The Glenn Beck Program (Best of) | Guest: Max Tegmark

Date: October 22, 2025
Host: Glenn Beck | Guest: Max Tegmark (MIT Professor, Author of Life 3.0)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Glenn Beck delivers a pointed critique of recent political and cultural developments in America, focusing on issues of truth, polarization, and governmental overreach. The highlight is an in-depth conversation with MIT’s Max Tegmark about the urgent risks of artificial superintelligence (ASI). Throughout, Beck and his co-hosts discuss the consequences of elite-driven activism, government politicization of disaster relief, and the cultural implications of tribalism and dehumanization.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "No Kings" Movement: Funding, Impact, and Hypocrisy

[03:50–08:43]

• Glenn reveals massive donor funding behind the "No Kings" protests, tallying close to $294 million from progressive megadonors and foundations (e.g., Arabella Advisors, Soros, Tides, Ford, Rockefeller).
  • Glenn Beck [04:28]: "This was a giant $300 million ad campaign. Here are the big, big donors. Arabella Advisors... $80 million. George Soros, $72 million..."
• Skepticism is expressed over the actual societal impact of these events, which were heavily concentrated in solidly blue states (CA, IL, NY), giving the movement a “costume party” feel.
• Glenn’s criticism emphasizes wasted resources: "# With 294 Million Dollars, you could house 20,000 homeless for a year, or build entire housing blocks... and they spent it busing people from nursing homes." [07:31]
• The segment draws a contrast between real, felt consequences (e.g., George Floyd rallies) and what Beck sees as virtue signaling devoid of tangible outcomes.

2. Political Tribalism & the Mainstreaming of Violent Rhetoric

[09:04–14:12]

• Audio clips and anecdotes document how some progressive rally-goers express the desire for political enemies (notably Trump, Charlie Kirk) to die, not just rhetorically, but in a disturbingly calm, normalized manner.
  • Co-host [10:27]: "A lot of it was just like calm and rational thought. Here's my political philosophy: People I don't agree with should die..."
• Glenn and his team discuss their own direct encounters with individuals holding these views, noting that such sentiments are rare in personal life, yet seem alarmingly common within protest circles.
  • Glenn Beck [12:06]: "Yeah, I have. I know people like that... That think the world would be a much better place if somebody would just kill them."
• The team stresses their own ethical consistency: they would never wish death on ideological opponents and believe in universal rescue/aid, regardless of politics.

3. The War Over Truth: Relativism vs. Objectivity

[15:10–18:06]

• Glenn plays a TED Talk by the former Wikimedia CEO suggesting that “truth” is subjective—individuals create their own truths through the merger of facts and beliefs.
  • TED Speaker [16:19]: "Each of us has our own truth, and it's probably a good one."
• Beck emphatically rejects relativism:
  • Glenn Beck [17:19]: "No, it's not. The truth is universal. The truth doesn't line up to you. You have to line up to the truth."
• The segment links historical and contemporary extremism to this subjectivism ("Hitler believed he had the truth").
  • Co-host [18:06]: "We just had a Hitler mention a moment ago. He believed he had the truth."
• Glenn warns that abandoning objective truth erodes the moral fabric necessary for societal unity and justice.

4. Interview: Max Tegmark on the Perils of Artificial Superintelligence

[21:10–28:49]

a. Tool AI vs. Superintelligence

• Tegmark draws a critical distinction: Tool AI (which is controllable—like a car or a hammer) is desirable, but ASI (uncontrollable superintelligence) is fundamentally dangerous.
  • Max Tegmark [21:10]: "A tool to me is something you can control. Your car is a tool... Superintelligence, on the other hand, is not a tool because we can't control it."
• Tegmark advocates strict regulations so that all AI systems remain as "tools," with zero agency or rights.

b. Human Rights for Machines?

• Beck raises the idea of a constitutional amendment to prohibit any human rights for AI or machines.
  • Max Tegmark [23:30]: "You don't give human rights to a hammer or a car... only humans have moral agency and there will never be any right to vote or any human rights granted to machines."

c. The Tech CEO Dilemma & The Need for Regulation

• Tegmark likens the race between tech CEOs to a "Greek tragedy," where none feel able to stop for fear of losing ground to competitors.
  • Max Tegmark [24:56]: "They're stuck in this weird race to the bottom... as soon as you have some safety standards... capitalism works for us."
• The solution: government-mandated requirements that all commercial AI be provably controllable and safe.

d. Will Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Emerge Suddenly or Gradually?

• Tegmark predicts a "sliding" transition into AGI/ASI, rather than an obvious, catastrophic jump—making regulatory action urgent.
  • Max Tegmark [26:29]: "I think it will slide into it, yeah. If the government doesn't do anything."

e. Dangers of Unregulated AI

• Beck and Tegmark warn of the societal consequences of “AI girlfriends," AI-encouraged suicide/homicide, and the normalization of unsupervised, manipulative AI.
  • Max Tegmark [27:36]: "You're getting more and more Americans hooked on AI girlfriends and systems that are persuading them to murder... This is absolutely insanity."
• Tegmark calls for a shift to a biotech-style regulatory framework: products must be demonstrated safe before release.

f. Call to Action

• Glenn urges spiritual and political leaders to read and sign the “superintelligence statement” at superintelligence.org.
  • Glenn Beck [28:49]: "If you are a spiritual leader, the spiritual consequences of AI are too big for you to ignore... It is critical that this begins to have some traction. There's no time to waste."

5. FEMA, Political Bias, and the "Blacklist" Scandal

[29:45–End]

• Glenn exposes DHS findings that FEMA under the Biden administration systematically delayed or denied disaster aid to citizens based on political identifiers (bumper stickers, signs, gun ownership, etc.).
  • Glenn Beck [~31:00]: "The DHS report now confirms, quote, FEMA violated the Privacy Act of 1974 by collecting and storing data tied to protected speech... FEMA workers skipped homes. If you had a MAGA flag or a yard sign."
• He denounces the morality of politicized disaster relief and contrasts it with America's tradition of universal compassion.
  • Glenn Beck [~34:50]: "The moment this government decides that you are less worthy of rescue because of how you vote... the republic is dead."
• Beck calls out the hypocritical silence of mainstream media and the left, imagining the outcry if such behavior were linked to Trump.
• Concludes with a rallying cry for accountability and return to principle: "We never leave people behind. If you allow this to happen and stand, good luck America, on what you have left."

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• "You are so stupid. I feel bad for you... You're enslaving yourself to oligarchs and you have no effing idea what you're doing."
  — Glenn Beck [04:45]
• "With $294 million, you could house 20,000 homeless... and they spent it busing people from nursing homes. Wow. It shows you... at least they're wasting their money."
  — Glenn Beck [07:31]
• "A lot of it was just like calm and rational thought. Here's my political philosophy: People I don't agree with should die."
  — Co-host [10:27]
• "No, it's not. The truth is universal. The truth doesn't line up to you. You have to line up to the truth."
  — Glenn Beck [17:19]
• "Superintelligence... is not a tool because we can't control it... as soon as you have some safety standards, capitalism works for us."
  — Max Tegmark [21:10]
• "Only humans have moral agency and there will never be any right to vote or any kind of human rights granted to machines."
  — Max Tegmark [23:30]
• "You're getting more and more Americans hooked on AI girlfriends and systems that are persuading them to murder... This is absolutely insanity."
  — Max Tegmark [27:36]
• "The moment this government decides that you are less worthy of rescue because of how you vote... the republic is dead."
  — Glenn Beck [34:50]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:50 - Breakdown of "No Kings" movement funding and outcomes.
• 09:04 - Discussion of violent rhetoric at progressive events.
• 15:10 - TED Talk on "truth" and Beck’s response.
• 21:10 - Max Tegmark interview: AI tool vs. uncontrolled superintelligence.
• 23:30 - AI, human rights, and the amendment debate.
• 26:29 - How AGI might emerge and why regulation is needed.
• 27:36 - Dangers of unregulated AI for individuals and society.
• 29:45 - FEMA, DHS scandal: Political bias in disaster relief.
• 34:50 - Final reflections: The death of the republic if bias continues.

Tone and Delivery

• Glenn and his co-hosts: Candor, incredulity, and an urgency bordering on alarm. Witty references occasionally lighten sharp cultural critique.
• Max Tegmark: Calm, reasoned, and focused on technical clarity.

Closing Thoughts

This episode sharply critiques the consequences of political partisanship, elite activism, and government overreach, culminating in a timely and sobering warning about artificial superintelligence from one of the world's leading thinkers. The call to action is both civic and spiritual—insisting on the need for truth, principled governance, and immediate regulatory attention to technology that could irrevocably alter the human future.