A lively Q&A covers U.S. military buildup near Iran and growing fears of war. They discuss political signaling, warmongering, and public reluctance to provoke conflict. Campus reactions and humanitarian worries about Iranian civilian deaths are explored. A playful aside on the rise of the quarter-zip fashion trend adds a humorous note.
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U.S. Actions Shape Public Response To Iran
Glenn Loury worries U.S. government actions, not only Iranian repression, drive public restraint against condemning Iran.
He cites U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf and frequent Netanyahu visits to the White House as signs pressure for war colors responses.
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Political Rhetoric Suppresses Criticism Of Iran
Loury argues that domestic political signals and officials' rhetoric tamp down public criticism of Iran to avoid empowering pro-war mobilization.
He points to Trump-era threats, ambassadorial comments, and a narrative that 'we've got their back' as suppressing campus and civic outcry.
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On this livestreamed edition of the Q&A, John McWhorter and I took questions from full subscribers here at the Substack. Austin Ball asked for our thoughts on Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference. Art Eckstein asked for our thoughts on what he characterizes as the humanitarian left’s silence about the deaths of thousands of Iranian protesters last month (this stream happened before the U.S. and Israel’s strikes on Iran). TunaFortuna asked for our thoughts on originalism vs. the living constitution. BB asked us why so much of the black cognoscenti opposes respectability politics even as they embody it. Stan asked if the U.S. will someday “move beyond race.” And finally, Robert Patton-Spruill and Mark Sussman pop into the stream to suggest that I, Glenn Loury, may be the founding father of the “quarter-zip movement,” even though I’d never heard of it.
Recorded February 21, 2026
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