Chief Surgeon Confirms Fart Fire Exists: 'I Lit a Fart Through a Midline Incision'

November 04, 2016

Writer

In one of the more pressing news stories of the day, reports surfaced that a woman undergoing laser surgery actually caused a fire by farting. Naturally, the investigative team at The Glenn Beck Program jumped into action.

"It's not every day that you get a story on a fart fire," Glenn reported. "I want to hear from doctors, because I believe it can."

As luck would have it, Dr. MacDowell, a chief surgeon from Nashville, Tennessee, called in to lend his expert opinion.

"Would you say that fartology is in your realm of business? You've been around some sort of fartologist?" Glenn asked.

"Definitely, I have. I consider myself an expert on it, in fact," Dr. MacDowell said.

Dr. MacDowell went on to confirm that, under the right conditions, a patient's gas can absolutely spark a fire.

Read below or watch the clip for answers to these explosive questions:

• Under what conditions did Dr. MacDowell light a fart?

• Does Al Gore need to get involved in this methane gas problem?

• Among Glenn and his co-hosts, who has lit their own farts?

• Is Jeffy correct about why doctors wear masks?

• Why does Dr. MacDowell say the U.S. has the best medical system in the world?

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: All right. I think we have to start with the fart fire. I mean, you don't -- it's not every day that you get a story on a fart fire.

PAT: I don't even think this can happen.

GLENN: I want to here from doctors. Because I believe it can.

PAT: Do you really?

GLENN: Yes.

All right. Some -- a woman, where was she?

JEFFY: Japan.

GLENN: She's having laser surgery on her butt.

PAT: Well, her cervix.

GLENN: All right. So she's having -- it wasn't colon surgery?

PAT: No.

JEFFY: No.

GLENN: Well then I don't know if this can happen.

PAT: That's what I'm saying.

JEFFY: What?

GLENN: So, anyway, so she's having laser surgery. And they got the lasers fired up, and she passes gas.

JEFFY: Right.

GLENN: And the laser hits the gas, ignites a fire.

JEFFY: Right.

GLENN: And it sets --

PAT: Of the -- of the, you know, bed she's laying on, ignite and burns her on the lower torso of her body.

JEFFY: She gets burned.

PAT: Her fart didn't cause a laser fire. Come on.

JEFFY: First of all, it couldn't -- I will say -- I believe that it's possible. But it's not the first time that people have passed gas during surgery, right? I mean, that's why doctors wear masks.

GLENN: Yeah. No, that's not why doctors --

JEFFY: They wear the mask so they don't smell the gas.

GLENN: No, it's not for gas. It's really not.

PAT: It's not.

JEFFY: Why else would you --

GLENN: For germs. But it's a good guess on your part. But it's germs.

JEFFY: Okay. All right. If you say so.

PAT: We need to stop the methane gas releases in order to save the planet. It's the SUVs and the farting during surgery that is causing catastrophic damage to the planet.

(chuckling)

GLENN: I mean, so there was a fart fire in the --

JEFFY: Yes.

PAT: I want to hear from doctors whether that's even possible.

GLENN: Of course, it is. People can light their own farts on fire.

STU: No, they can't.

PAT: Not with a laser.

GLENN: You don't know what kind of --

STU: So, Pat, I want to make sure I understand your nuanced position here: You're saying that the issue with this is not that you can't light farts on fire, it's that you can't light farts on fire with a laser.

PAT: Yeah, with a laser.

STU: You can do it with a lighter?

PAT: Yes, you can. Obviously. Were you ever a teenager? Come on.

JEFFY: Haven't you see the YouTube video? Come on.

STU: I don't click on those typically.

PAT: Okay.

JEFFY: Yeah, neither do I. Neither do I.

GLENN: Lori, do you have fart fire on your screen right now? Do you have a YouTube up of a fart fire?

LORI: No.

GLENN: No, you don't? All right. Could you get one?

PAT: She's lying. You know she's lying.

GLENN: Lori who writes for GlennBeck.com is in here. And I'm surprised she didn't have the fart fire up on there, a YouTube video of that, immediately.

STU: So you're saying you can't light farts on fire?

GLENN: Oh.

PAT: No question about it. That's a proven fact.

JEFFY: That's a fact.

PAT: That's a proven fact.

GLENN: Okay. Right here. World fart fire. There it is. Look at that. Look at that.

Now, watch. Look at that.

PAT: Okay.

GLENN: That is a --

JEFFY: Yeah, that -- guys have had their hair burned down their backside for years.

PAT: That's sick. That's sick.

STU: I suppose my question then is why wouldn't you believe that a laser during surgery --

GLENN: That's what I don't understand.

PAT: Just --

GLENN: Of course, this happened.

PAT: I don't think that's possible.

GLENN: Why?

PAT: Because it would have happened a thousand times by now --

STU: Maybe it has.

PAT: And not just in Japan. It would have happened all over the world, and we would have heard about it before now.

GLENN: Maybe -- maybe her gas was a little extra --

JEFFY: Yeah. And it was perfectly timed with the time that the laser came on.

PAT: 877-727-BECK. I got to hear from the audience on this.

GLENN: On fart fires.

PAT: Yes.

GLENN: I don't mean to be crude. But seriously, what if her fart was a little more liquidy.

PAT: Ick.

GLENN: That would cause it to go on the sheet and be like a gas fire.

PAT: Ugh.

STU: What do you mean you didn't mean for it to be crude? You absolutely --

GLENN: How else do you explain that?

STU: You don't explain it -- that's how you --

GLENN: Okay. Then I'll just be quiet. Then I -- you're trying to shut down my freedom of speech.

PAT: I wish he would have, yes.

GLENN: I am trying to have a real -- a serious explanation on how it could catch the sheets on fire.

STU: I have not -- I have not passed a congressional law limiting what you're saying. You should just stop saying it.

GLENN: Boycott.

STU: Not a First Amendment.

GLENN: Next it's a boycott.

STU: It's not.

(laughter)

PAT: I would say that would make it less likely. I would think it would have to be more, you know, gaseous.

GLENN: Gaseous?

PAT: Uh-huh. Do we have a doctor?

JEFFY: Yes, we do.

PAT: All right.

GLENN: Dr. McDowell. Doctor. Doctor.

CALLER: Hello.

GLENN: You refer to me -- when I say doctor, you say doctor.

CALLER: I am -- I am a doctor.

GLENN: Well, so am I a doctor.

CALLER: Is this Glenn?

GLENN: Yes, this isn't Glenn. This is Dr. Beck. It's professional courtesy, man. Doctor.

CALLER: I have no idea.

PAT: He doesn't understand how this works. When Glenn addresses you as doctor, you address him back as doctor.

GLENN: Let's try this again, if you are indeed a real doctor who doesn't know the etiquette of addressing a doctor. Doctor.

CALLER: Doctor.

GLENN: Yes! Yes. There you go.

JEFFY: Thank you.

PAT: It wasn't delivered great, but okay.

GLENN: But we'll take it. We'll take.

Okay. So Dr. McDowell. You are a doctor of?

CALLER: Surgery. I'm a surgeon from Nashville, Tennessee.

PAT: You've worked with lasers?

GLENN: Would you say that fartology is in your realm of business? You've been around some sort of fartologist?

CALLER: Definitely I have. I consider myself an expert on it, in fact.

PAT: All right.

GLENN: Excellent. Do you work with lasers?

CALLER: You know, I think "lasers" is a misnomer in our line of work. We really don't use lasers much. I don't really know what they were doing with a laser around an anus. That really doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

(laughter)

I mean, I don't use a lot of lasers around --

PAT: That's one of the best phrases that's ever been uttered on this show. I don't know what they were doing with lasers around an anus.

CALLER: Right. But so -- but the truth is, it very much can happen. And I was telling your screener about a story that happened to me a few years ago. I was a resident. This was probably ten or 15 years ago at Vanderbilt. And I was on trauma call. And a gentleman came in on a Sunday morning with a history that he had been out at a bar on Saturday night here in Nashville and had gotten into a fight and been stabbed in his abdomen. And went home and passed out. And woke up the next morning, and his belly just felt awful. And so he showed up at our emergency department. And we evaluated him and found that he had some unknown injury to his bowels. And so that -- that's a straightforward indication to take him to the operating room and explore his abdomen.

JEFFY: Oh.

CALLER: And so I had him in the operating room, and I had opened up his abdomen. And I had an electric artery, which is -- can cause a spark. And as soon as I entered his abdominal cavity, a blue flame shot out of his wound. It was the craziest thing. And what had happened was is he had been stabbed and had an injury to his colon, and the methane from his colon had leaked out into his peritoneal cavity and had built up over night.

PAT: Ick.

CALLER: And literally, I lit a fart through his midline incision. It was crazy.

(laughter)

PAT: That's what I'm saying. That needs to stop.

CALLER: So, yes, it can happen. And there were no lasers involved. And it really can happen.

PAT: Wow. It can happen. Wow.

JEFFY: So, Doctor, are you going to deny that that's the reason you wear masks in surgery?

CALLER: Well, there's lots of reasons that we wear masks. It's not like that those masks can control the odor if you enter, you know, some untoward organ. It can --

GLENN: Is there ever --

CALLER: You mainly wear masks for your own -- to make sure that you don't pass your -- your germs on to the patient. So that's the reason why you wear masks.

JEFFY: Whatever.

GLENN: Jeffy.

Thank you, Doctor. Doctor. Oh, my gosh, this guy is not a --

CALLER: Doctor.

PAT: There you go.

GLENN: Thank you.

Doctor, let me ask you this, has there ever been a time that you open somebody up or you were treating somebody and you thought, "You know what, they never told us about this in medical school. And why the hell am I doing this job?"

CALLER: It happens to me almost weekly, Glenn. I mean, you know, there are just some days where I'm like, "God, why didn't I go to law school. Jeez." But it's --

JEFFY: That's amazing.

CALLER: But the truth is, a lot is said about American medicine in these days. And I think that -- I'm the chief of surgery of my hospital in Nashville. And I have a great deal of faith in what we do. I think our technology is great. The training that our physicians is great. And I think that we have the best medical system in the world. I just hope that we can maintain it.

GLENN: Me too.

CALLER: With the next administration, whoever that may be. I'm praying for one particular candidate. So...

GLENN: I'm praying for all of them.

(laughter)

CALLER: Good.

GLENN: Thank you very much, Doctor.

CALLER: Whatever is needed.

GLENN: Appreciate it. God bless you.

That's nice.

PAT: It's interesting. So it can happen.

JEFFY: There you go.

STU: Wow, there you go. It's a real story.

PAT: It can happen.

GLENN: I can't believe you didn't believe.

PAT: I did not believe.

GLENN: You saw the evidence on YouTube.

PAT: It's amazing. Well, I knew that could happen. But the laser thing --

STU: I honestly did not even know that could happen. It felt like one of those urban myths that you would say when you were a kid because you thought it was funny, to light your farts on fire. And then it would actually -- if you tried to do it, it wouldn't actually happen.

GLENN: See, I have to tell you, I don't know why I knew that was not a myth because I had never met anybody, nor had I tried to light farts on fire.

JEFFY: Please. We're supposed to believe that. Everyone has.

GLENN: I have not.

PAT: You personally have firsthand knowledge of it, don't you?

GLENN: I have never tried to light --

JEFFY: Everyone has burned some hair between --

GLENN: No, I haven't.

JEFFY: Jeez.

GLENN: And I don't know anybody who has, Jeffy, until right now.

PAT: You know somebody. You know somebody.

STU: We, as a national talk show, don't typically take requests, but on Twitter @worldofStu, and someone mentions this. And I think is needs to happen. Tell Pat to say anus like Al Gore.

(laughter)

STU: What was the sentence again?

GLENN: I don't know what that laser around the anus...

PAT: I don't know why they had a laser around an anus.

(laughter)

STU: It's a great point.

GLENN: It really is.

STU: Not enough people have made it.

GLENN: And only from a chief of surgery.

STU: What a weird show.

Featured Image: U.S. Air Force surgeons repair the ruptured achilles tendon of a service member. (Photo Credit: Wiki Commons)

Glenn Beck's 'No King but Christ' merch: Will faith STOP the chaos?

On Saturday, June 14, 2025 (President Trump's 79th birthday), the "No Kings" protest—a noisy spectacle orchestrated by progressive heavyweights like Randi Weingarten and her union cronies—will take place in Washington, D.C.

Thousands will chant "no thrones, no crowns, no king," claiming to fend off authoritarianism and corruption.

But let’s cut through the noise. The protesters' grievances—rigged courts, deported citizens, slashed services—are a house of cards. Zero Americans have been deported, Federal services are still bloated, and if anyone is rigging the courts, it's the Left. So why rally now, especially with riots already flaring in L.A.?

Chaos isn’t a side effect here—it’s the plan.

This is not about liberty; it's a power grab dressed up as resistance. The "No Kings" crowd wants you to buy their script: government’s the enemy—unless they’re the ones running it. It's the identical script from 2020: same groups, same tactics, same goal, different name.

But Glenn is flipping the script. He's dropping a new "No Kings but Christ" merch line, just in time for the protest. Merch that proclaims one truth: no earthly ruler owns us; only Christ does. It’s a bold, faith-rooted rejection of this secular circus.

Why should you care? Because this won’t just be a rally—it’ll be a symptom. Distrust in institutions is sky-high, and rightly so, but the "No Kings" answer is a hollow shout into the void. Glenn’s merch begs the question: if you’re ditching kings, who’s really in charge? Get yours and wear the answer proudly.

Truth unleashed: 95% say media’s excuses for anti-Semitism are a LIE

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Glenn asked for YOUR take on the rising tide of anti-Semitism, and you delivered. After the Boulder attack, you made it clear: this isn’t just a news story—it’s a crisis the elites are dodging.

Your verdict is unmistakable: 96% of you see anti-Semitism as a growing threat in the U.S., brushing aside the establishment’s weak excuses. The spin does not fool you—95% say the media is deliberately downplaying the issue, hiding a cultural rot that’s all too real. And the government’s response? A whopping 95% of you call it a disgraceful failure, leaving communities exposed.

Your voices shatter the silence. Why should we trust narratives that dismiss your concerns? With 97% of you warning that anti-Semitism will surge in the years ahead, you’re demanding action and accountability. This is your stand for truth.

You spoke, and Glenn listened. Your bold response sends a message to those who’d rather ignore the problem. Keep raising your voice at Glennbeck.com—your input drives the fight for justice. Take part in the next poll and continue shaping the conversation.

Want to make your voice heard? Check out more polls HERE.

JPMorgan Chase CEO issues dire warning about America's prosperity

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Jamie Dimon has a grim forecast for America — and it’s not a recession. He sees a fragile nation drifting into crisis while its leaders fight over TikTok.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase — one of the most powerful financial institutions on earth — issued a warning the other day. But it wasn’t about interest rates, crypto, or monetary policy.

Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Dimon pivoted from economic talking points to something far more urgent: the fragile state of America’s physical preparedness.

We are living in a moment of stunning fragility — culturally, economically, and militarily. It means we can no longer afford to confuse digital distractions with real resilience.

“We shouldn’t be stockpiling Bitcoin,” Dimon said. “We should be stockpiling guns, tanks, planes, drones, and rare earths. We know we need to do it. It’s not a mystery.”

He cited internal Pentagon assessments showing that if war were to break out in the South China Sea, the United States has only enough precision-guided missiles for seven days of sustained conflict.

Seven days — that’s the gap between deterrence and desperation.

This wasn’t a forecast about inflation or a hedge against market volatility. It was a blunt assessment from a man whose words typically move markets.

“America is the global hegemon,” Dimon continued, “and the free world wants us to be strong.” But he warned that Americans have been lulled into “a false sense of security,” made complacent by years of peacetime prosperity, outsourcing, and digital convenience:

We need to build a permanent, long-term, realistic strategy for the future of America — economic growth, fiscal policy, industrial policy, foreign policy. We need to educate our citizens. We need to take control of our economic destiny.

This isn’t a partisan appeal — it’s a sobering wake-up call. Because our economy and military readiness are not separate issues. They are deeply intertwined.

Dimon isn’t alone in raising concerns. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has warned that China has already overtaken the U.S. in key defense technologies — hypersonic missiles, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence to mention a few. Retired military leaders continue to highlight our shrinking shipyards and dwindling defense manufacturing base.

Even the dollar, once assumed untouchable, is under pressure as BRICS nations work to undermine its global dominance. Dimon, notably, has said this effort could succeed if the U.S. continues down its current path.

So what does this all mean?

Christopher Furlong / Staff | Getty Images

It means we are living in a moment of stunning fragility — culturally, economically, and militarily. It means we can no longer afford to confuse digital distractions with real resilience.

It means the future belongs to nations that understand something we’ve forgotten: Strength isn’t built on slogans or algorithms. It’s built on steel, energy, sovereignty, and trust.

And at the core of that trust is you, the citizen. Not the influencer. Not the bureaucrat. Not the lobbyist. At the core is the ordinary man or woman who understands that freedom, safety, and prosperity require more than passive consumption. They require courage, clarity, and conviction.

We need to stop assuming someone else will fix it. The next crisis — whether military, economic, or cyber — will not politely pause for our political dysfunction to sort itself out. It will demand leadership, unity, and grit.

And that begins with looking reality in the eye. We need to stop talking about things that don’t matter and cut to the chase: The U.S. is in a dangerously fragile position, and it’s time to rebuild and refortify — from the inside out.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

James J. Hill’s railroad triumph: Why private enterprise ALWAYS wins

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On radio last week, Glenn discussed California’s bullet train project, which is a complete and total joke. Billions of dollars, decades in the making, and what do they have?

A hopeless boondoggle that’s become the poster child for government waste. Politicians just leaf-blowing your tax dollars into a black hole.

Rewind to the late 1800s, to a man named James J. Hill and his Great Northern Railroad – the polar opposite of California’s embarrassment. His story is about American grit, private enterprise, and it’s proof that when you keep the government’s hands off, you can get real results.

James J. Hill didn’t just build a railroad; he built a legacy that shames every federally funded train wreck of his era.

Picture this: it’s the 1870s, and railroads are the arteries of America’s growth. But most transcontinental lines, like the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, are swimming in federal cash through massive loans and land grants. They would get up to 20 square miles of land PER MILE of track, plus loans of $16,000 to $48,000 per mile, depending on the terrain. Naturally, those railroads were bloated, mismanaged, and built as fast as possible to grab the government subsidies. Since they got a pile of federal cash for every mile they completed, they often picked less efficient routes. The cheap and fast construction also meant the tracks were in constant disrepair and had to be re-laid. By the Financial Panic of 1893, they were bankrupt, bleeding money, and begging for bailouts.

Enter James J. Hill. This guy was different. He didn’t want Uncle Sam’s handouts. He spent three years researching the bankrupt St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, ensuring it could be profitable with strategic expansion. In 1878, Hill and his investment partners bought the SP&P with their own money. No federal loans, except for a single small land grant in Minnesota, that they needed to connect their line to the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Hill carefully used profits from this line to fund further expansion, avoiding excessive debt.

By 1893, the Great Northern Railroad stretched from Minnesota all the way to Seattle, built almost entirely with private capital. Why did Hill’s Great Northern become the gold standard? First, efficiency. Hill was obsessive. He scouted routes himself, picking paths like Marias Pass – the lowest crossing of the Rockies – saving millions of dollars by avoiding tunnels. His tracks had low grades, minimal curves, and were built to last.

Universal History Archive / Contributor | Getty Images

Second, Hill didn’t just build tracks; he built an economy. He attracted settlers by offering cheap fares, free seeds for their farms, and even programs that taught them better farming techniques. He invested in timber, ensuring that freight kept rolling. The result? His railroad always had plenty of customers, cargo, and cash flow. The federally funded lines, on the other hand, often ran through barren land, chasing land grants, not profits.

When the Panic of 1893 hit, the Great Northern line withstood the storm – it was one of only two Western railways NOT to go bankrupt.

Hill reinvested profits, kept debt low, and outmaneuvered the government’s new rate controls that crippled his competitors. By 1901, he controlled the Northern Pacific and Burlington lines, creating an empire that still exists today, part of a merger in the 1990s that created the BNSF Railway. That is the power of private enterprise – no government bloat, just hard work and vision.

James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railroad proves what happens when you let markets, not bureaucrats, drive progress. Hill’s legacy reinforces a vital truth: keep the government out, and let builders build. That’s the American way.

Glenn's Show Prep

Chief Surgeon Confirms Fart Fire Exists: 'I Lit a Fart Through a Midline Incision'

Glenn Beck's 'No King but Christ' merch: Will faith STOP the chaos?

Thousands will chant "no thrones, no crowns, no king," claiming to fend off authoritarianism and corruption.

Chaos isn’t a side effect here—it’s the plan.

Truth unleashed: 95% say media’s excuses for anti-Semitism are a LIE

JPMorgan Chase CEO issues dire warning about America's prosperity

Jamie Dimon has a grim forecast for America — and it’s not a recession. He sees a fragile nation drifting into crisis while its leaders fight over TikTok.

We are living in a moment of stunning fragility — culturally, economically, and militarily. It means we can no longer afford to confuse digital distractions with real resilience.

James J. Hill’s railroad triumph: Why private enterprise ALWAYS wins

On radio last week, Glenn discussed California’s bullet train project, which is a complete and total joke. Billions of dollars, decades in the making, and what do they have?

James J. Hill didn’t just build a railroad; he built a legacy that shames every federally funded train wreck of his era.

When the Panic of 1893 hit, the Great Northern line withstood the storm – it was one of only two Western railways NOT to go bankrupt.