The Glenn Show

How Glenn and Lara each approach systemic racism ... Lara: The Yutico Briley case exposes the roots of systemic racism ... Trying to understand the equities and inequities of crime and punishment ... The differing perspectives on justice involved in the Briley case ... Are progressive criminal justice policies having an impact? ... Lara's new novel, A Good Mother ... Glenn and Lara's experiences of parenthood ... Why Glenn really left Harvard's economics department ... Glenn's rocky road as a father ...

Above you’ll find my conversation with University of San Francisco law professor Lara Bazelon. She specializes in criminal law and has won exoneration for wrongfully convicted incarcerated people. We discuss systemic racism in the criminal justice system and debate the pros and cons of various reform efforts. We go into the details of Yutico Briley’s wrongful conviction case in which Lara and her sister Emily were involved (you can read Emily’s piece about it here). Then we shift gears and discuss the challenges of writing fiction. We talk about Lara’s absorbing new novel A Good Mother and my memoir-in-progress. These are pretty deep waters, as we reflect on how our writing has forced us to confront some hard questions about our roles as professionals and parents.

As always, I’m interested in your thoughts! Let me know in the comments!

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0:00 How Glenn and Lara each approach systemic racism

6:46 Lara: The Yutico Briley case exposes the roots of systemic racism

17:32 Trying to understand the equities and inequities of crime and punishment

28:20 The differing perspectives on justice involved in the Briley case

34:44 Are progressive criminal justice policies having an impact?

46:16 Lara's new novel, A Good Mother

54:37 Glenn and Lara's experiences of parenthood

1:01:08 Why Glenn really left Harvard's economics department

1:05:16 Glenn's rocky road as a father

Links

Bari Weiss’ forum on systemic racism

Glenn’s book, Race, Incarceration, and American Values

Glenn’s “intellectual obituary” of James Q. Wilson

Lara’s novel, A Good Mother

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

Comparing the legacies of Thomas Sowell and George Schuyler ... Making the case for Sowell’s significance ... The task of the popularizer ... Why Sowell’s book A Conflict of Visions is important ... The norm of inter-group disparity ... What happened to Glenn’s generation of heterodox Black intellectuals? ... Why it’s hard to be conservative in academia ... Where is the left-wing critique of progressive racial politics? ...

This week John and I have something a little different for you: An interview with Wall Street Journal columnist and Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Jason Riley about his recent book, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell. We discuss Sowell's ideas, their influence, and his place within the pantheon of American (and black America), intellectuals. Among his innumerable contributions, Sowell's books—especially A Conflict of Visions, Knowledge and Decisions, and Basic Economics—are a particular focus of this wide-ranging conversation. We also get into a broader discussion about black intellectuals, conservatism, and the academy.

And don’t worry, Substack subscribers, John and I will be posting our monthly Q&A later this week. Stay tuned!

As always, I’m curious to know what you think. Let me know here and on Discord.

0:00 Intro

1:10 Comparing the legacies of Thomas Sowell and George Schuyler

5:27 Making the case for Sowell’s significance

16:55 The task of the popularizer

23:55 Why Sowell’s book A Conflict of Visions is important

31:15 The norm of inter-group disparity

40:47 What happened to Glenn’s generation of heterodox Black intellectuals?

50:12 Why it’s hard to be a conservative in academia

59:54 Where is the left-wing critique of progressive racial politics?

Links

Jason’s book, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell

Sowell’s book, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggle

Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper's talk with Adolph Reed

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

Why Richard is trying to stop the construction of the Obama Presidential Center ... Richard's stymied attempt to stop alterations to Chicago's Soldiers Field ... Raising questions about the OPC's environmental impact ... Richard's account of critical race theory ... A legal history of racial redress in the US ... Richard: Biden exhibits less comity than Trump did ...

Here is my conversation with NYU law professor Richard Epstein. In this conversation, Richard talks about his involvement with a legal action aimed at stopping construction on the currently planned site of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. We discuss the legal issues. We also talk about critical race theory—its origins in the legal academy of the 1970s and 80s, its foundational ideas, its impact on American education, and whether it should be banned by law. We conclude with Richard, who urged Trump to resign in January 2017(!), decrying what he sees as a lack of "comity" on the part of the Biden administration.

I hope you enjoy the conversation! As always, I’m curious to know what you think. Let me know here and on Discord.

0:00 Why Richard is trying to stop the construction of the Obama Presidential Center on its present site

10:20 Richard's stymied attempt to stop alterations to Chicago's Soldiers Field

15:12 Raising questions about the OPC's environmental impact

31:16 Richard's account of critical race theory

39:35 A legal history of racial redress in the US

48:59 Richard: Biden exhibits less comity than Trump did

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

John McWhorter, master of his craft ... Is John a “Black linguist”? Is Glenn a “Black economist”? ... Al Sharpton and Benjamin Crump address police violence against white victims ... Defining CRT ... Is the CRT debate comparable to other debates in education? ... Glenn: It is tyrannical to ban the teaching of CRT ...

Here is my latest conversation with John McWhorter. We begin with a review of our respective academic careers and how being black has affected our work. We also assess the recent involvement of Al Sharpton and Benjamin Crump in the case of a white Arkansas man who was shot dead in June, under suspicious circumstances, by a police officer during a traffic stop. We close with an extended discussion of critical race theory, which we define carefully and evaluate thoroughly. We agree that CRT should not be banned by law, but we endorse the efforts of parents to weigh-in with their local schools against it.

And, in case you haven’t seen it, we are now taking questions for our next Q&A. Let us know what’s on your mind!

0:00 John McWhorter, master of his craft

5:18 Is John a “black linguist”? Is Glenn a “black economist”? 

13:45 Al Sharpton and Benjamin Crump address police violence against white victims

24:25 What we talk about when we talk about CRT

35:35 Is the CRT debate comparable to other debates in education? 

43:43 Glenn: It is tyrannical to ban the teaching of CRT 

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

Intro ... Larry's view of Western and non-Western culture ... Is African American culture "non-Western"? ... Larry: "Freedom is a threat" to Black and Latino families ... African American individualism after emancipation ... The "paradox" of Asian academic success ... What are the origins of European political development? ...

Today I’m posting something a little different than normal. This is a conversation with NYU political scientist Larry Mead. It’s part of his series “Culture and Poverty,” and he’s generously allowed me to repost it here at The Glenn Show. We discuss some ideas from Larry’s book, Burdens of Freedom: Cultural Difference and American Power. Larry argues, among other things, that one of the major distinctions between “Western” and “non-Western” cultures is the role of individualism. Larry sees Western culture—as exemplified by the US—as predominately individualist in its orientation. When immigrants from non-Western cultures struggle to assimilate, he argues, it’s often because they have problems adjusting to this individualist orientation.

There are certainly merits to this argument. But in this discussion, I push back on Larry’s description of African American culture as basically non-Western. This, it seems to me, ignores a number of important facts about African American social and political history after the Civil War. It’s a lively back and forth, and I’m curious what you think.

0:00 Intro

2:04 Larry's view of Western and non-Western culture

5:32 Is African American culture "non-Western"?

14:57 Larry: "Freedom is a threat" to Black and Latino families

24:08 African American individualism after emancipation

36:00 The "paradox" of Asian academic success

48:26 What are the origins of European political development?

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