Ep 259 | The Billionaire Astronaut Who ALMOST Led NASA? | The Glenn Beck Podcast

Summary

Summary of "Ep 259 | The Billionaire Astronaut Who ALMOST Led NASA?" on The Glenn Beck Podcast

Release Date: July 19, 2025

In Episode 259 of The Glenn Beck Podcast titled "The Billionaire Astronaut Who ALMOST Led NASA?", host Glenn Beck engages in an in-depth conversation with Jared Isaacman, a multifaceted entrepreneur, pilot, astronaut, and philanthropist. This episode delves into Isaacman's remarkable journey from a young entrepreneur to a spacefarer nominated to lead NASA, exploring his missions, business ventures, and perspectives on the future of space exploration.

---

1. Introduction to Jared Isaacman

Glenn Beck introduces Jared Isaacman as the embodiment of the American dream—a highly successful businessman who started a billion-dollar company from his parents’ basement at 16. Isaacman owns and flies his own fighter jets, contributes to training current military pilots, and made history as the first civilian to perform a spacewalk last September. Beck sets the stage for a discussion about Isaacman's near-assumption of leadership at NASA and the challenges he faced within the political landscape of Washington, D.C.

Notable Quote:

Glenn Beck [03:05]: "I want you to meet somebody who I think is the ultimate embodiment of the American dream."

---

2. Jared's Entrepreneurial Ventures

Isaacman recounts his early start in the payments industry, drawing parallels to companies like Stripe. By 16, he had left high school to pursue business opportunities, eventually building a $10 billion company serving businesses across the Las Vegas Strip, restaurants, and major sports stadiums.

He later founded a defense company in 2011, which became renowned for training fighter pilots and replicating adversarial tactics, amassing a fleet of over 100 fighter jets. Despite selling this business to Blackstone in 2019, Isaacman retains a handful of jets and continues to engage in aviation activities, including participating in America's largest air show.

Notable Quotes:

Jared Isaacman [17:25]: "I started flying in 2004 when I just was waking up on my keyboard and needed a hobby..."

Jared Isaacman [23:53]: "We were the bad guys. We would replicate Russian, Chinese, Iranian tactics."

---

3. Astronaut Experiences and Space Missions

Isaacman shares his experiences as the commander of the first all-civilian crew mission, Inspiration4, launched by SpaceX in November 2020. This mission marked the first time non-government astronauts ventured into orbit, preceding NASA's Crew 1 launch by nine months.

He discusses the physical and emotional challenges of space travel, including the initial adaptation to microgravity and the harrowing moments during re-entry. Isaacman highlights the profound impact of space missions on his perspective, emphasizing the fleeting nature of such high-stakes endeavors.

Notable Quotes:

Jared Isaacman [04:51]: "It was the first time any non government astronauts went into orbit. That was called Inspiration4 and it was pretty incredible."

Jared Isaacman [10:31]: "Well, for us, it was... the equivalency of being on the space station for three months from a radiation dosage."

---

4. Nomination to Lead NASA and Its Withdrawal

Isaacman was nominated by President Trump to head NASA, a position he believed would allow him to drive significant advancements in American space exploration. He outlined a vision centered on reorganizing NASA to focus on critical missions like returning to the moon and establishing pathways to Mars, while reducing bureaucratic impediments.

However, just two days before the Senate floor vote, Isaacman's nomination was withdrawn following a public fallout. He attributes this setback to political maneuvering, particularly drawing parallels to Elon Musk's departure from the White House. Isaacman maintains that his relationship with Musk is strictly professional and emphasizes his commitment to national interests over personal affiliations.

Notable Quotes:

Jared Isaacman [35:48]: "I was two days away from the floor vote that would have confirmed me. And... the President decided to go in a different direction."

Jared Isaacman [37:31]: "I've actually even given more than that to Trump, the Republicans... I've never voted against him in any of the elections."

---

5. Perspectives on Government vs. Private Sector in Space Exploration

Isaacman advocates for a robust partnership between government agencies like NASA and private enterprises. He praises companies like SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin for their efficiency and innovation, contrasting them with what he perceives as bureaucratic stagnation within government spaces.

He argues that while private companies excel in areas with clear economic models, government intervention remains crucial for missions lacking immediate financial returns, such as deep-space exploration and scientific research. Isaacman stresses the importance of reallocating resources within NASA to prioritize groundbreaking missions over maintaining legacy projects.

Notable Quotes:

Jared Isaacman [12:09]: "The private investments that are going into advancing America's human spaceflight capabilities is a great thing for taxpayers."

Jared Isaacman [16:37]: "They can't solve every single problem... There's no economic model for... nuclear powered spacecrafts."

---

6. Competition with China and Global Space Race

A significant portion of the conversation centers on the escalating competition with China in space and technological advancements. Isaacman expresses concern over China's rapid progress, particularly in areas like fighter jet technology, artificial intelligence, and space exploration.

He critiques the U.S. for its lack of decisive action and flexibility compared to China's strategic and well-resourced initiatives. Isaacman warns that failing to reclaim leadership in space could have profound implications for national security and global standing.

Notable Quotes:

Jared Isaacman [42:13]: "They have incredible second mover advantage. They've watched... they do at some point, they... make it better."

Jared Isaacman [54:44]: "Unless we get our act together in this, they will for sure get back to the moon before we can."

---

7. Future of Space Exploration and Technological Advancements

Isaacman outlines his vision for the future, emphasizing the necessity of returning to the moon as a stepping stone to Mars. He believes that advancements in nuclear propulsion and surface power sources are essential for sustainable space exploration. Additionally, he highlights the potential economic benefits of space-based industries, such as mining rare minerals and developing pharmaceuticals.

He critiques current programs like Artemis for being diverted by social objectives, arguing that mission focus should remain on technological and exploratory achievements. Isaacman's perspective underscores the urgency of reinvigorating America's space ambitions to maintain global competitiveness.

Notable Quotes:

Jared Isaacman [30:39]: "We need to get back to the moon. We need a path to Mars. How are we going to do it?"

Jared Isaacman [44:10]: "We need nuclear reactors on the surface of Mars. ... the President is clearing the way on that."

---

8. Personal Reflections and Philanthropy

Beyond his professional endeavors, Isaacman shares personal anecdotes, including his relationship with his father and his philanthropic efforts. He highlights his significant donations to causes like St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Space Camp, demonstrating his commitment to giving back and fostering future generations' interest in space and technology.

Notable Quotes:

Jared Isaacman [19:37]: "Working with him [his father] is probably one of the most rewarding experiences in my life."

Jared Isaacman [38:07]: "I've given $125 million to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital."

---

9. Closing Remarks and Future Prospects

As the conversation wraps up, both Beck and Isaacman reflect on the challenges and opportunities ahead. Isaacman expresses openness to returning to a leadership role at NASA, emphasizing his dedication to serving the nation despite past setbacks. The episode concludes with a mutual acknowledgment of the critical junctures facing America's space endeavors and the imperative to act decisively to reclaim leadership.

Notable Quotes:

Jared Isaacman [48:53]: "For sure. I absolutely have a debt to the country and I would give back and serve in any capacity."

Glenn Beck [58:10]: "It's great to meet you. Great to talk to you. Thank you very much."

---

This episode offers listeners a comprehensive look into Jared Isaacman's extraordinary life, his ventures into space, and his fervent advocacy for revitalizing America's role in global space exploration. Through candid dialogue and insightful perspectives, Beck and Isaacman explore the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology, and national ambition in the final frontier.

Transcript

[Glenn Beck]

This episode is brought to you by Amazon's Blink Video Doorbell. Get more at your door with the easy to install Blink Video Doorbell. Get more connections. Hey, I'm here for our first date. More deliveries.

[Jared Isaacman]

Hi, I have tacos for two.

[Glenn Beck]

Oh, thanks. We'll be right down. And more memories, babe. Come down. I have a surprise. All new Blink video doorbell with two year battery, head to toe, HD view and simple setup. Shop now at Amazon.com blink for just $69.99. And now, Ablaze Media podcast. 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 lead a comment. Because every single review helps us break through Big Tech's algorithm to 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. I want you to meet somebody who I think is the ultimate embodiment of the American dream. I mean, you know, the biggest version of the American dream. He is widely wildly successful businessman. Started a billion dollar company out of his parents basement when he was 16. Never been in the military, yet he owns and flies his own fighter jets and is helping Top Gun teach the current fighters how to fight in his spare time. He's also an astronaut. Last September, he became the first civilian in history to perform a spacewalk. When President Trump nominated him to be the new head of NASA, he seemed like the ideal outsider choice and would soar to confirmation. But then he ran into a firestorm of turbulence that he's not really used to navigating D.C. politics. We'll get the story behind that and much more from the entrepreneur, the philanthropist, the pilot, the astronaut Jared Isaacman. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So There goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Jared Isaacman]

Of $45 for a 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month. Required new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy.

[Glenn Beck]

Taxes and fees extra.

[Jared Isaacman]

See mintmobile.com.

[Glenn Beck]

I am so excited to talk to you. I've talked to a few astronauts. One of them was, I walked away really depressed. Was Buzz Aldrin. Do you know Buzz? Sure, yeah. And he was, I came away a little depressed because that was the pinnacle. And I can't imagine anything being bigger than going to the moon and walking on the moon and then coming back and then having never having the opportunity to go back and everything else. How do you top this? Is what I talked to him about. How do you top that? How do you, you're out in space, you did the first spacewalk as a regular citizen. How do you top that?

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, you're bringing up a fantastic point. It's one that, you know, there's a lot of. I mean the astronaut images comes with. It's very glamorous, but there's a lot of. There are a lot of things that aren't often talked about, one of which is astronauts, when they come back from their missions, they go from an incredible high to an ultra low.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah.

[Jared Isaacman]

The only thing that kind of, I think brings them back up again is what's the next mission? And some go back to space and some go on the speaking tour and try and share their experiences with others. But I never expected at all when I came back from my first mission. You start deleting all the standing calendars for all the coordination leading up to the launch and everything that went through in quarantine. You're like, how do you ever top something like this? What an experience. I was fortunate that the mission continued on and wound up working on a developmental program that ultimately led to that spacewalk. But yeah, let's start at the first.

[Glenn Beck]

Because you were the commander, if I'm not mistaken, of the first SpaceX, all civilian crew.

[Jared Isaacman]

Right. It was the first time any non government astronauts went into orbit. That was called Inspiration4 and it was pretty incredible. SpaceX committed to that mission before NASA even resumed operational flights from the United States. So this was in November of 2020, before NASA's Crew 1 even launched. So I mean, talk about a bold leap for an organization like SpaceX to say not only are we solving a decade horrific problem for NASA to get back in the human spaceflight. Business, we're ready to do it with civilians. And nine months later, we went to space.

[Glenn Beck]

Did it occur? I mean, it's not uncommon for things to blow up, especially as a first. Did that play a role in anything? As you were sitting there and you're about ready to light a nuclear weapon underneath you, a giant bomb, did that even come to mind?

[Jared Isaacman]

You know, I've been flying for a really long time now, actually about 20 years. I've gotten to fly with some of the, like, literally the greatest fighter pilots in this country, one of which is Dale Snort Snodgrass. He's since actually passed in a crash, but he was probably my greatest flying mentor ever. And when he put us in really challenging situations, it was always like, you just gotta hack it. And I remember as that countdown clock was going down, the last 10 seconds, it was like, we gotta hack this thing. We just gotta. We gotta tough through it, because we are about to go on the ride of our lifetime. And if this door opens and it's successful, think of all the exciting missions to follow.

[Glenn Beck]

You were in kindergarten when you first wanted to go to space?

[Jared Isaacman]

Yes, yes.

[Glenn Beck]

So first of all, who inspired you?

[Jared Isaacman]

So I think it was actually television. My parents put me in front of the TV instead of a babysitter a lot. So I watched the movie Space Camp, Top Gun, the Right Stuff. And I mean, I remember even saying, I want to go to space camp because there's a robot there that's going to launch me into space. And in kindergarten, I just would check out from the library at the school picture books of the space shuttle. And I did tell my kindergarten teacher, I was like, someday I'm going to do this.

[Glenn Beck]

Wow. So your understanding as a kid, compare what you thought space was going to be like just launching. What is it actually like?

[Jared Isaacman]

So the actual ascent is not as. It's an intense experience, but it's not like what you would think like coming up to a traffic light and then just jamming the accelerator and getting thrown back in your seat. You get that. Flying fighter jets, for sure. The actual acceleration is rather gradual because when you're on the pad, your thrust to weight ratio is barely greater than one to one. So if you're not looking at the screens and the displays, you hardly even know you're moving. Now the intensity starts to set in as you hear the turbo pumps around you and you've got that 1.8 million pounds of thrust that's accelerating you to 17,500 miles an hour. But it's not that instantaneous. Bam, like you would think. And then when you get into space, the big thing is that you could never prepare for here on Earth is just everybody feels differently. And the spectrum there is from feeling really unwell but functional for about three to five days to like, the worst motion sickness you can imagine. And it's existed like that since the beginning of the space program.

[Glenn Beck]

I think that's where I would probably be. I've always wanted to go. I would go to space in a heartbeat, but I'd be barfing the whole time. I'm convinced.

[Jared Isaacman]

You know what? They've figured out how to treat it really well. And before you know it, you're back in the action, and it's worth it. Gosh.

[Glenn Beck]

So what is it like when you slip the envelope of Earth?

[Jared Isaacman]

The first thing is that you do just feel differently, and it's instantaneous. The moment the engine cuts off on the second stage and you're at seco, you feel second engine cutoff. So that's when you know you have arrived and. And you've got your zero G indicator floating. So you know, okay, I'm in microgravity. But you feel different. You feel like you're hanging upside down from your bed. And it's going to last for a couple days. And then you see the intense light coming off of Earth and the sun, and you get a view that very few others have seen. And it just gives you a new appreciation for kind of how small we are in the grand scheme of things.

[Glenn Beck]

I mean, you didn't have the experience Gayle King had. She did something very, very important, of course, But I can't imagine now you went out further than anybody had gone since the Apollo Project. Right? That's your second mission.

[Jared Isaacman]

On my second mission. So we had three big objectives on that one over five days. First, we did go farther into space than anyone's gone since Apollo 17. And two of my crewmates, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, are the women who've traveled farthest from Earth ever, which I think is. Is pretty cool. Long overdue. And we did that to go inside the inner portion of the Van Allen radiation belt. And it's a no, no, no.

[Glenn Beck]

I've heard, I've heard you cannot cross that belt and then come back alive.

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, I can assure you you can. There is a lot of. And as Buzz Aldrin could certainly attest to as well, there's a lot more radiation there. The idea is you want to be going as fast as you can when you go through it. And if you're on a TLI to the moon, you're going 25,000 miles per hour. So you're getting through it very quick. But you're getting some radiation. We certainly saw it. Lots of lights and alarms went off when we were in the kind of peak intensity. I could actually. When you close your eyes, some astronauts have seen this phenomenon. We did as well. These light flashes where it literally looks like with your eyes closed, a meteor shower in your eyes from the radiation.

[Glenn Beck]

Wow.

[Jared Isaacman]

But you can.

[Glenn Beck]

How long does that last with you?

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, for us, it was. It was at this peak radiation intensity period over the South Atlantic Anomaly just off of Brazil. And basically, I would say in about three orbits, that particular phase was the equivalency of being on the space station for three months from a radiation dosage.

[Glenn Beck]

Wow. So you're up, you start heading back, and now you re enter. What is that like?

[Jared Isaacman]

So this is a little different. So on the ascent, the uphill, I've been up twice, I've looked at my crew members. Everyone's always smiling and cheering. There is just so much excitement to finally get the mission under way. And you have all these outs if something goes wrong. But on the way back, it's the high blood pressure moment. You have no outs. The heat shield must work. There's no plan B. And the chutes must work. And when you go really high past the space station where we were, there's lots of micrometeoroid orbital debris. And even like a paint spec, like even a millimeter of aluminum can take a chunk out of a heat shield. And then you wind up in a, you know, potentially like a Columbia situation all over. So re entry is kind of high blood pressure because it has to work. The G's last longer. Your body's deconditioned. So it's. I mean, it's a. It's a thrill for sure. But that's where. That's where you're a little more nervous.

[Glenn Beck]

I don't think wetting my pants is. I would describe that as a thrill. You. Some people say that because you're a billionaire, you bought your way into the program. How do you respond to that?

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, I'd say that like one. I think the private investments that are going into advancing America's human spaceflight capabilities is a great thing for taxpayers. Right. I mean, what I think we did in the 1960s, where everybody contributed to such an enormous feat, is a. Is a good thing. If you have private individuals like you're seeing with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk and my Kind of modest contributions to it to advance a capability for the benefit of all humankind. That's a good thing and it's not unprecedented. You're a history buff. I mean, throughout human history you've had major expeditions and endeavors that have been privately funded for the benefit of many. We used to have privately funded telescopes that then universities could take advantage of. So I don't see it as a negative if it's kind of advancing the ball forward.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah, I, you know, we're going to get into you, you know, heading NASA or being nominated to head NASA at some point. But I mean, I think NASA seems to be kind of a. Government tends to be a mess in a lot of ways. When I first heard Elon Musk talk about his, when he started SpaceX and he's like, okay, so what are the, you know, what are the parameters here? You know, what kind of costs are you looking for, etc. Etc. And they're like, no budget. He found that so odd that, what do you mean? You're running this and you don't. Money doesn't matter. That doesn't make sense. I think there's something to be said for private industry where there are budgets that you do have to perform. It makes a difference.

[Jared Isaacman]

I couldn't agree more. And I'll tell you something else about that Elon story. And Eric Berger wrote two great books about the early days of SpaceX. What was most disheartening to Elon that set him on this path is he went on NASA's website to just learn about Mars. He just sold one of his first business and he's like, I'm interested in seeing what the grand American plan is to go to Mars. And he's like, I went all over NASA's website, I couldn't find anything about it. And he's like, that doesn't make sense. I mean, how are we not having that somewhere on the roadmap? But in terms of some of the expertise that kind of corporate industry can bring, one, we're much better capital allocators. It's just kind of the nature of the beast. When you're beholden to shareholders and investors over the years that expect that if you're going to, if you're going to take money, you're going to create lots and lots of value of it. And someone like Elon, who started a number of successful companies, or Jeff Bezos, I've run two companies now. One's a public company. I think you develop a skill set that's just not inherent in Government, where the check's always going to come and the expectation is there's always going to be more of it. I think in the end you wind up creating a bureaucracy that serves anything other than anything other than the mission. But there is a world for a NASA. Of course the government and every taxpayer should be contributing to do the near impossible, what no one else is capable of doing, what no private company is going to do or organization is capable of doing.

[Glenn Beck]

But what are those things? If you have Elon Musk saying I'm going to go to Mars, I'm going to build a colony on Mars, what are those things that private industry can't do?

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, I mean first there's the whole science portfolio inside of NASA. There is as much as I personally and I would have tried to champion this, to see academic institutions and non profits and private individuals fund scientific missions, it hasn't happened yet. Like if we're going to want rovers on Mars or send missions like Europa Clipper or Dragonfly to go explore within our solar system and beyond, it's probably going to be a government run operation because there's no obvious economic model or financial return like someone else would would do it. And then in terms of what SpaceX is doing, which is just extraordinary, it's one piece of the puzzle, like they can't solve every single problem. For example, I think nuclear power is going to play a huge role in exploring our solar system and very relevant to Mars. I mean nuclear propulsion takes a lot of the pressure off commercial industry because you don't necessarily have to do lots of in space refueling. You're going to need nuclear reactors on the surface of Mars. And simply put, the farther you get away from the sun that you know, the less you can rely upon on solar power. Who's going to invest in nuclear powered spacecrafts other than the government? Like there's no economic model for, you're not going to raise investment funds for it. So there are things that NASA should be doing to help the, you know, the blue origins and the SpaceX of the world.

[Glenn Beck]

Let me go back again. How did you grow up? You weren't, you weren't wealthy, growing up, middle class family.

[Jared Isaacman]

My father was an alarm salesman, my mother took care of me and my brothers and sisters.

[Glenn Beck]

So how did you get to this position?

[Jared Isaacman]

I got incredibly lucky. You know, I think part of it is I was kind of the, either the accident or the surprise. However you look at it, my brothers and sisters, much older than me and they were out enjoying life and living a very independent Life while I was in high school. And I was like, well, I. I don't want to, like, raise my hand to go to the bathroom. I want to live my own life. So I. He was somehow able to convince my parents at 16 to let me leave high school. Leave high school. I did get.

[Glenn Beck]

Stop, stop, stop. Yeah, that seems insane.

[Jared Isaacman]

I totally agree. I have two daughters. I'd never let them do it.

[Glenn Beck]

Right. How did you convince your parents to do it?

[Jared Isaacman]

I think I was just such a bad student. They. They thought this was, you know, the. The better alternative. But they put conditions, get your ged, make a commitment to go to college, which I did. And I did see opportunity. I learned a lot about a payments industry in 1999, which is nowhere near exciting as space or aviation or some of my other endeavors, But I loved it, and I figured out, along with a good team, how to do it a little bit better.

[Glenn Beck]

So is this, like, Stripe what you've done?

[Jared Isaacman]

Totally. You know what? So a lot of the names everyone knows are like stripe, for example. They're either in E commerce, like, kind of the sexier forms of payments. We're behind the scenes in half the Las Vegas strip, a third of the restaurants in the country, most of the sports stadiums. You go to theme parks. Every theme parks our customer. So it was like a small basement startup, and now it's about a $10 billion company on stock exchange.

[Glenn Beck]

And you started at 16?

[Jared Isaacman]

I did. And in any case, it was. Yeah. It was certainly a grand endeavor and allowed me to be able to pursue other opportunities that I enjoy. I created a defense company in 2011 that was probably the second coolest industry next to going into space. We flew fighter jets as professional bad guys for the department.

[Glenn Beck]

Hang on a sec. Before you get there. I just. My dad never had a new car ever in his whole life. And one of the. One of the best moments of my life was being able to ask my dad, kind of car. What kind of car do you like? And buying the car for him. What was it like having offering your dad a job to come work for you?

[Jared Isaacman]

It's funny. I did the. I did the same thing for my dad. And working with my father is probably one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. He just. I mean, my parents were very supportive when we were in the basement and trying to get going, but I think my father saw some momentum and he also saw some limitations. Like, people don't. I had to hide in the basement. Like, I was 16. I mean, I didn't shave for weeks. It did nothing like he was, he's a great salesperson. Salesperson. He's taught me a lot about sales and diplomacy and, and he was like, he saw the opportunity and he came on board and he was the, the man in the field, you know.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah. Nobody's gonna, nobody's gonna say, oh, let me, let me give you our payment. Yeah, systems over to you.

[Jared Isaacman]

So it was, it was great. It was great working with him in that, in that regard. And I wound up doing the same thing actually later in life was he's always a Porsche fan. So you what? He was always a 911 fan. So lots of fun. A gift at one point.

[Glenn Beck]

Let me take a quick break. Just talk to you about Moxie pest control started 25 years ago. The goal was to raise the standard in the industry known for being kind of hit or miss. Moxie is a pest control company, but much more than that. They are trained problem solvers, pest experts that believe small gestures matter. Things like closing the gates behind them, wearing shoe coverings in your house, leaving a note on exactly what was done, what to expect. They show up on time. They do their job. I mean that you want to be successful, just do those two things. More importantly, they stand behind their work because they believe that peace of mind is not a luxury. And every Moxie technician trains literally daily on leading edge techniques. And it's not just for show. It's to make sure you get the best possible results every time. That's why they've been very successful over 25 years. They deal with ants, roaches, spiders, something stranger at your house. Moxie's approach is not patchwork. It is strategic, personalized and it's built to help you love your home. Again. Moxie kind, competent and committed to doing the right thing for their customers, their team and their community. Right now, to celebrate 25 years in business, you can get your first pest control service for just $25. It's like a $200 saving. Moxiservices.com Beck use the promo code BECK. Moxiservices.comb put us in a box. Go ahead. That just gives us something to break out of because the next generation 2025 GMC terrain elevation is raising the standard of what comes standard. As far as expectations go, why meet them when you can shatter them. What we choose to challenge, we challenge completely. We are professional grade. Visit gmc.com to learn more. Okay, so now let's go to beyond that. You then start a like a private. It's not a defense company, but it's it. It works with defense, right? You're training.

[Jared Isaacman]

It was a defense company. Our customer was the department was the DOD and some of our allies. So the story here is I always loved aviation since a kid. Back to Top Gun, right Stuff. So I started flying in 2004 when I just was waking up on my keyboard and needed a hobby and I just didn't look back. 2008, 9. I started to get.

[Glenn Beck]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. You were on your keyboard and you needed a hobby?

[Jared Isaacman]

Like I was waking up on my keyboard every morning.

[Glenn Beck]

Okay, all right, okay, all right.

[Jared Isaacman]

I mean it was this stage of life when you're, you're young, you don't have family or responsibility, you're working, working, working.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah.

[Jared Isaacman]

So I started flying. Never really slowed down. Knew I wanted to fly, you know, jets and ex military aircraft. So I started flying air shows, 2010, 2011. And I, I had the best like team in the world that I was flying with. I mean former Thunderbirds, you know. Again, Dale snodgrass, highest timed F14 pilot in the world. Just amazing. And we were flying a seven ship aerobatic routine at air shows across the country and you know, we were having the best times of our lives. But we were also saying, you know, we all know this industry well enough to know that it, you know, there's always going to be a bad day. Like it's, it's inevitable. At some point we should try and pivot this to something commercial. And I literally traveled around the world and bought fleets of fighter jets from countries that were selling them and import them back in the US and modernize them. And then we were literally the top gun adversaries for the Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps.

[Glenn Beck]

You were the bad guys.

[Jared Isaacman]

We were the bad guys. We would replicate Russian, Chinese, Iranian tactics. We came the world's largest private air force. We had over 100 fighter jets. And it was cool. I mean it was very cool.

[Glenn Beck]

I bet it was. So you, you wouldn't tell them what you were going to do. I mean that had to have been. I've always wondered if you're, if you're training same people who are training you how to defend yourself also are the ones coming in. You're not, you're not necessarily getting new input. So did you, you know what I mean?

[Jared Isaacman]

So maybe, maybe to describe it, there are things like when you're supporting the, the weapon school, for example, which is the Air Force version of Top Gun, they're actually giving you a lot of things that are scripted out because they're trying to train their. What they consider their PhD of fighter pilot course certain things and arrive at, you know, these desired learning objectives. And in which case we do. If we do everything right and they do everything right, we. We die. And then there are some which. Which is just total, you know. You know, the gloves come off fangs out and they don't know what's coming. And if they make mistakes, it's our job to. To punish them. And it was. I mean, it was super cool. I wound up selling the business to Blackstone in 2019 because I was taking my. My other company public, but. But I still kept a handful of fighter jets. It's actually. I'm on my way to America's biggest air show, Oshkosh, and I'm flying Mig 29 in it.

[Glenn Beck]

Wow. Isn't it hard to get a license to fly military and to own or not?

[Jared Isaacman]

I've had the type ratings for about 16, 17 years, so I have all the ratings for it. But you should have a lot of experience to fly them. I mean, if they can go twice the speed of sound, that's, you know, there's a lot of energy there.

[Glenn Beck]

You know, one of the people. And this probably seems so ridiculous to you, but I think one of the guys that really actually inspires me just because he does everything himself, is Tom Cruise.

[Jared Isaacman]

100%.

[Glenn Beck]

I mean, that guy is amazing.

[Jared Isaacman]

100%.

[Glenn Beck]

You don't know him. I mean, it's not like fighter, jet fighter.

[Jared Isaacman]

On my first mission to space, he called up and spoke to us.

[Glenn Beck]

Wow.

[Jared Isaacman]

And then he said, when you guys come back, I want you to come to a screening of Top Gun 2. So he arranged that for us. Every now and then we exchange a text. He invited my wife and I out to see the new Mission Impossible movie a couple weeks ago. But, yeah, I mean, I. He's awesome. He really is so inspiring too.

[Glenn Beck]

He is. It's like when you're watching him. I think I was talking to. I think my son. We were talking about AI and how anything can be done now in AI and you know, what does special effects even mean? And I said, AI will become humdrum very soon, except for people like Tom Cruise, because, you know, it's him. And there is a difference between CGI and watching him going, what is wrong with this guy? He just. He just goes and goes.

[Jared Isaacman]

Completely agree.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah. You set a world record. What is it, 61 hours flying around the.

[Jared Isaacman]

Yeah. Back in 08 and. And then again in 09. That's actually what got me exposed to the commercial space industry. We did that record and it was just how fast you could fly around the world. And we also did to raise awareness for the Make a Wish Foundation. And when I came back, Dr. Peter Diamandis, he's like a serial entrepreneur, but he promotes all sorts of just cool endeavors in commercial space and human life extension. He tackles really interesting projects. He invited me to Bankon or Kazakhstan with the early commercial space industry to see a launch. And that was my connection. Early connection to SpaceX and others was from that around the world flight.

[Glenn Beck]

When you were flying, you had to have thought of people like Lindbergh and what the difference was between what you did and what he did.

[Jared Isaacman]

Oh, yeah.

[Glenn Beck]

That's insane.

[Jared Isaacman]

Everything, any of the adventures that I've been fortunate enough to be on, whether it's in aviation or in space, pales in comparison to the early pioneers that risked it all to break down the door.

[Glenn Beck]

I don't know if you saw when we came in. Do you see the NASA Freedom or Friendship 7 capsule above the door?

[Jared Isaacman]

No, I didn't.

[Glenn Beck]

Okay, so I have the Friendship 7 capsule made by NASA for the early days for their tours.

[Jared Isaacman]

No kidding?

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah. And. And you look inside, you know, and it's got the, you know, astronaut in there and you look inside and there's no way any of us would get into anything like that now. There's just no way.

[Jared Isaacman]

Definitely don't do it if you're claustrophobic.

[Glenn Beck]

No, but it's still. You look. I mean, I guess it was the technology of the day that was so advanced, but you look at the technology and you're like. That's like flying into space with a microwave.

[Jared Isaacman]

Yeah.

[Glenn Beck]

No, not going to do it.

[Jared Isaacman]

They were heroes.

[Glenn Beck]

So you were nominated to head NASA. Tell me, first of all what that is like, getting the nomination to head something like NASA, Especially if you're in kindergarten thinking, I want to go to space.

[Jared Isaacman]

It was, it was incredible. I mean, I found the whole experience very enlightening, thrilling, even the good and bad. I mean, it's like there's a lot of bad and politics. Like, I, I enjoyed the experience and the more.

[Glenn Beck]

Wait, wait, of politics?

[Jared Isaacman]

Yeah.

[Glenn Beck]

I haven't been in it. I've been around it. What exactly did you find enjoyable about that?

[Jared Isaacman]

I think it's just a. It's really complicated. Right. We, we designed the system where you're going to take a couple hundred people and who knows how many layers around them all that have to generally come together with some sort of majority to get the things done. And that's incredibly challenging. And I can see the good part when it arrives at the right outcome. And I certainly have seen some of the ugliness, too, when people are trying to maneuver for what they think is the right outcome. But from my perspective, just like once you overcame some of the intimidation factor of being in that environment, I thought, this is an arena I can be helpful in for all the right reasons. So it was. You're seeing how the government works for all of the good and all the blemishes associated with it. It was a. I don't know, it was a perspective I was thankful to have.

[Glenn Beck]

I guess I shouldn't say I've been around politics, I've been around politicians and elections, and elections are, oh, my gosh, horrible. Just horrible what these guys put up with and do and everything else. What needs to happen with NASA, if you were. And we're getting into what happened to the nomination. Everything else. But when you were nominated, you put together a list of things that has to happen for sure. What, what were those things?

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, I mean, even just to interview with the president, you know, you had to come with a game plan. So this was in, I don't know, the last day or two in November or the first day or two of December 24th. And, you know, was. It was pretty simple. Everything I did in the six months or so through, you know, of the confirmation process was just to build it out in greater detail with what needs to happen and when, who the right people are to do it. But essentially it comes down to the same things. You know, there needs to be some sort of a reorganization of the agency so you can kind of get back to concentrating on the real needle movers, the things that if NASA doesn't do it, no one will, or if it is done, it'll be done by the Chinese or the Russians. Well, returning to the moon, getting to, you know, establishing a pathway to Mars.

[Glenn Beck]

Wait, stop. Let's go to the moon. First of all, it'd be our first time because we never went. Those people drive me out of my mind. But why is it important for us to go back to the moon?

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, I think it comes down to, you know, what we may learn from a scientific perspective, what economic benefit might be out there in our general national security. Let's take, like, helium 3, for example. Maybe there's a 1% or less probability that that could transform, you know, energy creation here on Earth. How many, how many wars have we fought over the last hundred years based on sources of energy? I mean, you get Something wrong in space. And we have literally just dipped our toe into this and our understanding of it. It could shift the balance of power here on Earth. I don't know how we could ever afford to fall behind in the ultimate high ground of space. Because if we do, we may never catch up at all. So from my perspective, you got to reorganize because you're doing lots of little things and there's a lot of bureaucracy there that's impeding progress and concentrate on what no one else will do except maybe our geopolitical rivals. And then it's leading in the high ground of space. It's figuring out the space economy. Because right now everything we do in space is funded by taxpayers. So you're not going to have that Star wars like future where we all imagine of rocket zipping by if every taxpayer has to contribute. We need to figure out what is the orbital economy, is it pharmaceuticals, is it mining, is it energy related sources? Gotta figure it out. And then what do you think it is? Well look, I mean what's for sure is there is material, there's elements, metals that are up there that we know have value. Now people talk about the asteroid with 2 trillion worth of rare minerals in it. And that supply demand gets thrown off the moment you introduce 2 trillion into the, into the system. But we know it's out there. So you can go and you can go out and potentially mine and extract it. I think we really have only scratched the surface with some of the pharmaceutical work. There's good companies like Varda that's experimenting.

[Glenn Beck]

But what does that work?

[Jared Isaacman]

I'm sorry, what does that work? What are they, they're doing like crystal formulation of medical treatments. So increasing the density of the treatment by these crystal formulations. But I think like the big concern is we don't have a good answer yet. Despite having a space station up there for 20 years, the biggest accomplishment we've had is keeping people alive continuously for 20 years in the harsh environment of space. Which is good, but we haven't figured out that magic wand. This treats cancer. You know, this, this improves some technology for average, you know, Americans or citizens dramatically. And part of that is the bureaucracy. To give you just an example. And this is, I talk about NASA, but this is government wide, right? The iPhone, the Russians have brought it to the space station which they share with the Americans. The commercial astronauts who've gone to the space station have brought iPhones. NASA has yet to approve iPhones to go to the space station for their astronauts. And it's like well, that's kind of like a petty example. But it's like, how do I know there isn't a ton of, of cancer treating formulas that have been waiting eight years to get approval to go to the space station that could have a real economic benefit, in which case it could fund this future in space. We all want lots of space stations.

[Glenn Beck]

For example, why go back to the iPhone? Why is that one of those things like you got to turn your phone off as we take off?

[Jared Isaacman]

Because it could, I mean it's probably, you know, if you're, I think culturally in this nation. But, and again, this is not specific to NASA, but I mean we've become very risk averse. There are. One of my themes is there, there are some risks worth taking. Exploring the worlds beyond ours is, is a risk worth taking. You're not going to get there if you're not accepting some risk. Just as we do for our, our Navy pilots flying off aircraft carriers or troops that go into different combat. We put people in higher risk environments because there's a purpose that we think is, is worth its spaces is certainly no different in that regard. But I remember getting a list of all the departments in NASA. As I was thinking through reorganization, if you do a control F and type the word safety, you're going to find 50 different departments. That's not to say safety isn't important, but if you have lots of people in a position to say no, rather than bubbling it up logically to a single organization, it's going to be easier to just say no. I mean, the best way to keep astronauts and pilots safe is don't fly and don't go to space.

[Glenn Beck]

So what happened to the nomination?

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, I was on, I guess the, you know, the one yard line. So I'd already cleared committee vote. There was bipartisan support. I was two days away from the floor vote that would have confirmed me. And I, and I think there was a very public falling out that took place and I became, I guess a.

[Glenn Beck]

Casualty of that, the public falling out being.

[Jared Isaacman]

So I think that, well, put it this way, the same day that Elon got the golden key to the White House and a very public farewell was the day that I got a call that the President decided to go in a different direction.

[Glenn Beck]

But you two aren't connected. I mean, you know each other, but you're not really connected, are you?

[Jared Isaacman]

No, that's, you know, that, I mean, certainly it was funny because that was what a lot of the, you know, the Democrat senators were asking me throughout the confirmation process is like this conflict of interest. You and Elon go way back. I was like, wait a second. I paid him to go to space the same as NASA does, because there's no other choice in the matter. Obviously I have a ton of respect for him and what SpaceX has done. They've sent me to space on two challenging missions and brought us back alive. But hey, if there were three companies, I bet I would have paid less. It's not like, I mean, I grew up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was on the West Coast. I have no Silicon Valley connections, never had any Silicon Valley money. We've never gone out on a social dinner. It's been a professional relationship and I have a ton of respect for him. But I made it clear during the hearing my loyalty was to the nation and the space agency. SpaceX is an important vendor, just as during James Webb had important relationships with McDonnell Douglas and Boeing and others during the 1960s. 60s.

[Glenn Beck]

So if I had to look at your history and I would say the same thing about Donald Trump when he was private, I would say you're a Democrat because of the money you've given Donald Trump. He lived in New York, he's given money to Democrats. But you Also, you donated $300,000 to Democrats, including $100,000 to a Pacific affiliated with Chuck Schumer. I'm going to hold that against you actually. But you also gave $2 million to Trump.

[Jared Isaacman]

Yeah, I've actually even given more than that to, to Trump, the Republicans. Even after I, even after my nomination was pulled. It's, it's interesting. I, you obviously don't go very far in the confirmation process without, you know, having a microscope held to you. You can just Google and see where, what my donation history was. I, I explained it in, in writing probably to the, to the person who ultimately pulled the trigger on me back on like January 9th. When I came back from space in 2021, you'll notice there were no Democratic donations prior to 2021 at all. They were only Republican donations. Not that there were many, but I wasn't very political. I mean Governor Scott, because that's where my company was in Florida now. Senator Scott so I came back from space in 2021 and I befriended Senator who's an astronaut and I do respect him a lot. How can I not? He's a naval aviator and he, he's a multi time NASA astronaut and he was helping me with some things too. I was, my next Polaris mission was supposed to go boost the Hubble telescope and I had to work against the institutional inertia at NASA to try and prevent it. So over three years, I did give three, $300,000. That's not me trying to swing an election. You know, I gave $125 million to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I've given tens of millions of dollars to Space Camp, to the Naval Aviation Museum. That's me trying to send a message that I'm, you know, I'm behind it. This was somebody I respect a lot asking for help over a three year period when, when I saw kind of, you know, the President coming out of the. And for what it's worth, I've never donated to any of Trump's opponents. I've never voted against him in any of the elections. But when I saw, you know, the assassination attempts, his kind of rise from that, Doge, especially, like I am very pro, we got to shrink the government, get the national debt under control, and take the funds that we're saving from this to get war fighters, for example, more of what they need for the competitiveness of the nation. So I got pretty, pretty energized. That's why I made those donations to the President. It's why I was honored to serve in his administration.

[Glenn Beck]

So help me out on this. I mean, you obviously, obviously are smart enough to see what's over the horizon with AI. Elon Musk said we're going to have new laws of physics possibly by Christmas. We may have new alloys by Christmas. I don't know how you feel, but I think the aircraft carrier is the horse of World War I. Good luck on that aircraft carrier. You know what I mean? You got drones. Everything's about to change. Change. And we are on the cusp of AI. We have no idea what the change even will look like. No one can imagine, because we won't be directing it, it will be directing us. How do we, in this space when we're where we're at? I don't understand why we're spending money on things that are 20 years in the planning, when in six months, all of that could be out the window.

[Jared Isaacman]

Wow, this is deep. I mean, first of all, this goes to the heart of probably my only real political position, which is ensuring the ongoing competitiveness of the nation. And we have spent a very long time, even through the Cold War, leading in every major technological field and our skills as they atrophy. Right now, others especially, especially China, are hitting their stride. So that makes me concerned because they are literally going after every one of the major technological and engineering hurdles that are out there and just resourcing it and seeing what happened. They're doing it in space. They're doing it with their fighter aircraft, their drone shows. I mean, you see their drone shows on, they're amazing. On like New Year's.

[Glenn Beck]

You're like, amazing.

[Jared Isaacman]

I mean, it is scary good. They want to play around with fusion.

[Glenn Beck]

I mean, I know this sounds so stupid, but I saw their drone shows right around the time we were lighting fireworks and I'm like, why are there no shows like that in America? What is it that they have that we don't have?

[Jared Isaacman]

They have incredible second mover advantage. Incredible second mover advantage. They've watched.

[Glenn Beck]

Meaning what?

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, so like, obviously we were the first with the Manhattan Project. We had no baggage. We just simply set up the facilities and hired the talent we needed in OR and, and, and, and resource it accordingly and had the will to achieve the outcome we wanted. Space race, same thing. We set up all the centers we needed. Where's the best place for engine work? Where's the best place to launch rockets? How about off Florida at Kennedy Space Center? Right. We resourced it, had the will to do big bold things. Now we have all this baggage. I mean, again, you know, NASA's 10 centers, they're all doing lots of little things, not necessarily the original things they were doing when those centers were created. The national laboratories that were originally created to support the Manhattan Project are all doing lots of little things. Now you want to try and, you know, repurpose that energy back to its original purpose. And you got a lot of people that hate change, that don't want necessarily change a lot of bureaucracy. Whereas China is like, oh, that, that makes sense. Put the center there, resource it, put the will behind it and get it done. And they're moving very quickly along a number of subjects, a number of important domains, including AI. And it's, it's, it's very unnerving. Like the, that we can just do big bold things hasn't kind of been part of our, our game plan in a long time.

[Glenn Beck]

A long time. A long time. I, you know, I, I talked to the President and I said, I think history will mark you as the AI President because it's all happening under him, but also because he is cobbling together, I mean, people don't understand what he was doing in the Middle East. He's trying to make sure China doesn't, isn't selling the chips to everybody that we still are selling the chips, the energy, the work on nuclear energy that he is just opening the door. Like you want to build a nuclear power plant, I'll cut the red tape for you. Those things are remarkable and nobody's paying attention to that. Nobody even sees what that is. How important is that?

[Jared Isaacman]

It's incredibly important. I have the black make nuclear great again hat I love that. I mean we're going to need a lot of power. We're going to need a lot of power for AI for sure. And it's time we unleash the commercial industry that is capable of doing this. To me, thinking about at NASA, the pivot away from the big rockets that they're working on now to the future is nuclear powered spaceships which also provide surface nuclear power when you ultimately get there. Thank goodness the President's clearing the way on that. Or do you know how long it would take to. You'd never do it even to transport the fissile material.

[Glenn Beck]

You can't build one that stays on the planet.

[Jared Isaacman]

I totally agree. I totally, I totally agree. And look, I think he's doing a lot of things like the we, we don't have in terms of getting our 37 trillion national debt under control. I don't think we have a revenue problem. We have a spend problem. Now it's at 37 trillion. We may not be able to get out of this without trying to adjust the revenue problem as well. But we have a lot of money that we are spending in all the general right areas. It's just so much of it isn't making it down to the ultimate project. So the fact that the President is trying to break some of the bureaucracy, shrink the government so those resources can be applied to what's necessary for our national security is vitally important. I just hope it's not too late.

[Glenn Beck]

But isn't that where the private market comes in? Because I thought, when I, you know, I'm thinking, you know, AI is going to consume 99% of our current power generation, that's not going to work out. And I was going to ask the President about where are we on nuclear power? And he, I didn't even ask. He said I'm cutting all the red tape, blah, blah. But what he said was that's for private corporations to do. If you're a private corporation, you want to build a server farm and you need the power, fine, I'll cut the red tape. You build the power plant. I mean it really is, this bloated system is so bloated and we have to move so fast. It really is good to see reach out beyond that and say you do it. You do it.

[Jared Isaacman]

I absolutely concur. I do think there are some things, as I kind of mentioned before, that no corporation, no other agency is capable of doing, like in the context of NASA, no one's going to build nuclear spaceships right now. And getting nuclear reactors in space give us golden dome implications. You put solid state layer lasers on them. It's transport, it's, it's terrestrial power when you actually get to Mars. But there are some things like is our commercial industry capable of building nuclear reactors? Absolutely. And should the President be trying to cut as much red tape and enable them to do it? Yes. You need enough competent ones, though, and enough competition that when they actually get the approvals, they can get things done quickly and they don't take forever. And, you know, in the defense world, you got a lot of consolidation there. That moves very slow. But then thankfully, because I at one point thought the only way you're going to get them in gear is to actually break them up. You've got companies like Andrew now who are, you know, like the SpaceX of the defense industry saying, if you're going to keep moving at a snail's pace, I'm going to come in and break all this up for you. Which is actually our system working as designed, which is great to see.

[Glenn Beck]

And one more question on the, the guy nomination withdraw, you said, was, quote, one guy who probably made a mistake. Who's the one guy and what was his mistake?

[Jared Isaacman]

I mean, I'm, I am, I acknowledge that this whole situation generally had very little to do with me. So I'm, I'm not like an active combatant. I might have taken a shot in this. So I'm, I'm not naming like, any, any, any names on this. I just think where the real mistake was. Like, if you, if you, if you didn't like me, shoot me in the head in January or February. Don't, don't wait six months to go through the whole Senate confirmation process, put together a whole plan, and then shoot me. Because what happens is, you know, the world's greatest space agency is left without political leadership.

[Glenn Beck]

There is no, there's no leadership.

[Jared Isaacman]

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think it was a good move. The President recently put, you know, Secretary Duffy in as the, the actual acting administrator. He's got a lot of responsibilities as the Transportation Secretary. But, you know, you, you wait that whole time for Elon to be shown the door and then to settle a score with me and at the expense of what, like, my life's okay, I can Go back to doing other things. It's, it's NASA that gets left in a very, you know, difficult spot during turbulent times. And that's, you know, that's where, that's where I think he made a mistake. It's not necessarily about me. There's a lot of really, really great people, I have no doubt that could run that.

[Glenn Beck]

If the President asked you to come back, would you?

[Jared Isaacman]

For sure. I mean, I felt like, I mean, look, I dropped out of school at 16 and have lived an extraordinary life. That's the American dream at its finest right there. I absolutely have a debt to the country and I would give back and serve in any capacity. You know that one friend who somehow knows everything about money. Yeah. Now imagine they live in your phone. Say hey to Experian, your big financial friend.

[Glenn Beck]

It's the app that helps you check.

[Jared Isaacman]

Your FICO score, find ways to save and basically feel like a financial genius.

[Glenn Beck]

And guess what? It's totally free. So go on, download the Experian app. Trust me, having a BFF like this is a total game changer. What are the biggest things that are coming our way that you think? I wish people would pay attention to this. They don't understand what.

[Jared Isaacman]

Well, I think we've actually touched on a lot of them. Is that for the first time we have one hell of a competitor in a long time. I mean, even during the Cold War, is it true?

[Glenn Beck]

Somebody said to me, a billionaire who actually was there opening up China, and he said to me, China will never beat us at this point because they can copy but they can't out think. And I'm not sure that's true anymore.

[Jared Isaacman]

That is totally a data type of thinking. And I heard that a lot when we were replicating the Chinese tactics at Draken as adversaries. And in 2011 and 2012 it was oh, their engines are no good. They buy everything from Russia and reverse engineer it. Things happen quickly over there. Relying on 10 or 15 year old information on China is a mistake that might as well be centuries ago. They do at some point, at some stage, they copy, reverse engineer and make it better. Now they have their whole general line of thinking. They've totally, as a country that once depended on buying old hardware from Russia, they now like their spaceship is better. They're building six generation fighters and showing it off over the over the holidays. Russia doesn't even have six generation fighters. We just committed to ours. The F47 that the President unveiled a couple of months ago, they've been what is a sixth generation fighter, so, so fifth gen is stealth. So that's your F22, F35 or low observable, harder to see. Sixth generation was what comes after that. That's where like the plane really can't even fly if it isn't with special computers that are compensating for like really dramatic like airframe designs. No, no vertical stabilizers on them. Think of like the B2 but shrunk down in a fighter form and they're going higher, faster. They're doing radical things like post stall maneuvering where you know the plane shouldn't be flying but it still can point because it has so much thrust. They're data linking all their heart. In any case, the idea that, hey, they just are reverse engineering everything is. It's really old thinking. They're moving really quick. I truly believe unless we get our act together in this, they will for sure get back to the moon before we can. And that will be what a shock to the system. There should be congressional hearings at that. It should be like what went wrong that we were able to do this knowing very little in the 1960s, that we've spent over 100 billion, that's how much we spent to date between Constellation and Artemis and we still can't get back.

[Glenn Beck]

Well, Artemis, I mean when Trump first took over, and I don't think he even knew this, I was doing a show on, I can't remember, I think it was on DEI and how that's just taking our focus so far away from merit. And I got a call from somebody at NASA and they showed us that the whole Artemis program had been shifted where its goal was to put the first black woman on the moon. And it's like, I don't care who it is, let's get to the moon. Let's get to the moon. If it happens to be a woman. She's black. Great, great. But it seems as though so many of our priorities are just upside down.

[Jared Isaacman]

You know, it's interesting when I was going and meeting with all the senators one on one first whether senators on both sides of the aisle care, I met with plenty of Republican senators. They're saying, I want to make sure we're still planning to put a woman on the moon when we go back to. And my answer to both sides of the was the same. We got to get back to the moon. It's exactly what you just said. We have spent $100 billion. Every president since 1989 has called for a return to the moon and a path to Mars. And we have yet to deliver on that. So look, you know, we need to be doing what first? How do you solve like a talent problem too in this whole thing is like if you're working on the near impossible that no one else is capable of doing, you're going to attract the best and brightest, there's no doubt about that. And then focus the best and brightest on the mission and nothing else. We need to get back to the moon. We need a path to Mars. How are we going to do it? And all the other things, you know, are totally like when we get there, we'll figure it out.

[Glenn Beck]

How close is China?

[Jared Isaacman]

They have said publicly that they will get there before 2030. They've since revised.

[Glenn Beck]

There's no way we're going to, we're going to make that.

[Jared Isaacman]

They've revised their estimates saying potentially as early as 2028. But I don't know why they would tell us the truth. Like the best thing for them is to let us continue to stagnate on this and then get there and say look, we are the might now in the high ground of space and we're moving on to the next stop. So yeah, it's, I'm nervous about our ability to get back to the moon.

[Glenn Beck]

Is it a possibility? I mean you saw my Sputnik. Sputnik kicked us in the ass. I mean it's what started everything. And that's when we got serious. When the Russians when we were like wait, what did they just do? That's when we got serious. We're always best when we are down on the mat. I don't know if that's true anymore because we've lost a lot of the fight in us. But could that be the thing that we need to kick us in the butt?

[Jared Isaacman]

You know I felt that way and I often said that among some of my associates long before this nomination put but while in the space industry it was like maybe, maybe America needs the Chinese to get to the moon to have a wake up call. When I was nominated to lead, NASA was like there's no way in hell we're going to let that happen. So but I think the real fear though right now is there could be a Sputnik moment across so many domains. It's not just in space, right? I mean you've got, you know, fusion power, nuclear research, you've got Quantum, you've got AI.

[Glenn Beck]

I mean, where are we on that stuff, do you know?

[Jared Isaacman]

I mean, I just think we always are trying to repurpose a lot of things we already have that have Turned to various broad based science or other initiatives and trying to refocus them back onto like the, the near impossible. The big thing is hard to do versus start from scratch. You know, China just says get me the best 10, the 10 best people working on quantum computing and put them here because it makes sense to put them here and give them whatever they need and they just go and run. For example, like Stennis, it's a NASA center in Mississippi. They've been working, they're principally work on the RS25 motor. The RS25 motor is the space shuttle motor. It's essentially a 55 year old motor. It's an awesome motor, it's a great motor. That's what they do primarily there now. They've done a good job working with commercial industry. Their governor is great on bringing in other people to test engines, but they're just doing, doing that versus like at the time it was first established of you will just do engines and when you figure this one out, you move on to the next one versus entrenching on something they have. Because I don't know what's coming next and I don't want to fear not having something next so I better hold onto it.

[Glenn Beck]

That's a recipe for disaster.

[Jared Isaacman]

But I think that exists across again, it's not just NASA, I think it's across the government. We have a lot of people that get entrenched in the past instead of working on the future.

[Glenn Beck]

But I don't understand how people, people don't see that's the secret of SpaceX. And quite honestly, Elon Musk, it's I got a crazy idea, let's get a bunch of crazy people to do it and then just do it.

[Jared Isaacman]

Politicians are to blame too in this whole thing too. I mean if you've got big, you know, in state equities, a couple centers and you're working on something, you're like, well maybe the right thing to do for the country is to move on to this, but I don't know if I can take the risk on the workforce. I had a great conversation actually with Senator Kennedy in Louisiana. The Michoud plant is where they build a lot of the SLS rocket and assemble it. And he was great. He's like, just tell me what's coming next. And I was like, sir, I'm so glad you asked that instead of just saying we got to keep doing what we're doing. Because my understanding of the history of Michoud is it made land landing craft During World War II, it made the Saturn rocket. It made the space shuttle. It's making SLS now. What's the right thing next? Let's not keep making battleships. When everybody pivots the aircraft carry. He was very receptive to that. Love it, but not everybody is.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah, I know, I know. It's great to meet you. Great to talk to you. Thank you very much.

[Jared Isaacman]

No, pleasure. Thanks for having me on.

[Glenn Beck]

Just a reminder a D love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast and pass this on to a friend so it can be discovered by other people.