Loading summary
Transcript104 lines
- [00:01]
Announcer
Kay Jeweler's early Black Friday sale is happening now. Get up to 50% off Black Friday deals and up to 40% off everything else. Don't miss this sale. Start your season with savings only at K. Exclusions apply. See kay.comexclusions for details.
- [00:16]
Glenn Beck
Stu. Today was my day. It was. Today was my day.
- [00:19]
Stu
Big day for Glenn. Yeah.
- [00:20]
Glenn Beck
Yeah. It was my Bonhoeffer moment.
- [00:22]
Tucker Carlson
Yeah.
- [00:23]
Glenn Beck
I got to shine. I got to shine. You don't want to miss today's show. It's a lot of fun and a lot of information. Also, Apple unveils their new digital id. Hooray, the savior is here. Be careful with that one. Also speaking of the savior, how about the House of David? It premieres Sunday. We have the guy who played David and plays David. You haven't seen this show on. What is it? Prime video. You need to is really, really good. And I think you're really going to enjoy meeting David. All on today's podcast. Every month, the bills roll in like clockwork. Mortgage, credit cards, car payment. By the time you're done paying them, you're usually left with a dusty wallet. And you work hard. Everything you do, you do try to. And yet the numbers never seem to move in your favor. But what if you could actually keep more of what you earn? That's where American Financing comes in. They're a family owned mortgage company that works for you, not the banks. They're salary mortgage salary mortgage consultants. They, they don't push for commissions because they don't get commissions. They find real solutions. That's refinancing your home, perhaps consolidating high interest debt. One single payment, maybe it's shortening your loan term so you can own your house years sooner. There's no pressure, no gimmicks, no hidden fe is just straightforward help from people who understand what you're going through. You'd be amazed how much a simple refi can free up every single month. Sometimes it's hundreds of dollars. The average in this audience that calls in is $835 every single month going into your pocket every single month. Call American Financing today. See how much they could save you every single month. Call American Financing at 800-906-2440. It's 800-906-2440. It's American financing.net 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 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.
- [03:00]
Announcer
You're listening to the best of the Glenn Beck Program.
- [03:04]
Glenn Beck
I'll bring this up. Tucker did a podcast yesterday. I listened to or a couple of days ago. Whenever it came out, I listened to it yesterday. And. And another reason why I listened to it is because so many friends were like, he's talking about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Glenn. And I don't want to get in. I'm not going to talk about personalities. I just want to talk about facts. You draw your own conclusion about who you listen to. And you can listen to them or not listen to them, that's fine. But let's make sure we correct facts and not make it about personalities, okay? Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my heroes. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of the greatest men to ever live. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a Christian pastor. And let me set it up this way. When the Third Reich grew and the Weimar Republic collapsed, there was this. There was this, this movement in Christianity that happened quickly. Within the first year of the end of the Weimar and the beginning of the Nazi regime, within a year, 60% of the churches ridded themselves of everything Jewish. Okay? Now, that's hard to do when your main hero figure is a Jew. And the entire history that said, hey, he's coming, is also written by Jews, okay? It's the Old Testament. And by the way, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they were Jews too. So it's hard to rinse the Jew out of the Judeo Christian world. But somehow or another, they did it. 60%, okay? They've gotten rid of, including many churches already had gone for it and gotten rid of the Old Testament. That is something that Hitler's people were really pushing for. Get rid of the Old Testament. Well, you go. You'll have nothing left if you don't have the Old Testament with the New Testament. So the world had gone insane. The Christian world had gone Insane. Within six months, many, if not most of the churches had replaced the picture of Christ on the altar with a picture of Adolf Hitler. So he changed the fabric of Christianity entirely. And he was going after any pastor, priest, anybody who was preaching something different. Okay, there were a couple of pastors. One played along with it at first, Pastor Niemoller. And he's like, the first they came for this, and I didn't say anything. And then they came for this, and he didn't say anything at first. Then he. Then he got it, and he's like, oh, I shouldn't do it. But he was praised in the end for his unwavering faith. He actually stood and he actually. He was one of the guys who preached that the Nazis were not to blame alone. They played their role. But may I quote? Would the Nazis have been able to do what they had done if church members had been truly faithful Christians? The answer is no. Truly faithful. Now, Tucker said yesterday that he doesn't think that Bonhoeffer was. I don't remember the exact lines. I'll probably get it wrong. Do we have it? Okay, go ahead and play it.
- [06:49]
Tucker Carlson
Because once you start calling people Nazis, we really have no choice but to start shooting them to be Dietrich Bonhoeffer and sort of reach the end of reason or even Christianity. Bonhoeffer decided Christianity is not even. He was a Lutheran pastor. Christianity is not enough. We have to kill the guy. Not judging Bonhoeffer, who was a great man in some ways, but many ways that's inevitable once we decide that people are Nazis.
- [07:13]
Glenn Beck
Okay, so his point here, he's making about, you know, we got to stop calling people Nazis. And he's absolutely right on it. You got to stop talking about people calling people Nazis or shooting begins. Exactly. Right. Unless they are actual Nazis. You know what I mean? There's. I mean, there's a difference between saying, hey, we should not call people Nazis who are not Nazis, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer shouldn't have called Hitler a Nazi. He was the. I mean, he's like. He's the idyllic Nazi. He's the king of all Nazis. He's a Nazi. So when it is a Nazi, I think you can call people Nazis. But, yeah, that does require you then to make a choice. And that's where Bonhoeffer found himself. This guy was an amazing man. He was a pacifist. He did not believe in war. He did not believe in killing. Um, he. And that's how he skated for a long time, because he was saying, quiet, quiet, quiet. Nope, Nope, nope. Do not involve yourself in this. God does not want us to kill each other. He was a huge pacifist. His story goes back and forth. You got to read the Bonhoeffer book, if you haven't read it by Eric Metaxas. But he goes back and forth. He comes to the United States. He sees faith in action, actually, in Harlem, and kind of has this renewed kind of faith experience. He goes back to Germany. He's there for a while. He knows now that Hitler is. Because he's helping Jews escape. And he knows Hitler is on him and he's gonna. He's closing in on him. He's gonna get him. He leaves. He comes to the United States. He's here, and he starts feeling guilty. He's like, I can't leave my own country. I mean, I can't. I gotta stand. I can't leave and hide. I've got to stand. So he goes back to Germany, I think, on the last boat that is going into Germany. And he gets to Germany, and he starts plotting Valkyrie. He's part of Project Valkyrie. Valkyrie is the Tom Cruise movie. You've seen von Stauffenberg, a huge German hero who was not a Nazi, but he was a German soldier who decided, this has got to stop. And they planned with a lot of people who said, we got to stop Hitler. Because he. Look what he's doing. He's destroying everything and he's killing millions, and it's got to stop. And Bonhoeffer, when he got back, he was wrestling with his pacifism because he. He was a pacifist, a strong one. And he really believed that God said, no, no, no fighting, no war, nothing. You're not allowed to kill. But the evil that he saw was so overwhelming that he started questioning everything he believed. And in his class, because he would. He was teaching these young pastors coming up in his class. He started saying things to the class members. So if a pacifist saw something that was so evil you needed to stop it, would it be okay? And then they would argue, and the class didn't have any idea. He was working it out with the class in his own head. He's working out, how do I work this? How can I? Am I a Christian if I do this? He got to the point where he was even saying, so if you knew of a pacifist that you really respected and they did get involved in that, would you still be their friend? Would you still respect them? Are they still Christians? Okay, he's looking to work this out. And he struggled with it, Hitler grabs him, puts him in. In prison. He's in prison for a long time. And the only reason why he survived as long as he did is he came from a very famous family. And so Hitler really didn't feel he had the juice to kill him without causing all kinds of other problems. So he let him skate for a little while. But he was in prison and he wrote some beautiful stuff. One of the most beautiful homilies on marriage that I've ever read is from him. He was a guy who didn't get married. He was going to get married, but knew what was going to happen to him, so he didn't want to endanger her, so he didn't get married. So he didn't know anything about marriage except, you know, what he had read and what he had thought about and what he had read in scriptures. And he writes this beautiful homily because he's supposed to give the sermon at his sister's wedding. The Nazis won't let him out to do that. And so he writes it and it's read at her. At her wedding. And it is absolutely beautiful and deep, deep, deep. He's in prison for a while. He's. Now it's. It's, you know, coming up to April 1945. Hitler dies in April 1945, and everything's falling apart. And so the Nazis start kind of cleaning up the death camps and they start transferring people. And. And Bonhoeffer is supposed to be let free. And he gets onto this bus, you know, driven by the Nazis, and he's being transferred to where he will be released. Well, on the way, the tire goes out and they don't have a spare. And so they're sitting on the edge of the road and they got all these prisoners and these. This other bus is coming the other direction, and they're like, hey, where are you going? They say, well, we're going to this camp. Great. Would you just take these prisoners with you? Here's the paperwork and everything else. Here's the prisoners. You just take them with you. So all the prisoners that were there, including Bonhoeffer, who was supposed to be released, go to this other death camp. And now he's sitting there on this death camp and waiting for death and not. Not supposed to be. And in that, he is preaching Christ to the guy who did all of the experiments on the Jews, you know, freezing them, bringing them up in high altitude until their heads pop. All the horrible experiments, everything that is now in every hospital in the world. The book about hypothermia and everything else. It's the. It's. It's the. The number one book on what the human body can do and how you fix things. Number one, it's in every hospital. Every doctor has it. That was written by that Nazi. He released it without Hitler's permission because he thought it was such a gift to the world. And he went to prison because Hitler said, we're not trying to save the world, we're saving German soldiers. Puts him in prison. The guy is a vile guy, as you can imagine. He's in with, I think, a French spy, this woman. She was a double agent. And they're. So. They're in with this cell with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and he's preaching to them, and they're just vile with each other in front of him. Keeps his cool, keeps who he is. Comes up to a couple of weeks before Hitler is going to kill himself, and they come and they're going to execute everybody in that cell. And so they go out. And the only reason why we know how Dietrich Bonhoeffer died and when he died is because of the way he acted. He went out, they took him out to the woods, and they had built a hanging platform, and one by one, they brought him up, put the noose around their neck, trapdoor. They died, cut him down. Next one, bring him up, put the noose around their neck, trapdoor opens, they die. Bonhoeffer, when he comes up, he comes up to the platform, and the guy who's putting the noose around his neck, he says something like, thank you for your kindness. Okay? And the guy is like, what? Everybody else is freaking out, everybody else is, you know, and he says, thank you for your kindness. He tightens the noose, pulls the trapdoor, dead. He remembers that one guy and remembers that was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Didn't. I don't know if he knew who Dietrich Bonhoeffer was at the time, but he knew him because of that. Thank you. He died like a very valiant man. Okay. In a way, I don't know if I could. What is the difference between. When you confront evil, when you see evil? I mean, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the guy who said, silence in the face of evil is evil itself. God will not hold us blameless. Not to act is to act. Okay? That comes from a deep, deep spiritual place. What is the difference between that and Thomas Jefferson saying, rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Do you, as a Christian, have a responsibility to kill Hitler if you had the opportunity with. Not Baby Hitler. Baby Hitler hasn't Committed any crime. You're seeing this death machine, and you've tried everything you can to stop it. Do you have a responsibility as a Christian to stop the evil? I think you do. I think silence in the face of evil is evil itself. Not to act is to act. You know, for. For evil to happen is. It'll happen when good men do nothing. We know that we have a responsibility to act, but we have a responsibility to do everything christlike that we can first. But you get into this place to where, you know, woe unto those who call evil good and good evil. Everybody starts to confuse the language, right? And that's what's happening right now. Everybody's calling everybody a fascist or Hitler. Everybody calls everybody a Nazi. And so there's no meaning on words. We can't forget what words actually mean, or we will wind up calling good evil and evil good. That's what happened to so many Christians. They did nothing. They just went along with it. They just played along, and then it became them. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a great, great man, A Christian giant and a man who fought real evil and wrestled with it. We squabble on the Internet, and I don't want to add to that. All I want to do is make sure that we talk about the facts as they are so we don't lose our way as everything gets jumbled. Ever notice how every part of modern life depends on somebody else doing their job? You know, the power company, the Internet provider, the pharmacy. Most of the time, it all works out fine until the moment, and it doesn't. Then the supply chains break, you know, or stores have to close early or the doctor's office is booked for weeks. That's when you find out how little control you actually have on your own health. And that's why jace medical exists. They give you the power to take that control back. You know, through their network of licensed physicians, you can get a legal doctor prescribed supply of common antibiotics and other essential medications packaged, labeled, and shipped right to your door when you need them. Because when you've done the work to be ready, you don't have to worry about, you know, what the world does next. You've done the work. You don't have to panic or stockpile or hope somebody else fixes it. You just open your jace case, you breathe a little bit, and you move on with your life. That's what real preparedness looks like. When you order your jace case today, use the promo code beck. That's beck. Go to jace.com. enter the promo code beck@jace.com Get a discount on your order. It's jace.com promo code. Becky. Now back to the podcast. This is the best of the Glenn Beck program and we really want to thank you for listening. So Stu, why wouldn't you want a digital ID issued by the state?
- [19:32]
Stu
Why wouldn't I want.
- [19:33]
Glenn Beck
Yeah, why wouldn't you want.
- [19:34]
Stu
Gosh, I can't think of any reasons. It sounds make everything so much easier, right? You know, you can always trust the government to have your best interests at heart, unlike these corporations. And you know, so I think I would take one immediately. But are there some people that are resisting this? I can't even imagine.
- [19:53]
Glenn Beck
Well, there's some that say that, you know, this is the beginning of an all seeing, all knowing state and the next thing you know, they control everything.
- [20:02]
Stu
It is weird too because is that even speculation? Like isn't this what like for example, China is already doing?
- [20:08]
Glenn Beck
Oh yeah, China's already doing way down this road and Europe, they're trying to get it in and they talk about it openly that this is what it is. The next thing you get, the digital ID is the first thing. Then it includes your medical records, it includes all your health, everything. It will give you access to the hospitals or not access to the hospitals. It will allow you to buy things or not buy things. It allow you to access online or not access online. It is control of absolutely everything and that's in the design. And they talk about it openly. Okay, we're backdooring it. We're not. Because they know Americans are not going to go for that. Really? Did you meet us during COVID And they've been trying to remember. That's what a lot of people said. Covid, really the real thing on Covid was really all about was digital id. We got to get everybody onto a digital ID now because Americans aren't for it. The good, good, good, good, good, good people at Apple are here for you. Presenting the new Apple digital ID now at the TSA checkpoints in more than 250 airports all across the US you can present your digital ID at TSA checkpoints and get right onto that plane. Imagine it allows you to create and store an ID in an Apple Wallet using your US passport. The Apple Digital ID acceptance will begin to roll out at TSA checkpoints for domestic travel in over 250 airports across the USA. Apple notes it's not a replacement for your physical passport and you can't use it yet for international travel or border crossings. But you can store everything digitally in their wallet. I can already pay for almost everything with that wallet now. I can use it as an official government id. Yeah, who doesn't want that? I mean, I.
- [22:26]
Stu
It does sort of sound appealing, doesn't it? I mean, just speaking frankly for a moment, very appealing. When I get on a plane, you know, I'm using that as my key. You know, you have cars now where your phone is your key. You can store all sorts of credit cards. You can pay through the phone. I mean, what's the argument to the average person that this is some bad thing? I have to carry this in my wallet anyway, I'm carrying my phone instead of.
- [22:56]
Glenn Beck
I love that. I'd love that if it was completely isolated on my phone.
- [23:02]
Stu
Now, Apple's pretty good with security, actually.
- [23:04]
Glenn Beck
They are.
- [23:04]
Stu
They are legitimately good with.
- [23:06]
Glenn Beck
They're the best. They are. No, I know they. I mean that sincerely.
- [23:09]
Stu
You're saying it with a sarcastic.
- [23:10]
Glenn Beck
Because what does the best mean? What does the best.
- [23:14]
Stu
It's a relative term.
- [23:15]
Glenn Beck
It's a relative turn. They are the best at digital, at.
- [23:19]
Stu
You know, security, as opposed to some of their competitors.
- [23:22]
Glenn Beck
Right. And I have to tell you, when you start putting everything, all records, all passports, all. It is your one universal key, and it's tied directly to online, where it's tracking everything, everywhere you go, every dollar you spent. This is just a very bad idea. Idea. Very bad idea. There's a story I can't remember. Oh, it's called the Book of Revelation. I mean, how much clearer do you have to be where you can't go anywhere, you can't buy anything unless you have the mark. Well, I'm not saying Apple is coming up with the mark of the beast, but this is the technology that sure kind of fits it. And I just don't. Do you know why the Germans could round up so many Jews every night? IBM. IBM, that's a book, right?
- [24:31]
Stu
IBM and the Holocaust.
- [24:32]
Glenn Beck
IBM came up with the punch card system. You remember, when I was a kid, I don't know if anybody else remembers this, but, you know, these computers were the size of rooms and you had punch cards and you would feed it in and it would store the information on the punch card, okay? And so you could ask it anything on a punch card. You type it out and it would punch out whatever and you'd feed it in the computer and it would feed out another punch card and then you translate it, okay? They put everything onto these punch cards where everybody lived, who was related to whom, etc. Etc. So they could go in the afternoon and Go. We got to clear out another 20,000. Where are they? Feed it into IBM, punch card it out. You round everybody up. Okay. That was then. There wouldn't be a Jew alive on the planet if we had digital IDs. Not a chance.
- [25:22]
Stu
Yeah. And really, it does sort of rest on your belief we don't cross those lines.
- [25:28]
Glenn Beck
Right.
- [25:29]
Stu
Yeah. That our government doesn't become Nazi Germany. And again, everybody who has faced a government like that has thought about, oh, gosh, well, our government won't do this. Right. Like, everybody who think of COVID We.
- [25:43]
Glenn Beck
Were on the air saying, like, in what, February. Can you imagine? Look at what they're doing. They're welding people into their houses. Yeah.
- [25:51]
Stu
I remember in Italy being. Because China was China's China. Like, do I surprise the welding people?
- [25:57]
Glenn Beck
There's no way you could even help us stay in our own houses.
- [26:01]
Stu
But when it happened in Italy, I remember being like, oh, my. Like, that's. We share a lot of what I.
- [26:07]
Glenn Beck
Thought, a general understanding said, yeah, not happen here.
- [26:10]
Stu
I remember sitting in the chair I'm sitting in right now.
- [26:14]
Glenn Beck
Me too.
- [26:15]
Stu
Thinking, watching the map on TV of Italy as it got more and more red and circles started popping up all over, and they're getting all these cases, and I'm thinking to myself, they're actually making people stay in their houses. Can you believe this? I couldn't even comprehend it. That they would even ask us to do it in the United States. And then a few weeks later, there we were.
- [26:34]
Glenn Beck
There we were. There we were. And some states were better than others. Yeah.
- [26:38]
Stu
And there was never a point where I was not able to leave my house, but there were lots of restrictions on where I could.
- [26:44]
Glenn Beck
I know people that even in Texas. House. Yeah. I know people not in Texas and other places could not leave their house. Could not go outside. Could not go outside. Couldn't go for a walk. That was insanity. And. And, you know. And we just took it. We just took it. This is already happening.
- [27:03]
Stu
We didn't take it. But I know what you're saying.
- [27:04]
Glenn Beck
In some states, we did.
- [27:06]
Stu
Some people did. Some people not only took it, cheered it on, and vilified people who wouldn't go along with it.
- [27:12]
Glenn Beck
Yes. Yes.
- [27:14]
Stu
Though I do think that when you look back at the overall arc of that period, when you don't focus on the very fine details of it, what you get is a society that did say no to. Took a while. And it did happen in some states and not others. We eventually did get to that place. And because of constitutional protections, I think Some of that stuff was reversed. I'm not saying it's a positive story overall, but I mean, at the end of the day, we didn't turn into Nazi Germany from it, but they also.
- [27:44]
Glenn Beck
Didn'T have total control over everything. They couldn't just shut your money off. Right. Okay, the difference here, digital ID is the first step to an authoritarian state where they have all control. Doesn't mean you end there. It just means you've given people that power. You don't ever want to give people that power ever, ever, ever. We're not going to use it that way. Tell me one thing that the government has said we're not going to do besides balance the budget. Show me one thing they said we're not going to do that they, you know, they haven't done lots of positive.
- [28:21]
Stu
Things they said they're going to do.
- [28:23]
Glenn Beck
And then didn't do, and then didn't do them.
- [28:25]
Stu
But yeah, yeah, you're right. Well, it's, it is a step down a path that you don't want to walk down.
- [28:31]
Glenn Beck
Especially when, you know, if we were becoming a more and more healthy republic, if we were becoming a more and more just republic, a more calm republic, a republic that was starting to really realize, you know, I have a real responsibility as a citizen not to burn Minneapolis down. You know what I mean? I have a real responsibility. As somebody in my party says, I think we should behead them. I gonna stand up and say, no, we shouldn't, and I'll lead a campaign to make sure that that person is not, you know, the one that wins that election. Even if it's my, even if it's my running mate, we're not that nation. We're not going in that direction. We're going the opposite. When you have a nation that is like, you know, I don't know exactly what's going to happen with the dollar because of everything is good. You don't want to hand them the tool that just says, oh, by the way, you can buy everything now, you know, with your digital id, and it'll all be centralized and you've already signed up, you have it, so we're just giving it now. Your dollar is not going to be worth anything soon. Just make sure you get the digital id. You don't want that scenario. You stay away from those lines.
- [29:41]
Stu
We do have to protect those lines. But I will say, you know, history is littered with examples of people who say they're going to protect those lines. And when convenience rears its head, they choose the convenience. I Mean, it happens almost every single time, Glenn. There's almost no examples of people who will resist these technologies.
- [30:03]
Glenn Beck
So that is on, that is on the freedom loving side, okay. Where you're like, I'm not gonna do, I'm not gonna give my face to anybody. Face ID on Apple. We're all doing it right, okay. On the other side, there's almost no example of getting something that can be used to control people and having those who are nefarious on either side not use those things. Eventually they will find a way to use those things. Look at the Patriot Act. We all were. You know what? We're all patriots. We're all patriots. We all believe in the same thing.
- [30:46]
Stu
Maybe a slight simplification of that conversation.
- [30:48]
Glenn Beck
But I know it is, but, but generally speaking, we all just kind of went along with it and look how out of control it is now. Look how out of control our country is on spying on our own citizens. Something 20 years ago we would have, we would have, we would have marched up to Washington to make sure all of those people were standing in front of a judge and going to jail that week. We don't even recognize it anymore. You don't want these tools given.
- [31:16]
Stu
Were simultaneously being watched more than ever before. But as you brought up in hour one, Thomas Crooks is just on the Internet. It's like threatening everybody.
- [31:28]
Glenn Beck
How do I behead this politician?
- [31:29]
Stu
Right? And like no one even knows. No one pays attention.
- [31:32]
Glenn Beck
A search. And our government is like, yeah, Mary, we couldn't find anything digitally. Wait, wait, he did this? How come what is happening? That's why. I mean, in a time when we distrust our government more and more, that's the last thing you do is give them more power and access to everything about you.
- [31:53]
Stu
How do you balance this though, Glenn? Because one of the things. And maybe we could take a. I know we have to take a break here, but maybe you can answer this. One of the things I always thought about the most brilliant thing of our founders were understanding human fallibility.
- [32:06]
Glenn Beck
Yes, right.
- [32:07]
Stu
Like understanding that we weren't going to be perfect and we should set up a system that understood that people have selfish motivations at times and that the system will be able to understand that and still be able to deliver a great world. This is the situation here. This is why I have no real time for some of the conversations we've had on some of the people we've read and talked about who are like, let's just stop AI for five years and then let's assess it. Even Elon Musk has said stuff like this, and I think he's even abandoned that to some degree as he's developing AI himself. But the idea that we're gonna slow this down or stop it and have a conversation, people just want it too much. And at some point we just have to understand they're going to. We better live in that world, understand that world, and try to deal with the real world. Because if we just say, okay, well, let's just stop, well, that's great. You know, who's not gonna stop? China? You know who's not going to stop bad actors hacking groups, all these other things. And if we base our solution on, well, let's just not do these things, we're going to wind up losing. And the digital ID is probably a small part of that conversation, but I think it's part of it. People are gonna want it. I don't have to bring my wallet. So how do we. Knowing that people will choose to have these things on their phone because it's going to be easier. How are we going to then push back against that and stop these things from going down these roads?
- [33:46]
Glenn Beck
You're listening to the Best of Glenn Beck. Need a little more. Check out the full show podcasts. Anywhere you download podcasts. Hey, can I ask you for a favor? Would you say a prayer for some of my friends, like Megyn Kelly? I have been where they are, and they are. They are under the gun big time. Everything that Megan is saying is being taken out of context by one side or another, and they are surrounding her. And, you know, I know her well enough to know, no, he's going to beat her down. But just, just pray for people who do what we do, that we have wisdom, that we. That we see the truth, we know the truth, and we have the courage to. To say the truth. And when we're wrong, we have the courage to say we got it wrong. But it's getting more and more difficult to do this every day. And I thought it was difficult before, but say a prayer and you don't have to pray for me. I mean, I'd love it. But pray for, Pray for Megan in particular, if you would. I've got somebody on who is in just an amazing, amazing show from Amazon, House of David. If you haven't seen House of David yet, you have to. It's. Do you remember when, like, you know, biblical movies, I mean, they were good in the 50s, and then they got really, really bad. And all through the 70s and 80s and 90s and, you know, early 2000 they were horrible. And then all of a sudden they started getting really, really good. This one is amazing. This is as good as the Jesus. What is the Jesus one? The chosen. It's called House of David. It's on Amazon. And we have the guy who portrays David, Michael Iskender, on with us. Michael, how are you?
- [35:35]
Michael Iskender
I'm good. How are you? What an introduction. Thank you for that.
- [35:38]
Glenn Beck
I mean, it's really. I mean, come on, where. It was there any time that you thought, oh, and this. This might. This could. I hope they do it right. And then you saw the finished product and you were like, wow, this is good.
- [35:52]
Michael Iskender
Yeah, I mean, that was. You know, I try to still keep my head down and. And, you know, it's not. It's not finished till it's finished and season two is coming out. But, you know, I'm just so glad to. To be. To be hearing the response of how this show is really affecting people.
- [36:11]
Glenn Beck
So. So can I talk to you about Goliath? Because Goliath is portrayed really as a giant, not just a big guy. I mean, he's. He's a giant.
- [36:21]
Michael Iskender
Yes.
- [36:22]
Glenn Beck
Talk to me about that.
- [36:25]
Michael Iskender
Well, I'll tell you what, when I. When I first met Martin, I. He's a giant in real life, I went to. I went to the gym with him one time and I, you know, I knew I'm going to go get, you know, messed up, so I was prepared for that. And. And he made me work out for two and a half hours, and then I thought that the workout was done, and he was like, no, there's another half.
- [36:50]
Glenn Beck
And.
- [36:52]
Michael Iskender
He. Martin Ford is a really dedicated man, and he just, he pushed me to the edge when it came to working out. And, you know, when it comes to his role as Goliath, he is someone that, you know, really just put in all the effort, both physically and emotionally, to really portray that part as best he can.
- [37:15]
Glenn Beck
How long did it take you to learn how to do the slingshot?
- [37:19]
Michael Iskender
Three days. Wasn't too bad. Wow.
- [37:22]
Glenn Beck
I heard that. I mean, I heard that you had problem with the sheep, that the sheep were. They were not helpful.
- [37:30]
Michael Iskender
Well, the sheep. The sheep were actually really interesting. I remember when we first started filming, they. They put me in sheep training classes because when I get on set, they have to make sure that I'm not, you know, I'm not gonna get attacked by one of the sheep, and I'm comfortable around them. But the sheep. First day I show up to this training, and the sheep hated me. And you think that the Guy who plays David, you know, would be good with sheep, but it was the exact opposite.
- [37:57]
Glenn Beck
No, I don't, I don't think that. I don't think that's natural. You're an actor. I don't know if that's. Yep. Well, they picked me because I'm good with sheep.
- [38:05]
Stu
Okay.
- [38:06]
Michael Iskender
I should have got classes from you. But, but no, I mean, really, I spent a lot of time with the shepherd and he would give me some really amazing lessons. He. He saw that I was having trouble and he said, you know, you should, you should stick next to me because the sheep, when they see you with the shepherd, they'll know that you're with me, so they'll never leave my side. It's amazing to spend a lot of time with me. So. Okay. And then he said, I want you to know another thing. A bad shepherd is a shepherd who's behind the flock. And so you, you're going to be a good shepherd and show them where you're not going to let them lead you. You're gonna, you're gonna lead them and you're gonna be in the front taking the risks and, and showing them the path. And he's saying this and I'm like, I think I'm getting more than just a sheep lesson here. But it really helped in terms of understanding who David was as a person and his relationship to Christ and why David was chosen as king.
- [39:15]
Glenn Beck
Is it true that you fasted before the audition? I mean, you're a Broadway guy.
- [39:20]
Michael Iskender
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I. Well, I sent in the first audition. I was really excited about it and it was a dream of mine for a long time. You know, one of the, one of these dreams that you don't tell anyone and you don't think that's ever going to happen.
- [39:34]
Glenn Beck
To play David specifically or to be.
- [39:36]
Michael Iskender
In a. Yeah, really. To play David. To play David. And because I was inspired by the chosen and I wanted to. I wanted to like, maybe do a flashback scene as like a young David or something. And then when I was. When I got the audition and they originally said no, I was like, oh, you know, that, that would have been. That would have been a good opportunity. And then I got another audition. I called my mom and I said, mom, this doesn't happen. Like, can you believe it? And she said, michael, calm down. The one thing I need you to do, I need you to fast and I need you to pray. So. Yes, ma'. Am. And a week later I was having lunch with John Irwin and he, you know, everything kind of took off from there, but, yeah, fasting and prayer.
- [40:23]
Glenn Beck
You know, I'm friends with. I went to school with Jim Caviezel, and I can't remember what grade he was in. Maybe fifth grade, I think. But he went into. He went into church and all by himself and he prayed and he made a pact with God. Let me. All I want, Lord, is to play you in a movie someday. And I will live my life honorably to be able to be ready, but I want to play you. And so, you know, he told me when Mel called, he was like, yeah, I've been waiting for the call. It's an amazing thing.
- [40:57]
Michael Iskender
Wow. I didn't know that story. That's beautiful.
- [41:00]
Glenn Beck
Yeah. What do you think it is about the story that. I mean, this is the number one show, number one series on Amazon, on Amazon prime this year. What is it about the series that you think is connecting?
- [41:14]
Michael Iskender
You know, I think it's different for everybody. I'll tell you. For me, the reason why this show means a lot to me is because David points us to Christ. And David is a person to me. He's the embodiment of what it means to be human and to make mistakes and yet to still find forgiveness. And his story is a very complex, long story, but he is a man. He's known as the man after God's own heart. So for people to see that example, to see the man that God loves so much, that Jesus himself was known as the son of David, I think that's what's resonating with people. They see the Holy Spirit in the show. At least that's. That's what I see. And that's. That's who I do it for.
- [42:04]
Glenn Beck
It's a. It's amazing to me how with an exception of one, the Bible, every single hero is so deeply flawed and David is so good. So good. And then, you know, becomes really, really. Does one of the worst things I think I've ever read in the Bible, I mean, just really bad.
- [42:30]
Michael Iskender
Yeah.
- [42:31]
Glenn Beck
Are you gonna play. Do you have any idea if. Assuming the ratings are there, how long of the story you're gonna tell?
- [42:38]
Michael Iskender
I really don't know. I mean, we're just trying to get through season two right now in the release. Hopefully, you know, pray for us that we can get a season three and then we can keep telling the story. I don't know what Erwin and Gunn have in this cooking up, but I. I pray that we. We tell as much of the story as possible. And I. I think it's important to see Both the good and the bad, like you said, to see this flawed human being, to see someone make mistakes and yet to see them get back up and. And repent and ask for forgiveness and find grace in God. So we'll see. Pray for us.
- [43:19]
Glenn Beck
I read someplace that you were a Broadway guy, and I thought, his career is not over. I mean, you might. I mean, are you prepared to always be David? I mean, the guy who's playing Jesus now, Jim Caviezel said, you know, it took years before he was allowed to play anything else. And I can't remember the guy who's playing Jesus now his whole life. He is Jesus now to a lot of people. Are you prepared to this be you for the rest of your life now and not, you know, going and going back and doing other things if. If that's the way it is?
- [43:54]
Michael Iskender
You know what? God has taken me through so much in my life, and I'm. I'm sure he's going to get me through this. And if. If. If I'm known as the guy who plays David, I think that's actually a blessing. And I don't know what God, but I trust him. So when that time comes, I'll worry about it then. But for now, I'm having a great time portraying one of my favorite people in the Bible.
- [44:21]
Glenn Beck
I have to just ask you a personal question, one for me. My daughter wants to be on Broadway. Could you talk her out of it in 30 seconds, please?
- [44:33]
Michael Iskender
Oh, man, I don't know if I want to talk her out of it.
- [44:36]
Glenn Beck
Okay, well, time for you to go now, Michael. Thank you so much. And we're looking forward. When does it premiere? This weekend. Is it out?
- [44:46]
Michael Iskender
Well, episode eight is out on Wonder Project on Prime this Sunday. Yeah.
- [44:52]
Glenn Beck
Okay, good, good. Well, we'll be watching. Thank you so much, Michael. I appreciate it.
- [44:56]
Michael Iskender
Thank you so much, Glenn. Have a good one. Take care.
- [44:58]
Glenn Beck
If you haven't seen the first season, you really should see the. I mean, it's really, really good. It's one of those that I started watching, you know, and I stopped because I'm like, wait, Tanya, we should watch this together. And she came home, and so we started watching it, and I think we watched the whole season in, like, one weekend. It's one of those that you just. It's really good. Season two premieres this Sunday.
- [45:26]
Announcer
This episode is brought to you by Netflix from the creator of Homeland. Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys star in the new Netflix series the Beast and me as ruthless rivals whose shared darkness will set them on a collision, crash with fatal consequences. The Beast in Me is a riveting psychological cat and mouse story about guilt, justice and doubt. You will not want to miss this. The Beast in Me is now playing only on Netflix.