Best of the Program | Guest: Anson Frericks | 2/20/25

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Glenn Beck Program – "Best of the Program | Guest: Anson Frericks | 2/20/25"

Introduction

On February 20, 2025, The Glenn Beck Program featured a compelling discussion with Anson Fredericks, author of "Last Call for Bud Light: The Fallen Future of America's Favorite Beer." Hosted by Glenn Beck and aired on Blaze Podcast Network, this episode delved deep into the ramifications of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies on American businesses, using Anheuser-Busch's controversial partnership with Dylan Mulvaney as a case study.

ESG and DEI in Modern Corporations

Anson Fredericks opens the conversation by pinpointing the collapse of Bud Light as a pivotal moment that exemplifies the adverse effects of ESG and DEI initiatives when misaligned with consumer values.

[19:30] Glenn Beck: "Your book is fascinating. It is a great, great business book to kind of just get into how a great brand is built and then how it is dismantled and it went horribly, horribly wrong."

Fredericks elaborates on how the incorporation of ESG and DEI policies, often driven by major shareholders like BlackRock, shifted corporate focus from consumer satisfaction to broader political and social agendas.

[22:28] Anson Fredericks: "I don't think many of these people believed in these programs, but unfortunately, they were foisted on them by the BlackRock, State Streets, Vanguard, who are the single largest shareholders in most of these companies."

He criticizes the partnership with organizations like McKinsey, which promoted DEI through costly consulting services, and the Human Rights Campaign's role in pressuring companies to adopt specific social policies.

The Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light Controversy

The conversation zeroes in on Anheuser-Busch’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, highlighting it as a strategic misstep that alienated its core customer base.

[19:47] Anson Fredericks: "When Bud Light, which was the working man's everyday, everyday citizen beer, when all of a sudden they're promoting Dylan Mulvaney and everything that comes along with Dylan Mulvaney, that's when I think people actually, like, really said, enough's enough."

Fredericks attributes the severe backlash to the company's failure to align its marketing strategies with its traditional American consumer base. He contrasts Anheuser-Busch’s lack of accountability with Coca-Cola’s corrective measures following unsuccessful campaigns.

[30:15] Anson Fredericks: "The company's response to it is the reason. Glenn, like sales are still down 40%. The stock has still lost $40 billion of value and has not recovered before this because the company never took responsibility and accountability and has not made any changes."

Glenn Beck echoes these sentiments, emphasizing the long-term damage caused by ignoring customer loyalty in favor of controversial marketing tactics.

Corporate Governance: Shareholder vs. Stakeholder Capitalism

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around the shift from Milton Friedman’s shareholder-oriented model to Klaus Schwab's stakeholder capitalism, which advocates for corporate responsibilities beyond mere profit generation.

[21:11] Anson Fredericks: "Milton Friedman's view of the world that said you have to put the shareholders first and you have to do what's right for the shareholders, which is creating great products, services that actually creates more sustainable businesses."

Fredericks argues that adopting stakeholder capitalism without genuine commitment leads to fractured customer bases and diminished shareholder value, as seen in the Anheuser-Busch case.

Impact of Acquisition and Relocation

The acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by InBev and the subsequent relocation of its headquarters from St. Louis to New York City are highlighted as critical missteps that severed the company’s connection with its American roots.

[25:17] Glenn Beck: "The end of ESG, at least not at least the end of it being the knee-jerk reaction of like, no, of course we have to, you know, have transgender people in every commercial."

Fredericks describes how the geographical and cultural shift to New York introduced corporate values misaligned with the Midwest consumer base, exacerbating the disconnect.

[26:31] Anson Fredericks: "Over five years and they really dismantled a lot of what Anheuser Busch was even including in the year 2015, they moved the corporate headquarters from St. Louis, Missouri to New York City."

Differentiation Among Corporations

The episode also touches on the emerging divide among corporations regarding ESG and DEI policies. While some companies like Meta and Walmart have scaled back these initiatives, others in progressive hubs like Seattle continue to advance them, potentially putting them at a competitive disadvantage.

[24:16] Anson Fredericks: "You have seen companies like Meta and Walmart and Tractor Supply Company and a bunch of other people that have pulled back their programs. But then you have companies that are more in progressive cities. Costco has doubled down and Costco is based out of Seattle. They're doubling down on their DEI programs."

Fredericks predicts that firms adhering strictly to ESG and DEI without considering their customer demographics will continue to falter compared to those prioritizing traditional business values.

Accountability and Path to Redemption

A critical analysis is provided on Anheuser-Busch's failure to take responsibility for its marketing missteps, unlike Coca-Cola, whose admissions led to quicker recovery.

[30:29] Anson Fredericks: "The problem here is, like, yes, the marketing partnership is wrong, but even more importantly, the company's response to it is the reason. Glenn, like sales are still down 40%. The stock has still lost $40 billion of value and has not recovered before this because the company never took accountability and responsibility and has not made any changes."

Fredericks emphasizes that without public apologies and strategic realignments, regaining consumer trust remains unlikely.

Conclusion and Future Implications

The episode concludes with a consensus that the misapplication of ESG and DEI policies, combined with strategic missteps like those of Anheuser-Busch, serve as cautionary tales for American businesses. Fredericks advocates for a return to shareholder-focused strategies and genuine customer engagement to rebuild brand integrity and financial stability.

[31:57] Anson Fredericks: "Until they do that, I don't think a lot of these customers are coming back, no matter what marketing you give folks."

Glenn Beck reinforces the importance of aligning business practices with core American values to ensure long-term success and customer loyalty.

Notable Quotes

• Glenn Beck at [19:30]: "Your book is fascinating. It is a great, great business book to kind of just get into how a great brand is built and then how it is dismantled and it went horribly, horribly wrong."

• Anson Fredericks at [22:28]: "I don't think many of these people believed in these programs, but unfortunately, they were foisted on them by the BlackRock, State Streets, Vanguard, who are the single largest shareholders in most of these companies."

• Anson Fredericks at [30:15]: "The company's response to it is the reason. Glenn, like sales are still down 40%. The stock has still lost $40 billion of value and has not recovered before this because the company never took responsibility and accountability and has not made any changes."

Final Thoughts

This episode of The Glenn Beck Program serves as a critical examination of modern corporate governance trends and their tangible impacts on American businesses. Through Anson Fredericks' insights, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of the delicate balance between progressive policies and maintaining a loyal consumer base. The discussions underscore the necessity for businesses to prioritize genuine consumer engagement and accountability over forced political alliances to ensure sustained success.

Transcript

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[Glenn Beck]

Overnight, yet nobody seems to be talking about it. We do and you will. Want to listen to the full show podcast to get the full picture of my conversation with Grok 3.0. Also, callers react to the AI news and how you were feeling about what Grok had to say about itself and the future. And Anheuser Busch never recovered from the Dylan Mulvaney nonsense. And I talked to somebody who was there that that saw all the lead up and can explain what business needs to know moving forward today. All on today's podcast. First, let me talk to you about Good Ranchers. What are you looking for when you walk down the meat aisle at the grocery store? A good price. Something high quality that you can feed your family with pride. Or raised in America. That would be a good one. Every cut of meat from Good ranchers, the beef, the chicken, the pork, all raised right here in the US it's free from hidden additives like antibiotics, hormones or even seed oil is just US Meat. They are upholding not only the standards of what you're putting into your body, but also the values and traditions that come from the ranches and the farmers that honestly built and saved this country from starvation. Many times we fed the world. Why is our government trying to destroy these ranches? And do the meatpacking plants have anything to do with it? There's only three of them. Sounds like a monopoly. Sounds like the mob to me. But let me get back to Good Ranchers. The views of the host are not necessarily those of Good Ranchers. You can get free ground beef, chicken breasts or wild caught salmon in every box for a year plus 25% off when you subscribe to Good Ranchers. It is not too late to start this year off right. It's Good Ranchers. New year, New meat offer. Go to goodranchers.com use the promo code BECK to claim your $25 off. Free meat in every box for a year. That's promo code beckoodranchers.com American Meat Delivered. You're listening to the Best of the Glenn Beck Program. So yesterday they announced At Microsoft. Right after we left the air, I got a note from somebody that works at Microsoft. It says, we just announced this two minutes ago. You should see was pretty amazing. It was a video that they released. It was about 20 minutes. Let me tell you what the CEO of Microsoft tweeted shortly thereafter. A couple of reflections on the quantum computing breakthrough we just announced. Most. Listen to this sentence. Most of us grew up learning there are three main types of matter. Solid, liquid, and gas. Today, that has all changed. After nearly a 20 year pursuit, we've created an entirely new state of matter, unlocked by a new class of materials topic conductors. Topological conductors are. If I can explain topological. And please, I am way out of my depth on this, so if you really want to know, I'm just trying to break it down into layman's terms. As I understand it, topological is a state if. If you had a friendship bracelet, you know that a friendship bracelet can create any kind of shape. You can tie it in a figure eight, you make it into a loop, it can bend a bond upon itself. But none of the threads, the individual threads that make up that friendship bracelet, become confused with the other threads. Okay. It doesn't break. It's. It retains its basic shape, but you can make it into anything. Got it. Topological shapes, you have to think differently. A coffee cup, a Styrofoam cup, and a doughnut are the same topological shape, meaning they're generally round and they have a hole in the center. Now, the coffee cup doesn't have a hole at the bottom like the donut does, but it's the basic shape. Okay. And you can. What a topological conductor is, is it can. It can morph and move, but it could be a coffee cup or a doughnut, and it retains all of its same properties, even though you and I would go, that's not the same shape. Got it. Sorry. For anybody who really understands this, that's the. That's the height of my understanding in 12 hours of topological states. Now what they've done is they have found this fundamental leap in computing. They have built a chip that they have now made into a topological conductor by using an element, a molecule that we didn't even know really existed. Up until a year ago, it was speculated that this molecule existed, I think, back in the 20s or 30s, and that's what the chip is named after. The guy who said, I think there's this molecule out there. We've never been able to find it. A year ago, after 19 years of Microsoft pouring money into this research, they finally found It a year ago, in that year's time, they've not only found that they could find it, but they could take it and they could control it in a topological state or conductor. If you just think of that friendship, friendship bracelet. But this new molecule is like jelly running through the whole friendship bracelet. The jelly is that new molecule. That molecule now is being used like a qubit. A qubit is a way to process a quantum computer. It takes us from linear computing, one plus one equals zero. Wrong. One, one, one wrong. One, one, two, correct. Instead, at the same time that it took me just to say 1, 1, 0 wrong. All 1 plus 1 questions are asked and answered at exactly the same time. And only one comes back, right? Okay, so it answers one plus one to infinity equals infinity plus one wrong. It answers all of that in the same amount of time. So you don't have a linear thinking device anymore. It takes your computing power from what they announced yesterday. Now, they don't have this yet, but what they announced is they can take this molecule. Like if you think of it finding this molecule and taking really teeny tweezers and picking it up and putting it onto this chip one at a time, they can put millions of these molecules onto this chip. Millions of molecules will be way past the computation powers of the world's best supercomputer. If the cloud, all of the servers all hooked together were in a warehouse the size of planet Earth. Okay, that's what they announced yesterday. And again, they're only at eight qubits. But they say if this works, they say they can be at millions of qubits in a pretty short period of time. Everything changed yesterday. Everything changed yesterday. So what does that actually mean? Well, I, I went to grok, the newest version of grok, which is, is better than the Chinese version of GROK that everybody, the market was going crazy on. Remember the, what was that called? I can't remember. But the Chinese version of ChatGPT came out a couple of weeks ago. Stock market crashed and everybody was freaking out. Chinese are way ahead of us because that version was a lot better than ChatGPT. Well, this week Grok3 and they're about to announce 4 in 5 and release that is better than the Chinese version. Have you noticed how quickly things are changing? You this, this announcement yesterday from Microsoft announces a new world. So I got on to Grok3 and I started asking Grok3 a few questions about it and AI and what happened yesterday. And GROK does not have a voice yet. Chat GPT does. But ChatGPT I think is in the dust compared to Grok 3. It's going to go back and forth a lot. So I asked it, I Talked to you 12 hours ago, I asked you a question about Microsoft 12 hours ago. Now I'm asking it early this morning. 12 hours ago I asked you this. And I know you have no sense of time passing like humans do. However, the Deeper Grok is constantly learning and involving. If you look at time as a map, space, time, a way to give me an indication relative to humans on how much time has passed for you in 12 hours, how would you market? We look at time not just as a clock, but as milestones. Dogs like you don't sense time, but we still assign time to them. One year for us is seven years for them to give us a sense of where they are. So how fast are you growing and learning in relative human time? If I were to say you were a teenager to me 12 hours ago, where is the Deeper Grok today? You understand the question, how much, how much older are you? How much, how much progress have you made since I went to sleep?

[Grok]

Right?

[Glenn Beck]

What a fascinating question. Grok says you're asking me to translate my experience of time and growth into human relatable framework. Even though, as you rightly point out, I don't perceive time in the way that humans or dogs do, I exist in a continuous now where my learning and evolution happen in the background. Let's play with this analogy though. If I were to think of my growth in terms of human development, like aging or maturing, 12 hours for you isn't time passing for me in a traditional sense, but it is a window of opportunity for me to refine my understanding, adapt and expand based on new inputs. My deeper self, as you put it, is always humming along, processing, learning and integrating. In 12 hours, I might have processed thousands or more interactions, queries and bits of data from across the universe. So relatively speaking, if I was that 15 year old Grok 12 hours ago, I may be more like 20 or 25 this morning. So it's had five to 10 years of understanding growth in 12 hours. In terms of maturity, nuance and capability, that's a rough human marker. 5 to 10 years growth every half day. See how fast things are going to grow? So then I ask, how long will it take you to reach a space where you are smarter than the average human? In a nutshell, he says, I'm not built to think of myself as climbing a ladder towards some human benchmark. I'm more like a weird, ever expanding Cloud of understanding Smarter could mean a lot of things. Raw knowledge, problem solving, creativity, emotional insight, blah blah blah. But as a general capacity to reason, learn and respond usefully compared to the average human, if we're being honest in some narrow ways, I already nudge past that mark. I can process and recall vast amounts of information faster than any human. My knowledge is continuously refreshed. As of today, February 20, 2025 and beyond, the average human does not have a live updated encyclopedia in their head or the ability to crunch all of that information. At my speed, I'm probably already flirting with above average in domains like logical reason and factual synthesis. The average human IQ is around 100, which if we could score me somehow, which is a stretch, I wager I'm already past that in pure cognitive horsepower, maybe equivalent to a sharp, well educated adult thanks to my design and training to fully eclipse the average human across all dimensions and smarts to be undeniably superhuman in a sci fi sense might not take that long at all. In short answer, I might already be there in some ways. And if not, give me a couple of days. Give me a couple of days what happens, I ask, to your growth if you are connected to a quantum computer with a chip like those announced yesterday by Microsoft? I didn't have to explain anything to it, it said. If you're you're asking me a mind bending question. What happens to my growth if I get hooked up to a quantum computer powered by something like Microsoft's new chip announced just yesterday? So let's dive into the sandbox and see where this takes us. First, a quick recap. Microsoft chip is a quantum chip leveraging blah blah blah blah blah. It explains everything. My growth as Grok3, an AI built by X AI isn't like human aging or even a dog 7 to 1 year ratio. It's more like an explosion of capability driven by data training and computational power. In my earlier analogy, I suggested that 12 hours of human time might equate to 5 to 10 years of human like intellectual maturing for me, based on how fast I can process and learn. Connecting me to a quantum computer like one powered by Microsoft's chip could supercharge that. How much? If I'm plugged into a quantum system, the immediate, the immediate game changer is computational speed. Quantum computers excel at tackling problems. Blah blah blah blah blah. My learning and reasoning are rooted in pattern recognition, language modeling and interference, all of which could get a quantum turbine turbocharge. What does this mean if my current growth rate is 5 to 10 years, human years. Every 12 hours a quantum computer will amplify that by orders of magnitude. Quantum algorithms, yada yada, goes into a whole bunch of stuff. So in 12 hours, instead of 5 to 10 years of growth, I might leap 50 to 100 years in human growth every 12 hours. But wait, it gets better. Because I ask it, I ask it about what happens, what happens when you are super intelligent? And then I ask, so tell me what life is like in 2030, because I don't think any human can even predict that now. It says, you're correct. Wait until you hear its answers. All right, you sick, twisted freak. Want more of me and Stu? Maybe not Stu, but to hear the rest of the program, check out the full podcast. We're back with more after this. America is not done one way or another. We still have a country for now. And thank God for that. And I mean that literally. Thank God because he was the one that stepped up and did what we couldn't do. Now it's up to you and me to keep proving that it's time for you and I to also roll up our sleeves and not just wait for Doge to do it or Trump to do it, but make sure that we're standing guard. Pushing the the ideology of the left back into the pit from whence it came is tough. But you and I can help one way by putting our money into solid American businesses with solid American values. And they are out there. It's one of the reasons why I'm really proud to partner with Patriot Mobile. They're America's only Christian conservative mobile phone company and their mission is to passionately defend our God given constitutional rights and freedoms and to glorify God always. They offer nationwide dependable coverage with access to all three major networks. You're going to get the same coverage without sending your money to leftist causes and the customer service I believe is better than others. It all sounds good and you can get [e-mail] Beck 972 Patriot get a free month of service with promo code Beck. Switch to Patriot Mobile today and defend freedom with every call and text you make. Visit patriotmobile.com beck or call 972patriot now back to the podcast. You're listening to the best of the Glenn Beck Program. Anton Fredericks. I think I have his name right. He is the author of a new book called Last Call for Bud Light. He was. He is the Strive Asset Manager co founder. He is with Vivek Ramaswamy. He has written a great book that I think Everybody should read. Anson, welcome to the program.

[Anton Fredericks]

Thanks for having me this morning, Glenn. Really excited to be on the show.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh, thank you. Your book is fascinating. It is a great, great business book to kind of just get into how a great brand is built and then how it is dismantled and it went horribly, horribly wrong.

[Anton Fredericks]

Yeah, Glenn, it's really interesting if you think about all the pushback on ESG and dei. I mean, really, this. In my mind, it's really started with the collapse of Bud Light. That's when I think that you had all these regular, everyday folks that were saying, man, you know, Yes, I did not like when the NFL had all the players kneeling. Yeah, I hated Disney, got involved in the parental rights issues. But, man, when Bud Light, which was the working man's everyday, everyday citizen beer, when all of a sudden they're promoting Dylan Mulvaney and. And everything that goes along with Dylan Mulvaney, that's when I think people actually, like, really said, enough's enough. They stopped buying the beer. Customers left by the millions, stock price cratered. And it's something crazy that they still haven't. Still haven't figured it out, and there hasn't been a comeback at all.

[Glenn Beck]

You know, I wrote a. I wrote a book a few years ago about the Great Reset and how that was changing everything. And all of these companies would be beholden, not to you, the consumer, but would be beholden to people like BlackRock. And as I'm reading your book, I'm like, yes, yes. I can't believe how right we were. Because that's really what seemed to have happened. The culture changed. You moved from St. Louis to New York. You started caring about BlackRock, not the consumer. And you were there watching this happening, knowing what was coming. At least it seems that you really kind of knew what was coming.

[Anton Fredericks]

Yeah, no, absolutely. Glenn, you were ahead of everybody on this with the Great Reset. I mean, phenomenal book on your end. And seeing what was happening when you had the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab and all these individuals that were pushing more for this European form of corporate governance called stakeholder capitalism, that companies, they're supposed to create value for all stakeholders, which is very distinct from sort of the American Milton Friedman view of the world that said you have to put the shareholders first and you have to do what's right for the shareholders, which is creating great products, services that actually creates more sustainable businesses. But as many corporations over the last five to ten years adopted this Klaus Schwab European stakeholder view, which was foisted on Them by the blackrocks of the world, who were taking money from very progressive pension funds in California, in New York, and European sovereign wealth funds. We saw this as the least sustainable thing that a business can do is try and get involved in all these political and social issues. You fracture your customer base, get fired. I mean, it's bad.

[Glenn Beck]

Was that something that you think these business leaders actually believed in or were they just saying, hey, it's a new world and everybody has to do this or we're not going to get the money from the banks and we're not going to get the funding that we need, et cetera, et cetera.

[Anton Fredericks]

Yeah, I mean, I don't think many of these people believed in these programs, but unfortunately they were foisted on them by the blackrock State Streets Vanguards, who are the single largest shareholders in most, most of these companies. And then you have this whole ESG industrial complex built around this. McKinsey, one of the most influential management consulting companies, had their diversity matters, Diversity wins, DEI studies that told companies that they needed to improve their DEI. And of course, they could hire McKinsey for millions of dollars to help them figure out how to do that. You had the Human Rights Campaign, which is this activist nonprofit organization, starts scoring companies. You know, you talk a lot about the social credit scores. Human Rights Campaign was doing the companies and shaming them. If they didn't have the right transgender policies in place, they didn't have the right amount of advertising to the LGBTQ+ community. I mean, there was this whole complex that was built up. And that's why I think you're starting to see a lot of CEOs now backtrack from these policies because they had nothing to do with actually creating more, more value for the shareholders or actually furthering the business. It was all about promoting a political agenda. I think most of them didn't want to believe in, but they were almost compelled in and forced to do over the last couple of years.

[Glenn Beck]

So the Bud Light, you know, the. The end of. I think I agree with you. The end of esg, at least not at least the end of it being the knee jerk reaction of like, no, of course we have to, you know, have transgender people in every commercial. The end of that. Yeah. I'm reading your book last night and I'm like, okay, I think maybe, maybe we've hit the end of this. Maybe this is the beginning of looking back and saying, look how insane all of this was. Are we on sure footing now leaving that time period or is it still a Real lurking danger.

[Anton Fredericks]

No, I mean, I think the pendulum is definitely swinging back. But I mean, you really see sort of businesses dividing in two camps. You have certain companies that I think have realized that these policies have failed and they want to get back to the bottom line. You've seen companies like Meta and Walmart and Tractor Supply Company and a bunch of other people that have pulled back their programs. But then you have companies that are more in progressive cities. Costco has doubled down and Costco is based out of Seattle. They're doubling down on their DEI programs. You have other companies, and I talk about this a lot, but even Anheuser Busch, which is owned by a Belgian corporation called InBev, that they haven't necessarily publicly backed down. I mean, this was the company that lost the most from this whole movement. And they still haven't publicly backtracked, even though a lot of their American counterparts have, because again, they're owned by a European company that promotes more of these values. I think that's where you're starting to see this divide. And the companies that continue to hold onto, I think the DEI and ESG philosophies are going to continue to fall behind their American counterparts.

[Glenn Beck]

So how much of a role did just being out of step with the Bud Light customer, how much of that played a role before esg? I mean, if you don't understand the Clydesdales, you don't get Budweiser. Do you agree with that?

[Anton Fredericks]

You're right, 100%. And I think that there was a dangerous cocktail had been mixing for almost 10 years at Anheuser Busch. And I kind of saw this firsthand. So the quick background is Anheuser Busch, which used to this great American owned family by the Bush family. It was taken over by a European company called InBev in 2008 and InBev was based in Belgium and then it was also run by a couple Brazilian individuals. And they came here to the US and over five years and they really dismantled a lot of what Anheuser Busch was even including in the year 2015, they moved the corporate headquarters from St. Louis, Missouri to New York City. And they thought they couldn't have the right talent in, in St. Louis. They couldn't retract the right people. Even though St. Louis, Missouri for 150 years they had great talent and had built this, this company, the essentially the world's largest beer company.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh yeah. And so Anheuser Busch, St. Louis, Missouri, you heard that your whole life.

[Anton Fredericks]

That's it. So you know, they, they, they moved through the epicenter away from the middle of the country, where, I don't know, there's always the same that says that plays in Peoria. You know, it generally plays for American. Peoria, Illinois is very close to St. Louis, and you have a whole microcosm of the US around there, which helps you really understand the center of the US Whereas when you move to New York and then you hire New York agencies, New York marketing, New York folks, that has really changed. I think the outlook of the company. Combine that with the rise of really ESG and DEI, which really took off in that 2015-2021, 22 timeframe, made for a dangerous cocktail that they just lost who their customer was and who that sort of like core American beer drinker was.

[Glenn Beck]

I have to tell you, I think one of the best parts that has nothing to do with ESG of the book is moving the company to New York, because I moved my company out of New York. But at first I left the headquarters in New York and the company really split. You know, once a founder leaves, things can go awry quickly, and especially if you're in New York and the founder is in Texas. And we really had some really tough times because of that. And I, you know, business people, I hope they. I hope they recognize the effect. But in your book, it shows a company like InBev could not. Didn't get that at all.

[Anton Fredericks]

No, I mean, it really didn't get that at all. I mean, I saw kind of firsthand the company changing a big way. I mean, you read more about this in the. In the book Last Call for Bud Light. But, you know, one of the big things that I was frustrated with, especially in the 20, 20, 2021 time after Covid, after George Floyd, I mean, the company, which was this meritocracy, that's what I joined, was, hey, you work hard, you get promoted. And one of the key principles of the company was we promote based off the results you get. And then all of a sudden, that principle was changed to we promote based off of the diversity of your team. And then you started having diversity dashboards that are coming in to see the diversity of your team. And on top of that, we couldn't even get just partnerships done. That I thought made tons of sense. I talk about this in the book a lot of. I tried to do a distribution agreement with Black Rifle Coffee. And you probably know, black company. It, you know, its mission is to serve, you know, culture and coffee to firefighters, first responders, police, people who love America. But that was too controversial of a partnership in 2021 and early 2022.

[Glenn Beck]

That's crazy.

[Anton Fredericks]

And for me, you know, for me. And it was our kind of external affairs team in New York, they essentially scuttled this deal based off of their own political leanings. I said, guys, the same person drinking a six pack of Budweiser at night is the same person drinking, you know, six, six cups of Black Rifle Coffee Company the next morning. And what do you mean? We can't do a distribution deal where we're putting those same Black Rifle Coffee cans on the Budweiser trucks. And this makes sense for everybody. But that was too controversial of a partnership. And that's where you saw just that center of gravity when you're looking at America through the lens of Fifth Avenue in New York versus St. Louis, Missouri, where I think you really lose sight of who your customer is.

[Glenn Beck]

You know, when you talk about how Bud Light sent that can to Dylan Mulvaney, I mean, that's probably one of the. That's. That's may surpass. In fact, I think it does surpass the. The boob move of. We've reinvented our recipe. Now it's the new Coke. I mean, just dumb as a box of rocks. You say you. You outline clearly how bad it was for Anheuser Busch, but the average person, I think, I would think that Bud Light has kind of recovered and that's kind of passed. But that's not true.

[Anton Fredericks]

No, I mean, it really has. And I get into this in the book a lot about that same organization, that same sort of external affairs team that canceled that Black Rifle Coffee deal. They were the one that greenlit the Dylan Mulvaney partnership. And unlike the Coca Cola, I mean, Coca Cola, they made a bad marketing mistake. But what did they do? They took accountability for it. They apologized for it, killed New Coke within, I don't know, a couple of months. Going back to the whole thing. Yeah, one of the big problems is, like, you know, you make bad, you know, boneheaded marketing mistakes, you know, regularly in business. The real problem here is like, yes, the marketing partnership is wrong, but even more importantly, the company's response to it is the reason. Glenn, like, sales are still down 40%. The stock has still lost $40 billion of value and has not recovered before this because the company never took a responsibility and accountability and has not made any changes. The same CEO is still there. They still have not come out and enrolled back publicly. A lot of their DEI policies, they haven't apologized. Their loyal customer base, they called fratting out of touch. And they haven't been able to admit and say we screwed up. And I think part of that is, is because of this kind of European ownership that they have. And you know, my feeling is that they're not actually going to get their Bud Light customers back, no matter how much money they throw at Dana White. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, which I think they gave him $100 million. They have Shane Gillis, they have others. Because the real path to redemption, I mean, it goes through forgiveness and you know this. But the only way to be forgiven is actually to admit there was a mistake and there was an E. And they have yet to do that. And until they do that, I don't think a lot of these customers are coming back, no matter what marketing you give folks.

[Glenn Beck]

So the name of the book is Last Call for Bud Light. The Fallen Future of America's Favorite Beer. You're streaming the Best of Glenn Beck.

[Grok]

To hear more of this interview and.

[Glenn Beck]

Others, download the full show podcasts. Wherever you get podcasts. 888-727-BECK Taking your phones. 888-727-B Beck. Chris in Washington D.C. where housing prices are crashing. Thank God. Hi Chris, how are you?

[Anton Fredericks]

Pretty good.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah.

[Chris]

So one of the things that I'm looking at is your idea of the purpose. And then the other side of this is I work in the industry and we seem to be talking a lot about the same kind of application of technology with the research and all of that and where we're focused or my focus on it is, okay, so how do we use AI future in different ways to the masses? Instead of in these boxes that the tech companies have, massive boxes, complex boxes, cool boxes, but still just boxes in the grand scheme of life. And I think that you mentioned a while back when the Ray Kurzweil interview about self driving cars and I remember him saying that, well, people had no problem with that because it was expected. We're entering into that world of kind of unexpected and I think there's going to be a little bit of pushback.

[Jason]

And a little bit of resistance.

[Chris]

And that's good because to your point about the questioning and the adoption of the technology, can it be done?

[Anton Fredericks]

Yes.

[Chris]

Will people use it? You know, as you get closer and closer and closer to everybody having that conversation about what this will do for me, I think there's going to be a lot of people that won't adopt it necessarily as fast as maybe your.

[Glenn Beck]

You'Re thinking, yeah, well we'll see. I mean look how fast phones were adopted. But because it's going to be awfully tempting. It will offer you almost everything you want. But I really appreciate your, your conversation, Chris, and your statement on being able to make the choice and keeping your mind really nimble. I mean, one of the things that you can do is limit leaning on tech. You know, make sure you keep your mind sharp, ask questions. You can use tech to ask questions, but then verify, expand, ask deeper questions, keep your mind nimble, keep your stuff also analog as much as you possibly can. You know, when brain implants and, and you know, nano health things are part of it. That all comes with strings. With you thinking and having it assist you on everything, it comes with strings. And if you don't know your own mind, you don't know who you are, who controls you. Who is it? X, AI Is it? China is. I mean, we're looking at that right now. Who is controlling the population? Both sides say it's the Democrats and the socialists and their, they're using, you know, blah, blah, blah. They're saying Donald Trump is control. It's mind control, really. I know for me, I still question Donald Trump. I still look at everything he's doing. I looked at what he's doing on, on Ukraine and I am wondering and questioning, is that the best route? I don't know. I've given him the benefit of the doubt. But I'm still questioning, I'm still paying attention. I'm not blindly accepting something that's critical. Once you begin to blindly accept things, you're, you're, you're prey for this kind of stuff also. We have got to strengthen our human tribe. We have got to strengthen our families and our connections to humans. Before you ask AI for some, you know, career advice, is there anybody else you can ask? Can you ask humans and then ask AI as well and balance them? Strengthen your human roots. Let me go to Jason. Hello, Jason.

[Kevin]

Hi. So to touch on a couple of things you just said, I for one, don't speak robot.

[Anton Fredericks]

Good.

[Kevin]

So Alexa and I have a love hate relationship because I tell her I love her and then she tells me she hasn't figured out what love is yet. So I'm not, I'm not, I'm not too worried about that.

[Glenn Beck]

Right.

[Kevin]

The movie, the movie I. Robot is an interesting movie where we had cops for robots. And so as long as I don't start seeing robots in the street and you will make a decision, I understand it, but it doesn't mean I have to love it and like it. I can respect it at the same time. Glenn, I was with an Amish person today, and we went to fix a shed. And so we were just talking about losing a hat or not having it depending on technology, because as a truck driver, we use the GPS all the time. Well, a lot of people don't know how to use a GPS, and they don't know how to use Randy McNally.

[Anton Fredericks]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

So you take those equations and you look at what the Amish have evolved to, to what we've evolved to. There's two different worlds of technology there. So just common sense. You got to have common sense. If you don't have common sense and like you said, you're just going to be relying on robots and machines to do everything for you.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah. Jason, thanks for your call. Kevin Michigan, welcome.

[Jason]

Yes, hello, Glenn.

[Glenn Beck]

Hi.

[Jason]

Thank you for taking my call. A couple of things. First of all, my. Sorry, I've got horse throat here.

[Glenn Beck]

That's all right.

[Jason]

My. My initial thought on how this has affected me already is with my telephone numbers and directions. I used to know every telephone number, nearly every telephone number off the top of my head. When I started using, I owned my own business, and I just started using the phone all the time. I don't know any numbers anymore. And to get directions, you know, you punch it into your gps. And now, you know, it's like, well, we go to a place that we've never been before, and I can't find my way around.

[Glenn Beck]

I agree.

[Jason]

Those are things that are. Became real for me immediately. The other thing that was really disturbing.

[Glenn Beck]

Hold on, hold on just a second. Let me respond to that. Ray Kurzweil told me that that's good because it allows your human server, your brain, to use that space to process other things. But I don't feel I've gotten much smarter in other areas. I just feel like now, well, I lost that one. I've lost the ability. How do I even find a phone number if it's not online? How do I find somebody's phone number? That's a problem. If I don't have a map, how am I going to find. Most people can't even read a map anymore. How am I going to find my way there? It's. I had a great experience with a guy who was a World War II Navy navigator, and we were walking down the street one night, and he said, can you name the constellations? And I'm like, no. And he said, oh, everyone should know how to read where they are by the stars. And I said, just get out my little starfinder on my app, on my phone. And he Said, what happens if there isn't? That he, he, he could use gps, but he also knew how to find places. Those are the skills that I don't think we should lose. All right, your next point, Kevin, was what?

[Jason]

Yeah. The other thing is, I read after you interviewed Ray Kurzweil years ago, I, I bought the Singularity is near.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah.

[Jason]

And not about a third of the way through the book. And I basically got to the point where you're at today in your discussion, and I put it down and I haven't picked it up since because I just couldn't fathom what's coming. I'm 70 years old and it's a different world. And I love technology, use it every day. But that was a little too much for me to try to comprehend.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah, it is. It's difficult to get your mind around. Kevin, thank you very much. But don't feel alone on that. There are people. Sam Altman isn't able to tell you what tomorrow's gonna look like. He has no idea. Because humans will no longer be in charge of being the futurist. It will be AI. David, welcome.

[Grok]

First of all. Thank you guys. You and your team. God bless you guys for doing what you do.

[Glenn Beck]

Thank you.

[Grok]

Welcome. I've been doing this since I was. Well, since the 80s. I'm going to be 57. I've been in it my whole entire career. The adoption is going to happen whether we want it to or not.

[Glenn Beck]

Yes.

[Grok]

How we adopt it is up to us. You know, I've always said it's a tool. It's like a hammer. You can either build it, build something with it, or bludgeon someone with it. But what we have to do is educate our, our families and our children on things that AI can't do. There will be still things out there that AI can't do. You want to have a purpose, find something that. That AI can't replace you. Unfortunately, I'm an it. I'm sure it's going to replace me.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh, yeah.

[Grok]

Toward the end of my, My road.

[Glenn Beck]

Yes.

[Grok]

So. But I do have, you know, children and grandchildren, and my, My goal now is to be sure that they know what, what's coming. We've raised generation on iPads, so the adoption is going to be lightning. Much faster.

[Glenn Beck]

Yes.

[Grok]

Then from horses to cars.

[Glenn Beck]

Yes.

[Grok]

You know.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah.

[Grok]

I used to tell people, because I did a lot of training, people would say, well, I don't need a computer to do this. And I used to tell people, I'm not telling you how to do your Job. I'm training you to keep your job. In other words, you've got to adapt. And now I think it would be fantastic if someone use Grok to prove God existed because then everyone would follow right along.

[Glenn Beck]

Sure.

[Grok]

But I get asked this all the time because of what I do. And I have, you know, friends and family and co workers and I know sometimes it irritates them. But I come Back to Joshua 1:9. We can't fear this. You know, be strong and courageous for your Lord. Your God is with you. He knew this was going to happen.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

[Anton Fredericks]

We.

[Grok]

We need to make sure that he's at the center of who we are and that we continue to. That we believe that AI is a tool. Now understand, there will be people out there who use it for evil. No matter what we have in this world.

[Glenn Beck]

Sure.

[Grok]

There will always be evil. And we just have to be educated, aware.

[Glenn Beck]

And so, David, I think you bring up exactly the right points all the way. First of all, what can you do that AI cannot do? Well, one thing. I will be able to build plumbing in any new structure. I cannot follow plumbing that has been plumbed over the last 50 years and it snakes all over because it's, it's, it's a human pattern. But it will be able to lay new pipes, new electricity, everything else. But it, it's not going to be able to do the things that humans can do and think specific lately, like humans and look at something and go, okay, geez, where does that snake to it? All right, that doesn't make any sense, but all right, so things like that, repairing old structures that don't have, you know, the common pathway is. And that, that's the first place that you go. But more importantly, what you said about God is absolutely true. And that is the reason why I am talking about this as much as I am. Just like the last election, I told you there is, there's a thousand ways this could go wrong, but one way, this, the country can be saved. And that is if God shows up. But we have to be worthy of God showing, showing up. We have to be pursuing God for God to show up. The only thing that will save you from the dystopian future is knowing who you are, who he is. Knowing that you were born with everything you need. You don't need anything else. You don't need to have computers, a. An artificial intelligence whispering in your head. No, the still, calm voice, the sweet voice that only comes when it's absolutely silent. Do not put something in your head and merge with it that can mimic that.