Best of the Program | Guests: Brad Meltzer & Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann | 1/17/25

Summary

Summary of "The Glenn Beck Program" Episode Featuring Brad Meltzer & Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann (01/17/25)

Released on January 17, 2025, this special episode of "The Glenn Beck Program" hosted by the Blaze Podcast Network features acclaimed author Brad Meltzer and filmmaker Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann. The discussion delves into Meltzer’s new book on the JFK conspiracy and Mann’s documentary on California wildfires, offering deep insights into American history, political divisions, and environmental management.

---

I. Political Transition and the End of an Era

Glenn Beck opens the episode by reflecting on the recent political shift, describing it as more than just a presidential exit but the culmination of decades-long societal changes marked by division, misinformation, and loss of common sense. He emphasizes the significance of this transition as "the end of an era marked by madness, confusion, Division, distortion, a deafening cacophony of chaos" ([02:05]).

"This administration exiting is not just another exit, you know, exit of a president. It's not the same... it's truly the end of an era." — Glenn Beck [02:08]

Beck underscores the importance of rebuilding and restoring faith in institutions and each other, advocating for an era rooted in freedom, diversity of thought, and mutual respect.

---

II. Interview with Brad Meltzer: Unveiling the JFK Conspiracy

Brad Meltzer, along with co-author Josh Mensch, presents his latest work, "JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy and Why It Failed." Meltzer discusses the discovery of a lesser-known assassination plot against JFK before his presidency.

A. The Hidden Plot to Assassinate JFK

Meltzer recounts the story of Richard Pavlik, a disgruntled postal worker who intended to kill JFK using dynamite. This plot, however, was thwarted by unforeseen events—a midair collision of two airliners that diverted attention from Pavlik’s assassination plans ([22:45]).

"America becomes obsessed with this kid... It knocks this JFK story off the front page, buries it into the middle of the newspaper." — Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann [22:50]

B. Anti-Catholic Sentiment and Societal Division

The conversation delves into the anti-Catholic prejudice that fueled Pavlik’s motives. Influential Protestant leaders, including Billy Graham and Reverend Norman Vincent Peale, expressed concerns over JFK's loyalty to the Pope over the United States, fostering an environment of distrust and division ([25:42]).

"They worried that JFK would be loyal to the Pope and not to the United States." — Brad Meltzer [24:53]

Meltzer draws parallels between the societal divisions of the 1960s and today, highlighting how entrenched biases continue to foster political and social discord.

"It's right. We are now. And it sounds almost silly now, but there were Protestant leaders back then who did not want a Catholic becoming president." — Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann [25:38]

C. Parallels to Present-Day Politics

Meltzer emphasizes that the divisive atmosphere surrounding JFK's presidency mirrors current political tensions, where extreme partisanship and lack of mutual respect hinder constructive dialogue and progress.

"Whatever side you're on, you think the other side are complete and utter morons. Does that sound familiar to you?" — Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann [25:28]

---

III. Discussion with Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann: "Hotshot" Documentary and Wildfire Management

Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann, co-author of Meltzer’s book and filmmaker, discusses his documentary "Hotshot," which explores the real history of California wildfires and critiques the prevailing narratives around climate change.

A. Creation and Rejection of "Hotshot"

Mann explains that "Hotshot" was turned down by major distributors like HBO and Netflix due to its minimal focus on climate change, instead highlighting historical wildfire data and practical fire management strategies ([32:17]).

"We gloss over the climate change thing and say, look, had horrible fires for centuries." — Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann [32:17]

B. Climate Change vs. Fire Management Strategies

The documentary contrasts wildfire management in California with Florida’s proactive approach. Mann points out that Florida mitigates wildfire risks through widespread prescribed burns—practices that California has largely neglected, exacerbating fire severity ([35:03]-[35:49]).

"Florida proactively burns more than California has burned in the last 50 years." — Brad Meltzer [35:19]

C. Critique of Hollywood’s Wokeness

Mann criticizes Hollywood for prioritizing political agendas over authentic storytelling, leading to the rejection of films like "Hotshot." He argues that this "woke epidemic" stifles meaningful narratives and alienates audiences seeking genuine content ([33:26]).

"They’re shooting themselves in the foot by turning down a profitable film just because it didn’t sufficiently validate your dogmatic ideology." — Brad Meltzer [33:32]

"If you're saying you have to work three times as hard, that means you're demeaning women." — Brad Meltzer [40:31]

D. Environmental and Practical Insights

Mann highlights the ecological benefits of prescribed burns, such as soil renewal and supporting ecosystems dependent on fire for reproduction. He critiques policies that ignore these practical solutions in favor of ineffective climate change narratives ([37:06]-[38:02]).

"If you keep putting it on climate, it's the most disempowering narrative you could possibly because it creates this learned helplessness." — Brad Meltzer [38:02]

---

IV. Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts

Concluding the episode, Beck and his guests reiterate the importance of acknowledging historical lessons to address present challenges. They advocate for restoring rational discourse, empowering individuals to take action, and rejecting divisive ideologies that undermine societal cohesion.

"Lead the way. Be the one who chooses faith over fear, courage over conformity, love over hatred." — Glenn Beck [40:31]

The episode wraps up with encouragement to support independent projects like "Hotshot" as alternatives to mainstream media narratives, fostering a more informed and resilient American society.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "This administration exiting is not just another exit... it's truly the end of an era." — Glenn Beck [02:08]
• "Whatever side you're on, you think the other side are complete and utter morons. Does that sound familiar to you?" — Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann [25:28]
• "They’re shooting themselves in the foot by turning down a profitable film just because it didn’t sufficiently validate your dogmatic ideology." — Brad Meltzer [33:32]
• "If you keep putting it on climate, it's the most disempowering narrative you could possibly because it creates this learned helplessness." — Brad Meltzer [38:02]
• "Lead the way. Be the one who chooses faith over fear, courage over conformity, love over hatred." — Glenn Beck [40:31]

---

Conclusion

This episode of "The Glenn Beck Program" offers a compelling exploration of historical conspiracies and contemporary environmental challenges, urging listeners to seek truth, embrace proactive solutions, and foster unity amidst division. Through the insightful dialogues with Brad Meltzer and Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann, the program underscores the necessity of informed action and the reclamation of common sense in shaping America's future.

Transcript

[Glenn Beck]

Everything that we are saying goodbye to from this administration on Monday and the turning of the page, what we should be thinking about this weekend and on Monday. Also, an incredible movie that was turned down both by HBO and Netflix. It's called Hot Shots and it's all about the California wildfires made before this one. You'll understand once you hear from Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann exactly why they turned that down and why, why you should watch it now. And one of my favorite people in the world, Brad Meltzer, the JFK conspiracy, he's just discovered there was a hit on JFK just before he became president. And you've never heard of it, why? Brad Meltzer joins me on today's podcast. Bernalauncher I am a gun owner. I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in being prepared for every situation. But I also know that according to law enforcement, 99% of all situations where force may be required doesn't require lethal force. You know why? Burn them out Launcher was first designed. The guy who designed the burner launcher was in a road rage incident. Some guy just was just raging against him and he pulls over to the side thinking that the guy will just pass him. He didn't. He gets out of his car. The guy who designed burn a launcher first went for his gun and said, no, I don't want to get into a gunfight. Well, he was beaten to an inch of his life on the side of the road by this guy. He never again. Berna B y r n a.com Glenn berna.com Glenn go there now.

[Brad Meltzer]

You're listening to the best of the.

[Glenn Beck]

Glenn Beck program, Morning school hour. Three days, Glenn. Three days. Three days. A fundamental transformation of America.

[Stu Burguiere]

Yeah.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah.

[Stu Burguiere]

No more of this guy. No more of her, no more of them.

[Glenn Beck]

I, you know, but I think it's a lot bigger than I was thinking about this today when I was driving in that this administration exiting is not just another exit, you know, exit of a president. It's not the same. And it wasn't like this in 16, although we hoped it would be. But it is this time because the people and the feeling in the country, even among Democrats, is different. Now. We're about to turn the page and enter a new app, a new era or a new chapter. We're really standing on the edge. Monday is a moment far larger than politics. But it's only the beginning. It's not just the end of a presidency, not the changing of the guard. It is truly the end of an era, an era marked by madness, by confusion, by Division, distortion, a deafening cacophony of chaos. All of that has drowned out reason and common sense. And it, you know, it didn't, it didn't start yesterday. As much as the left tried to make this all about words by twisting meaning, redefining words, or using words in ways, quite honestly, to use their words in mis. Dis or malinformation, this era is not going to be remembered by the words, but by the actions of those who spoke the millions of those meaningless words. We can see right now the destruction of our economy, our security, that in. In really, really clear terms in the homes and the hearths of California, that it is the actions of people that matter more than simple words. By their. By their fruits ye shall know them. The fruit of this tree is rotted. And people now are beginning to see that. Now, like I said, this didn't begin four years ago. It turned it up to volume number 10. But this has been brewing for decades. It has been in our institutions far longer than any of us realize, metastasizing in our culture, our institutions and our hearts and hardening our hearts. It is an era that we leave on Monday that put truth itself on trial. Can you even define what truth is anymore? We, we went into this place that was so absurd, we couldn't define something as fundamental and self evident as. Can you tell me what a woman is? Historians are going to look back on this last era that we're now leaving as pure madness. But it's also a time when it took everything in people to question the powerful mob, to speak the truth that you believe it was a. It was a risk that at first, far too many people wouldn't do because they were afraid of being shouted down, counts counts canceled, or much, much worse. Common decency. The once unspoken bond that united us was thrown out the window. It became not only unfashionable, but absolutely unrecognizable. And everybody was at each other's throats. Common sense. Our old friend just dismissed, exiled seemingly to the fringes of our society, as if it were dangerous now or just wildly outdated. And we know that we didn't know that yesterday, but we know that today. And I mean literally yesterday. How many words changed? How many things, concepts, huge truths that we knew? We wake up one day and it was completely being dismissed. And you'd be like, where did this come from? We're leaving a time of breathtaking hypocrisy where those who deny corruption themselves take bribes from hostile nations, where the righteous call for unity while sowing division this era, racism has been repackaged and sold back to us under the guise of anti racism. Hatred, we're told, is perfectly fine as long as it's aimed at the right people. And those right people may be the wrong people tomorrow. Faith in God has been replaced by faith in climate, models, sexuality, identity. In this last era that we're now getting ready to leave, all of those religions had their own dogmas, their high priest, their rituals, and above all, their lack of forgiveness, meaning that they were antichrist teachings. But somehow or another, many of our churches embrace them as the message of Christ. There cannot be Christ in any message that doesn't include forgiveness. But this isn't where the story ends. We thought before this election this might be where our story ends. But here is the really unbelievable news. God stepped in. And if you don't recognize that there is no hope for us, God stepped in and did something none of us could do. First of all, he saved the President's life twice. And if you think that was a secret service, you're nuts. God saved him twice. God changed him. And suddenly our society is waking up. This guy who's not our savior won and people started flocking to him and willing to take bold stands and say, you know what, all this crap, it's wrong. So this is not the end of an era alone. It's the beginning of the end of that era. The end of unreasonable hatred of others not because they look different, but be simply because they voted differently, they didn't think differently. You know, they, there was, it was nothing about actual diversity. It was all about voting. It's the end of unquestioning obedience to the so called media and experts who demand that we follow them without question into the slaughterhouse. Hoping, I guess, hoping against hope, many of us, that if we would just comply, our turn on the chopping block would never come. It's the end of the era of my body, my choice, in everything, in everything else other than killing your baby. You can kill your baby. My body, my choice. Well, it's not your body that's being killed, it's the baby's body. Made no sense, but boy, oh boy, not with Max masks, not with vaccines, not with the basic right to just use your legs and leave your home. It's an end of an era where we have to ask ourselves, whose side is this government on? Who is actually running this thing? What is the actual plan that our leaders have? How, how is this helping the average American who is actually the President? That ends on Monday. It's the beginning of the end. There's a lot of work to do, but it's the beginning of the end of diversity twisted into a weapon where diversity of thought, values and spirit were just disregarded, replaced by a narrow, suffocating dogma that demanded conformity in all ways. Even if you were conforming yesterday and then somehow or another, through the ether, the mob decided what was true yesterday is no longer true today. The mob would get you on anything you disagreed with. It's the end of the era where dissent was met, met not with debate, but with just now meaningless labels. Racist, fascist, bigot. I think it's really important that all of us recognize this is not about Democrats. There are a lot of Democrats that actually woke up. It's not about Democrats, it's not about Republicans. I think both of them stink, quite honestly, I do. And that's the message of this new administration. And you see it with the diversity of people that are actually in this administration. We don't agree on locks in lockstep on everything. Far from it. The establishment in the Democrats and the Republicans do. But this isn't about Democrat, Republicans, liberals, conservative, independent. This is truly about something much, much deeper that begins Monday. It's older and far more grander than a political party. It is truly about the rebirth or the rediscovering of what it truly means to be free. Monday marks the rebirth of something absolutely extraordinary. Things we used to find self evident. The freedoms guaranteed just in our First Amendment. The freedom to question our government. They work for us, we don't work for them. The freedom to speak our mind. Even the most unpleasant and disruptive things you are allowed to say. The freedom to worship, to live out your beliefs, to be who you are without demanding that others speak, affirm, or even accept your truth. You know, the one thing that we have forgotten in this last era that I hope we are remembering is that this nation wasn't built by people who all walked in lockstep. They didn't agree on everything. In fact, far from it. It was built by people who often vehemently disagreed on the right path forward, but they shared the common commitment to respecting each other's rights and fulfilling their own responsibilities. It was built on the idea that disagreement, when handled with humility and respect, makes us stronger, not weaker. Diversity of thought is important. Diversity of skin color doesn't matter. And so, as we say farewell to an era of absolute chaos, it's really important that we don't say goodbye in anger or bitterness. And that is hard. We can't alienate our neighbors or assume the worst of those who see the world differently. If we agree on the rebirth of the Bill of Rights and each responsibility that is tied to those rights, Monday, I hope we recognize that this is an end of an era. This weekend and Monday is an invitation to rebuild, to restore, to renew an era, a golden era, an era that is dawning just in front of all of us. And it belongs to all of us, not just those who won an election or share my view or your view. It's an era that can only succeed if we remember the lessons of the past and commit to something better. To restore hope not just in our institutions, but in each other. Renew our faith, not just in God, though that's vital, but also in the idea that people, flawed though they are, can be capable of incredible good. Seek restoration not just of our economy and our government, but of our hearts, of our communities, of our families, our shared understanding of what it means to be human and to be free. This weekend, I want you to bid farewell to all of the chaos. It's the beginning of the end. There will be more chaos as we go, but as we lay it down, leave it behind. Walk forward. Leave your fear behind. Walk in courage. Not in hatred, but in love. Because the truth is, this country has faced darker days than these. I didn't think we'd make it here, gang. But every time this country seems to find the light just at the end. And we found it, but it's just flickering. Still so fragile in mighty gusts of wind. But what will happen is not because of a president or Congress or a court. It will all happen because of you. So don't wait for anybody else. Lead the way. Be the one who chooses faith over fear, courage over conformity, love over hatred. Let's be the ones who Our words are meaningless, but our action speaks volumes. The one that shows the world that freedom actually works. Not because it's easy, but because it is right? Let me tell you about pre born. When you put your hand over your heart, what do you feel but said beat, beat beneath your hand? That's how you know you're alive. Okay? Expecting moms, when they go in for an ultrasound or they go in for an abortion, they've been taught to ignore the beating heart. Okay? But when they see an ultrasound of their unborn child, not just a glob of cells, but a beating heart and a brain and arms and legs, that changes them. Now, the abortion pill accounts for over 60% of all abortions, and it's available pretty much 24. 7. This is why the Ministry of Preborn is so important. They've got to get those who are going in and give them an ultrasound because that stops a lot of that. But also they're fighting on another front now. They need your help. For $28, that's the cost of a dinner, you can sponsor one ultrasound and introduce a mom to her baby for the very first time. And 100% of your donations going towards saving babies. So will you help? Just dial £250, say the keyword baby. That's £250, keyword baby. Or donate securely at preborn.com beck preborn.com beck Sponsored by Prebor Back to the podcast. You're listening to the Best of the Glenn Beck Program. Brad Meltzer is with me. He and his co author, Josh Mensch have just released a new book called the JFK Conspiracy, the Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy and why It Failed. Brad, as always, it's good to see you.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Always good to see you, my friend.

[Glenn Beck]

So let's start with, I mean, kind of where we are right now. I talked to Cash Patel eight months ago, and when he was at dni, when he was the dni, he said he saw some of the things. He didn't tell me what it was. He said, but he saw the Kennedy stuff and elsewhere. And he said, you know, if people see it, they would understand why it has been kept quiet. He said, I don't agree with it, but you would understand. Do you think we're going to get the full disclosure this time?

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

We were promised it when Trump first took office, over and over. I sit on the board of the National Archives foundation, as you know, and believe me, we all want it. Everyone there wants it. And I will say this, I don't think. I actually don't think there's some smoking gun, and here's why. Because Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald. And the moment he did that, he took away the one eyewitness who actually was there and knew what happened. So you can find all these other things, but it will never answer the question, what is Lee Harvey Oswald doing in Russia at the height of the Cold War? Who do we ask that to? He's the guy going there and doing it. And the fact that, no, here's the other thing that I always rely on. Deathbed confessions. I'm obsessed with deathbed confessions. If you look at Watergate and who Deep Throat was, Bob Woodward was going to take it to the grave. The head of the Washington Post was going to take it to the grave. And how do we find out who Deep Throat was? Because Deep Throat got old and said, it's me. It's me, Mark Feld. I'm about to die and I want the truth to be known. And in all these years since that day here In Dallas in 1963, nobody said a word. And I don't believe that for one second. There's someone who on their deathbed, and look at the math of where they are. There's very few people that were alive were getting there. So I'm hoping. But that's what I trust more than some bureaucratic paperwork.

[Glenn Beck]

So let's talk about this new conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. I had never heard of it before. And you explain in the book why. But first set it up. This is before he takes office, right?

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Yeah. This is three years before Lee Harvey Oswald obviously takes his famous shot. And it is in Palm Beach, Florida. It's a beautiful Sunday morning right after JFK has been elected. Almost right where we are right now in the presidency. He's been elected, he's waiting for inauguration, and he's going to church. Sunday morning, JFK goes to church. And he has no idea that there is a disgruntled postal worker named Richard Pavlik who wants to kill him. And he's packed his car with seven sticks of dynamite. He's followed jfk. He tracked him to Massachusetts, he tracked them to Palm Beach, Florida, followed him to Florida because He believes that JFK's security is weakest there, which he's right about. And as JFK leaves his house that morning for church, all this assassin has to do is hit the little trigger device that he's built and boom, will go the dynamite.

[Glenn Beck]

Would he be in the car?

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

He's in the car, he writes the letter that says, I'm not coming back from this. And what saves JFK's life that day? I don't want to ruin the ending, although I think I just ruined chapter one of the JFK conspiracy. That's chapter one. But what saves his life that day has to do with Jackie. I won't ruin it. But it's one of the craziest JFK stories you've never heard in your life.

[Glenn Beck]

So why haven't we heard this?

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

That's the right question. So here's why you don't know. This story is it was a huge story in Miami, in Florida, where it happened. Miami Herald had a big front page article. It's about to go nationwide. It used to back then take an extra day to go from local to Nationwide. And on the day it's going nationwide, two airliners collide over New York City.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh, my gosh.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

And everyone on board dies except for one child, the sole survivor.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh, my God, that is great.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

And America becomes obsessed with this kid, right? Is he gonna live? Is he gonna die? It knocks this JFK story off the front page, buries it into the middle of the newspaper. It becomes a footnote to history until my friend Josh Mensch and I find it. And we're like, america needs to know this story. That's where the JFK conspiracy is.

[Glenn Beck]

How did you find this story?

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Because I'm crazy like you, right? I mean, because we love. Listen, your algorithm, I know, is like my algorithm. It feeds us what we like and it knows I. So I usually find them in footnotes. The best stories in history in the footnotes. You and I have talked at length about this. And this one, I found a little mention of it, a tiny little blurb on it. And I was like. And my reaction is always the same. Is this real? And let's find out.

[Glenn Beck]

Those are the best journeys, the best journey.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

They're adventures. That's how I see them. And we were very lucky that there were some reporters who did a FOIA request for the documents on Richard Pavlik. And what they found and what we got was hundreds of pages of the FBI's and the Secret Service's real time files from 1960.

[Glenn Beck]

Wait, who has. Where are those? How long did it take to find these?

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Yeah, I mean, you know what the truth is? It's the one. I mean, for all the government, FOIA is an unbelievable thing. And if no one, I wouldn't know to look for them. But once they're out, now there's a record. So once you get Richard Pavlik, once I find that store and I get his name, now I can find his arrest record, now I can find who the officer is. Now I can find, oh, was the Service or the FBI arrested him? Now I can. And you suddenly, that game through time, and you start pulling these layers and it just reveals so much, of course, about JFK and what's going on in 1960.

[Glenn Beck]

So why did he want to kill him? Disgruntled postal worker.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Putting the word postal in postal worker, right?

[Glenn Beck]

You kind of have an answer.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

But here's the real answer. The real answer is because he's Catholic, of all things. And it sounds almost silly now. He's Catholic, this is JFK. No, no, because. I'm sorry, I mean, because JFK's Catholic.

[Glenn Beck]

He wants to kill JFK's Catholic. No, you got that part.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Pavlik wants to kill JFK because JFK is Catholic. And it sounds almost trite now. And I know it's titillating for me to come on and say, hey, we found the secret plot to kill JFK that you've never heard. But the reason you and I love history so much is that it's not just cool old stories, but it's that it tells us something about where we are right now. And if you look at the 1960 election, it's JFK versus Richard Nixon. The country is bitterly divided. The closest election of the 20th century. Whatever side you're on, you think the other side are complete and utter morons. Does that sound familiar to you? Right. It's right. We are now. And it sounds almost silly now, but there were Protestant leaders back then who did not want a Catholic becoming president.

[Glenn Beck]

Because they were worried, including great statesmen like Billy Graham.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Great Billy Graham. The Reverend Norman Vincent Peale, who wrote the Power of Positive Thinking, one of the great books.

[Glenn Beck]

New York's Vincent Peale.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

He's the one who Billy Graham puts out in front of the public. And you see video of him saying, we can't have anyone who's Catholic, because what he wants, he's worried he's going to be loyal to the Pope. You're on the money. And they're worried that when JFK takes office, he'll be loyal to the Pope and not these United States, and he can't be trusted. And again, it sounds almost silly now, but back then, that's what they thought. And here was the other big part, the kkk. Very separately, the Ku Klux Klan, of course, in the Civil War, is harassing the black community. In the 1920s, there's a resurgence of the KKK, and they realized that they can expand their dues and their membership by expanding that circle of hate. And what they expand it to is they start hating not just blacks, but they start hating Jews, they start hating immigrants. And they see JFK as an Irish Catholic immigrant that his family came across on a boat. And we can't have an immigrant reach that White House. And when you put that venom, like what? Saying you can't have a Catholic in the White House. Out there, people are listening. And Richard Pavlik is listening, and he's like, you know what? I'm going to do something good for America. I'm going to make sure the Catholic never gets to the White House.

[Glenn Beck]

If I'm not mistaken, the Catholics were Instrumental in raising money for the Washington Monument.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

I think that's right. I think that is right. I remember reading about that. I used to do for one of our History Channel shows. We did something on that.

[Glenn Beck]

And I think. I think that's why it took so long to finish. Not only that, but also the Civil War, because people were like, that's a Catholic project.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Of course. I mean, a great giant monument. The Catholic. I mean, who knows? But, you know, we look at that as, like, right now. We all roll our eyes and say, why would they care about that? But it just shows you what venom and hatred can do to our country and to me, you know, I'm very much obsessed with looking at this from that perspective. In fact, one of the things I became obsessed with was Camelot itself. And one of the things I learned. I love Jackie Kennedy. Love her and Jackie Kennedy, we've reduced to a caricature. We've said, oh, she's beautiful, and she's got grace and she can decorate. We don't do her a service there.

[Glenn Beck]

She was wicked smart.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Wicked is the right word. Wicked smart. Like Massachusetts herself. And she basically. We don't pull our punches. We document JFK's affairs. We show you that after they get engaged, one of JFK's best friends comes to Jackie and says, you know, Jack really loves women. And basically says to her face, he's gonna keep sleeping around on you. And when she's giving birth, she hemorrhages, and they have to race her to the hospital. JFK is nowhere to be found for.

[Glenn Beck]

Like a week or so.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

A long time.

[Glenn Beck]

He's on a boat.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

He's on a plane to Florida. You know what would happen to me? Wait, wait, wait.

[Glenn Beck]

He was on a boat with a bunch.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Oh, that's when she has a stillborn. That's when he's. He's on a boat full of women for that one. That's a stillborn.

[Glenn Beck]

There's two.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

That's the second. That's the first one. He's on a boat with a bunch of women. She's having a stillborn. And they have to tell him, you should probably go back. And he's like, you think? And they're like, yeah, man. Yeah, you gotta go back. Your political career is finished.

[Glenn Beck]

She was done with the marriage on that one, right?

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

I mean, she.

[Glenn Beck]

I think she.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

How could you not be right? How could you. And when she finally gives birth to Jon Jon, she hemorrhages because she's obviously had this previous pregnancy. It was a disaster. JFK is On a plane to Florida. Do you know what would happen to me if I was on a plane to Florida while my wife was giving birth? You and I would not be talking right now because I would be murdered.

[Glenn Beck]

I know.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

Me too.

[Glenn Beck]

Me, too. I had to start my CNN show three days, two days after my daughter was born. And I almost lost my life because I wasn't, you know, fully there two days later, of course.

[Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann]

And what I kept saying when I'm reading all this is, why did they call this place Camelot? How is it so great that it's Camelot? And I was like, where does it start? Is it year one Camelot, Year two Camelot? Where's it go?

[Brad Meltzer]

You're listening to the Best of the Glenn Beck Podcast. Hear more of this interview and others with the full show podcast available wherever you get podcasts.

[Glenn Beck]

It's Friday, the very last broadcast of this administration's full day. Yeah.

[Brad Meltzer]

Oh, my gosh.

[Stu Burguiere]

I hadn't thought of it that way.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah. Yeah. This is it.

[Stu Burguiere]

That is incredible.

[Glenn Beck]

We're through it. We made it.

[Stu Burguiere]

Don't you dare say something like that. We've got a couple more days and part of another show right where we're still.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah, we're gonna be at the inauguration and covering it for you on Monday. The live Blaze TV coverage will begin on Monday at simulcast with this podcast and radio show. So you don't want to miss it. We have all kinds of guests and everything else and we'll be there.

[Stu Burguiere]

By the way, Blazetv.com Glenn the code, Glenn. 47. It's a special thing they're running right for the inauguration, so check that out. 47 bucks off.

[Glenn Beck]

So I want to get into what we were talking about. I was just, just getting into something called the Telepathy tapes that I started listening to yesterday and I'm already eight episodes down. Wow. I mean, it's rabbit hole, but they're very careful on laying everything out so you just don't roll your eyes and it goes to something bigger that Stu and I were just talking about on the air that today and Monday I'm just not going to have the time to do justice to. So would you write down telepathy tapes and likable hippies and end of an era.

[Stu Burguiere]

She's currently writing down the words likable hippies.

[Glenn Beck]

I know. I hate hippies. I hate hippies. But there are a few non Marxist authentic hippies that I think I might like. In theory. It's hippies is not.

[Stu Burguiere]

I mean, it's. They wouldn't like the word.

[Glenn Beck]

No, they wouldn't like the word, but.

[Stu Burguiere]

I know what you're saying.

[Glenn Beck]

That's what they are. All right, in the meantime, there is a documentary that is showing the real history of the California wildfires and no major distributors would take it. Netflix, HBO said, no, no, no, no, we can't do that. The documentary is called Hotshot. The director and cinematographer is Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann, and he's on with us now. Gabriel, how are you, sir?

[Brad Meltzer]

I'm fabulous, Glenn. Thank you so much for having me on.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh, I love, I love the fact that hbo, Netflix, everybody said no. You're not talking enough about climate change, right?

[Brad Meltzer]

Oh, yeah. And look, it's been a surreal experience. You know, this well enough. Hollywood has been entirely captured by wokeness. And I think this is why they keep recycling the same garbage that nobody likes. So I made this film in a very unconventional way. I just spent six years just walking into these wildfires with a couple of cameras and I embedded directly with the Hotshot crews to get their point of view. And look, the visuals are insane and I think that's what got us in the door with Netflix and hbo. But in the film, we gloss over the climate change thing and say, look, had horrible fires for centuries.

[Glenn Beck]

Yes.

[Brad Meltzer]

And the worst ones were actually way back in 1871 during, you know, the optimal climate. So obviously your SUV doesn't matter. And because we didn't sufficiently mess our drawers about climate change, they barked at it and they wanted us to recut the whole film to be more about climate change. But I'm not going to lie. So I refused to cut it. They told me to kick rocks. So I just made a template website, released it myself. And it's been entirely a grassroots effort. And, and look, it's insanely difficult when you're competing against these massive studios. The film, it's actually become the number one rated firefighter film of all time.

[Glenn Beck]

Draft Backdraft. That's an amazing movie, but it just.

[Brad Meltzer]

Shows you how self destructive this woke epidemic is for Hollywood. They're shooting themselves in the foot. Like, how do you turn down a profitable film just because you're mad that it didn't sufficiently validate your dogmatic ideology? It's crazy.

[Glenn Beck]

So, you know, it's yesterday. Did you hear this, Stu? Donald Trump said Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson are now special envoys for the President to try to fix Hollywood. And I'm like, I don't know how you could fix Hollywood. I think it's being fixed on its own. Because they're just, they're just, they're gonna end in a giant ball of fire like California is. You can't, you can't keep up this kind of policy that is completely unhooked from common sense and reality and expect to succeed in anything, in any way.

[Brad Meltzer]

100% right. And frankly, I think there is a massively underserved market of people. Oh yeah, they don't even need, they don't need right wing movies to balance out the commie movies. They just want good movies back. Just don't lecture me. Just give me 90s Hollywood. When we had Jurassic park and Saving Private Ryan and all these good flicks with no agenda, like that's what we were aiming to do. Just to try to inform honestly and trust that our audience is smart enough to come up with their own conclusions and let them enjoy the picture on their own. I think the rational wing of America is responding very positively to that. And I think if more filmmakers go that route, they can have success outside of the system.

[Glenn Beck]

So one of the things that's in Hotshot, the movie that you've released online, is the difference between California and Florida. And Florida has very few forest fires. It's hot there, too. What's the difference?

[Brad Meltzer]

Well, not only is it hot there, but all that rain just creates more fuels. Florida is very flammable. But back in 19, in the late 1990s, they had a huge wildfire outbreak. Destroyed a bunch of homes, destroyed the timber industry, and it cost them a fortune. So they made a very rational conclusion. How much did 500,000 acres of wildfire cost us? And how much would it cost us to proactively burn that with prescribed fire? What they found out is that that one wildfire outbreak they could have afforded to do 60 years of prescribed fire.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh, my gosh.

[Brad Meltzer]

So they decided, okay, we're going to do that. And every year they proactively burn 2 million acres every single year. In one year, Florida proactively burns more than California has burned in the last 50 years. They need to burn between 4 to 11 million acres every year just to keep up with that growth that keeps coming out of the ground. They're only doing like 36,000 a year. And four years ago, five years ago now, Gavin Newsom stepped over burnt corpses on sacred tribal land to promise that he was going to burn a million acres a year. He still hasn't come remotely close to doing it. Everyone focuses on how the government let people down during the firefight. I can tell you, once fires on the ground with conditions like that there's nothing you can do. The real betrayal came and in the last years and months when they refused to get rid of these fuels.

[Glenn Beck]

It's just common sense. And it also fires, renew the soil, it makes the new growth stronger. It is so natural to do it. And I don't understand why the powers to be and the so called land scientists and everything else, how they don't understand that I'm an alcoholic DJ and I've known that my whole life.

[Brad Meltzer]

Well, look, in order to fix a problem, you have to first accept that you have agency over the problem. And they refuse to do that. Except in this like really convoluted Rube Goldberg climate change kind of where they think if you just add more solar panels or buy more Teslas that the weather will change and then the fires will stop. But, but look, no amount of Teslas is going to make the weather less angry. You just need to accept it and clear your brush. What's double frustrating is these things aren't mutually exclusive. You don't even have to abandon the climate change fantasy. You just have to accept that none of the climate policies will do a darn thing for wildfires. Not one like ever. But you can prevent tomorrow's wildfire right now. And like you said, not only do the fires replenish the soil, look, the ecosystem out west is dependent on fire. A lot of trees cannot even reproduce unless the pine cone burns to release and germinate the seed. So to try to defy this natural process is insanity.

[Glenn Beck]

Let me ask you the California. Where are you from, Gabriel?

[Brad Meltzer]

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. Palisades actually, specifically.

[Glenn Beck]

Wow. So I get this question all the time. Do you think California is going to wake up and learn their lesson? Do you think they learned their lesson? I don't know. Do they?

[Brad Meltzer]

No, never. Dan Bongino always asks us like, is it bad enough yet? It's not bad enough yet. And you know, I love Adam Crooner the other day, but nothing's going to change. Like, if I thought they were capable of changing, I wouldn't have left the state for Tennessee. But Nothing changed after 85 people were killed in paradise. Sean Penn lost his Malibu mansion to a fire in 1993, then rebuilt it, nearly lost again in another fire in 2018, and all he does is blame you for the car that you drive. So look, I don't think it's going to change because like I said, you have to accept that you have agency over the problem. If you keep putting it on climate, it's the most disempowering narrative you could possibly because it creates this learned helplessness. Nothing is going to change. So, look, man, I don't know how you can expect anyone to make a real change if they refuse to accept the real world.

[Glenn Beck]

Let me play some of the clips from the movie. Clip three from Hot Shot Cut number six.

[Narrator]

Even though their fire season is only June to November, she has to train all year to stay in shape. There are no bonus points for abs. It's a different kind of fitness. Justine doesn't have any illusions about the female's physicality. She has to put in extra work to keep up with the fellas. This is real life, not a gender studies class. If you can't get up the hill, you die. If you can't drive the buggy through the fire, when goes sideways, your whole crew dies. You gotta be durable. And as a squad boss, she's overhead. And she has to earn their trust and respect. The only way to do that is to outwork them. And what's more humbling than having a girl pass you on the hill?

[Glenn Beck]

I have to tell you, they had to have gone crazy on things like that. But that's the truth, Glenn.

[Brad Meltzer]

They lost their mind over that one. That actually may have doomed us more than the climate change. Really? Look, I'm just. Dude, it's just reality. Like, those of us who live in reality accept the simple truth that, look, if you're 120 pounds and your pack weighs 70 pounds, you gotta work three times as hard as someone like me. I weigh 230 pounds.

[Glenn Beck]

Right?

[Brad Meltzer]

It's just reality. And the thing is, I would think that framing it that way, saying that a gal has to work three times harder, that that honors their service, but they look at it as like, oh, no, everyone can do the same thing. So if you're saying you have to work three times as hard, that means you're demeaning women. It's like, no, it's the opposite. That's how upside down woke Hollywood is. It's like, we really need to. Everyone in my industry needs to disabuse ourselves of all this, like, delicate political stuff. Because normal people watch that clip in particular and just go, yeah, yeah, that sounds right. And that is the reality.

[Glenn Beck]

Where can you find it now? Can I just. Just go ahead.

[Brad Meltzer]

Yeah. We made a website called hotshotmovie.com. you can support us directly there. But, you know, if you don't. If it's more convenient, you don't mind giving Jeff Bezos a pound of flesh. It's also on Amaz, Google Play, and Voodoo.

[Glenn Beck]

Well, he's losing so much money with the Washington Post that maybe. I don't know. Maybe you should throw him a bone. I don't know. I think I would go tohotshotmovie.com. thank you so much, Gabriel. I appreciate it. God bless.

[Brad Meltzer]

Thank you so much.

[Glenn Beck]

You bet.