The Glenn Beck Program: Best of the Program

Guests: Eric Trump & Avi Loeb
Date: October 17, 2025
Host: Glenn Beck
Episode Theme: Celebrating American resilience—local radio’s role in community, cosmic threats and preparedness, and political turbulence with Eric Trump’s new book, Under Siege

Episode Overview

This episode weaves together three core themes:

• The enduring power of local radio as Glenn broadcasts from WO WO's 100th anniversary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
• Cosmic existential risks and the search for extraterrestrial technosignatures, as renowned astrophysicist Avi Loeb discusses recent interstellar discoveries.
• The personal and political siege of the Trump family, explored through an intense conversation with Eric Trump about his book and the current American political climate.

Key Discussions and Insights

1. Local Radio: Civilization’s Pulse (18:45–28:00)

• WO WO’s Legacy and Community Role:
  Glenn gives a heartfelt reflection on WO WO, among America’s first radio stations, emphasizing how local radio stitches community fabric, builds trust, and preserves America’s diverse local voices.

  • “WO WO told the nation that Indiana had something to say and that people could be both humble and mighty.” (20:40, Glenn Beck)
  • He laments the “flattening” of American culture, where “one town after another...they’re all the same,” and contrasts that with the uniqueness fostered by strong local institutions.

• Importance of Local over National:
  Beck suggests that localism may be a solution for America: “It’s not going to be a national voice that saves [us]…it’s going to be all of us in our little towns all over America...” (23:12)

• Memorable Anecdote:
  Glenn recalls his awkward first book signing in Fort Wayne, saved only by the kindness of local elderly women who treated him like family—“just sometimes he gets a little out of control, but he’s a good boy” (25:45).

• Takeaway:
  Local radio is not outdated—it’s the “heartbeat in the static,” surviving digitization, algorithms, and polarization by preserving community truth and connection.

2. Astrophysics, Existential Risk & Alien Technology (03:55–12:33)

Guest: Avi Loeb, Harvard Professor of Astronomy

• Advances in Sky Surveying:
  Modern telescopes like Pan-STARRS (Hawaii) and the Rubin Observatory (Chile) now track near-Earth objects (NEOs) capable of causing immense regional damage if they collide with Earth. (04:10)

• Discovery of Interstellar Objects:

  • Oumuamua (first detected in 2017) was moving “too fast to be bound to the Sun”—making it the first known interstellar visitor.
  • More recently, 3i Atlas (detected by a small telescope in Chile) draws attention for being especially large and from outside the solar system. (06:45)

• Potential Damage:

  • A football field–sized object “could cause regional damage...a thousand times the Hiroshima atomic bomb.”
    (08:13, Avi Loeb)
  • The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was “roughly Manhattan Island”—much larger, causing global catastrophe and mass extinction. (08:35)

• Can We Defend Against Impact?:

  • Loeb discusses possible interventions if such an object is detected early, including “nudging” it or even nuclear options.

  • “...just need to nudge it a little bit to the side and then it will miss the Earth.” (10:03, Avi Loeb)

  • Exploding a nuclear weapon directly may be dangerous, possibly fragmenting the object; other proposals include painting it for radiation pressure or “shepherding” it with a massive spacecraft. (10:21–11:00)

  • NASA’s DART mission crashed into an asteroid to test asteroid deflection. (11:08)

• Alien Technology Hypothesis:
  Loeb urges us to keep open minds—if we ever find “something intelligently designed...if it was designed by intelligence, you wouldn’t be able to forecast exactly what it would do.” (11:45)

3. Eric Trump: The “Under Siege” Experience (30:29–42:57)

Guest: Eric Trump, Author of Under Siege

• The Sleep Question:

  • Eric describes Donald Trump’s legendary stamina: “He’s the Energizer bunny in a suit, wearing a red tie on steroids...he goes over there...does private meetings, two press conferences, flies back...I heard from him at 11:30 that night. The guy is absolutely remarkable. Sleep isn’t one of these things that we've ever had in our gene.” (30:29–31:35)
  • Glenn: “Do the rest of you guys have this in your genes?” Eric: “Yeah...we've never been good sleepers...he's always been myopically focused on whatever he wanted...” (31:37–32:16)

• On the New York Political Climate:

  • Glenn asks about candidate Mamdani and the city’s future. Eric responds with concern about rampant promises—“He’s promising free everything to everyone. It’s insane... Money has flowed into Florida from New York...the top 18,500 taxpayers in New York City paid 85% of the taxes...they’re all gone.” (32:55–33:35)
  • Strong criticism of Mamdani’s posture toward Israel, India, and policies like defunding NYPD and nationalizing grocery stores.

• Personal and Political Attacks:

  • “They wanted me gone. They wanted me killed in every way, shape or form, both physically and otherwise... That's why they made up the dirty dossiers... That's why they threw us off Twitter... 91 indictments. We spent $400 million defending ourselves based on BS.” (35:11–36:51, Eric Trump)
  • He contends the legal, media, and social attacks weren’t just against the Trump family, but against “the entire conservative movement and everybody who loved God and the Constitution and the American flag.” (36:52)

• Historical Importance and Book Rationale:

  • The new book’s function: “I want people, and I don’t want revisionist history... it had to be documented for all time. That’s why this book’s gone parabolic...and it’s mainly your audience...and they’re pissed off...they’re really pissed off.” (39:07–39:52)

• What Comes Next? Vengeance and Survival:

  • Eric warns, “If JD Vance or whoever doesn’t win in 28 and we lose control of Congress, I think the vengeance that is coming...these are vengeful people.” (39:52–40:19)
  • He accuses the left of moving on from identity politics to violence and system “rigging.” (40:19–42:00)

• Will the Trump Organization abandon New York?

  • “I mean, we’ve already moved to Florida...I love that city...nothing could beat New York...but they're incapable of doing that. Everything has to be a social experiment...It’s not going to be good for the state.” (42:09–42:40)
  • Glenn jokes about a possible mayoral run for Eric, who laughs it off: “Oh, definitely not Mayor of New York. Now, please don’t give me nightmares, please. I love the Sunshine State. I’m Floridian. True and true.” (42:46)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the soul of America:
  “We begin to hear each other again.” (21:42, Glenn Beck)

• Interstellar “scout”:
  “Oumuamua...was moving too fast...it must have originated somewhere else.” (05:50, Avi Loeb)

• On family and focus:
  “The guy's remarkable and right now he is laser focused on the success of this country.” (32:18, Eric Trump)

• On being under siege:
  “They wanted to inflict harm, they wanted to inflict pain, they wanted to see us in a jail cell, they wanted to see us bankrupt, they wanted to see us voiceless... the siege wasn’t just against our family.” (36:51–37:27, Eric Trump)

• Warning to conservatives:
  “Do I have any doubt that they're going to play their games again? Yeah, it's like how these people are bred. It's like it's all they know in their genetic code.” (41:58, Eric Trump)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:55 — Avi Loeb explains the science and risk of near-Earth interstellar objects.
• 07:58 — Potential consequences if one of these objects hits Earth.
• 10:01 — Strategies for asteroid/comet deflection, including DART mission lessons.
• 11:45 — What if the threat isn’t a rock but alien technology?
• 18:45 — Glenn shares the community and personal impact of WO WO radio.
• 23:12 — The necessity of local resilience and identity.
• 30:29 — Eric Trump discusses his father’s stamina and work ethic.
• 35:11 — The Trump family's experience of political and legal “siege.”
• 39:52 — Concerns about increasing political vengeance and what’s next.
• 42:09 — Will the Trump Organization stay in New York?

Episode Tone and Style

Glenn Beck’s signature: conversational, reflective, sometimes nostalgic but also combative and urgent, especially when discussing politics or perceived existential threats.

• Avi Loeb brings calm, intellectual authority but remains open-minded, even speculative.
• Eric Trump interweaves personal grievance with political warfare, often escalating rhetoric and invoking a sense of shared siege with the audience.

Bottom Line

• Community and localism matter more than we realize—local radio, in particular, stands as a bulwark against the flattening effects of modern media and culture.
• Existential risks—both cosmic and political—demand vigilance; science gives us tools, but human unpredictability remains.
• The Trump family story, as told here, is one of relentless endurance under assault, with a warning about deepening American polarization and conflict.

Recommended Action: If concerned about America’s direction or the state of objective truth, Glenn Beck recommends reconnecting with local community, staying informed on existential threats, and reading Eric Trump’s Under Siege for a first-hand perspective on current political turbulence.