About this episode

Glenn Loury and John McWhorter discuss Donald Trump's personality and its impact on his governing style, alongside broader themes of public discourse and individual achievement.

Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com Glenn and John McWhorter reunite for their monthly conversation, starting with a familiar disagreement: Trump. John reduces Trump's governing philosophy to one word—"a*****e"—arguing his personality explains his chaotic, norm-breaking style. Glenn isn't so sure. He sees Trump as a more conventional figure responding to structural forces larger than any one leader, and argues that personality-based explanations substitute for the harder work of substantive analysis. This connects to Glenn's recent essay on moral language in public discourse—how loaded terms like "genocide" (or "a*****e") can short-circuit rather than advance reasoned debate. The conversation closes with John's New York Times piece on DEI and AI, and how both breed a corrosive, unresolvable suspicion around individual achievement. 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…

People in this episode

Host: Glenn Loury

Guest: John McWhorter

Topics covered

• Donald Trump
• governing philosophy
• public discourse
• moral language
• DEI
• AI
• individual achievement

Keywords

• Trump
• a*****e theory
• moral language
• public discourse
• DEI
• AI
• individual achievement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times, The Glenn Show

More episodes of The Glenn Show

• April 2026 Q&A · May 1, 2026 · 42 min
• TGS Live: Jeffrey Seaman, Robert J. Sampson & Ben Peterson on Crime, Community & Policing · April 17, 2026 · 1h 59m
• Ben Peterson – Governing the Social Commons · April 13, 2026 · 1h 9m
• TGS Live: How Far Have Arab Citizens of Israel Come? · April 3, 2026 · 1h 9m
• March 2026 Q&A · March 29, 2026 · 1 min
• TGS Live: Glenn and John Disagree to Agree on the Iran War · March 27, 2026 · 59 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Glenn Show podcast page.