Glenn Beck reveals why kids are falling for toxic ready-made identities — and exactly what parents can do



Right now, our youth are virtually ignorant of the American story. According to the most recent data from the Nation's Report Card (NAEP), students know almost nothing about the nation’s founding.

On the last National History exam in 2022, only 13% of eighth graders scored proficient. Roughly 40% scored below the NAEP basic level in U.S. history — the lowest performance category.

Glenn Beck is deeply concerned about these numbers.

“We are raising a generation that cannot explain the country they're standing in,” he laments.

But that’s not even close to the biggest threat facing our young people.

“It's not just the [American] story that is thinning out,” sighs Glenn. “It is everything that used to hold a person in place.”

Stories, family, friendship, and church, he argues, are all vital to the human spirit. But these cornerstones have been slowly crumbling with each generation. Today, much of the country struggles with “loneliness” — a condition that has become so rampant, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy declared it an “epidemic” in 2023.

“Try to hold all of that in your head at once and then say, ‘What do you think's happening to our kids?’” says Glenn. “No shared story, emptied out churches, emptied out clubs, a friendship drought, a loneliness the doctors are calling a health emergency. Now picture being born into that.”

“You don't even know where you are. You have no map. You have no name for who your people are. There's no seat saved at any table for you. You just have a screen in your hand and a thousand strangers glad to tell you who you ought to be. That's the ground our kids are standing on,” he continues.

Kids, he argues, come into the world not knowing who they are. Slowly, over time, they develop an identity “piece by piece” based on “whatever is reflected back at them.”

But what’s reflected back at them today is largely determined by screens controlled by algorithms designed to mold and condition.

“Some of the voices reaching your kids, they are not random, OK? You've got people who know exactly what they're doing. They have a vision for who your kid should become,” Glenn warns.

These visions are often incredibly alluring to the floundering youngster.

Glenn imagines a young child still in his most formative years “swimming ... in an ocean of a thousand voices,” desperately trying to nail down his identity.

“And then one of those voices steps forward and offers the whole package: Finished identity. Here's who you are; here's your people; here's your club; here's what you stand for,” he visualizes.

This promise of “finally becoming someone” is “the hook” that so many children fall prey to today.

“When a kid feels invisible, a ready-made identity stops becoming attractive and becomes irresistible because they're looking for a shore,” says Glenn.

It’s the job of parents to provide them with a different shore.

Glenn has two pieces of advice.

“Give them a place where they belong ... where they can sit and disagree, and it's allowed,” he says, highlighting how so many of the poisonous movements kids get swept up in today demand absolute conformity as a prerequisite for admission.

“If the only place you're offering your kid belonging is a place that demands their silence, they will pay that price,” Glenn cautions, “and when they're hurting, when they've gone quiet and pulled away ... that's the moment to move towards them because somebody's going to fill that void in your kid.”

His second encouragement is to “tell them about the trap.”

“[Tell them] if anyone ever tells you that you have to stop doubting in order to belong, run — run from them. If they promise that they will transform you, and all that you have to do for payment is be compliant, that's the tell,” Glenn urges.

The key, he says, isn’t creating the perfect bubble to shield them from the world’s dangers. The key is “[making] sure that when they walk out your door, their eyes are wide open, and they have a home worth coming back to.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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Spiritually exhausted and doomscrolling: Glenn Beck’s encouraging wake-up call to a crushed generation



Many Americans today feel like they’re being crushed by the weight of modern life.

“Right now, absolutely everything feels unstable — the economy, the culture, politics, wars breaking out, our families, prices climbing. Paychecks somehow or another feel smaller every single month. People are screaming at each other online,” Glenn Beck sighs.

Over time, this pressure begins to erode the human soul and sow seeds of anger and bitterness.

Glenn has experienced the effects of this himself, especially in his 20s and 30s.

“I got in this place to where I thought, you know, if I can just get ahead of the next disaster, or if I could just get the next promotion, if I could just get that raise, buy that house, afford that car, if I could just win the next argument, if I could just get people to see things what I want them to see, then maybe I’d feel OK,” he recounts. “No, no — those things would happen, and then I would feel more empty.”

Even though today Glenn is in a far more healthy place and no longer copes with “drugs and alcohol,” he admits that he still finds himself numbing in other ways, like “doomscrolling.”

“I think that’s where a lot of people are right now. ... We are spiritually exhausted; we are emotionally way underwater; we are isolated,” he says.

He knows from personal experience, however, that trying to rigidly control everything is not the answer. Freedom, he says, is actually found when we finally realize that control is an illusion.

“We’ve tried to predict the future, fix the country, save our kids, survive the economy, hold our relationships together, and then somehow or another still sleep well at night. No wonder people are cracking,” he proclaims.

There’s only one way we survive this: “radical honesty.”

“And it starts with looking in the mirror and dropping the act that you’re in control,” Glenn says frankly.

He argues that when we attempt to control everything, we’re allowing fear to sit behind the steering wheel of our lives.

“We have to start saying, ‘Fear has been driving a lot of my decisions, and it’s got to stop,”’ he says.

No more blaming the media, politicians, or our parents for our own shortcomings. “Start telling the truth about you,” Glenn urges, acknowledging that this is “hard” but leads to “freedom.”

Once you see yourself clearly, the next step is to "surrender to the understanding that [you’re] not God” and thus have no control over anything external.

This doesn’t mean that we give up on the pursuit of what’s good and true; it just means we stop trying “to carry the entire weight of the world on [our] shoulders,” Glenn says.

The only thing we can and should try to control, he encourages, is our own behavior.

“Tell the truth. Make amends. Be dependable. Stay sober or soberminded. Love your family deeply. Spend every minute present with them. Admit when you’re wrong. Turn off the phone. Help the person in front of you. ... Get your soul in order,” Glenn implores.

“A society only survives when enough ordinary people choose to live their lives with integrity while the world around them has lost its mind, and I think people deep down are starving for this right now.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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‘As a machine thinketh, so he becomes’: New study reveals AI gets brain rot from consuming digital junk



For the majority of modern Americans, scrolling, computer work, streaming, and other forms of screen time have largely, if not completely, replaced reading, introspection, and deep conversation.

We are very quickly becoming “stupid slugs,” Glenn Beck says.

And he means stupid quite literally. Studies have proven time and again that our ability to concentrate and stay focused has become almost laughable. Recent reports indicate that Netflix and other digital entertainment companies are considering adapting content strategies — simplifying narratives, dialogue, and visuals — to accommodate viewers’ shortened attention spans and inability to follow complex plotlines.

“Everything that we’re doing online is fracturing attention, memory, and sustained reasoning,” Glenn says. “So, at what point does this become an epidemic? At what point are our minds starving for any kind of nutrition as we just feed them calories of noise?”

But our own rapid cognitive erosion isn’t even the wildest story. A new study has revealed that AI also experiences brain rot from consuming the same virtual junk that’s making humans dumber.

Large language models like Grok, ChatGPT, and Gemini “are trained on junk web content — so viral, shallow, high-engagement stuff,” Glenn says.

Just like a chronically online person, AI bots are experiencing a decline in “reasoning ability” and “long-context memory.” Further, “dark personality traits (psychopathic tendencies and narcissism)” begin to emerge the longer the bot feeds on digital junk — eerily similar to the terminally online rage-goblin hunched in a dark basement, marinating in memes and manufactured outrage.

But that’s not even the most disturbing part of the study. When researchers began replacing junk content with “clean, high-quality data,” the AI model was unable to recover to baseline capacity.

“The rot remains. As a man — or now as a machine — thinketh, so he becomes,” Glenn says ominously.

This study is a lesson every person living in the digital age needs to hear, and yet, it’s garnered little attention.

But even if it did attract the eye of the public, would it ultimately make a difference? Glenn is concerned we’ll be “too apathetic to wean ourselves off the digital heroin,” even if the consequences are staring us right in the face.

And then there’s this reality to contend with: Even if people reverse course, the study suggests that it might be too late anyway. The AI bot that fed on junk never could fully recover. Will we be the same?

If that’s our bleak reality, then we must also face the possibility that our children will inherit our shallowness — and most disturbingly, that at some point, our inability to think critically will culminate in the collective loss of human agency.

But even still, Glenn isn’t ready to give up. “Can we get people to actually listen to this and then engage again in thoughtful reading and conversation and meaningful silence?” he asks.

So much is at stake — time, freedom, connection, purpose.

Glenn warns: “It’s up to us, America.”

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Megyn Kelly and Stu Burguiere: Smartphones, no God, zero soul — the left’s humanity collapse



Death chants, celebrations of murder, aggressive protests, and violent demonstrations are mostly happening on one side of the political aisle. The Democrat Party is supposed to be all about tolerance, love, and inclusivity, so why are lefties so hostile? Why do they cheer when political opponents are murdered in cold blood? Why do they scream for the death of their own country while championing the causes of terrorists overseas? Why do they physically attack people for wearing MAGA hats or selling Charlie Kirk merchandise on the street?

In other words: Where did their humanity go?

This was a topic Stu Burguiere, BlazeTV host of “Stu Does America,” dove into with conservative firebrand Megyn Kelly on a recent joint episode.

The increase in left-wing violence, while certainly a multifaceted issue, is caused in part by the digital age, Stu speculates. “Young people in the last 20 years — their time socializing with other human beings is down between 50% and 70%” thanks to things like the iPhone and social media, he says.

Given that today “pet owners spend more time actively engaged with their cats than they do other human beings,” is it any wonder their sense of humanity has dwindled? “There's a disconnect that's brewing between younger people and just the people around them,” says Stu. “They don't see them as humans. They don't have any respect for them at all.”

Never was this clearer than when countless left-wingers across the country celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk. Stu laments the fact that feeling sadness for the brutal death of a man whose only crime was to share his opinions in the public square is still too high a bar for the left to clear.

Even feeling sadness for Charlie’s family — his widow, Erika, and their two young children — is too high a bar for some on the left. “There's a baby boy who's still sleeping in a crib, there's a toddler girl who have no understanding that they will never know their father. And there's a mother who's trying to raise them,” says Megyn.

And yet numerous left-wing attacks have been aimed directly at Erika and her children. They’ve been mocked; their grief has been publicly celebrated; gruesome re-enactments of Charlie’s murder have circulated online.

Megyn says that while there’s plenty of people she loathes, especially in left-wing media, she would “never wish for them to get hurt.” “God forbid they ever got attacked, I would never celebrate it. I would shed tears for them,” she says.

But young progressives today seem incapable of feeling any emotion for people they disagree with. Are the screens they live behind numbing their humanity?

While the digital age has undoubtedly stunted social and emotional development, conservatives are just as embedded in this technological landscape, but their civility has largely remained more intact than that of their liberal counterparts.

Stu theorizes that the digital age has had more of a negative impact on the left because progressives often prescribe to collectivism — the belief that the group (society, community, race, class, etc.) is more important than the individual, and that people should be judged, valued, or treated primarily based on their membership in that group rather than their personal actions, character, or choices.

Collectivism is the foundation on which DEI, affirmative action, and race/gender quotas are built. It’s a mentality that inevitably leads to bigotry as human beings are reduced to group identity. This ideology, says Stu, exacerbates the negative effects of social isolation caused by our technologies.

However, the loss of faith is another important factor. “In general, right-wing families are connected with faith,” says Megyn.

Progressives, in contrast, are far more likely to be secular, with those who identify as very liberal being the most likely to reject faith altogether. That means they don’t prescribe to a set of moral ideals set by a higher power and therefore can more easily justify things like violence, hatred, and revenge.

But that doesn’t mean lefties aren’t religious at their core. “Wokeism,” which Megyn calls a “false god,” has become the religion of the left. All the fervency, enthusiasm, and commitment that propels people of faith is still there; it’s just channeled in directions that are “extremely damaging.”

To hear more of Stu and Megyn’s conversation, watch the episode above.

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In a connected world, Americans are more isolated than ever



Loneliness has become an epidemic in America. Millions of people, even when surrounded by others, feel invisible. In tragic irony, we live in an age of unparalleled connectivity, yet too many sit in silence, unseen and unheard.

I’ve been experiencing this firsthand. My children have grown up and moved out. The house that once overflowed with life now echoes with quiet. Moments that once held laughter now hold silence. And in that silence, the mind can play cruel games. It whispers, “You’re forgotten. Your story doesn’t matter.”

We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

It’s a lie.

I’ve seen it in others. I remember sitting at Rockefeller Center one winter, watching a woman lace up her ice skates. Her clothing was worn, her bag battered. Yet on the ice, she transformed — elegant, alive, radiant.

Minutes later, she returned to her shoes, merged into the crowd, unnoticed. I’ve thought of her often. She was not alone in her experience. Millions of Americans live unseen, performing acts of quiet heroism every day.

Shared pain makes us human

Loneliness convinces us to retreat, to stay silent, to stop reaching out to others. But connection is essential. Even small gestures — a word of encouragement, a listening ear, a shared meal — are radical acts against isolation.

I’ve learned this personally. Years ago, a caller called me “Mr. Perfect.” I could have deflected, but I chose honesty. I spoke of my alcoholism, my failed marriage, my brokenness. I expected judgment. Instead, I found resonance. People whispered back, “I’m going through the same thing. Thank you for saying it.”

Our pain is universal. Everyone struggles with self-doubt and fear. Everyone feels, at times, like a fraud. We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

We were made for connection. We were built for community — for conversation, for touch, for shared purpose. Every time we reach out, every act of courage and compassion punches a hole in the wall of isolation.

RELATED: What fatherhood has taught me as my children move on

Photo by oatawa via Getty Images

You’re not alone

If you’re feeling alone, know this: You are not invisible. You are seen. You matter. And if you’re not struggling, someone you know is. It’s your responsibility to reach out.

Loneliness is not proof of brokenness. It is proof of humanity. It is a call to engage, to bear witness, to connect. The world is different because of the people who choose to act. It is brighter when we refuse to be isolated.

We cannot let silence win. We cannot allow loneliness to dictate our lives. Speak. Reach out. Connect. Share your gifts. By doing so, we remind one another: We are all alike, and yet each of us matters profoundly.

In this moment, in this country, in this world, what we do matters. Loneliness is real, but so is hope. And hope begins with connection.

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Dr. Phil’s chilling warning about the dark side of the digital age: ‘They’re victimizing your child consciously’



It’s easy to get wrapped up in the chaos of day-to-day life and forget just how much has changed in recent years. But if we took a step back and considered what life was like just a couple of decades ago, we’d be mind blown at how different modern living looks today — especially as it relates to technology.

Back in 2024, Glenn Beck sat down for an extensive interview with Dr. Phil about the toxicity of our increasingly digital world. Given the expansion of artificial intelligence and social media algorithms in just the last year, their conversation is perhaps more relevant than ever.

“In 2002, the first text message hadn't been sent. ... We weren't at all digital,” says Dr. Phil.

However, in the subsequent years, “We started to get much more into the internet, and then [2008-2009], it was like a bunch of C130s flew over and dropped smartphones on everybody,” he says, “and that's when I saw as big a change in our society as has happened in my lifetime for sure — I think as big a change to mankind as has happened since the Industrial Revolution.”

Fast-forward to today, and the vast majority of people are “walking around with as much computing power in [their] hand as we had when we did the moonshot.”

This leap in technological progress has caused a lot of damage to the human soul. Glenn considers artificial intelligence’s projected growth over the next few years. “Man is not geared for that. I mean, we are animals and our instincts — everything — comes from millions of years of experience. We're not ready for this,” he says.

“And it’s showing,” Dr. Phil agrees, “because if you look particularly at our young people who immerse themselves in this technology, we're seeing the highest levels of anxiety, depression, loneliness, [and] suicidality ... since they started keeping records for that sort of thing.”

“Young people stopped living their lives and started watching people live their lives and comparing themselves to that, but the problem was they're comparing themselves to fictional lives [of influencers],” he explains, recalling times he’s had influencers on his show who have admitted that their lavish lives on social media are a far cry from reality.

These phony content creators are setting unrealistic expectations for the younger generations, who buy into the lie that life is fun and easy and then find themselves depressed when their life doesn’t measure up.

Compounding the issue is the tragic reality that most people walk around looking downward at their phones instead of up where real life is happening. When the iPhone first came out, Glenn immediately noticed this shift in behavior and warned that these smart devices were a dangerous “experiment on humankind.”

We now know from recent studies that he was right – smartphones are indeed rewiring the brain and harming the human psyche in ways we don’t fully understand yet.

Even more disturbing is the fact that those who are developing the algorithms that dictate the content we see should not be trusted. Dr. Phil points to a study conducted on a 13-year-old girl that proved that an algorithm is just a “money grab,” designed to get people “emotionally invested,” usually to their detriment.

“We've seen the information that the girls get anxious, they get depressed, their self-worth goes down. It hurts them to see [curated content],” he says, but “[social media companies] don't care ... so they continue to feed them upsetting content because they click more and get more ad exposure.”

“They're victimizing your child consciously,” he warns.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the full interview above.

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.

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