Wait a minute: Glenn Beck is a voice of reason? A senior statesman for the conservative movement? Glenn Beck, the rabblerousing, bomb-hurling, “Obama is a racist” madman?! When the hell did THAT happen?!
It wasn’t overnight.
Seems like just yesterday, Beck was the new flavor of the month on Fox News, receiving on-air noogies from Bill O’Reilly, gleefully jabbing the establishment in the eye. He was one of the first faces of Fox News to inject humor into his presentations; in many ways, he was Greg Gutfeld before Greg Gutfeld.
But he was always more than that. Much more than that.
His proclivity for silliness belied another side to Beck, a serious, sensitive side that was shaped by tragedy: His mother committed suicide, and Beck spent his younger years consuming — and being consumed by — alcohol and drugs. But his talent on radio was undeniable; even with his mind half-numbed by booze and narcotics, there’s a reason why he kept landing jobs in major markets, including Seattle, Baltimore, Houston, Phoenix, and Tampa.
Even now, when you listen to him perform, his “Morning Zoo” upbringing is evident. Unlike Rush Limbaugh who was his own one-man show, Beck has a playful, more-collaborative demeanor, which works well with castmates Stu Burguiere and Pat Gray. Sometimes, it almost feels like a podcast trapped in a talk-show, because the conversational flow deviates so greatly from traditional AM broadcasts.
In radio, there’s a tendency to compete with the other stations on the dial: You've gotta say something interesting all the time — not time for dead air! — or your audience will switch to something else. This leads to an aggressive tone where the host is almost shouting at the car’s backseat. Successful radio shows leave audiences salivating to hear what the host will say or do next. You need that unpredictability — that sense of excitement.
Podcasts don’t work like that. Instead, the successful ones make you feel like you’ve joined an intimate, friendly conversation between interesting people. Bombastic chest-beating and self-aggrandizement come across as weird and off-putting. It’s less a presentation and more of a conversation.
More than anyone else, Beck naturally bridges the two leading formats. It doesn’t matter if you listen to Beck on radio or podcasts, read his books, or watch him on Blaze Media: Glenn Beck is Glenn Beck. He is who he is, and that’s a damn good storyteller. Strike that: An AMAZING storyteller.
The best since Paul Harvey.
The future of Blaze Media is unclear. Speculating on the financial health of privately owned companies is almost always fraught with inaccuracies, but from a visibility standpoint, its future might be as a merged property with someone else (Daily Wire?). Joining forces could be an example where 1 + 1 = something far greater than two.
At this point, he’s no longer the young, daring sharpshooter on the block. No longer is he constantly center-stage, leaping from one controversy to another, which does diminish his overall profile. Lately, he’s settled into a thought-leadership role: If the GOP wins or loses in November — whenever there’s a triumphant success or soul-crushing defeat — Beck will help us make sense of it all. We trust him. It’s the mantle that Rush Limbaugh used to bear, and now the burden is Beck’s.
Deep down, Beck wants to be a clown. He’s a natural ham; I think he’s more comfortable being silly than serious. But he’s also a lover of history and an American patriot, and his authenticity — the genuineness of his convictions — is the magic ingredient that makes his show so effective.
One of the men he admires most is George Washington. Beck has mentioned many times that he wished he was more like Washington: Someone whose integrity, morality, and leadership skills could unite the masses. Very respectfully, Beck is wrong. He might not be George Washington — who could be? — but he’s absolutely emerged as a leader.
So how the hell did Glenn Beck become a senior statesman for conservatism? By earning it.
GRADE: A
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