Person
Every book Glenn Loury recommended on podcasts
Across 8 podcasts. Every show Glenn Loury appears on, in one place — not just one.
Glenn Loury’s most recommended books
- The Bell Curve by Richard J. Herrnstein, Charles Murray
- America in Black and White by Stephan Thernstrom, Abigail Thernstrom
- An American dilemma by Gunnar Myrdal
- Late Admissions by Glenn C. Loury
- Slavery and social death by Orlando Patterson, Orlando Patterson
- The swerve by Stephen Greenblatt
- As I Lay Dying by Richard John Neuhaus
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Cixin Liu Bestselling Collecting Books Series, Set of 4 Books. the Three-Body Problem, the Wandering Earth, the Dark Forest and Death's End by Cixin Liu
- Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom
Glenn Cartman Loury is an American economist, academic, and author. He is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences at Brown University, where he has taught since 2005 also as a professor of economics. At the age of 33, Loury became the first African American professor of economics at Harvard University to gain tenure. Loury achieved some prominence during the Reagan Era as a leading black conservative intellectual. In the mid-1990s, following a period of seclusion, he came to adopt more progressive views. Loury has somewhat re-aligned with views of the American right, with The New York Times describing his political orientation in 2020 as conservative-leaning. During his podcast appearances, Loury has recommended and discussed several works. On The Tucker Carlson Show, he recommended a book by Scott Davis to illustrate the history and cultural changes in Black communities. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, he recommended Orlando Patterson's Slavery and Social Death to discuss the pervasiveness of slavery across ancient civilizations, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's The Spiral of Silence to explain public opinion, Stephen Greenblatt's The Swerve while discussing mortality and Lucretius, and Richard John Neuhaus's As I Lay Dying while reflecting on his late wife's battle with cancer. On EconTalk, Loury mentioned Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind to support his critique of modern university culture and identity politics.
Books recommended by Glenn Loury
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The Bell Curve
The Bell Curve by Richard J.
Discussed“And there were these books, Murray's and Herrnstein's The Bell Curve, Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom's America in Black and White, Dinesh D'Souza's The End of Racism, books promoted by the American Enterprise Institute”
Where to get it
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America in Black and White
America in Black and White by Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernstrom is a prominent historical and sociological study examining race relations in the United States.
Discussed“what I'm thinking is take my friendship with the late Abigail thernstrom and Steven thernstrom which goes back to my early days at Harvard in which ended when I critically reviewed their book America in black and white in a long review in the Atlant”
Where to get it
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An American dilemma
An American Dilemma by Gunnar Myrdal is a landmark socioeconomic and political assessment detailing the status and history of African Americans in the United States.
Discussed“Gunnar Myrdal, the Swedish economist who wrote about economic development, wrote a famous two-volume work, An American Dilemma, about the status of black Americans.”
Where to get it
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Late Admissions
Late Admissions by Glenn C.
Discussed“To me, I hear that and I'm like, 'Yeah, that’s—I mean, read some Shelby Steele' Like, yes, this has been—this is not a new thought or observation It's not, and the attack on him is that he said during Jim Crow, the black family was healthier, as if there was something good about Jim Crow He wasn't extolling the benefits”
Where to get it
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Slavery and social death
Slavery and Social Death by Orlando Patterson is a comprehensive sociological study examining the institution of slavery across diverse historical civilizations.
Recommended“there's a wonderful book by the sociologist orlando patterson called slavery and social death that was published in 1982 which is a comprehensive history and social analysis of the institution of slavery over 2500 years going back to the classical greek and roman civilizations”
Where to get it
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The swerve
The swerve by Stephen Greenblatt is an acclaimed historical non-fiction work examining how the rediscovery of a long-lost Latin codex by Lucretius helped shape the emergence of the modern world.
Recommended“i'm afraid now i i read this wonderful book called the swerve uh it's it's about lucretius it's about uh the nature of things which is this great classical work from the roman period uh by this uh guy lucretius and i'm trying to think of the name of the author but you could look it up the swerve”
Where to get it
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As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying by theologian Richard John Neuhaus is a reflective meditation on mortality, faith, and suffering written while the author faced a serious cancer diagnosis.
Recommended“there is a book by richard john newhouse the theologian called as i light as i lay dying as i lay dying richard john newhouse uh he had stomach cancer and he thought he was dying and he wrote this book as he lay dying”
Where to get it
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Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a powerful, epistolary memoir structured as a letter from a father to his teenage son regarding the realities of growing up Black in America.
Critiqued“And then he published a best-selling `` book called Between the World and Me `` which `` was `` very widely praised and `` widely read and I had `` deep problems with it which I discussed at length on the podcast.”
Where to get it
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Cixin Liu Bestselling Collecting Books Series, Set of 4 Books. the Three-Body Problem, the Wandering Earth, the Dark Forest and Death's End
Cixin Liu's acclaimed science fiction series, which includes The Three-Body Problem, The Wandering Earth, The Dark Forest, and Death's End, explores grand cosmic encounters and complex alien civilizations.
Discussed“i mean i read science fiction so that there's this chinese writer chiksan liu is his name i might not pronounce it exactly right c-i-x-i-n l-i-u chickson lou he has a trilogy of the three-body problem the dark forest and death's end”
Where to get it
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Closing of the American Mind
Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom is a prominent and enduring critique of higher education, moral relativism, and cultural shifts within American universities.
Recommended“well i'll tip my hand by telling you that i was i went back and picked up alan bloom's book the closing of the american mind and i couldn't put it i couldn't put it down uh because i felt that i mean people can look this up i felt that this is mid 1980s when he's writing yeah uh”
Where to get it
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Scott Davis' World of Balloon Art Two
Scott Davis' World of Balloon Art Two by Scott Davis is a specialized book that explores the intricate craft and cultural presence of balloon artistry.
Recommended“Um I think when you there there's a wonderful book `` that I want to plug here called the world of patients grooms g r o ms by a man called Scott Davis.”
Where to get it
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The Spiral of Silence
The Spiral of Silence by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann is a work of political science and sociology that examines public opinion and the psychological mechanisms causing individuals to conceal opinions they believe conflict with the dominant majority consensus.
Recommended“i once read this book by a german political scientist called elizabeth neula neumann that was a the writer's name elizabeth noel neumann the book was called the spiral of silence”
Where to get it
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American Pastoral
American Pastoral is a critically acclaimed 1997 novel by Philip Roth that examines the disintegration of a successful American family during the turbulent social upheavals of the late twentieth century.
Discussed“American pastoral is another one that I that I'm really very fun Philip Roth”
Where to get it
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Black Bourgeoisie
Discussed“I remember reading E. Franklin Frazier's book, Black Bourgeoisie, of that title, in which he satirizes and criticizes the the world of high black society of the 1940s and 1950s.”
Where to get it
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Das Kapital
Das Kapital by Karl Marx is a monumental three-volume economic and social analysis of capitalism, the commodification of labor, and the alienating effects of industrial modernization.
Discussed“Marx was an important figure in the history of the West, and I think Marx should be read and Capital, three volumes, etc. Alienation of labor and whatnot, the implications of modernization and the advent of industrial capitalism, etc.”
Where to get it
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Das Kapital Karl Marx
Das Kapital by Karl Marx, frequently discussed through analytical commentaries such as Francis Wheen's work, is a foundational critique of political economy that examines the mechanics of capitalism, the accumulation of capital, and class struggle.
Discussed“But at the end of the day, I think that the free marketeers have the better of it. I think the story of the 20th century, as far as economic development is concerned, reflects that.”
Where to get it
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How to Be an Antiracist
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X.
Critiqued“The era of Black Lives Matter, of anti- racism in the person of the likes of the Ibram X. Kendi's, How to Be an Anti-Racist, or the Robin DiAngelo's of the world, really soured me on liberal anti-racism”
Where to get it
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Human Diversity
Human Diversity by Charles Murray is a controversial nonfiction book that examines biological and social science data surrounding behavioral differences related to race, sex, and class.
Discussed“i read charles murray's book human diversity and uh the section of that book on jitter is etched very powerfully into my mind”
Where to get it
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Losing Ground
Losing Ground by Charles Murray is a provocative examination of American welfare policies and their historical consequences.
Discussed“The other piece you've got is we had a war on poverty, and poverty won. That would be, that's what Charles Murray said in that classic book of his, "Losing Ground."”
Where to get it
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Nigger - The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word
Discussed“my friend randall kennedy uh the law professor at harvard university has a book called nigger and he uses the word in the title of the book the history of a strange history of a of a provocative word it's something that there's a subtitle but the title of the book is n-i-g-g-e-r colon and then he has a subtitle”
Where to get it
The other 10 books Glenn Loury recommended or discussed, ranked
- Social Choice and Individual Values by Kenneth Joseph Arrow
- The Affirmative Action Myth by Jason L Riley
- The Beautiful Heart by Acharya Prashant
- The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
- The Dream of the Celt by Mario Vargas Llosa
- The End of Racism by Dinesh D'Souza
- The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
- The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- The Philadelphia Negro by W. E. B. Du Bois
Books Glenn Loury wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (7: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Now, I talk about this in my memoir that came out last year, Late Admissions, Confessions of a Black Conservative.”
“Um it it it makes me aware of the fact that `` the discussion of controversial and sensitive matters that is sanitized and acceptable in the mainstream venues is only the tip of the iceberg of legitimate discussion and debate.”
“He left after Ronald Reagan was reelected in November of 1984 to join the second Reagan Administration and became Chief of Staff to William Bennett, Bill Bennett, author of The Book of Virtues, and at that time Secretary of Education.”
“Bill Bennett author of The Book of Virtues and at that time Secretary of Education”
“I will say a hope I have is that the candid self-revelation that I undertake in this Memoir will persuade some detractors who when they see the subtitle Confessions of a black conservative want to put the book down and run from the bookstore to say”
“Well, that may be; I will say a hope I have is that the candid self-revelation that I undertake in this memoir will persuade some detractors, who when they see the subtitle 'Confessions of a Black Conservative,' want to put the book down and run from the bookstore to say, 'Well, wait a minute; look at his struggles; look at”
“Are there any confessions in your book that you came close to not confessing, that you almost pulled out or were only reluctantly included?”