The Glenn Show

Glenn Loury

4.8 (2.3K)
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: Is the Era of U.S. Military Dominance Over?

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 Glenn 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.

3 min
4D AGO

April 2026 Q&A

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

42 min
APR 24

TGS Live: John McWhorter on the A-Hole Theory of Donald Trump

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

59 min
APR 17

TGS Live: Jeffrey Seaman, Robert J. Sampson & Ben Peterson on Crime, Community & Policing

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

1h 59m
APR 13

Ben Peterson – Governing the Social Commons

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

1h 9m
APR 3

TGS Live: How Far Have Arab Citizens of Israel Come?

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

1h 9m
MAR 29

March 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 In 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.

1 min
MAR 27

TGS Live: Glenn and John Disagree to Agree on the Iran War

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

59 min

See All (436)

Glenn Loury

Host
Scott Dolan

Guest
Aaron Cara

Guest
Robert J. Sampson

Guest
Ben Peterson

Guest
Robert Patton-Spruill

Guest
Robert Wright

Guest
John Mearsheimer

Guest
Michael Shermer

Guest

4.8

out of 5

2,260 Ratings

Fun hang

Mar 10

541red

Glen and John’s discussions are awesome. Really mean so much to me 🤙
John McWhorter is great

Apr 21

J2appl

John McWhorter continues to be a pleasure to listen to; he’s eminently knowledgeable, insightful, articulate, reasonable, humble, and reserved when appropriate. Perhaps Glenn Loury is a brilliant economist, I’m not qualified to have an opinion on that. However, I can’t justify spending more time listening to someone provide head scratching cover for a man who always was and is now more than ever dangerously unqualified for the office of the presidency. I have tried but what exactly am I learning from a person who can’t seem to figure out that this administration is a shockingly corrupt, lawless, incompetent, cruel disaster that has done irreparable damage to this country and the world? And to hear Glenn constantly accuse John of “TDS” for simply pointing out what is plainly obvious to most people went from laughable to tiresome and irritating very quickly. John, go talk to someone else.
Mearsheimer Russian propagandist

Feb 2

Bozena JP

Mr mearsheimer is a member of Valdai Club Russian think tank which meeting s are often visited by Putin what makes him completely discredited
No longer good

Feb 23

bescheueret

This was a great podcast until Glenn lost his mind on Israel. Now he is besotted with ta nehisi Coates, who previously Glenn effectively criticized. Now Glenn is about as thoughtful as Candice Owens. After a decade of loyalty, I am leaving. Glenn humiliated himself on Noam dwormans podcast and then insisted Noam withdraw the episode because Glenn looked like a clown on Israel. Pathetic. Now he desperately tries to find other clowns (like meersheimer) to invite on his podcast to misinform America. I’ve read Glenn’s autobiography. I previously respected him, but no longer.