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BLOG July 12, 2017

History Teacher Glenn Assigns 147 Books as Required Reading (Okay, Maybe 5)

It's no secret, Glenn loves to read --- fiction, non-fiction, historical, behavioral, spiritual. You name it, and he's probably read it. Of late, he's asked his entire staff to read a number of books --- and some people are taking issue with it.

"Stop assigning people books," Co-host Stu Burguiere joked Wednesday on radio.

Co-host Jeffy Fisher estimated the number to be at 66.

"Come on, seriously. I have not assigned you guys 66 books. How many books, honestly?" Glenn asked.

In reality, it's closer to four --- or five --- depending on who you ask.

"You gave us five, and then you assigned the rest of the company four . . . we got screwed on that deal, totally. We had to read an extra book," Stu pointed out.

"This is the only job that comes with a syllabus," Glenn replied.

Not only has Glenn and his staff been reading --- so has the audience.

On Amazon, if you go to one of the four books Glenn has recommended, it shows the other three as being frequently bought together. Additionally, further down in the section titled, "Customers who bought this item also bought," a host of other books Glenn has mentioned on air are listed.

"Unbelievable, this is our audience," Glenn said.

Enjoy the complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

GLENN: Which book are you talking about?

STU: Stop assigning people books.

GLENN: I have to.

STU: There's not a question that is normal. What book are you talking about? Well, you've assigned 65. No wonder you can't keep track of it.

JEFFY: Stu, 66.

GLENN: No. Come on, seriously. I have not assigned you guys 66 books. How many books, honestly?

PAT: Thirty-seven. It's only 37 in two weeks. In two weeks.

STU: You've added quite a bit lately.

GLENN: No, there were five.

STU: There's eight.

PAT: There were five initial. Initially, there were five. Now there's been two more, three more?

JEFFY: At least seven or eight. Yeah, we're at seven or --

PAT: I think we're on number eight.

STU: You gave us five, and then you assigned the rest of the company four, which we got screwed on that deal, totally. We had to read an extra book.

GLENN: That's right.

STU: But this is -- did you see --

GLENN: This is the only job that comes with a syllabus.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: Well, I will say this. You want to talk about extra books, the one -- I'm reading a story in the New York Post --

JEFFY: Oh, from this weekend.

STU: This evil right-wing publication, the New York Post, and the say what the brightest minds are reading this summer, which for some reason they included you.

PAT: What. Wait? When did this start? You're being called one of the brightest minds.

GLENN: Yeah. Did you see the picture? Who was it? It was me, the head of Citibank, and somebody else.

STU: Oh, yeah. JPMorgan chief, Jamie Dimon.

PAT: Jamie Dimon.

GLENN: Yeah, Jamie Dimon. And some other Wall Street guy. And the headline said, what the brightest -- some of the brightest minds are reading this summer. And my picture is between those two. And I'm like, wait a minute. I think those two should belong in jail maybe. I'm not sure this is --

STU: Helpful.

Glenn Beck, the conservative media host, who has some diverse selections this season, including The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.

JEFFY: That was on the list.

GLENN: That was on the list. You guys loved, right?

JEFFY: That was on the list.

STU: Yeah, I liked that one.

PAT: Yeah, that was good.

STU: And we've had him on before. He's really smart.

JEFFY: Yes.

STU: On the flip side, Beck is also reading Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life by Scott Marshall.

JEFFY: Which wasn't on the list.

GLENN: This is really -- I have to be honest with you, it's on the stack of books. I'm trying to read a couple of other books. I'm trying to get through The Content Trap, and I just finished Authenticity, which is really good. Finished that this weekend.

JEFFY: Did you say eight or ten --

GLENN: I didn't assign that. I didn't assign that. That's on the list of you guys might want to read that.

STU: Uh-huh.

PAT: Which one?

GLENN: Authenticity.

STU: Authenticity and Content Trap.

PAT: Content Trap was part of the mandate.

GLENN: No, that's part of the new mandate. I gave that to you guys a couple days ago.

PAT: Uh-huh.

JEFFY: Ten.

GLENN: Well, yeah. I know it's hard for you, Jeffy, that reads comic books. But everybody else --

PAT: Yeah, there's very few pictures in most of these books.

STU: It's really sad.

GLENN: Is Friction not one of the best written books ever?

JEFFY: I really loved it. I like Friction too.

PAT: It was fun to read. Reminded me of the way we formatted books before.

GLENN: Yeah. It's -- the whole thing is about how your life is full of friction and reduce the friction in your life, in your customer's life, and everything else. But you read it, and it's just brilliant. Especially -- you get to the end of the book, at least I did, and I finished it in two hours. How long did it take you guys to finish it? A couple hours?

JEFFY: A week and a half.

GLENN: Seriously, it's a really easy book. It's like -- it's 300 pages, but you can zip through that book.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And when you get to the end of it, did you realize, "Oh, my gosh, they used that theory on writing this book."

STU: Right. They used it on me.

GLENN: Yeah. Because you read it, and you're like, "This is great. I love this. It's so easy to read."

STU: It's like the old Don Lapre philosophy: You can make $100 million with tiny classified ads in your apartment.

GLENN: Okay. But I think this one actually works.

STU: But the problem was he was just using that theory on you. He was placing an ad to get you to buy nonsensical information so that you would spend your money with him. He was using the thing he was teaching you to make his money.

PAT: Yes.

STU: The book was -- it was just an attempt to utilize the philosophy he was teaching you. From his own one-bedroom apartment.

GLENN: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You guys should read The Overton Window. The Overton Window 2.

STU: Oh, really?

GLENN: Common Sense. Arguing With Idiots.

STU: It's funny you bring that up. Because I was on Amazon looking at -- it's Friction, I guess. And they have frequently bought together. So, again, telling you this audience -- because conservatives don't read. They just don't read.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: Frequently bought together, Friction, Tribal Leadership.

GLENN: Which is the other book on the list.

STU: Another one on the list. And The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt.

PAT: Another one on the list.

STU: Then it goes down and says, customers who bought this item also bought Tribal Leadership. On the list. Mistakes Were Made, But Not By Me.

GLENN: On the list.

STU: The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt on the list.

GLENN: On the list.

STU: Another version of Tribal Leadership. Then Fed Up: An Insider's Take On Why the Federal Reserve is Bad For America by Danielle Dimartino Booth.

GLENN: A guest on our show.

STU: Tribes by Seth Godin, which is also on the list.

GLENN: Also on the list.

STU: Another version of The Righteous Mind. Then Rediscovering Americanism and The Tyranny of Progressivism by Mark Levin, on the list. Written Out of History by Senator Mike Lee. On the list. Another version of Mistakes Were Made, But Not By Me. Then Defying Hitler.

JEFFY: Oh, another one.

STU: Another book you've talked about. Then Brad Thor, Use of Force. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.

GLENN: Guest on the show.

STU: Pendulum, another one you've talked about. And actually we had a caller about earlier today. Ben Sasse, The Vanishing American Adult is on there.

GLENN: Unbelievable. This is our audience.

STU: The Little Things by Andy Andrews. Deep Undercover by Jack Barsky, another guy who has been on the program. It's like every -- David Limbaugh, The True Jesus.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

PAT: Wow. Yeah, we had David on.

STU: The Coming Insurrection.

GLENN: The Coming Insurrection. Only this audience knows about The Coming Insurrection.

JEFFY: Wow.

STU: Michael Vey, by Richard Paul Evans is on there.

GLENN: Only this audience.

STU: And only until we get there do we get Glenn Beck Liars, which is actually your book.

(laughter)

You keep telling people to read so many books. No one reads your books.

(laughter)

GLENN: That's incredible.

STU: Yeah. It really is.

PAT: It is.

STU: Everybody -- Bruce Feiler is on here we've talked about before. The Tom Coburn book we've talked about before is on here. The Pope and the President, which is a great one, from Paul Kengor.

PAT: The Tom Coburn book -- we had him on for that, right? He didn't even know it was in his own book. That was a fun interview.

GLENN: That's right. That was a bizarre interview.

JEFFY: That was a little difficult.

GLENN: Hey, Tom, so tell me about -- uh, it's in the book.

PAT: Uh, did I write about that? I've never heard of that.

STU: And then about page ten of this is The Content Trap, the book you just mentioned ten seconds ago.

GLENN: Unbelievable.

PAT: That's great. It's already there.

STU: It really is ridiculous.

PAT: You know what should be there is the massive global warming warning from David Wallace Wells.

STU: Thank you.

GLENN: Hang on. May I just say. So go to Friction on Amazon. Buy that. And then just buy all the other books that say "customers also bought," and then you'll be set. Then you'll have the list.

STU: It shows how smart the algorithms are at Amazon too.

JEFFY: Yes.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: They know what you want.

GLENN: But, you know what, it also shows how smart the audience is.

STU: It does.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Go ahead.

PAT: Well, if you're going to buy these, you need to buy them quickly because we're about to burn up.

GLENN: Are we really?

PAT: Yes, we're going to burst into flame at any moment. There was this article written, and who was it that came out on the left and said -- this is so bad, that he's predicting an 11 or 12-degree temperature rise in a very short amount of time. And he's talking about things -- he's thrown in things like the ice shelf in Antarctica that just broke off. I think it finally happened today. Right?
BLOG

Let’s thank the Pilgrims for defeating Socialism this Thanksgiving

This year marks the four hundredth anniversary of the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims and their Wampanoag allies in 1621. Tragically, nearly half of the Pilgrims had died by famine and disease during their first year. However, they had been met by native Americans such as Samoset and Squanto who miraculously spoke English and taught the Pilgrims how to survive in the New World. That fall the Pilgrims, despite all the hardships, found much to praise God for and they were joined by Chief Massasoit and his ninety braves came who feasted and celebrated for three days with the fifty or so surviving Pilgrims.

It is often forgotten, however, that after the first Thanksgiving everything was not smooth sailing for the Pilgrims. Indeed, shortly thereafter they endured a time of crop failure and extreme difficulties including starvation and general lack. But why did this happen? Well, at that time the Pilgrims operated under what is called the "common storehouse" system. In its essence it was basically socialism. People were assigned jobs and the fruits of their labor would be redistributed throughout the people not based on how much work you did but how much you supposedly needed.

The problem with this mode of economics is that it only fails every time. Even the Pilgrims, who were a small group with relatively homogeneous beliefs were unable to successfully operate under a socialistic system without starvation and death being only moments away. Governor William Bradford explained that under the common storehouse the people began to "allege weakness and inability" because no matter how much or how little work someone did they still were given the same amount of food. Unsurprisingly this, "was found to breed much confusion and discontent."[1]

The Pilgrims, however, were not the type of people to keep doing what does not work. And so, "they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in misery."[2] And, "after much debate of things" the Pilgrims under the direction of William Bradford, decided that each family ought to "trust to themselves" and keep what they produced instead of putting it into a common storehouse.[3] In essence, the Pilgrims decided to abandon the socialism which had led them to starvation and instead adopt the tenants of the free market.

And what was the result of this change? Well, according to Bradford, this change of course, "had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been."[4] Eventually, the Pilgrims became a fiscally successful colony, paid off their enormous debt, and founded some of the earliest trading posts with the surrounding Indian tribes including the Aptucxet, Metteneque, and Cushnoc locations. In short, it represented one of the most significant economic revolutions which determined the early characteristics of the American nation.

The Pilgrims, of course, did not simply invent these ideas out of thin air but they instead grew out of the intimate familiarity the Pilgrims had with the Bible. The Scriptures provide clear principles for establishing a successful economic system which the Pilgrims looked to. For example, Proverbs 12:11 says, "He that tills his land shall be satisfied with bread." So the Pilgrims purchased land from the Indians and designated lots for every family to individually grow food for themselves. After all, 1 Timothy 5:8 declares, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

We often think that the battle against Socialism is a new fight sprouting out of the writings of Karl Marx which are so blindly and foolishly followed today by those deceived by leftist irrationality. However, America's fight against the evil of socialism goes back even to our very founding during the colonial period. Thankfully, our forefathers decided to reject the tenants of socialism and instead build their new colony upon the ideology of freedom, liberty, hard work, and individual responsibility.

So, this Thanksgiving, let's thank the Pilgrims for defeating socialism and let us look to their example today in our ongoing struggle for freedom.

[1] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856), 135.

[2] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856), 134.

[3] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856), 134.

[4] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856), 135.
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THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

EcoHealth Alliance's Peter Daszak: Hero or Villain? | Matt Ridley | Ep 126

Like most people, science journalist Matt Ridley just wants the truth. When it comes to the origin of COVID-19, that is a tall order. Was it human-made? Did it leak from a laboratory? What is the role of gain-of-function research? Why China, why now? Ridley's latest book, "Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19," is a scientific quest to answer these questions and more. A year ago, you would have been kicked off Facebook for suggesting COVID originated in a lab. For most of the pandemic, the Left practically worshipped Anthony Fauci. But lately, people have been poking around. And one of the names that appears again and again is Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance and a longtime collaborator and funder of the virus-hunting work at Wuhan Institute of Virology. In this episode of the Glenn Beck Podcast, Matt reveals the whole tangled web.

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SPECIALS

RENEWING KINDNESS: The Power of One and the Way Forward

I have one simple rule for anyone who wants to restore our nation. We will not settle for private patriotism and public compliance. The tyranny ends with us. Anyone who believes in the truth, please join me.
SPECIALS

Crimes or Cover-Up? Exposing the World’s Most Dangerous Lie

COVID-19 changed everything. The way we live our lives, how we operate our businesses, how we see each other. And now, the federal government is sinking its tendrils even deeper, threatening the fabric not only of our bodily autonomy, but of the republic.

Our American way of life may never be the same. To save it, we must understand the key fundamentals of the pandemic that transfigured our society into the nightmare it is today. What is the COVID-19 origin story? Who are its top players in government and science, pulling the strings? What was their REAL response in the first days of the pandemic? The answers to these questions are frightening.

Emails, documents, and federal contracts tell a dark story that is still dominating our lives. It's time to cast a light on the shocking truth. Because only with the truth can we emerge from the darkness of this "pandemic" and take back the liberty stolen from us.

This is Glenn Beck's most important chalkboard of his life. And the most pivotal time in yours.

Watch the full special below:

View the research and supporting documents for this special here.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn's masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution and live the American dream.