Loading summary
A
There's a lot on today's Best of podcast. You should hear the whole show if you have time, because I talk about the greatest American generation and why I believe Generation Alpha is the rebirth of that generation. And I got the facts to back it up. Also, I saw Disclosure Day yesterday. So if you're going into the weekend, you're thinking about watching it, there's some things that you should watch for. It's really good. You should go see it. But there's some things that I point out that you really need to watch for because I think it's an important movie to at least. It's at least a fun movie to have a conversation about. Let's put it down. Also, Bill Cloud joins us on today's Best Of. And he's talking about Alexander Dugin, Russia, Iran, which, by the way, is Friday, which means, hey, we're going to have a deal by the end of the week. Well, I'll talk about that Monday. Or not. We know it's Friday when we say that there's a deal with Iran. But he talks about the deal between Russia and Iran and why it is so dangerous and the. The possibility that we're living in the end of days. And also rats. Well, actually, m, there were 25 studies done on mice back in the 50s and 60s, and it tells us everything we need to know about what's wrong with our society, what is happening to all of us. Wait until you hear this. I found this, dug this study up and started reading about it. I'm like, oh, my gosh, that's worth knowing. Why didn't anybody share this with us? It is so important. All on today's podcast. Father's Day is coming up. It's right around the corner. And every year we all go through exactly the same exercise. We tried to find a gift for dad. Even though most dads spend their whole lives, you know, insisting they don't need anything, the best gifts aren't usually the flashiest ones. They're the things that a man reaches for time and time again, over and over, the things that become part of his daily life because they're well made, they're comfortable, and they're built to last. That's why I think American Giant makes so much sense for Father's Day. They make premium hoodies, they great T shirts, sweatshirts, everyday essentials made right here in the United States. Their cotton is grown here. Their clothes are cut and sewn here. And the people making them are American workers who still believe in doing the job the right way. The result is clothing that feels great the first time that you put it on, and it keeps feeling great years later. Buy American. This Father's Day, it's american-giant.com Glenn. American-giant.com Glenn. Use my name, get 20% off your first purchase. American-Giant.com Glenn. Hello, America. You know, we've been fighting every single day. We push back against the lies, the censorship, the nonsense of the mainstream media that they're trying to feed you. We work tirelessly to bring you the unfiltered truth because you deserve it. But to keep this fight going, we need you right now. Would you take a moment and rate and review the Glenn Beck podcast? Give us five stars and leave a comment. Because every single review helps us break through Big Tech's algorithm and to reach more Americans who need to hear the truth. This isn't a podcast. This is a movement. And you're part of it, a big part of it. So if you believe in what we're doing, you want more people to wake up, help us push this podcast to the top rate, review, share. Together, we'll make a difference. And thanks for standing with us. Now, let's get to work.
B
You're listening to the best of the Glenn Beck Program.
A
So I want to talk to you about the problem with our society and the opportunity for our society. You know, what is the one thing you. You hate the most about what's happening in our society? I despise the fact that everybody is a whiner. Everybody's like, oh, it's a hard. I'm never gonna make it. And I know I sound like the old guy, get off my lawn. I know, I get it. But hear me out for a second. Every trouble that I've ever had in my life, every trouble, everything that my father, I mean, he was so wise, my father, you know, taught me, you sit around and whine about it, or you make the adjustments you need to make and then find a way to learn from that and grow from that and use that. Okay? I think that's the secret of life. You can either let life crush you or. Or you can allow it to motivate you and go, you know what? No, no, no. I'm getting back up again. I'm not staying down. Nobody, nobody can put their thumb and keep me down. And when you have that, it's really hard, especially when you're young. But once you start doing it, once you really start, you have to do it smartly. You can't just be a bully about it. But once you really figure this out. Everything can change. Everything can change. And I want to show you why this hardship that everybody's going through is good. It doesn't mean. Look, I remember I was absolutely flat broke. I was divorced, I was a recovering alcoholic, barely holding on, nobody wanted to work with me. You know, you name it, I had screwed it up in my life, okay? And I would never want to go back to those days. However, in retrospect, that's the biggest growth I ever had. That those days are what changed me and made me into the man I am today. Without those days, I don't know who I'd be, but I wouldn't be sitting here with you. So let me. Let me prove this out with science, okay? 1968, a scientist get comes out and he's decided he's going to make utopia. Not for people, but for mice and rats, okay? His name was John Calhoun. He worked at the National Institute of Mental Health. And he wanted to answer the question that I think should interest all of us. What happens with a society when every problem is removed, when everything becomes easy? IG I can't imagine why that's relevant today in America. Everybody has it so easy and we're all complaining. Oh, it's so hard. Oh my gosh. Go somewhere else in the world and look. Okay, sorry. He just became the old man yelling at the sky again. So he builds this paradise. It's a mouse world. Unlimited food, water that never runs out, no predators, no disease, perfect temperature, endless nesting material, Every danger, every want, every stressor that a mouse has ever faced in the history of mice completely gone. The only thing he gives them besides protection was each other and time. Now he called his last experiment universe 25. And the number matters because it was the 25th time he had built one of these little gardens of ease and Edens for mice and rats, okay? And it ended the same way. Verse 24 already told him where the story goes, but he thought, I'm going to try it one more time. He drops in eight mice, four males, four females, and at first it's mouse heaven, okay? They breed. The population doubled about every 55 days. And he called this the strive period. It was heaven. And it was working exactly as denied or designed. But by day 300 or 315, something like that, there were more than 600 mice thriving in a space that he had built to hold nearly 4,000. So they have plenty of room to spare. They have absolutely everything. It is mouse heaven. That's the peak. Something starts to go horribly wrong. Growth slows for no physical reason. There is. They can't figure it out all of a sudden. And in every, all 25 experiments, exactly the same thing, okay? This is the thing that none of the researchers counted on. There was no territory to defend. There's no predator to escape. There's no scarcity to overcome. There's no role left for a mouse to fill. And a creature with no role, no struggle, no purpose starts to come apart. The males who had nothing to fight for either turned violent or vanished into apathy. Let me ask you something. What's happening in our society right now? The males, the young males that have nothing to fight for, they either are turning violent or apathetic. Then you have the moms. The mothers stopped mothering. They abandoned their young. They began attacking their young. They forgot about their children. The whole intricate social order that made a mouse, a mouse completely dissolved in 25 identical experiments. 25 times. It happens at the same time. Then came the most haunting part of the experiment. I think there's a new kind of mouse that appears. This mouse didn't fight, they didn't court, they didn't mate, they didn't compete, they wouldn't engage with others at all. They, they ate, they slept, they groomed themselves endlessly, perfectly. I mean, their coats were sleek and flawless. They were unscarred because they'd never been in a single struggle before. And they started paying attention to what they look like and grooming themselves. By every outward measure, they were the healthiest, best looking mice in the universe. Calhoun, in the experiment, after 25 times of this happening, called them the beautiful ones. He called them the beautiful Ones, but as he also noted, they were already dead inside. They were alive, they were fed, they were immaculate and utterly and completely empty inside. So what happens? Population. This thing is built, I think it said for 4000. Population peaks at 2200, barely half of what the space could hold. And then the population begins to decline. May I ask what's happening with our birth rate? What is happening with our population? On day 600, in a world still overflowing with food, the last baby is born. Day 600. After that, nothing. Not one more mouse, not ever. And on day 920, the last mice, the last of the mice dies in Paradise. And Universe 25 becomes the 25th tomb. And in that tomb, the bowls are still full, the water is still flowing. There's plenty of, there's plenty of stuff to make a home for yourself. Calhoun, in the experiments, as it starts to fall apart, he pulls out some of the beautiful Ones. And he puts them in a fresh, clean world with normal mice to see if they could come back. They couldn't. They had forgotten how to be mice. There was never any recovery of any of the mice. When he wrote the paper and he's writing about paradise, he didn't title the paper Paradise. He titled it Death Squared. And the reason why he titled that is because there are two deaths. The first death that comes first. Can you guess? Death of the spirit. The death of the body comes later. It just makes the death of the spirit official. I'm tired of people not being honest. I'm tired of people playing games. I'm tired of people trying to win. I'm tired of people, you know, trying to position them, whatever. So let me be honest with you the way I want people to be honest with me. Because the Internet has turned us into something we aren't. Ease is not something we should want. Scientists argue about what this mouse utopia really proved. It wasn't overcrowding. The place was half empty when the rot set in. Mice are not men. You can't draw a straight, clean line from a rodent pen to a human civilization. I'm not going to pretend you can. But you strip away every argument and one fact still sits there and just will not move. The mice didn't die because they ran out of something. They died because they had everything. Every problem was solved, every need was met, every stressor lovingly removed. It was a the ultimate safe space. And it killed them. Take away the struggle and it turns out you've taken away the very thing that was actually holding them together. You know, we are always, we're always our best in struggle. You know, something happens. Pearl Harbor. We come together and we kick somebody's ass. 9, 11 happens. And to quote Toby Keith will put a boot up your ass. Okay, when something bad happens, a tornado or a hurricane or an earthquake happens and we rush together to help. That's who we are. And we can't look away from that. We also can't look away that society is trying to take and make us the most comfortable people to have ever drawn breath. And that's not necessarily good. We have engineered away more friction and risk than any other human in history. And it is a genuine triumph. It is. I'm not romanticizing hunger or hardship. Those are real evils worth fighting. But the experiment whispers a warning only a fool would ignore. Comfort is not the same thing as flourishing. A life with nothing left to overcome is not a paradise. It is a slow and beautiful surrender eventually to Death notice which societies on Earth are the safest, richest, most frictionless ever built. And notice that those are the exact societies quietly deciding not to have a next generation. The mice in abundance stop making mice. But here's where the story for me changes and stops becoming prophecy and becomes a choice. Because there is one thing those mice could never do that you can do today. A mouse can't set out and go, you know what? I'm going to give my life meaning. Life is more than endless cheese. It can't choose the hard road when the easy one is sitting right there. It can't invent a purpose out of thin air. You can. You can pick up somebody else's burden that nobody's forcing on you. You can build the thing that maybe doesn't need to be building, but need to be built. But you can build it. You can have the child. You can take the harder job. You can serve the cause. You can fight the fight. You can fill a role that no one assigned you. You know, I think about that. That guy who. He and his wife aborted their baby because of down syndrome. Do we happen to have that audio? Let's play the audio. This is. This is what the. The father, he aborted a child that had down syndrome because of, you know. Well, it's just not going to have a good life, really. Okay, listen. Listen to this. Yeah, Sarah, you do. Let me see if I can find it. I'm sorry. Where is it? Is towards the bottom. Yeah. 17 cut. 17. Yeah. Of course I'm glad my dad didn't terminate me, but I'm normal, so. Did you hear that? Yeah, somebody asked him, are you glad your dad. You glad you're alive and your dad didn't abort you? Yeah, of course I am, but I'm normal. The cavalier attitude, and I contend this had nothing to do with a child. It had everything to do with. With his life. It had everything to do with his wife's life. They wanted an easy life. They didn't want a trouble, a troubled child. They didn't want to have to deal with a mess. Welcome to the mouse kingdom. Every living soul needs purpose. Find yours. They need something to strive for. Strive for something. And we have a very bright future ahead. Stop looking for the easy path. This is the best of the Glenn Beck program. I am gonna break a rule slightly. I don't like talking about other podcasters, especially those who I disagree with, but I just. I need to set this up a little bit. Last week I told you about what was happening in Russia and Candace Owens went over to Russia, and the story was not about her. It was about Alexander Dugin. And when she came home and I guess she did her podcast today, and I have been told that she is talking about, you know, how. How Russia is, you know, is the defender of the faith and that everything in Russia is good and that, you know, of course, everything here in America is in decline. They're not. Our culture is evil. Theirs isn't. They're the defender of the faith. And I just disagree with almost all of that. Well, except for the premise that America is in decline. Yes, it is. If we choose to continue and our culture is evil, I think it's pumping up poison myself. We have to become people of God, but we certainly don't need a Christian prince to do it. The Lord has it, you know, in hand, and he's requiring his people to turn his face back to him. If we do, then we'll be saved. If we don't, well, then, you know, all bets are off. But it's as easy as that. I don't need to go to somebody who is telling us, like Alexander Dugan is Russia is aligned with Iran. Is there any doubt in your mind that Iran is not a good place? Not one where Jesus is like, you know what? Sometimes I like to vacation in Iran. I just love that. I love the clerics there. I don't think so. Dugan said also he would give nukes to any state that would not. United States, like, capital state, any state that would actually help wipe the west off the face of the map. Take America on. Okay. I don't think that's a friend. You know, that doesn't. That doesn't sound like somebody I want to hang out with on my vacation, but to each his own, I guess. I've been telling you about Alexander Dugan for a long time, but now he brought up something just last week that I had not. I had not heard about. And it's the cat. Etch Catachon, I think, or the KT Con. I don't know exactly how to pronounce it. I'd never heard of it before. There is a op ed now@glenn beck.com Written by Bill Cloud, and he talks about what this is and, you know, Alexander Dugan and Russia and what they really believe, because you cannot get caught in this trap. Even the very elect are going to get caught in this trap, and it's very, very dangerous. Bill, welcome to the program.
B
Hi, Glenn. It's great to be with you again.
A
Thank you. How do you pronounce this. And what is catechon?
B
Catacomb. Catacomb.
A
Catacomb. Catacomb.
B
Catacomb. Okay. Yeah, well, it's a, it's a Greek term actually, and it's used by the Apostle Paul in a letter he wrote to the Thessalonians. And he's describing he who restrains or he who's holding back. And so, you know, it's called the restrainer. So that's what it technically means. What he's referring to is that the restrainer, the catacomb is who or what holds back the man of sin from being fully revealed. And so the assumption is made that the catacomb or the restrainer is a force for good and it's there to keep evil in check. But apparently, and this is, I just found this out last week too when I read the article by Mr. Morrow, that Alexander Dugin believes that the West, I think we can include Zionism and Jews in that, that they're the evil in the world that has to be restrained. And so he is apparently applying the role of catacomb or the restrainer to Russia, to his vision of what Russia should be, that they are a God ordained instrument who, with Islam as an ally, that they're in the world to overcome the evil as he sees it, that is the west and the Jews, et cetera, et cetera. So that's what, that's where the idea comes from.
A
How do Christians, how are they getting caught up in this? I mean, you say to me, hey, you know who the evil is? America. You could convince me that America does great evil with its culture. I agree. We are way off base with our culture. We are, we are an enemy of God in many ways. But when you're looking to say, okay, we got to wipe that out and hey, by the way, let's partner with Russia. I begin to question you. Let's partner with Russia and Iran. There's no way, Isaac, Christian believe that at all, ever. How are they falling for this?
B
Well, just my opinion, I guess, is that, you know, a lot of Christians just really don't know what the scripture says. Quite honestly, a lot of people don't take the time to study it. A lot of people regurgitate theology. And theology, and I say this respectfully, is not equivalent to the truth. Theology is the study of God, but that's always subjected to a man's opinion. And in this particular case, Dugan is interpreting what Paul said about the restrainer to, and applying it to Russia in this case. So I think that's how it happens. It's generally a lot of people just really don't know what the Scripture has to say. They know what people say it says, but they don't take the time to read it. So I mean, there's probably a lot of other reasons and people have their eyes on all the wrong things at this point in time, including Christians. So that's just my thoughts.
A
Last week I found out that Dugan and his allies are are saying that the Antichrist is going to come from the west, from America and it's a Jewish Antichrist. Do you read that anywhere in Scripture? Anywhere anyway.
B
In other words, that there's going to be a Jewish Antichrist? No, I don't.
A
And the Antichrist is coming from the West?
B
Well, I mean, there are people who believe that, but no, I don't see that in scripture at all. In fact, all the patterns that we see in Scripture seem to say that the Antichrist is going to come from the East. For instance, Nebuchadnezzar, he is a prototype of the Antichrist. He was the king of Babylon. He's the one that came in and destroyed Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. He went mad for seven years. He became a beast. He made an image of himself and he is from the East. And so there's pattern there. So I could go on and on and that, but all the patterns and seem to show that he's going to come from the east, not from the West.
A
And isn't there something about Gog and Magog being Persia and Russia? Is any of that true?
B
Well, when I was reading about Dugan saying that, you know, he believes Russia is the restrainer and all these kinds of things and you know, wanting to align himself with Islam and how he believed that the restrainer, the catacomb along with Almahdi, we're going to lead this holy war against the west and overcome the Jewish antimisci, the Jewish anti Messiah and all these kinds of things. That's when, you know, my brain just really just was on overload and I began to, you know, connect that idea to all these different prophecies. And one of them being there is this battle that is Described in Ezekiel 38. 9 with GOG of Magog war. Now let me just insert this real quick. And what Morrow said in his article is that Dugan believes that this climactic battle that the Catacomb and the and Almaty is going to fight is Armageddon. But I'm thinking if that happens, and I say if he might be walking into what is described in Ezekiel 38, 9. So that is this confederation of. It's a confederation of Islamic nations. But it, the Bible describe or speaks to the chief prince of Meshech and Tuval Gog of Magog, who comes from the far north. And where Israel's concerned, the far north could be and include Russia. So, you know, we've talked, people have talked about this, you know, for centuries, as who is Gog of Magog? And certainly in the last 50, 60, 70 years. But when I saw this and that, there's this man who's pushing this ideology and philosophy, supposedly even, you know, to Putin and how Russia's destiny is to be the catacomb and to put down the west and to put down Israel, etc. That's when I really thought maybe there might be something to this Russia being allied with these Islamic nations coming into the mountains of Israel. That's pretty strong in my view. But now the result will be, of course, that this invading force will be destroyed.
A
So, Bill, I mean, I'm not asking anybody to believe that we're living in end times or anything, but I just did some research. Let me see if I can find this. It is shocking the number of, of people that actually believe that we, we are possibly in the end times. Let me see if I can find it. It's. See here, you look at this. It's not a fringe view. According to Pew, 39%, nearly 4 in 10 say, yes, we're living in the end times. Evangelical Christians say 63%. But here's the crazy part. About a quarter of people with no religious affiliation said yes to that as well. Nine percent of atheists say, yes, we're living in the end times.
B
That's interesting.
A
Yeah. Isn't that fascinating? I found that absolutely fascinating. And, you know, I did some research on, you know, this has been happening since, I mean, the apostles thought Jesus was coming back. But there are some things now that are unique, that were not, that are important pieces, like, for instance, the reestablishment of Israel, important pieces of prophecy that we've now hit that make war, rumors of war, nations rising against race, you know, earthquakes, famines, all that stuff mean a little bit more this time. Would you agree or disagree with that?
B
I absolutely agree. If you don't mind, let me give you this passage of scripture. It's in Hosea, chapter six. It says, come and let us return in the Lord. He is stricken, but he will bind us up. He is broken, but he will heal us. After two days, he revives us. And on the Third day will raise us up, that we may live in his sight. So it talks about two days. After two days, something happens. And on the third day, basically, it's describing the Messianic era, when we live in his sight, when Messiah rules and reigns from Jerusalem on the earth. Point being this. A day with the Lord is a thousand years. A thousand years is as a day. It's been 2,000 years or two days since the Messiah left. And it was said that he will come again. So we're coming to the end of that second day. When he revives us on the third day, he will raise us up. So we're in that. We're in that time. We're at that threshold. I. I believe adamantly that we're coming to the end of the second prophetic day and about to enter into the third day, which means then there are going to be birth pangs. They're going to be all these wars and rumors of wars and all the things that Messiah describes in Matthew 24 and all the prophets talk about. And then, you know, let's bring it back to this philosophy or theology that Dugan has, which, by the way, embraces this idea that Moscow is the third Rome of the Roman Empire, and supposedly, according to their theology, it's to be the last one. So he believes we're in the last days, too. And he lines himself with Iran and these Islamic nations who. They also believe it's the last days. Looking at it from a completely different perspective. So all of these things are aligning in a way that I don't think it's happened in human history. That, you know, I know that there will be people who would disagree with that. But when you've got 9% of atheists saying, we're living in the last days, that's pretty sure.
A
Pretty. It's really remarkable. You know, I've had atheists say, glenn, I can't describe. There's no word to describe what's happening in the world right now except for the word evil. And I'm like, you're an atheist. Like, I know, I know. I know exactly what I'm saying, but that's the only way I can describe what I'm seeing right now. You're streaming the Best of Glenn Beck.
B
To hear more of this interview and others, download the full show podcasts.
A
Wherever you get podcasts, it's almost. I'm playing this almost under duress. Almost under duress. Here it is, the world premiere of Thune the Balless Rhino.
C
He walks in big, talks like a King. But the room stays cold when it's time to bring. He points at the board then ducks the fight. All soup, no spark and the words all bite? He says, I got this. Then shift the blame. The same old grin with a different name. Say it loud, say it plain? You had the chair but lost the game. Too much pose, not enough drive. You keep the crowd, but you never arrive to the ball. That's Rhino. You don't get it done to the ball. That's Rhino. Always on the the run. You make a big scene, then fold up small.
A
Okay, all right, all right, all right, that's enough. There you go. Yes, Ricky. Is it any wonder we never get any interviews of note from the swamp? Any wonder at all? You know what to miss on a John Thune interview. I'm happily playing that. I'm happily playing that. He has nothing to say that I need to hear. You know, he's a ballist. Rhino. Anyway, you're gonna let me be in
B
D.C. you could take that track right
A
to his office and just, like, blast
B
it through the halls.
A
We gotta do that. Oh, my gosh. Thank you for that. I will be in D.C. soon. Thank you for that idea. I mean. I mean, I. I may need. I may need enough copy. I may need 100 copies. Let's just leave it at that. I don't know what hundred people I could give it to, but I might need 100 copies. All right. I saw a disclosure day, Steven Spielberg's new film last night, and it's. It's good. It's very good. It's, you know, Steven Spielberg, it's not his best. Everybody's like, oh, it's the best film he's ever made. No, it's not. It's not. But. But not. His best is still better than most movies that are out. Okay? So it's worth seeing with that. I'm not gonna blow anything. But with that. Some moments in this are just downright stupid. The kind of make you question if spiel, did Spielberg see the final edit of this? You know, and when. You'll know it when you see it, because there are a couple of Jar Jar Binks level stupid calls in this movie. You know, grown adults hiding behind a leafless bush in a split rail fence while being hunted. The people are on the other side of the fence and they're just crouched down behind a split rail fence and a bush with no leaves, you know, or they're hiding behind a rock, literally about seven feet away. They had a chance to escape, but they wanted to see what happened? So they're standing behind this rock while everybody's searching for them is like, please, did Spielberg watch this movie? Anyway, in the end, you'll find the, the aliens more believable than some of the humans. But go see it. That said, that's the worst of it. And it's only a couple of scenes, you know, quickly that go by. You're just like, oh, come on. But here's what I recommend. If you want your money's worth, don't go out and watch the 9:00 clock show or the 8:00 clock show. You know, go to dinner and then go reverse that. Go to the 6 or 7 o' clock show and then go have dinner and invite some friends that, you know, can think. Invite some friends to go with you and go see the movie, then sit down at dinner. And then, because I'm telling you, the real, the real story is not the one on the screen. It's the conversation that that movie will make, will just pull right out of you. Okay, it opens. And no spoiler alert needed. Here it. Because the opening scene is the world is at DEFCON 2. One step from the. The brink. You know, it's a sub, sub, sub, sub, sub, sub, subplot. Or is it? I think the movie would say yes, but I'm not so sure. But DEFCON 2, in case you don't know, only time in American history we've ever had it is Strategic Air Command has confirmed DEFCON 2 only one time in our history, and that's the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. DEFCON 1 is, we're at full war, nuclear war. DEFCON 2 is without going to war. It is when everything, the rockets are juiced and ready to take off. All the planes that need to be up in the air are in the air. We just have to call them back. It's that kind of thing. Most people, I think, in the theater missed what happened at the end. And I won't tell you what happened at the end, but the disclosure is over. The chases, you know, take over the whole movie. And that opening fear of DEFCON 2 kind of vanishes by the final credits. It's there. And it's not sloppy writing. I think it's misdirection. It's the magician's other hand. The story tells you what you're supposed to fear in the first five minutes and then walks you right past it while you're staring at a spectacle. Okay, now in reality, if. And I don't believe this is what's happening here. But people are like this movie, and it's. It's just softening up. If this movie was built to soften you up for disclosure, then the ending is really important and you might miss the whole point on what the government would want you to do in case of disclosure. Real or a psyop. Okay. There's also, in the movie, a religious angle that I'm not. I'm not really sure I'm all that comfortable with. I mean, I am comfortable with it being presented the movie, the way it was presented. It's just these are all conversations we have to have, okay? And this. This. This part is, you know, more to the surface, and it's pretty unavoidable. And the question is, if they. If there are aliens, are they from God? Now, hold that thought, because this is where the movie stops being entertainment and starts asking harder questions about the world we're actually living in. And there's two theories that I think are worth mentioning here. Predictive programming and cultivation theory. Okay? There is an old idea called predictive programming. It was popularized by researcher Alan Watt, and the idea is that entertainment can preload the public with ideas. You put concepts into films and shows and stories year in advance. So when something similar appears in reality, it feels familiar, almost inevitable. We've seen it with the X Files. Okay? Yeah, it's like an episode of the X Files, okay? That. That's what they mean, preloading you so you don't necessarily freak out. I've seen. Instead, when it happens, you're like, I've seen this before. I've seen this movie before. Right? Now, skeptics rightly point out that this can become a conspiracy lens that explains everything, therefore doesn't explain anything. All right? But you don't have to go full fringe to see something real here. The Department of Defense or War and the CIA have had an official entertainment liaison office for decades. Did you know that? They are. They are brought in to help shape stories. And it's not a shadowy conspiracy. It's. I mean, it's. It's out there. You know, they're. They're given jets and bases and. And technical advisors for their movies, and in. In exchange, they shape the stories for the government. And this is documented policy. Hollywood gets access. Government gets their understanding of influence. Okay? Now the second theory is cultivation theory. This one was developed by a guy named George Grubner, and he was at the University of Pennsylvania. Decades of research on this shows that. Now listen to this. Heavy media consumption doesn't just entertain, it cultivates your Sense of reality, Heavy media consumption. What are most people doing eight hours every day? They are scrolling and staring and consuming media. This research shows that heavy viewers develop mean world syndrome, where everything is a danger. They overestimate the danger. Crime threats. They become more fearful, more dependent, and more open to strongman measures. Fear sells. Fear shapes. Grubner testified in front of Congress that fearful people are easier to manipulate and control. Psychologists have studied this for years and years and years. Repeated exposure to threats in media can desensitize or heighten anxiety, depending on the framing. So wars, crisis, existential threats. Stories in prime to prime populations. And it primes them to accept changes they might otherwise resist. Look how our gun, our country has been primed. Nazi, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi. What does that do? That primes you to turn on your neighbor. That primes you to excuse violence. Okay, this isn't magic. This is human psychology. And it plays a heavy, heavy role in our society and our culture today. What? So, you know, I don't. I don't know if this is all of this stuff that you're seeing now with the UFOs, if it's natural or being fed to us, but we know stuff is being fed to us through our algorithms, intentionally. Also, think about Orson Welles. Orson Welles, 1938, War of the Worlds. What was the lesson we were supposed to learn from that? We taught. We were taught that War of the Worlds with. With Orson Welles caused mass panic. People fleeing into the streets believing Martians has landed, blah, blah, blah. But that's not true. Only about 2% of the country was even tuned in. It was War of the Worlds and Orson Welles and the Mercury Radio Theater was something that was. It was up against the hardest show. A radio show done by a ventriloquist, Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen. I mean, it's. I know, it's hard to beat. It's hard to beat. It's like Lawrence Welk, we're being beaten by a guy with an accordion. Yeah. Anyway, 2% were listening to Orson Welles. The panic was tiny. It was real, but it was tiny. Okay, the legend that there was mass panic, where did that come from? Listen to this. Newspapers. Newspapers who were losing advertising revenue to radio during the Depression. And newspapers seized the broadcast to paint radio as reckless and untrustworthy. Hmm. You mean like the way cable news paints podcasters?
C
Huh?
A
So the hysteria wasn't about public gullibility. It was about one medium. Manufacturing fear to destroy arrival. The lesson we supposedly learned was wrong. The real lesson is always ask who profits from the fear. President Reagan, he said in 19, I think 87, he was at the United nations, and he said that all of our earthly differences would vanish if we would face an alien or an alien threat from the outside. Outside of the world. Okay? A sitting president musing out loud about unity through extraterrestrial fear. Back in 1960, Brookings, the Brookings Institute delivered a report to NASA on the implications of discovering extraterrestrial life. And this is in the movie. I mean, it's. They don't quote this, but this is implied in the movie, what they found in 1960. They warned the government that if you talk about aliens and you confirm them, it could destabilize our entire society. It would challenge religious and cultural foundations, and that leaders would, you know, should. Should carefully consider if they're going to release the information. That's what this whole movie is about, okay? The fight between somebody who wants the information released and somebody who doesn't want the information released. And which one is right. This conversation is 65 years old, and it happened in government buildings. On the record. In the 1960s.
B
Okay?
A
We've been seeing a steady drumbeat of disclosure that is happening. I don't know what's real and what's not. Pentagon is releasing footage. Congressional hearings, talk of, and I'm quoting, non human biologics. What? A government who has been denying this for decades suddenly decides to open the door. Why? And who profits from fear? Run a pure thought experiment here. Not claiming this is happening, just asking what it could mean if disclosure narratives were softening us up for a bigger narrative, something bigger, actual disclosure. Okay. What major permanent shifts in the Western world might need a spectacular distraction. We are. We're living right now with rapid changes. Currency, power, governance. There's an economist, his name is Robert Higgs, and he. He talks about something called the ratchet effect. A crisis expands government power. We know that. And even after the crisis passes, the machine doesn't go back. It only ratchets upward. Bigger wars change borders and currencies, they don't have to be won outright. They just need to last long enough for people to forget what life was like before and accept the new normal. So in 2026, we see shifting global orders, debates over the dollar's dominance, pushes for digital currency, stablecoins, bricks. All of this stuff, okay, all of this is under strain. Okay? So we have all this competition, protectionism, realignments. Everything's about to change. You feel it. You feel it. A dramatic external threat, if it's real or amplified, could unify populations. It would justify new controls, surveillance, global coordination. Everything else would face resistance. But if you could just bring everybody together now. Again, this is a thought experiment. I really don't believe this is what it's what it is. I think Disclosure day. I don't think it's a government operation. I think it's Spielberg. He is a master storyteller who has his finger on the pulse and he sees what's going on. He wrote a great story. I think that's what's happening. However, he has collaborated with government entities to help shape narratives. Before the famous Clinton denial, I did not have sex with that woman. That's Steven Spielberg. Okay, the deeper point here is, is not aliens. It's vulnerability. The only door any power, human or otherwise needs is fear. A person grounded in true faith, history, principles cannot be stampeded. Stampeded by flashing lights or headlines. Watch the other hand. Watch the other hand. Admire the big eyed invaders in the movie. Go see the movie six o', clock show dinner at nine. Talk about the opening and the ending. What is this movie really about? And saying. And just stay awake. Know what you believe. Lights in the sky are one thing. The ratchet turning the shadows is another.
Air date: June 12, 2026
Main theme: Reflections on generational resurgence, societal decline, lessons from the "mouse utopia" experiment, dangers in international alignments (Russia, Iran), spiritual and cultural struggles, and thoughts on Spielberg's new film, "Disclosure Day".
This "Best Of" episode of The Glenn Beck Program features Glenn exploring questions around American resilience, the current state of society, and the dangers of comfort, with a scientific lens turned to the lessons of the "Mouse Utopia" experiments. Special guest Bill Cloud joins to discuss Russian ideology and prophecy, exploring the role of Alexander Dugin, Russia’s alliances, perceptions of moral decline, and the potential approach of "end times." The episode wraps with an entertaining but thought-provoking review of "Disclosure Day," discussing government, media, fear, and psychological influence.
"Comfort is not the same thing as flourishing. A life with nothing left to overcome is not a paradise. It is a slow and beautiful surrender eventually to Death."
— Glenn Beck (15:53)
Dugin’s Ideology:
Glenn’s Critique of Christian Support:
The Dangers of Shallow Theology:
Glenn: "I've had atheists say, Glenn, I can't describe...what's happening in the world right now except for the word evil. And I'm like, you're an atheist."
Bill Cloud: "I know, I know. But that's the only way I can describe what I'm seeing right now." (30:40)
Predictive Programming:
Cultivation Theory:
Lessons from Past Media Events:
Contemporary Parallels:
"The only door any power, human or otherwise, needs is fear. A person grounded in true faith, history, principles cannot be stampeded by flashing lights or headlines."
– Glenn Beck (47:05)
Glenn on Hardship and Growth:
"Every trouble that I've ever had in my life...those days are what changed me and made me into the man I am today." (06:52)
On Mouse Utopia:
"The mice didn't die because they ran out of something. They died because they had everything." (14:44)
On the Next Generation & Purpose:
"Every living soul needs purpose. Find yours. They need something to strive for." (18:17)
Bill Cloud on Theology and Deception:
"A lot of Christians...don't take the time to study it...theology...is not equivalent to the truth." (22:42)
Glenn on End Times Belief:
"About a quarter of people with no religious affiliation said yes to that as well. Nine percent of atheists say, yes, we're living in the end times." (27:15)
Spielberg's Film as Conversation-Starter:
"The real story is not the one on the screen. It's the conversation that that movie will...pull right out of you." (33:50)
On Media, Fear, and Manipulation:
"Fear sells. Fear shapes...Repeated exposure to threats...primes them to accept changes they might otherwise resist." (38:41)
On Media History and Manufactured Panic:
"The lesson we supposedly learned was wrong. The real lesson is always ask who profits from the fear." (41:50)
Core Spiritual & Societal Warning:
"The only door any power, human or otherwise, needs is fear. A person grounded in true faith, history, principles cannot be stampeded by flashing lights or headlines." (47:05)
This episode weaves together cultural critique, history, theological reflection, and media analysis to argue that the true dangers lie not in crisis or discomfort, but in comfort without meaning, narratives without truth, and crises engineered to frighten or control. Listeners are challenged to actively seek purpose, to question the narratives presented to them, and to ground themselves in truth, tradition, and courage—resisting manipulation through either comfort or fear.
Summary prepared for readers new to the episode—captures the themes, insights, and Glenn Beck’s distinctive voice and energy.