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JM

John McWhorter

Series

Federalist Radio Hour1 episodeThe Glenn Show9 episodes

Recent Episodes

The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

The John Show Live: Jason Arday, Jewish-Adjacency, and Language Myths

Last Friday, with Glenn still on the other side of the world, John McWhorter slid into the host chair for the weekly livestream. The major topic under discussion was the career and death of Jason Arday. As most of you probably know, we cut a segment on Arday from last week’s episode because it was recorded the day before news of Arday’s death broke. Though British officials have not yet made public a cause of death, most commentators speculate that Arday took his own life. It’s a tragic end to a story that bordered on farce. We’re going to be talking about this for some time. In this episode, John weighs in with his early thoughts and takes questions on the subject from the Substack and YouTube chats. Near the end of the episode, we introduce some lighter topics, like John’s self-described Jewish-adjacency and whether bilingual people’s personalities change depending on which language they’re using. Note: There was a glitch in Mark's audio recording that we could not get rid of during post-production. Apologies for the sub-optimal listening experience. The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.
Host:
Glenn Loury
The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

TGS Live: Norman Finkelstein and Eli Lake on Israel and Palestine (with John McWhorter)

Nearly three years after October 7th, Glenn and John McWhorter host two guests with sharply opposing views on Israel and Gaza — in succession rather than debate, to prioritize clarity over conflict. First, Norman Finkelstein discusses his forthcoming book Gaza's Gravediggers, which examines failures within the international human rights community to protect vulnerable civilian populations. Then Free Press columnist Eli Lake argues that Israel's military response has been broadly justified and warns against the growing influence of anti-Israel sentiment in Democratic politics. Glenn and John interrogate both positions in good faith — not to reach a tidy verdict, but to model the kind of serious engagement the subject demands. Buy Norman Finkelstein's new book, Gaza’s Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High Places The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.
Host:
Glenn Loury

July 2026

The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

TGS Live: Karmelo Anthony and the Content of Our Character

John McWhorter returns as Glenn and John reflect on the nation's 250th birthday and the state of Black America. Both express disappointment — not at racism's persistence, but at cultural attitudes that continue to hold Black Americans back. Using the Karmelo Anthony case as a touchstone, they push back hard against victimhood narratives that treat race as a mitigating factor for individual wrongdoing. But Glenn and John diverge on colorblindness: while John laments the persistence of racial identity, Glenn argues that race as a positive site of collective identification — embodied in institutions like the black church — remains valuable and shouldn't be abandoned in the name of an abstract principle. The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.
Host:
Glenn Loury
The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

John McWhorter on Karmelo Anthony’s Grand Narrative

Recorded amid Glenn's vacation, this month's conversation with John McWhorter covers New York politics, crime, and culture. They discuss Mayor Zohran Mamdani's growing influence after his endorsed candidates swept their Democratic primaries, signaling a possible left-wing realignment within the party akin to the Tea Party's and MAGA's reshaping of the right. They also dig into the trial and sentencing of Karmelo Anthony for the killing of Austin Metcalf, weighing competing explanations — including a Sowellian theory of cultural inheritance — and Glenn's skepticism toward treating the case as fundamentally racial rather than personal and circumstantial. The Glenn Show is almost entirely audience-supported, so to those of us who are already full subscribers, let me extend a heartfelt thank you. And if you’re not yet a full subscriber, please consider becoming one. The Glenn Show can only do what it does through the generosity of viewers and listeners. For a mere $6/month or $50/year, you’ll get access to weekly livestreams, monthly Q&A episodes with John McWhorter, commenting privileges, access to the full Substack archives, and other exclusive bonus content.
Host:
Glenn Loury

November 2025

The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

John McWhorter – The Democratic Leadership Vacuum

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com Watch and listen to the full, 2-hour episode: https://glennloury.substack.com/p/tgs-live-democrats-leadership-crisis Video Links 0:00 John’s misgivings about Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Zionism 7:22 Is anti-Zionism reducible to “good black people vs. bad white people”? 11:53 Ground News ad 13:40 Democrats try to pull out of a death spiral 20:05 John: If Trump can end some wars, I’ll take it 22:49 What do Kamala Harris fans see in her? 30:09 Here’s what Obama should be doing in his post-presidency 40:11 Mourning the end of race 50:15 Glenn: Eliminating racial disparities requires developing communities Recorded October 31, 2025 Links and Readings Tressie McMillan Cottom’s NYT column, “A Nazi Tattoo Exposes Democrats’ Greatest Weakness” Michelle Goldberg’s NYT column, “I Thought Graham Platner Was Finished. What I Saw in Maine Changed My Mind.” Kamala Harris’s book, 107 Days David Brooks’s NYT column, “Hey Lefties! Trump Has Stolen Your Game.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe
Host:
Glenn Loury

September 2025

The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

John McWhorter & Marc Dunkelman – Why Nothing Works

Support The Glenn Show at https:/.glennloury.substack.com Video Links 0:00 Why Marc thinks nothing works 6:45 Who decides the winners and losers in public trade-offs? 12:50 Penn Station and public interest logjams 20:29 Marc: We have Trump because people feel that government doesn’t work 28:17 Two progressive conceptions of power 33:03 Finding the balance between centralized and dispersed power 39:05 Ok, nothing works. So how do we get things working? 51:28 Marc: We need a return to Hamiltonian governing 55:03 The new class of moderate Democrats trying to get things done Recorded September 6, 2025 Links and Readings Marc’s new book, Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back Marc’s book, The Vanishing Neighbor: The Transformation of American Community Robert Putnam’s book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Robert Caro’s book, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s book, Abundance Jennifer Pahlka’s book, Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better Yoni Applebaum’s book, Stuck: How the Privileged and Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe
Host:
Glenn Loury

July 2025

The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

John McWhorter – Sparring over Mamdani, Gaza, and Trump

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com Video Links 0:00 Zohran Mamdani’s win in the NYC Democratic primaries 12:07 Ground News ad 14:05 The War on Terror and the War in Gaza 28:54 Should Trump fear Mamdani? 32:02 Glenn: Trump is running the table 42:26 John: Glenn, you’re getting caught up in the Trump Show 48:05 Buckley, Reagan, Goldwater, and the legacy of conservatism 53:56 Glenn’s encounters with Willian F. Buckley 59:30 Remembering Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom Recorded July 7, 2025 Links and Readings John’s NYT column, “Wokeness Will Always Be with Us” Peter Beinart’s NYT guest essay, “Democrats Need to Understand That Opinions on Israel Are Changing Fast” “One Last Time” from Hamilton Adam Clayton Powell’s “What’s in Your Hand” speech Sam Tannenhaus’s new book, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America Glenn’s 1991 appearance on Firing Line Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom’s book, America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible Glenn’s 1997 Atlantic review of America in Black and White This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe
Host:
Glenn Loury

March 2025

The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

John McWhorter – War Comes to the Oval Office

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com Video Links: 0:00 Intro 1:55 Did Trump and Vance bully Zelenskyy or give him a dose of reality? 5:16 Glenn: Trump is trying to wind down an unnecessary war 13:49 - Ground News ad 28:58 The “deep game” of European security 32:06 Glenn: America First appeals to me, World War III doesn’t 36:40 Teaching the reparations debate in a post-October 7 world 43:06 MSNBC axes Joy Reid’s show Recorded March 1, 2025 Links and Readings: Trump and Zelensky’s Oval Office meeting Tucker Carlson’s onstage interview with Hungarian president Victor Orbán The latest episode of Walter Kirn and Matt Taibbi’s podcast, America This Week Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Atlantic essay, “The Case for Reparations” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe
Host:
Glenn Loury

October 2024

The Glenn Show
The Glenn Show

John McWhorter – Glenn and John Throw Down over The Message

Incogni is your personal data defender, safeguarding you from these digital predators. Use code GLENN at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/glenn 1:22 The Coates debate continues 3:18 John: Coates is a beautiful writer, but … 5:44 John: … The Message is suffused with incuriosity and simplistic thinking 13:45 Glenn: Coates is talking about humanism and power, not race 18:11 Ground News ad 20:25 Is it “all about whitey”? 22:11 Glenn: Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this book. What am I doing? 27:40 What kind of historical imagination is at work in The Message? 34:11 Moral clarity or abdication of responsibility? 36:30 Pro-Palestinian writers John considers acceptable 41:54 The next entries in Glenn and John’s book club 42:04 Coates’s now notorious interview on CBS Mornings 48:45 What is the black intellectual’s role today?
Host:
Glenn Loury

November 2021

Federalist Radio Hour
Federalist Radio Hour

John McWhorter: Antiracism Is Not An Ideology, It’s A Religion

Linguist John McWhorter is the author of the new book, "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America." He joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky for a discussion on a new kind of leftist who clings to the new religion of race where the original sin is “white privilege," and why they can't be negotiated with. McWhorter explains how we need to normalize calling out "woke racism" for what it is, while also looking at what the right gets wrong in discussions on race.
Host:
Emily Jashinsky
Organization
The Federalist