of my conversations with John McWhorter. But due to some unforeseen events, we ended up shifting things around a bit. Next week you can expect to see John and I speak with Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy, where we’ll engage issues of systemic racism, among other topics. Two weeks after that, John and I will be back to have our own discussion about systemic racism. We said we wanted to formulate serious responses to those who believe systemic racism is still the cause of racial inequality in the US, and you can expect to see that in the coming weeks.For this week’s episode, I’m presenting a recent lecture I gave at Baylor University and the Q&A session that followed. The lecture distills some of my ideas about social capital, the bias narrative and the development narrative, and the problems that beset urban black communities. The students and professors also offered some fantastic questions that provoked me to think about intersectionality and mass incarceration, the language of racial discrimination, and whether my critiques of the bias narrative offer aid and comfort to the enemy. I’m grateful to Baylor for having invited me, and I’m pleased to be able to offer the lecture to you here.Note: If you’re listening to the free audio version of this conversation, you’ll notice that there are now ads. I explain why I’ve started to take on advertisers at the beginning of the episode. If you’d like to continue receiving the podcast without ads, you can subscribe below for access to the ad-free podcast feed, as well as monthly Q&As with John McWhorter and me, early access to TGS episodes, and other subscriber benefits. 0:00 A quick announcement 2:00 “Structural racism is an empty category” 4:35 The bias narrative vs. the development narrative10:43 Race as a social phenomenon 19:10 Racism is not the cause of behavioral problems in black communities 27:41 “White people cannot give black people equality” 32:31 Q&A: How has economic thinking about racism and the market changed? 39:20 Q&A: What strategies will help people engage in modes of development? 43:00 Q&A: What are the prospects for improvements? 48:54 Q&A: How has the language of racial discrimination changed? 53:12 Q&A: Is intersectionality a factor in racial inequality? 1:02:03 Q&A: Do Glenn's claims reinforce white prejudice against blacks? 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

In this week’s TGS, we’re talking about an issue that seems local but has big national implications. Wai Wah Chin is the Charter President of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York, and she joins me to discuss an ongoing controversy in New York City’s exam schools. These schools are rigorous public high schools that focus on STEM subjects, and admission is determined by student performance on a single exam. If you can excel on one test, you can get access to a free first-rate education, regardless of income, race, zip code, or even past academic performance. This is especially important in a city where top private schools often charge tens of thousands of dollars in tuition. Historically, exam schools have been a triumph of colorblind meritocracy. They’ve brought untold numbers of talented but under-resourced students to the attention of top universities. But, as Wai Wah explains, the exam school system is currently under threat from advocates who regard the high numbers of Asian American students (over 50% in some cases) at these schools as evidence of de facto segregation that excludes blacks. Wai Wah explains why proposed changes to the exam school admissions system discriminate against Asians, and why parallel attempts to eliminate the Gifted and Talented Program for New York students will only exacerbate racial disparities in the education system. Finally, Wai Wah connects discrimination against Asians in education to the disturbing increase in violence against Asians across the country.Wai Wah is a passionate advocate for her cause. I can tell you this is not the last time I’ll be discussing these crucial matters on TGS. A New Home for TGSI’ve started a new YouTube channel, and I invite you to subscribe to it (and click the bell button!) now so that you don't miss future offerings. This newsletter will continue to publish as usual with the same benefits for subscribers.This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 What are NYC exam schools? 5:25 The recent attempt to change exam school admissions 11:50 Wai Wah: Changes to exam schools will discriminate against Asian students 17:40 Wai Wah's attempts to expand the Gifted and Talented Program 27:26 Are exam schools "segregated"? 39:29 Eric Adams's support for increasing the number of exam schools 42:00 Wai Wah: Asians are being scapegoatedLinks and ReadingsThe Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York Dream Factories, a mini-doc about NYC exam schools 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

In this episode of The Glenn Show, I’m back with my friend John McWhorter, and we have much to discuss. John joins me fresh from a day trip to Brighton Beach, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Russian language, food, and culture abound. He talks about teaching himself Russian and the benefits of the Glossika language-learning tool. Then, in a continuation of last week’s conversation with David Kaiser, we move on to the history of redlining, which is quite a bit more complex than some recent commentaries would have you believe. A recent edition of John’s New York Times newsletter addressed the issue, and it received some criticism from the distinguished historian Thomas Sugrue. This leads us to discuss the problems of authority and perception that attend writing from the Olympian heights of the paper of record. From there, I give a progress report on my memoir, delving into my life, my break from conservatism in the ‘90s, and the difficulty of living in good faith. The temptation to “play to the crowd,” to seek affirmation by repeating the common sense of your tribe, is very powerful, and it can work on you in subtle ways. Heterodox thinkers like John and I have to check ourselves constantly to make sure we’re being true to our own thought and principles. In that spirit, we end on a question that’s sure to ruffle some feathers here at my Substack: How can we start seriously addressing questions about “systemic racism” and stop simply disregarding them as just so much wokespeak? As always, I’m curious to hear your thoughts! A New Home for TGSThe video for this episode is hosted on my new YouTube channel, which is now the home of The Glenn Show. I invite you to subscribe to this channel (and click the bell button!) now so that you don't miss future offerings. This newsletter will continue to publish as usual with the same benefits for subscribers.This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 John's linguistic adventure in Brighton Beach 7:59 The complex racial and economic dynamics of redlining 17:30 The problem with John's NYT “megaphone” 26:40 A progress report on Glenn's memoir 41:29 The temptations of playing to the crowd 46:43 What, if anything, does it mean to be “authentically black”? 51:13 Taking "systemic racism" seriouslyLinks and ReadingsThe language-learning tool GlossikaJohn’s column about GlossikaJohn’s piece about redliningGlenn’s conversation with historian David E. KaiserThomas Sugrue’s Twitter thread about John’s redlining pieceJohn’s book, Authentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent Majority 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

In this episode of The Glenn Show, I’m talking to David E. Kaiser, author of many books about American and international political history. As a distinguished professional historian, David has seen many changes in the way history is written both inside and outside the academy, not all of them for the better. In this conversation, David talks about why Ta-Nehisi Coates’s highly influential 2014 essay “The Case for Reparations” and the view of race and American history it represents leaves out many crucial facts about how we came to be where we are.We begin in a slightly counterintuitive place, with a discussion of how many historians’ views of the Cold War changed after Vietnam. In David’s telling, it became more and more common to see historians placing blame for escalating hostilities on the U.S.’s foreign policy rather than the U.S.S.R.’s. David sees a similar sort of revisionism at work in contemporary historians’ perspectives on the New Deal, which is now sometimes described as a purposefully racially discriminatory enterprise. David pushes back against this interpretation, pointing to the South’s pursuit of industry and cheap labor as a better explanation for the New Deal’s flaws than racial animus. We also discuss statistics indicating that, while blacks did earn significantly less money than whites, the years after World War II saw tremendous economic growth in black communities. And, while redlining policies certainly did have a negative impact on the ability of blacks to acquire wealth, those policies alone only tell part of the black economic story. Finally, David ends our discussion by reading from a fascinating 1940 editorial in the black newspaper the Chicago Defender that endorses FDR for a third term. I truly enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you will as well! A New Home for TGSThe video for this episode is hosted on my own new YouTube channel, which is now the home of The Glenn Show. I invite you to subscribe to this channel (and click the bell button!) now so that you don't miss future offerings. This newsletter will continue to publish as usual with the same benefits for subscribers.0:00 Intro 2:35 The post-Vietnam reevaluation of the Cold War 13:12 David: Academic historians largely have abandoned the idea of objective truth 18:23 Were black people really excluded from the New Deal? 32:06 The fortunes of black veterans after WWII 40:19 Why redlining doesn't tell the whole story about the racial wealth gap 49:49 Why the Chicago Defender endorsed FDR in 1940Links and ReadingsDavid’s memoir, A Life in HistoryDavid’s book, No End Save Victory: How FDR Led the Nation into WarDavid’s book, American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam WarGlenn’s conversation with Daniel Bessner, “American Empire before and after 9/11”Ira Katznelson’s book, When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in AmericaTa-Nehisi Coates’s essay, “The Case for Reparations”The Chicago Fed’s paper, “The Effects of the 1930s HOLC ‘Redlining’ Maps”Andrew Fenton’s article, “WTF happened in 1971 (and why the f**k it matters so much right now)” 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

For this week’s episode of The Glenn Show, we’ve upped our production game a little. In late August, John McWhorter and I met up for an all-too-rare in-person conversation in Manhattan, and the filmmaker Rob Montz and his crew were on hand to record it. It was wonderful to be able sit face-to-face with John, and Rob did a wonderful job capturing the energy in the room. It wouldn’t have been possible to pull all of this together without the support of the subscribers here: Thank you! We’re hoping to create more special content like this in the future, so your contributions are greatly appreciated. John and I begin by discussing his gig writing for the New York Times, in particular a recent piece about Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s Blues Opera. It’s never been produced, and John is assisting in trying to usher it to the stage. We move from the blues to matters that are just plain blue: The word “motherfucker,” which began as black vernacular and has since been absorbed into the English language at large. This naturally leads us to talk about the treatment of sex and money in the TV show Billions. From there we move to more serious matters: The New York City mayor’s race. John is not a fan of the probable winner, Eric Adams, and I press him as to why. We get into it over the squandered opportunities of the Obama years, and we really get into it over Al Sharpton. John is ready to forgive him for the deplorable behavior that defined the first half of his career, and I’m not. And finally, we look at the Jacob Blake shooting a year after the fact. What do we know now that we didn’t know then?We had a lot of fun doing this one, and I hope you have just as much watching it. Let me know what you think here or on Discord.Next week I’ll be posting a conversation with historian David E. Kaiser about the role of “racial justice” in the politicization of historical studies. If you’d like a preview, you can find a previous conversation of ours here. A New Home for TGSThe video for this episode is hosted on my own new YouTube channel, which is now the home of The Glenn Show. I invite you to subscribe to this channel (and click the bell button!) now so that you don't miss future offerings. This newsletter will continue to publish as usual with the same benefits for subscribers.This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 Some posh new (temporary) digs for The Glenn Show 1:08 The challenges and liberties of John's New York Times gig 5:24 John's efforts to help mount an unproduced black opera 14:45 The deracialization of “motherfucker” 16:58 The erotics and economics of Billions 20:58 Why John didn't support Eric Adams for NYC mayor 31:04 What undermined the potential of the Obama years? 43:22 Can Glenn ever forgive Al Sharpton? 55:16 Will Eric Adams be able to operate effectively as mayor?59:58 The Jacob Blake shooting, a year laterLinks and ReadingsJohn's NY Times piece, "How 'Woke' Became an Insult"John's NY Times piece, "Can White Men Write a Black Opera?"John's book, Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever 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

For this edition of The Glenn Show, I’m joined by someone who may be familiar to long-time viewers: Bob Wright. Bob is a distinguished journalist and the author of many books, including The Moral Animal, Nonzero, and Why Buddhism is True. He also happens to be the co-founder of Bloggingheads, the platform on which The Glenn Show was born and has flourished. In our conversation, Bob walks us through the early days of Bloggingheads and the flash of inspiration that led him to create the site. We then move on to discuss Bob’s ideas about evolution and international relations, and how they’re influenced by game theory (something I know a bit about). Bob’s ideas about the nature of conflict and cooperation have a number of implications for combating the sort of nasty political tribalism that we see so much today, both domestically and internationally. Of course, more non-zero sum thinking could possibly help us turn down the temperature in conflicts over race in the US, which would be a welcome change. And finally, we turn our attention to new developments in the relationship between The Glenn Show and Bloggingheads. Both Bob and I are excited about what’s to come! A New Home for TGSThe video for this episode is hosted on my own new YouTube channel, which will soon become the home of The Glenn Show. I invite you to subscribe to this channel (and click the bell button!) now so that you don't miss future offerings. This newsletter will continue to publish as usual with the same benefits for subscribers.This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 Subscribe to The Glenn Show on YouTube 0:26 The origins of Bloggingheads 11:30 Non-zero-sum thinking on the global stage 20:30 Bob: We’re not focusing on the most pressing foreign policy dilemmas 29:13 Bridging the globalist vs. nationalist divide 34:13 Could more cognitive empathy ease racial tensions? 45:00 Changes afoot for The Glenn Show and BloggingheadsLinks and ReadingsBloggingheads.tv The Wright ShowBob’s Substack newsletter, The Nonzero NewsletterThe Nonzero Newsletter, “The Last Word on GWOT”Bob’s book, The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary PsychologyBob’s book, Nonzero: The Logic of Human DestinyBob’s book, Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment 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

In this week’s TGS, I’m joined once again by intellectual historian Daniel Bessner. Given Daniel’s area of scholarly expertise—US foreign relations—it should be no surprise that the recent withdrawal from Afghanistan colors our discussion. But we range much further than that. We debate Daniel’s conception of “American empire” and its origins in the Cold War. He is quite critical of American foreign policy during that period (and beyond), and I do push back on some of his more pointed critiques. We go on to discuss the course of America’s engagement with the world after the Cold War’s end, and Daniel offers a theory as to why the 1990s saw so much popular interest in World War II. We move on to discuss climate change as a particular kind of foreign policy problem. I out myself not exactly as a “climate skeptic,” but as someone who thinks we may be panicking prematurely. And yet, I think that changes in the climate may force us to radically rethink where and how we find meaning in our lives. Finally, since we’re both professors, we talk about Covid and the state of the modern university. As you’ll see, Daniel and I have some very stark disagreements. But he’s a sharp, erudite, and good-natured debating partner, and it’s always a pleasure having him on the show. And if you’re intrigued by his arguments, subscribe to his podcast, American Prestige. I’m sure you’ll have some comments on this one, and I’m looking forward to reading them. This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 Daniel’s new podcast, American Prestige10:22 Did the US needlessly prolong the Cold War? 14:59 Daniel: The Cold War actually limited political liberty within the US21:27 The cultural logic of American empire 32:59 Global inequities and existential threats40:52 The spiritual challenges of climate change50:34 Glenn: Capitalism is “the natural order of things”55:23 What Covid reveals about the modern American universityLinks and ReadingsDaniel’s new podcast, American PrestigePaul Thomas Chamberlin’s book, The Cold War’s Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long PeaceDaniel Rodgers’ book, Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive AgePeter Novick’s book, The Holocaust in American LifePeter Novick’s book, That Noble Dream: The “Objectivity” Question and the American Historical ProfessionRoosevelt Montás, Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation Glenn Loury’s Intellectual Origins (with Daniel Bessner)Part OnePart TwoPart ThreePart Four 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

John McWhorter is back for this week’s episode of The Glenn Show. In it, we discuss John’s new gig writing a newsletter for the New York Times. Anyone wondering whether he’s being stifled by the paper’s editorial sensibilities will be glad to hear the answer is a definite “no.” We spend a while discussing John’s recent piece about the removal of a “racist” rock from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus after administration gave in to student activists. From there we move on to a broader discussion of the historical relationship between the slave trade and American universities. We ask whether modern universities are morally culpable for the sins of the distant past. The scope broadens even further as we ask whether we can ever truly extricate the benefits of the modern world from histories of brutality and genocide. And finally, we move on to a discussion about black conservatives and accusations of “selling out.” This has particular relevance for the case of Larry Elder, a black conservative who is currently nipping at the heels of Gavin Newsom in the California governor’s recall.This is a deep and provocative discussion, and I hope you’ll join in by commenting below. Let me know what you think!This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 John's new gig writing for the New York Times 5:01 Wisconsin students get a "racist" rock removed from campus 16:39 Are present-day universities morally accountable for their involvement in the slave trade? 26:38 Debating the legacy of Christopher Columbus 40:18 Can we extricate modernity's benefits from its history of brutality and genocide? 50:52 Is California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder a sellout? LinksJohn's new New York Times newsletterJohn’s piece, “The Performative Antiracism of Black Students at the U. of Wisconsin”John’s piece, “Let’s talk about ‘Sellouts’” 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

Here’s something different for you. In this episode of The Glenn Show, I sit down with artist, writer, and TGS Creative Director Nikita Petrov to discuss two fundamental questions: “What the hell is going on?” and “What is to be done?” If those questions sound both deep and broad, there might be a reason. They occurred to Nikita in the wake of a recent psychedelic experience. Not your typical TGS fare, to be sure!The conversation begins with Nikita explaining what he’s learned from working with me and observing my relationships with others. I confirm his suspicions: I am in a very exciting and satisfying stage in my life and career. Nikita then goes on to describe the meditations on human interconnectedness he experienced during his trip. He wants to know: How can we tell a healthy connection from an unhealthy one? Can we formulate a theory as to how to make such a distinction? And how can we apply such a theory to my own present area of concern, the rise of CRT? I try to explain why I think CRT promotes “unhealthy” human connections, and why it risks shutting us off from the richness of human art, culture, thought, and knowledge. We then discuss the relationship between ideology and identity, and we find some parallels between Russian and African American history and politics. And finally, we try to get to the heart of what makes a “Glenn rant” a Glenn rant.I’d love to know what you think. Let me know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out Nikita’s YouTube channel and his newsletter, Psychopolitica!This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 Glenn's book leave1:45 A psychedelic experience inspires Nikita to talk to Glenn 16:23 Healthy vs. unhealthy human connection 23:12 Glenn: Critical race theory is “self-absorbed and small”38:03 Rising above “sectarian obsession” 49:14 A brief history of Russian political infantilization 57:28 Is Glenn the Jimi Hendrix of ranting?LinksGlenn’s conversation with Cornel West and Teodros KirosCixin Liu, The Three-Body ProblemIrving Howe, A Margin of Hope: An Intellectual AutobiographyNikita’s newsletter, Psychopolitica 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

Today, I’ve got a special treat for TGS fans: my first ever recorded conversation with John McWhorter, which occurred on (brace yourselves) November 7, 2007. People who started following John and me in recent years may not be aware of how long we’ve been at this, but it’s been almost 14 years. As you might expect, while the topics we discuss are familiar, our positions relative to each other have changed. In 2007, I was clearly to John’s left! One thing that hasn’t changed is John’s superhuman productivity. He notes at the beginning that he is just finishing up writing two books.We begin by talking about John’s gig as a columnist for the New York Sun. I put the screws to John and ask him in a purposefully un-nuanced way if he is a conservative, and he answers with a typically nuanced response. We discuss John’s then-recent resignation from UC-Berkeley (a very gutsy move) before moving on to broader concerns like globalization’s impact on the black working class, the prospects for cross-racial class solidarity, and how to address racial disparities in education in a more targeted fashion than simply crying “more funding.” At the conversation’s end, we both remark on how much fun it was to talk with each other (even on ancient technology like John’s cordless phone). I’m happy to report that it’s still fun. And I am extremely curious to know what you all think about the differences and similarities between where we started and where we are today. Let me know in the comments!This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 A walk down memory lane1:02 John's gig as a columnist4:38 The black intellectual's challenge 17:17 John: There is life outside the academy 34:00 Disappearing factories and black poverty 40:53 Glenn calls for cross-racial working-class solidarity 51:39 Is unequal school funding a red herring? 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