The Glenn Beck Program: "Best of the Program"
Guest: Carol Roth
Date: October 28, 2025
Podcast Network: Blaze Podcast Network
Episode Overview
This episode of The Glenn Beck Program offers a compelling blend of prescient storytelling and analysis around the collision of technology, energy policy, and American economic priorities. Glenn Beck opens with a warning about the coming energy crisis—sparked by the rapid advance of AI and server farms straining America’s power grid—then pivots to a candid discussion with economic commentator Carol Roth about U.S. currency moves in Argentina and the wider struggle with Chinese influence in Latin America. The program also examines the proliferation of online conspiracies and the erosion of trust in media and institutions in the age of AI.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. The Looming Energy Crisis and Server Farm Explosion
[03:05 – 18:14]
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Server Farm Demand: Beck warns that the expanding footprint of AI and server farms is leading to a dramatic spike in electricity demand—comparing it to "adding another Japan" to global power usage. He highlights that every month new data centers are breaking ground, each consuming power equivalent to 50 homes, and that major tech companies are scrambling to secure access to substations.
“Global data center power will double by the end of 2026. That is equivalent to adding another Japan to our energy demand... and that’s just for computers and server farms.”
— Glenn Beck [08:07] -
Grid Strain: Beck shares startling statistics, noting how regions like Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania are sounding the alarm about strained grids and rising electricity prices, in part due to the proliferation of server farms.
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Policy Fork in the Road: He posits that green energy and high-tech infrastructure ambitions are fundamentally incompatible under current strategies, and urges listeners to call state representatives, either to demand restrictions on server farm construction or to accelerate stable, high-output power plant construction (nuclear/gas/hydro).
“These two realities cannot coexist. So, we’re going to see a split in the country... the climate cult... is going to run headlong into artificial intelligence, and when that happens, lights go out in your house.”
— Glenn Beck [12:39]
2. U.S. Currency “Swap” with Argentina & China’s Latin American Gambit
[18:14 – 26:36]
Glenn welcomes Carol Roth to dissect America’s monetary support of Argentina, highlighting its implications in the broader U.S.-China rivalry.
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Mechanics of the Swap: Roth explains that instead of traditional aid, the U.S. facilitated a currency swap (dollars for pesos), aiming to stabilize Argentina's economy while securing U.S. interests in the region, especially amid Chinese advances.
“What is unusual in this situation is how it was done... It was done through the Treasury, through something called the ESF Exchange Stabilization Fund—which is sort of a black box fund... you don’t need Jay Powell, you don’t need the approval of Congress.”
— Carol Roth [19:10] -
Resource Security and China’s Playbook: Roth notes China’s Belt and Road Initiative has aggressively targeted Latin America for infrastructure and financial integration; Argentina’s lithium and rare earth reserves are especially strategic.
“Argentina has the second largest reserve of lithium... we don’t want to be speaking Mandarin one day.”
— Carol Roth [21:11] -
Trump Doctrine in Latin America: Both Beck and Roth credit the Trump administration for proactively containing China’s reach in the Western Hemisphere, emphasizing a "realignment” of the global financial order and a focus on resource and economic security.
“Everything he’s doing in South America, he is realigning the globe... He’s doing his own version of America First great reset.” — Glenn Beck [21:29]
3. U.S. Policy on Tariffs and Trade
[26:36 – 29:26]
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Tariffs Debate: Beck and Roth, both skeptical of tariffs, analyze why the current trade tariffs haven’t produced dramatic inflation but acknowledge they create burdens for consumers and small businesses.
“Do tariffs make it more expensive for businesses and consumers to buy certain goods and services? Yes... but in terms of creating runaway inflation, I don’t think anybody said that.”
— Carol Roth [26:53] -
Trade's Role in Economy: Trade is a modest direct component of the U.S. economy, but component costs ripple throughout domestic production, affecting economic drag.
“It’s not a meaningful percent of our direct economy. But where it does impact is that there’s componentry that then flows through the economy.”
— Carol Roth [28:53]
4. Conspiracy Culture, Information Disorder, and Loss of Trust
[29:26 – end]
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AI, Disinformation, and Social Media: Beck laments the tidal wave of digital conspiracies, some fabricated by AI (e.g., the Google AI case with Robby Starbuck), often laundered by "credible hosts." He warns that established facts are being upended by deepfakes, bots, and troll farms—some from adversarial nations.
“Robby [Starbuck]... is now suing Google and Google AI because it fabricated entire stories about him for two solid years... No arrests, no real record, none of it. But just AI, the machine we’re told is going to save us, made it all up, and it was relentless.”
— Glenn Beck [30:44] -
Deepfakes and Perception: He points to AI-generated images (like the fake "explosion" near the White House in newsrooms) as evidence the literal test of "believe it when I see it" is collapsing.
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Institutional Breakdown: Beck reflects on the collapse of trust in media, government, and institutions, noting record-low levels according to Gallup. He urges listeners to carefully question the intent behind viral rumors and seek what they're for, not just what they're against.
“When nobody believes anything, everyone starts believing everything and anyone.” — Glenn Beck [36:47]
“Know what you’re for, not what you’re against. So many of these conspiracies are built on what you’re against. Look for the things that you’re for… civilizations fall not through invasion, but through infection—of the mind and the spirit and of the truth itself.”
— Glenn Beck [39:13] -
Call to Anchor in Truth: Beck concludes urging listeners to anchor themselves in knowable truth as a defense against being swept away by misinformation and paranoia.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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Glenn Beck on Green Energy vs AI:
“You cannot run a trillion-parameter AI model on fairy dust or solar power or wind power. It doesn’t happen.”
[13:37] -
Carol Roth on U.S.-China Rivalry:
“China’s influence all around the world with their Belt and Road initiatives... we are trying to kick out their influence for national security reasons. Also, it just so happens that Argentina has the second largest reserve of lithium... that we need access to for our economic and national security.”
[21:05] -
Beck on the Age of Disinformation & AI:
“We are weeks—I don’t believe years—we are weeks away, months probably more accurate, from you no longer being able to believe your eyes at all.”
[35:09] -
Call to Action:
“Please anchor yourself and then anchor your family.”
[41:30]
Key Timestamps for Important Segments
- 03:05 — Beck’s chalkboard explanation: arriving energy crisis and server farms
- 08:07 — Global data center power “another Japan’s worth” by 2026
- 12:39 — “Climate cult” vs. AI/Server Farms – policy crossroads
- 18:14 — Carol Roth joins: Argentina swap, U.S. strategy
- 21:05 — Roth on lithium, rare earths, and China’s play
- 26:36 — Tariffs: why they hurt but have not crushed the economy
- 29:26 — Beck dissects conspiracy theories and AI-generated defamation
- 35:09 — Deepfakes mean you can’t “believe your eyes”
- 39:13 — Beck: “Know what you’re for, not what you’re against”
Summary
This episode delivers a pointed, urgent look at three converging forces: the new energy demands of AI, the strategic contest with China for South American influence and resources, and the corrosive effect of digital disinformation on civic trust. Glenn Beck frames these as existential questions—where states must choose their energy and technology paths, and Americans must recommit to careful, grounded truth-seeking in order to remain free and informed. Both Beck and Carol Roth share a tone of frank urgency, with Beck’s wit and passionate warnings anchoring the discussion.
For listeners seeking foresight on America's economic and technological crossroads—and a guide for thinking clearly in the fog of digital information warfare—this episode is a lucid, bracing listen.