The Glenn Show

Glenn Loury

4.6 (165)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
UPDATED WEEKLY

Race, inequality, and economics in the US and throughout the world from Glenn Loury. glennloury.substack.com

1D AGO

TGS Live: A Dove on the Left, a Dove on the Right, and a Hawk in the Center

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.com Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com Last 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.

1 min
4D AGO

TGS Live: Larry Kotlikoff on Debt, Tariffs, and the Public Role of Economists

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com In 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 Matters 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

1h 35m
MAR 1

February 2026 Q&A

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.com Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com On 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, 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, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.

2 min
FEB 27

TGS Live: Tyler Austin Harper on the Big Bucks Funding Activism in the Humanities

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com On 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

35 min
FEB 20

Chloé Simone – The Dark Side of Identity

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 Links 0:00 Chloé’s theory of enchantment 3:54 Can a legal remedy solve a spiritual problem? 4:29 The human problem of stereotyping 8:26 Why Chloé thinks the rise of white identity politics was “totally predictable” 10:56 Ground News ad 12:46 Derrick Bell’s case against Brown v. Board of Education 14:49 The subject-citizen in Israel and the U.S. 17:01 Chloé’s year of mourning 19:09 Can a listening campaign help ease tensions in Israel? 23:26 An “aha” moment in Bethlehem 28:34 Chloé critique of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s analysis of Israel-Palestine 31:56 Does race have a future? Recorded February 13, 2026 Links and Readings Theory of Enchantment Chloé’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 Racism Chloé’s Substack post, “The G-Word” James Baldwin’s book, The Fire Next Time Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book, The Message Coleman Hughes’s book, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America Thomas Chatterton Williams’s book, Self-Portrait in Black and White: Family, Fatherhood and Rethinking Race Báyò 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

34 min
FEB 16

TGS Live: Self-Censorship & Public Reason + Chloé Simone on the Future of Identity and Race

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.com Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com In 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.

1 min
FEB 13

TGS Live: A Black Panther's Son Discovers the Free Market

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com In 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

1h 5m
FEB 4

January 2026 Q&A

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit glennloury.substack.com Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com On 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.

1 min

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Glenn Loury

Host
Robert Patton-Spruill

Guest
Robert Wright

Guest
John Mearsheimer

Guest
Michael Shermer

Guest

4.6

out of 5

165 Ratings

Important

2023-07-28

wilboric

I really enjoy the conversations between John McWhorter and Glenn, always learn something and have much respect for both of them.
Almost good

2025-04-09

Canada157

John is amazing but Glenn is an idiot.
The Conservative Don Lemon

2024-04-02

Innov8tive

It’s bunch of cherry picked facts from a delusional character who lacks self respect and dignity.
Thank you.

2021-11-06

yale is nuts

For your restraint on Bill Maher. If Dyson is allowed to ramble on, people will eventually realize how regressive his ideas are. Kindest regards.