We put another livestream in the books last Friday, the most wide-ranging, eclectic installment we’ve produced to date. If you missed it, I’ve got the whole thing right here for full subscribers. If you’re not a full subscriber but want to watch the stream, consider becoming one.
The first half of the show consists of a pre-recorded interview with political scientist Charles Murray. He’s best known for books like Losing Ground and The Bell Curve—controversial though they may have been, they were grounded in the empirical methods that characterize modern social science. His new book, Taking Religion Seriously, is a somewhat surprising departure from social science into the realm of religion and religious experience. Murray has had, if not a conversion experience, then a kind of awakening regarding the claims of religion: the existence of a divine creator, miracles, and life after death. In this conversation, I ask him how a staunch materialist who, by his own account, doesn’t have a natural capacity for religious feeling has come to value metaphysics.
From there, on out, I’m live with TGS contributor Robert Patton-Spruill and my editor Mark Sussman. Robert prompts me to expand on Murray’s themes, and I express my admiration for the great religions of the world as herculean attempts to reckon with universal human aspirations and struggles. From there we consider the legacy of Dick Cheney—was he an uncompromising champion of democracy or the Darth Vader of American conservatism? Then it’s onto the shutdown, which seemed deadlocked at the time, but now appears as though it’s coming to an end.
The big news of the day was Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City mayoral election. Robert and I both express extreme trepidation over Mamdani’s proposed policies, and Mark bursts into the stream to defend him. I may disagree with Mark about the viability of the Mamdani program, but he’s right about one thing: if you can’t win an election, your policies don’t matter.
And finally, we address what may be a major schism on the right in American politics. With skepticism toward reflexive U.S. support for Israel growing across the political spectrum, extreme figures like Nick Fuentes see an opening to exert influence. Tucker Carlson had Fuentes on his show, and while they disagreed about some things, overall the tone was friendly and conciliatory. Is Tucker—intentionally or not—helping to legitimize some of Fuentes’s nastier views? Are we getting a glimpse of what a post-Trump MAGA movement will look like?
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.
