Best of the Program | Guest: Steve Earnest | 12/7/21

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Hey, we've got a great podcast for you today.

It kind of starts with something personal that I've been talking to my son about.

It's time that we really remember who we are as a way to be able to

find the future.

That and so much more.

And don't forget, tomorrow on the TV show, Wednesday night,

9 p.m.

only on Blaze TV, an hour with Kyle Rittenhouse.

A different kind of interview I think you're going to really enjoy.

And don't forget to make your conservative Christmas shine this holiday season with Glenn Beck Merch, Glennbeckmerch.com, also StewDoesMerch.com.

There's tons of great stuff up there that you'll like, I think.

And you can use the code GLEN20 to save yourself 20%.

And please subscribe to the podcast as well as Stew Does America.

We really appreciate it when you do that.

And if you don't, you're a communist.

Here's the podcast.

You're listening to the best of the Blenbeck program.

This is the Blenbeck program.

Tomorrow night on our Wednesday night special, an hour one-on-one with Kyle Rittenhouse.

You don't want to miss that.

That is tomorrow night, only on my Wednesday night special in Blaze TV.

Yeah, I was walking out of the studio last night after doing Studios America and just turned around and then there's just Kyle Rittenhouse standing there.

It was really weird.

We have a really surreal job at times.

Yeah.

And the thing is, he's just like a normal kid.

Yeah, yeah.

He's just, he had his two dogs with him.

He was just polite, seemed nice.

Yeah,

I meet him today.

I'm excited.

Yeah, I mean, look, he's been in the middle of

a firestorm.

And I don't know, there was a moment there that gave us a little bit of hope in humanity and our legal system and so many other things.

Oh, yeah.

So, I mean, it's imagine going through that at 18.

You're just talking about how you don't even know who you are at that time.

No, you have no idea.

I mean, you know, I thought we all thought, you know, when we were kids, at least I did, I thought 30, oh, he'll be dead by the time you're 30.

That's really old.

They don't know anything.

And,

you know, and you hit 30 and you're like, whoa, wait a minute.

I still don't know anything.

I thought I had all the answers by the time I was 30.

It's weird.

It's weird.

To be a a 17, 18-year-old kid and go through this his whole life.

Wow, what a journey it's going to be.

I knew exactly who I was at 18.

Really?

Really?

Yeah.

I knew I was the dumbest person on the planet.

Wow, that's close to it.

Can I tell you something?

That's a blessing.

That's a real blessing.

That's when I started to change things.

It was exactly at 18.

Really?

Yeah.

Why did you think you were the dumbest person on the planet?

Yeah, I just did dumb things.

i know pat well enough to know this is not leading anywhere no i'm just going to leave it that he's leaving it at that and i know what pat well enough to know he's not joking about it he really did discover he was the dumbest kid

and you're not going to hear about it

yeah no that's true I've done multiple shows with you all this time, and I've never,

I didn't know you were the dumbest person in the world at 18 or you'd done anything wrong in your entire life.

frankly.

Now,

some of us have been his friends since the 1980s.

So, you want to come to me on the day of my daughter's wedding and hear about Pat and how dumb he was.

Maybe I can make that happen for you.

I like that.

But I will come to you and ask you for a favor and giving me some dirt on somebody else someday, and you will give it to me.

Totally worth it.

Okay, all right.

Okay.

So, Pat, we're trying to look for some good news today.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

See, President Biden's throwing a democracy summit with 110 countries on the planet.

You know, 110 really great democracies like Pakistan.

I mean, is there a clearer indication of democratic people than the government of Pakistan?

So are we leading this democracy summit?

And what's

what's the goal of this?

Just to get together and talk about the important things facing democracies right now, other than than COVID-19 lockdowns.

Oh, so we won't talk about that.

We won't talk about that because those aren't a problem.

You know, you look at Australia and you see how happy those people are not being able to leave their front yard.

Sure, sure.

You know they've got democracy down.

And the riots all across Europe.

Yes.

Where people are like standing up and going, no, you're not doing this to me for COVID.

I look at it a little bit differently because like when the Lakers win the championship, people riot.

So I think they're really happy in Europe.

You could be on to something

or they're just trying to make a point about race.

A peaceful protest.

Could be that.

Could be that.

Now, China, I guess, also says that they too are a democracy.

Yeah, and they wanted to be included, but we're not including them in that.

Oh, boy.

Oh, boy.

But yeah,

they don't have a democratic election.

I don't know if this

I don't know how this is coming to you as good news.

Apparently, you don't like that?

No.

No.

Okay, well, then how about if you bring up the meeting that he has with Putin today, I'm going to hit you in the face.

No, no, how about this?

Yeah, okay.

Chris Cuomo, also known as Fredo, fired not just from CNN, but also SiriusXM.

That's right.

The fall of Fredo.

The fall of

Fredo.

That's sad, isn't it?

So sad.

And yet so happy.

I knew it was you, Fredo.

I knew it was you.

Fredo wants to make sure that you are aware, however, of course, that he resigned from SiriusXM.

I see.

I see.

And that was just because he just wanted to spend more time with this

with somebody.

Somebody.

Somebody.

Somebody else.

Somebody.

Yeah.

Stu, I did get you a present.

You did?

I got you another present.

Yeah.

Another.

Yeah, another one.

Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, that is special.

Framed picture of the TV with the Chiron that says, Chris Cuomo has been fired by CNN.

Now what?

And I thought that's really a good question for Stu.

Now what?

Now what?

I don't have any show left to do.

There's no people left to be canned and they're gone.

It's like me when progressivism is finally beaten and the Marxists go away.

Then I'll be like, well, now what do I do?

Yeah, there's no more shows to do.

There's no more people to talk about.

And, you know, you have that issue where everything, when you start talking about people and they just keep getting fired, what do you do?

And I've got that void in my life now, the hours I spend listening to Chris on SiriusXM and the hour that I used to spend watching his television program.

What am I going to do?

What are you going to do?

What am I going to do?

I'm going to do all that open time.

Yeah.

I guess I just poked myself with a pickle for it during those three weeks.

Well, it would have been less damaging

than watching the show.

Sure would.

Yeah.

Did you hear, may I bring this up again?

I brought it up at the top of the arc because I think this is the most important story of the day, that if cats were people, they'd be psychopaths.

This according to scientists.

And that's news to people?

Right.

We all knew that.

That's what I said.

They don't need you.

No.

They don't need you.

They don't care about you.

Nope.

They don't need you.

Nope.

That's the definition that if cats were CEOs, can you imagine how bad things could be?

Because they'd just fire everybody.

They don't care.

No.

They'd, while you were doing your, you know, while you were making the company money, they'd, they'd make a figure eight between your legs and they'd rub their head against your leg.

And then the next thing you know,

fire them.

I don't care.

I don't care about them.

That's a cat CEO.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It does seem like the science backs this up.

Has Fauci talked about this yet?

Is it okay to believe it?

No, I don't know.

I don't know.

But, you know,

that's the reason why you don't like cats.

Okay.

That says something about you.

If you're friends with a psychopath.

Right?

If you're friends with Jeffrey Dahmer.

What does that say about you?

Correct.

And people are like, he was friends with Jeffrey Dahmer.

If you like cats, really, what does this say about you?

People should know this is a long-term stand of Glenn Beck, where he believes science is proving me out.

And cats, that cats are psychopaths.

And I guess you can't really disagree with it now because then you're speaking out against

science.

Science.

It's illegal to do that on science.

Fact check.

Oh, wait a minute.

Hang on just a second.

Wrong one.

Fact check.

There you go.

That worked well.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Hall of Fame broadcast

Well, that's me.

That's me.

So, you know, my dog, you know, the problem is cats don't, I don't know if they don't remember you or they just don't care.

I think they remember you.

They just don't care.

You know, where my dog cares,

but I'm not sure he remembers me all the time or for very long, you know?

Your dog forgets who you are sometimes?

No, I don't think he forgets who I am, but I mean, let's say I'm dead.

Yeah.

Okay.

He cares, and he'd be licking my face for a while and he'd be like, come on, come on, wake up, wake up.

And then after a while, he'd eat me because

he'd be hungry.

Right.

And he'd be like, oh, I remember all the good times we had, but I'm hungry.

And he'd eat me.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

So

I'm thinking that maybe he forgets who I am at some point

that would make him eat me.

I think he'd just be hungry and eat you.

Where a cat

knowing that he's eating you.

Where a cat would be looking at you from the kitchen and you sneeze, and the cat is like sharpening the knives.

Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, yeah.

You know what I mean?

Oh, yeah.

They're like, I'm ready to carve you up.

I know who you are.

I've never really liked you.

I certainly don't care.

But you look like food to me.

Yeah.

So the cat's not going to wait for you to die.

The cat will kill you.

Yes.

And then eat you.

I'm just saying.

So dogs are bad.

Don't mess.

Because a dog won't kill you.

Don't mess with science.

One last thing.

Yeah, no dog has ever killed a person.

That's never happened.

Kujo's a movie, man.

Okay.

It's a movie.

Okay.

So

the Chinese have discovered something

on the moon.

Yeah.

Oh, I saw that.

That's

it's so far away.

You know what it is?

It's going to turn out to be a rock.

It's a big rock.

It's a big, you're, you're convinced of this?

Yes.

It's a big.

Scientifically, you're convinced.

What else?

They're calling it a hut.

They're calling it a mystery hut.

A mystery hut.

A mystery hut.

What's it going to be?

Yeah.

Well, they say it's a cube, and it's a mystery hut.

And

they're going to spend the next two or three lunar days investigating this mysterious feature on the moon.

Which is actually two to three months.

Right.

Now, researchers expect that it is weirdly shaped,

but they are expecting that it's just a big rock, that it is just a big rock.

But let's not go there.

What could be in the mystery hut?

Jimmy Hoffa

is that we're very possible.

Maybe he was buried on the moon.

What year did he die?

Wasn't it 74 or something?

We'd been to the moon.

We have been to the moon.

Oh my gosh, I never thought of it.

It's a crypt.

It's a crypt.

If they don't even have to go in, if they walk up to it and it's a big, you know, block and it says James Hoffa on the front, you'd be like, it's a crypt.

That would be a cool surprise, wouldn't it?

That would be a cool surprise.

I'd like that.

The theory is that they transported the body of Jimmy Hoffa up to the moon and then

put him in a crypt rather than just like releasing him in orbit toward like the atmosphere.

Yes.

They went through all the trouble to actually build him a burial.

Somebody with a telescope could see him.

Yeah.

And you'd be there.

But he'd burn up

in the atmosphere and you'd have no trace.

Here's the thing.

What you don't know is this was this a concrete structure.

And you know how

you put your hands, hand prints in it after you've made made like a sidewalk or something sure cat prints all over near the bottom of this moon hut

this is the best of the glenn beck program and we really want to thank you for listening

You know what's white and red and wrap white and black and wrapped in red, ready for Christmas?

What's that?

The Great Reset Christmas book.

It's perfect.

It's perfect this holiday season.

Why would black and white be a holiday message?

Because

Santa, black soot, white hair.

Okay, yeah, yeah, I agree.

And red, the wrapping of it.

It says Great Reset right on the front.

Perfect gift for the holidays, the Great Reset.

Yeah, yes, it's about Joe Biden and 21st century fascism, but let's not concentrate on that part.

It's good for Christmas.

You can get it now, wherever you get your books.

Go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and grab the book right now.

It comes out in January, but be the first to have it.

And you can tell your loved one,

hey, Merry Christmas.

In that box, it might be empty, but there's a note coming soon, Glenn Beck's new book, The Great Reset.

So basically a scam if you forget to order something.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Perfect.

Definitely do that.

So I can see your kind of good holiday news.

Oh, really?

The great reset.

Yeah.

I can see how it

ties in.

There's some good stories out there.

There are some good stories.

I'm in the holiday mood.

Yeah.

For example, it's always good when people can learn things, learn new things.

Right.

And be safer around the holidays.

I have a feeling you're being sarcastic, but I'm willing to go down this road.

This is why we have clip two.

This is the Washington, D.C.

media helping out their viewers for the holidays.

Could we play this, please?

No.

Oh, machine's frozen.

A frozen, just like frozen hot chocolate, available now at Macy's.

Here it is.

Three men shot and wound, or I should say, three men shot and wounded a man and carjacked another person at some point in the middle of the night

in order to prevent a carjacking.

Well, here's what we should be doing.

Stop, this is not festive.

It's not festive.

I thought it was.

Play the Christmas bed we just came back and then.

Can you play that, Sarah?

All right, now play.

Three men shot and wound, or I should say, three men shot and wounded a man and carjacked another person at gunpoint in the middle of the night in order to prevent a carjacking.

Well, here's what we should be doing.

Police say lock the doors when driving and when pumping gas.

In fact, stay in your car if you can at the gas station.

Always look around before getting out of your vehicle.

And if you are the victim of a carjacking, give up that car.

Your life is just not worth it.

Equip your vehicle with an anti-theft or GPS tracking device and allow yourself room and traffic to move around other cars.

Avoid getting boxed in, if you will, and keep your cell phone in your car.

This is America.

That's all you need to do.

That's it.

Just those things.

Just those, that list of 47 things.

Yeah, just that.

And you could evolve, you

you could not be stabbed or shot to death.

And isn't it good if you're not stabbed or shot to death?

It is the holiday spirit.

It's what Jesus would have wanted.

Little baby Jesus didn't come up in the manger so you could be shot and shivved.

Right.

Right.

That's the holiday season at work.

Or how about in California, Clip One, where, you know, if you happen to be...

Be ready with the Christmas music just in case we need it.

Go ahead.

If you happen to be someone who sells drugs,

you might have

a difficult life on the streets selling drugs to people, and it may be dangerous.

Okay.

Well, that's changing now.

Listen.

A former convict says he felt safer during his life of crime after his Oakland cannabis dispensary was ransacked last month.

Listen to this.

I was safer selling weed on the streets of Oakland than I am selling illegally, and that's a problem.

That's crazy to even say, but that's just the reality I'm living in right now.

It may be a problem for him.

Merry Christmas.

This is, again, remember, the holidays, you're not supposed to think of yourself.

This may be a problem for him, but it's better for the weed dealers on the streets.

Wow.

See, it is safer

on the streets.

How about this?

You liked his stories in the holiday season of real achievement.

People with incredible accomplishments.

You love that.

Start the story.

Leah Thomas.

Leah Thomas, she's 22 years old.

She smashed two U.S.

swimming records in Akron, Ohio.

Oh, you mean the dude that's now swimming for the women's team?

No, I don't know what you're talking about.

She defeated Anna Sophia by 38 seconds.

38 seconds.

In a swim.

Wow, that's almost like.

It's almost like he has more muscle tone.

More testosterone.

By mistake, but it's she, Leah Thomas.

Well, she is in she.

You know what I'm saying?

I'm just leaving off the first S for savings.

She won another race by 14 full seconds.

She competed in a women's

swimming event and broke all the records.

And wow, what an accomplishment for the holidays for Leah Thomas.

That's really good.

That is

so 100%

like a woman.

A beautiful woman.

You know.

A beautiful woman.

She looks beautiful and could compete with Caitlin Jenner for the Olympic Commission.

I think we should send her to compete in the Olympics.

I mean, if we're going to go there, let's make use of this.

Okay?

Let's send all of our

he's to the Olympics

and

see what the Chinese have to say about it.

I'm really upset about this whole, we're going to do a ambassador boycott.

I'll tell you that right now, diplomatic boycott.

We're not going to have a cocktail party and no American weanies

for the Chinese to munch on.

I'll tell you that right now.

None of our embassies.

No, no, sir.

A diplomatic boycott.

Oh, that's got to hurt.

You're not torn on this at all.

There's no part of you that's torn on this.

Nope.

I mean, you are an act.

You're an athlete.

You've prepared

you.

I'm saying, I'm giving you a hypothetical situation here.

You are not an athlete.

But the hypothetical situation, you are an athlete.

You've worked your entire life.

I have.

Basically, you know, 80 hours a week training

for this event.

Yes.

And because of no fault of your own,

you are now told you're not allowed to go to the event.

I'm thinking, okay, I'm an athlete.

I've worked 80 hours a week.

Your entire life.

No, I don't need the music for this.

Okay.

I'm just thinking.

I'm just thinking, I've worked my entire life, and they say, hey, go compete in China.

To defeat China.

To defeat China.

Show them.

To China.

Beat them.

Put them on the

job.

Without even saying anything about it.

Without even saying anything about what?

You know, not making a statement.

You know, if I knew we were sending a bunch of Americans over there that would stand up and then, you know, make a fist for the Uyghurs,

then I would be fine with it.

I'd be fine.

I mean, they might not come back if they do that, but

maybe they will do that.

They would come back.

The United States would have a coronary.

Oh, yeah.

We're very tough and have a big backbone right now against China.

You're right.

Seriously.

Okay, no, American citizens would have a coronary.

I mean, you know, it was one thing with Jesse Owens.

Jesse Owens didn't want to go.

I mean, he was going to Berlin, and there was half the country said, don't go, don't go, don't go.

But Jesse Owens was important to go.

It was really important for him to go.

Oh, sure.

Because he was going to stand up against the German.

And we knew there's a good chance he's going to win.

That's a good thing, a slap in Hitler's face.

This is not a slap in

Xi's face.

This isn't a slap in any face.

This is us just going along as we always go along.

Maybe.

I mean, I think, first of all, if you can beat their asses, I mean, that's sending them quite the message.

And I don't know enough about these games to know if we will or not, frankly.

I don't follow it all that closely.

But I like the idea of us

beating them.

But beyond that, like just as a, you know, you, it's your whole life's work is leading to this one moment.

And then your country tells you, an individual, no, you're not allowed to travel.

I mean, that is not exactly the most American concept of freedom that I've ever heard.

I'm going to wrap them all in swaddling clothes.

That's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to take all the athletes and I'm going to wrap them in swaddling clothes.

You don't care about this because you're not an athlete and you don't know anything about athletic accomplishments.

I can understand, but we're talking about

evil.

It's not like we're talking, you know, it was the Soviet Union, it was

the Nazis, and it's China.

They all fit in.

Would we have been proud if we would have been like, hey, they've built a new stadium right next to the killing fields?

Let's all, let's all go.

We wouldn't have done it.

You know, there are thousands and thousands of American businessmen in China right now doing their jobs.

Right, and I think we should re-evaluate this and we can maybe start with the Olympics.

I mean, we should start with the things

we don't have to do.

Start with the things we don't have to do.

You don't obviously have to do the Olympics, but

we can show

symbolic victories against them.

I mean, it is a propaganda situation.

And again, I think not sending your diplomats says something.

They're pissed off about it.

We know that.

China's pissed about this.

Now, it doesn't matter at all to me.

Honestly, if we didn't even have any more diplomats, we'd probably be better off.

But, you know, this is something that means something to China.

Here's what would have happened years ago.

If we would have done one in Russia, which we didn't.

Well, we did.

In 80,

84 was here, and the Soviets boycotted, and we boycotted in 80.

Was it 1980?

I'm forgetting the years, but we boycotted them at one point.

We did.

Yeah.

So So

imagine

back then, ABC, NBC, whoever would have had the Olympics, let's say it was, you know, Dr.

Pink Eye that is covering the Olympics again.

What's his name?

Oh, Bob Costas?

Yeah.

The only thing I think I remember.

I don't know what he means.

That's all anybody remembers from that year of Olympics.

It's like, oh my gosh, what is that?

Anyway,

if he would have been broadcasting, if he would have gone over to the Soviet Union, they would have been broadcasting.

They would have had all kinds of stories about how awful and oppressive that was and how much of the stuff we have to say is because we have monitors with us and they'll threaten to pull us off at any time.

We all would have known that and they would have made a big deal before and after.

Okay.

Now,

NBC, Universal,

you think they're going to be doing ABC Disney?

You think they're going to say anything about how bad China is?

But they're all going there.

All the broadcasters are going to go there.

We're not going to stop them.

They're all going to cover the games.

We're not going to stop that.

And we can all

sponsorships are going to go through.

Yeah, but we can do that.

That's our choice.

But the country making that choice for these athletes and these athletes only, I mean, again, I would say I'm torn on it, but I mean,

it's a tough one because, I mean, these people have nothing to do with this.

They've worked their asses off with the promise that if you're good enough, you're going to go to the Olympics.

And then a couple of weeks before, we're like, ah, yeah, I know all of your life's works led to this moment, but no.

I mean, that's a tough place to put an individual American citizen who might want to make a different choice.

We don't stop people from traveling there, going on vacation.

They don't need to go on vacation there.

I mean, we don't stop, we let people go where they want to go.

And this is the one time we're going to change.

I don't know.

I do see what you're saying.

It would send a very strong message.

You're representing

America.

Our relationship with China is different than our relationship relationship with the Soviet Union.

And if you want to change that and

we do that in advance,

I can understand that stance, but that's not our current state.

If it was in North Korea right now, we wouldn't be sending anybody, right?

Right.

You know, we wouldn't.

Now, I don't know why.

They can't even build a hotel, let alone a stadium.

Yeah, I mean, it would not be a good one.

Hey, our javelin ran out of javelins.

Here, use this person that we've kept in a concentration camp as a javelin now.

A javelin target?

I mean, just bad.

Yeah, no.

So I do understand what you're saying, but you have to have some sympathy for these athletes.

I do have sympathy, but I have more sympathy for the people that are looking for someone to give them some light at the end of the tunnel, that somebody recognizes them, that somebody says, enough.

Oh, well, LeBron James recognizes them.

He just doesn't care.

Okay.

All right, let me tell you about American financing.

We continue to face so many unknowns, so many market changes, so much inflation.

The best of the Glenbeck program.

It all started with a misunderstanding, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A black theater student at Coastal Carolina University told a visiting drama teacher she wanted to connect with non-white students.

So the teacher drew up a list of names on a whiteboard, then forgot to erase it when they left the studio.

When several other student students walked in, they saw this list and they were left with a suspicion that those on it had been singled out with racist intent.

A committee of professors investigated and promptly sent out a department-wide email clarifying what had happened that September day.

Seeking to calm the students, the professors wrote that the explanation in no way undermines the feelings that any of you feel about the incident and that the faculty was deeply sorry.

The visiting teacher also wrote an apology, No matter the good intention, I still want you to know I'm an idiot and I'm sorry.

Well, things might have ended there, but at a time when college campuses have become center stage for the polarizing issues of race, identity, and what constitutes harm, the theater department was primed for conflict.

Enter Steve Ernest.

Steve is with us now.

We've had him on before when this story first broke, what, two months ago?

Yes.

It seems longer than that.

Yeah, I bet it does.

I bet it does.

This is an amazing story, especially written by

the L.A.

Times.

It shows that the person who really came out with you

or come out after you, one of the students, was really,

truly, seemingly, to me at least, out of control.

I'm not going to ask you to comment on that.

What has happened since they took you off and said, we're not sure.

We're going to have to investigate this.

Well, you know, again, I was removed from teaching and assigned to other duties, which I received sometime around November the 2nd.

But I'm simply happy to be reinstated at this point, and apparently will be teaching again next semester.

I'm not sure what that world will be like, but I'm certainly,

you know, I have a long history of great work at Coastal Carolina University, and I'm intending to continue that work at this point point in my life.

So what is the

because I know that the administrators, some of them came out that you thought were friends, came out against you,

including the department chair, who said the words in your email were white supremacist language.

I think of people burning crosses and wearing white robes, and that's about as far away from me as I can ever imagine.

Now, he says he didn't,

he says

he doesn't remember saying these things.

Eric doesn't remember saying that you were a white supremacist, but do you?

Yeah, it was said at a meeting, and I did not disclose the name of the person who said it.

I didn't feel like I should disclose that name.

But it was said at a meeting, and

I think that the writer, because they couldn't

pin down exactly who said it, just made the chair responsible for it.

Oh, okay.

So it wasn't Eric Hall.

No.

Okay.

All right.

Well, that's fair.

Good to know.

So,

but when they said that

you could go back, that your behavior was under review to determine whether your emails endangered the welfare of students or violated the code of ethical conduct requiring employees to create a respectful environment, nurture a climate of fairness and civility towards others, even in the face of disagreement.

They said that your actions didn't warrant

disciplinary action at this time.

What is that?

I mean, is that how it's left?

Is this still hanging over you?

You know, we'll see.

You know,

my attorney, who is a,

I don't know what's going on there.

My attorney, who is a big fan of yours, Ruth Smith in Asheville, North Carolina,

asked me to

say hello to you.

And,

you know, she's keeping a watch on the whole situation.

And so we are, you know, we're taking it day by day, and we will just approach,

you know, next semester.

And I'm considering, you know, body cam and things like this just to

make sure.

The theater is all about trust and exploration.

I mean, I tell my daughter she wants to go into acting, and

I'm praying on my knees every day that something happens that doesn't let that happen.

But

she,

you know, she comes home, she's in high school and girls are not just mean, they are vicious to one another.

And she comes home and she'll be crying about something.

I said, honey, you know, A, I'm sorry.

And, you know, we commiserate on

what happened.

But also say to her, you have to get used to this because if you really do want to be in acting, people are going to say the worst things about you all the time.

And you have to develop thick skin because not only do they say the worst things about you, you're going to try out for things and you're going to start in for 20 seconds and they're going to say next,

you can't be crushed.

You can't be crushed.

Isn't there a lesson for the students here?

You know,

it's funny that you would say that because just this morning I got a wonderful email from a major talent agent in Los Angeles who starts out by saying, bravo, you, I'm a talent manager, and that these students are going to be faced with rejection their whole lives.

Please stay your course.

They will learn far from you, more from you that way than they even realize.

So, I mean,

it really is that way.

In my opinion, it's a very, very difficult world, and you really do have to have a very, very thick skin to even have a chance of surviving.

Right.

And it seems as though i mean you know i read one of the things you said to one of these girls is they're um hey shakespeare in the park and they're looking to cast people like you and it's unclear whether it was her voice her talent or her color but i will tell you that my daughter was told by an agent people like you are going to have a very hard time finding a job right now.

And I said, what do you mean, people like you?

And she said, white people.

And we were like, okay.

And we moved on with our lives.

We moved on with our lives.

I mean it is it reverse discrimination is happening right now discrimination or whatever happens because fat people skinny people white people black people it shouldn't be that way but it is

well you know i again i've worked in professional theater for 30 years and colorblind casting was something that was happening 20 years ago.

It didn't matter, you know, what if you were working in Shakespeare, it didn't matter what what color you were or what your ethnic heritage or anything was.

It had to to do with your voice and your ability.

And

so

I think we've been past this for years, and for some reason now it's come back to haunt us.

I mean,

again, this idea of racism and casting.

This is a, I think, just look at the TV these days.

It's such a great time for people of color to be working in the theater.

I mean,

we all celebrate that.

I mean, it's great.

Yeah.

So.

And it's a great time for all people in any kind of entertainment because the access is everywhere.

If you don't get access at the theater, you get access someplace else.

I mean, you can do anything now with the internet

and find your own way.

And it's a remarkably free world that seemingly just wants to keep putting itself back into a bottle of

oppression everywhere.

But if you understand it, be free.

Just do it.

Yeah, and we still can't wrap our minds around what level of

pandemic

breakdown this might have represented.

People just, because a lot of these people are facing

a world where who knows what the direction of theater will be and film.

What will the access to work be in casting in the future?

These very uncertain times.

That's the same thing that I go through, the same thing that you are going through, and not just because of this incident, but because things are changing.

I don't know if the campus is going to be like the campus is now in 10 years.

Change is part of life.

And if we expect our universities to be a bubble and protect them, I mean, the one thing it should be taught right now is the only thing consistent will be constant change.

And it's hard, but if if your school isn't preparing you for that, they're not preparing you for life.

Am I wrong?

100% right.

No, you're 100% right.

And

this situation is not unique to Coastal Carolina.

It's happening at universities.

My attorney said we're seeing as many as six of these a day sometimes.

You know, these types of things.

Steve,

I'm sorry to hear that you feel like you might have to wear a body cam.

What a sad, sad statement that is.

I would encourage you to have videotape on everything anyway,

but it's sad that you have to be there.

And I'm glad you went back, and I hope that everybody gets along and you can go back to some sort of normalcy and do what you do best.

Well, the great thing is at universities, people graduate, so, and we move on.

Yeah, that's good.

All right.

Steve, thank you so much.

Uh, he's a theater professor at Coastal Carolina University, reinstated now over racism charges in a ridiculous, ridiculous story.