Who Built That? Michelle Malkin shares incredible stories of American ingenuity

May 18, 2015

Writer

Michelle Malkin teamed up with Glenn and Mercury Ink for a new book: ‘Who Built That: Awe-Inspiring Stories of American Tinkerpreneurs’. She joined Glenn on the radio show Monday to talk about some of her favorite stories from the book and what she learned while putting it together.

Below is a transcript of this interview:

GLENN: So today, we're not just going to whine about it. We actually have a solution. And it actually started with a charity. Back in 2010, this program asked Michelle Malkin if she would donate something to -- what was it, for the Restoring Honor event, I think it was. She said, yes, I'll do a charity fundraiser and I'll take people on a train ride in Colorado. And we mocked it. We were like, oh, that's good. Michelle all by herself with strangers on a train.

PAT: A hike or something.

GLENN: Come into the woods with me. It was not a good idea. But it was that that gave birth to what we're about to announce, and she's about to release tomorrow. Michelle Malkin is here with us now. Hello, Michelle.

MICHELLE: Hi, Glenn.

GLENN: How are you?

MICHELLE: Good. How are you doing?

GLENN: It's been a very long journey for this.

MICHELLE: Yes. It's been like a train ride up Pikes Peak.

GLENN: You took a train ride up to Pikes Peak. Then I think a year later or two years later, we were doing the big deal that weekend at Dallas Cowboys Stadium for Restoring Love, and you had come in for a Freedom Works event at the American Airlines Arena. And you and I spent some time backstage, and we started talking about entrepreneurs and people who did build that.

MICHELLE: Yeah, we totally geeked out. And I think we discussed everything from, you know, the tinkering penchant to the teaching of math in this country and, of course, a lot of that was the groundwork for the work that we've done together on Common Core. And I think that this book is absolutely an extension of those conversations and, you know, you've had a pivotal role in all of this. And it kind of underscores one of the themes of the book, which is the magic and the miracle of the voluntary exchanges of ideas and goods and services that happened in this country every single day without the hand of government. Without a federal department of innovation or an innovation czar or somebody telling us what we should invest our money in. And, you know, whether it's something as mundane as a book or a bottle cap or a roll of toilet paper, these things happen not because somebody decides in Washington that they're going to happen, but because people want them and need them. And we have a free market system that has served us extremely well. So for the president who keyed up the launch of this book perfectly with his remarks last week that you just highlighted, thanks Obama. For him to have such scorn and open contempt for this country, I couldn't stand it anymore. And that's what drove this book. Of course -- of course, in a capitalist system, we want to make money. Everybody who is an inventor or builder wants to make money. But do you think that's the ultimate driver? That's the engine? No. It's this insatiable need and drive to make something in the world and fix it and tinker with it all your entire life. And so, you know, I have these tinkerpreneurs in the book who, yeah, they came up with one thing and then another. And they had hundreds and hundreds of patents. And they worked themselves until they couldn't work anymore. And you certainly can't say that of the golfer-in-chief on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

GLENN: Okay. So now the name of the book is Who Built That. And you cover everybody. I want to cover a couple of chapters. I want to start with something that I didn't expect to find in the book, which I found strangely fascinating. I, Toilet Paper.

[laughter]

MICHELLE: Yes. Well, you know, I talked about how -- I think that we take for granted especially in the 21st century internet age, the mundane things that we absolutely need. And I picked toilet paper for a number of reasons. When you look at a place like Venezuela, and I think the shortage of toilet paper there is so ultimately symbolic because they can't even make that. What does that say about the absence of a free market, the absence of choice, the absence of the ability to profit off of things? And toilet paper is one of those products that encompasses hundreds and hundreds of different kinds of entrepreneurs. And so I trace the history of toilet paperback to the Founding Fathers, and if you love history, if you love tinkering, you're going to love the book, because you're going to learn so many things about how the voluntary cooperation of even some of the Founding Fathers play into the chapter as well. I wrote in the voice of a roll of toilet paper because I was inspired by one of my favorite all-time essays that is such a great learning tool, especially for elementary school kids. Was written by Leonard Read, who was a Libertarian economist who wrote the very, very famous essay I, Pencil to illustrate this example of how the concentric circles of individuals pursuing their own self-interests produced something like a pencil, something that no government bureaucrat could ever order with an executive order.

GLENN: Right. I have to tell you. I'd hate to harp on the toilet paper part, but I was shocked what I learned about toilet paper. I was shocked that, you know, Poor Richard's Almanac was really kind of the first toilet paper. That's why they have a hole in it, so you could hang it there. That they were using that. Sears & Roebuck, the catalog was toilet paper. I had no idea that it was -- I mean, really, Michelle, why did it take us so long before we went, hey, how about soft paper?

MICHELLE: Yeah. Well, you know, one of the things that was interesting to me in the history of it was the kinds of things that entrepreneurs had to overcome. And with regard to toilet paper it was really considered one of those things you couldn't talk about in public. And so I traced the history of that and, of course, the company that -- one of the many, many companies that I highlighted, which, of course, people are most familiar with is the Scott brothers. And these guys started out in Pennsylvania as sellers of butcher paper. Which, yeah, is not as nice as the Charmin for sure.

GLENN: No. No. And it's amazing that the guys who started it are still really doing it. You learn all the -- anyway, I don't mean to focus on that.

You also talk about the bridge builders here in America. The guy who came up with the -- how the bottle cap was started. You tell my favorite story of Westinghouse and Tesla. What is the thing that you connected with the most?

MICHELLE: Well, the very first chapter is one of the my favorite chapters. And I think it will be a favorite chapter of a lot of your readers and listeners as well because it deals with a product that I'm sure many of your listeners are familiar with. The Maglite flashlight. I got to go out to Ontario, California, and visit the headquarters of Anthony Maglica's Maglite Company. And, you know, this guy really is literally the torch bearer of the American dream. You know, he's your prototypical immigrant with absolutely nothing and expected nothing. Felt entitled to nothing but the opportunity to try. He came here with $120 and 20 English words that he knew. And he never gave up. And, you know, I mentioned the vacationer-in-chief in Washington. This guy is 84 years old. He still goes to his factory every day at five or 6 o'clock in the morning. He's the last one to leave. He hasn't had a vacation in ten years. Yes, he's made hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. But that's not what drives him. It's the ability to be able to come here with nothing, make something of himself, make something that people want, and then never stop improving it. And, you know, there are so many things that he told me in my visit that I think are very -- that have a lot of resonance for public policy and politics today. You know, I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican, if you were running for president, don't you dare say that you have ever created a job. Because you have not. It's people like Anthony Maglica and all of the tinkerpreneurs that I talk about in the book who are the real heroes. And there used to be a time in the 18 and it 19th century when these were the guys that were the rockstars of public life. And I'd love to get back to that place, and that's why I wrote the book.

GLENN: I'll tell you, Michelle, I was just out in Silicon Valley, and I don't know why we're not focusing -- you know, back at the turn of the last century, we had Tesla, Edison, all of these great minds that were changing the world. Well, that's happening again in Silicon Valley. And one of the big names that jumps off the page is -- what's his name from Tesla?

MICHELLE: Elon Musk.

GLENN: Elon Musk. How is Elon Musk not the -- the Tesla or the Edison of our day? These guys -- we don't know these guys. Why is that? And how do we get back there?

MICHELLE: Well, I think a lot of it, of course, is you have the dominance of DC-centric and New York City-centric media outlets and I think the Hollywood cultural left. And they've always demonized business owners and entrepreneurs and people who are on the cutting edge. And, you know, this circles back to what Obama was saying last week that you highlighted. I mean, you have somebody who has insisted that he's, quote, unquote, the president of America, and yet he goes to Georgetown University, he goes to, you know, the elite circles of academia. And what does he do? Well, he indulges the same progressive impulse to wealth shame. That's the phenomenon that I identify in the introduction of the book. Come for the Obama bashing and progressive bashing in the book, and stay for the history.

[laughter]

You know, the idea that economic achievement is random. Like it's the Powerball lottery. And that your lot in life can never be improved, of course, that's what they want to do. This is -- you know, chapter and verse number one and the end -- the beginning, the end, and the middle for the Obama gospel of government dependency. So, of course, what they do is denigrate the very people that offer some hope and inspiration, to people who want to lift themselves up. What is the history of this country? The history of this country has always been about social mobility. Social mobility is anathema to the progressive agenda.

GLENN: Michelle Malkin, the name of the book is Who Built That. It's in stores tomorrow, isn't it?

MICHELLE: Uh-huh.

GLENN: I know you can go to GlennBeck.com/Malkin and order your copy today. It will be at your house by tomorrow. But grab this book. And she said, this does take apart the progressive ideology. It takes apart the things that the president is building and saying. But more importantly, it's good. It's not just the problem, it's the solution. We have to look at -- inside of ourselves and find that entrepreneur and start holding -- if it's not you. Because there are people that work on the lines -- you know, there are people who are actually building the Tesla car. Not all of us can be Elon Musk. That's okay. But we're all part of this. And get your kids excited. Get yourself excited again about the American spirit. Who Built That is the name of the book. Awe-Inspiring Stories of America's Tinkerpreneurs. Michelle Malkin. Available in bookstores everywhere and at GlennBeck.com/Malkin.

Michelle, as always, good to talk to you.

MICHELLE: You too. Take care, Glenn.

GLENN: Thank you. Buh-bye.

Trump branded a tyrant, but did Obama outdo him on deportations?

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MSNBC and CNN want you to think the president is a new Hitler launching another Holocaust. But the actual deportation numbers are nowhere near what they claim.

Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews, in an interview with CNN’s Jim Acosta, compared Trump’s immigration policies to Adolf Hitler’s Holocaust. He claimed that Hitler didn’t bother with German law — he just hauled people off to death camps in Poland and Hungary. Apparently, that’s what Trump is doing now by deporting MS-13 gang members to El Salvador.

Symone Sanders took it a step further. The MSNBC host suggested that deporting gang-affiliated noncitizens is simply the first step toward deporting black Americans. I’ll wait while you try to do that math.

The debate is about control — weaponizing the courts, twisting language, and using moral panic to silence dissent.

Media mouthpieces like Sanders and Matthews are just the latest examples of the left’s Pavlovian tribalism when it comes to Trump and immigration. Just say the word “Trump,” and people froth at the mouth before they even hear the sentence. While the media cries “Hitler,” the numbers say otherwise. And numbers don’t lie — the narrative does.

Numbers don’t lie

The real “deporter in chief” isn’t Trump. It was President Bill Clinton, who sent back 12.3 million people during his presidency — 11.4 million returns and nearly 900,000 formal removals. President George W. Bush, likewise, presided over 10.3 million deportations — 8.3 million returns and two million removals. Even President Barack Obama, the progressive darling, oversaw 5.5 million deportations, including more than three million formal removals.

So how does Donald Trump stack up? Between 2017 and 2021, Trump deported somewhere between 1.5 million and two million people — dramatically fewer than Obama, Bush, or Clinton. In his current term so far, Trump has deported between 100,000 and 138,000 people. Yes, that’s assertive for a first term — but it's still fewer than Biden was deporting toward the end of his presidency.

The numbers simply don’t support the hysteria.

Who's the “dictator” here? Trump is deporting fewer people, with more legal oversight, and still being compared to history’s most reviled tyrant. Apparently, sending MS-13 gang members — violent criminals — back to their country of origin is now equivalent to genocide.

It’s not about immigration

This debate stopped being about immigration a long time ago. It’s now about control — about weaponizing the courts, twisting language, and using moral panic to silence dissent. It’s about turning Donald Trump into the villain of every story, facts be damned.

If the numbers mattered, we’d be having a very different national conversation. We’d be asking why Bill Clinton deported six times as many people as Trump and never got labeled a fascist. We’d be questioning why Barack Obama’s record-setting removals didn’t spark cries of ethnic cleansing. And we’d be wondering why Trump, whose enforcement was relatively modest by comparison, triggered lawsuits, media hysteria, and endless Nazi analogies.

But facts don’t drive this narrative. The villain does. And in this script, Trump plays the villain — even when he does far less than the so-called heroes who came before him.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Can Trump stop the blackouts that threaten America's future?

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If America wants to remain a global leader in the coming decades, we need more energy fast.

It's no secret that Glenn is an advocate for the safe and ethical use of AI, not because he wants it, but because he knows it’s coming whether we like it or not. Our only option is to shape AI on our terms, not those of our adversaries. America has to win the AI Race if we want to maintain our stability and security, and to do that, we need more energy.

AI demands dozens—if not hundreds—of new server farms, each requiring vast amounts of electricity. The problem is, America lacks the power plants to generate the required electricity, nor do we have a power grid capable of handling the added load. We must overcome these hurdles quickly to outpace China and other foreign competitors.

Outdated Power Grid

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Our power grid is ancient, slowly buckling under the stress of our modern machines. AAI’s energy demands could collapse it without a major upgrade. The last significant overhaul occurred under FDR nearly a century ago, when he connected rural America to electricity. Since then, we’ve patched the system piecemeal, but it’s still the same grid from the 1930s. Over 70 percent of the powerlines are 30 years old or older, and circuit breakers and other vital components are in similar condition. Most people wouldn't trust a dishwasher that was 30 years old, and yet much of our grid relies on technology from the era of VHS tapes.

Upgrading the grid would prevent cascading failures, rolling blackouts, and even EMP attacks. It would also enable new AI server farms while ensuring reliable power for all.

A Need for Energy

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Earlier this month, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt appeared before Congress as part of an AI panel and claimed that by 2030, the U.S. will need to add 96 gigawatts to our national power production to meet AI-driven demand. While some experts question this figure, the message is clear: We must rapidly expand power production. But where will this energy come from?

As much as eco nuts would love to power the world with sunshine and rainbows, we need a much more reliable and significantly more efficient power source if we want to meet our electricity goals. Nuclear power—efficient, powerful, and clean—is the answer. It’s time to shed outdated fears of atomic energy and embrace the superior electricity source. Building and maintaining new nuclear plants, along with upgraded infrastructure, would create thousands of high-paying American jobs. Nuclear energy will fuel AI, boost the economy, and modernize America’s decaying infrastructure.

A Bold Step into the Future

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This is President Trump’s chance to leave a historic mark on America, restoring our role as global leaders and innovators. Just as FDR’s power grid and plants made America the dominant force of the 20th century, Trump could upgrade our infrastructure to secure dominance in the 21st century. Visionary leadership must cut red tape and spark excitement in the industry. This is how Trump can make America great again.

POLL: Is K2-18b proof of alien LIFE in the cosmos?

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Are we alone in the universe?

It's no secret that Glenn keeps one eye on the cosmos, searching for any signs of ET. Late last week, a team of astronomers at the University of Cambridge made an exciting discovery that could change how we view the universe. The astronomers were monitoring a distant planet, K2-18b, when the James Webb Space Telescope detected dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide, two atmospheric gases believed only to be generated by living organisms. The planet, which is just over two and a half times larger than Earth, orbits within the "habitable zone" of its star, meaning the presence of liquid water on its surface is possible, further supporting the possibility that life exists on this distant world.

Unfortunately, humans won't be able to visit K2-18b to see for ourselves anytime soon, as the planet is about 124 light-years from Earth. This means that even if we had rockets that could travel at the speed of light, it would still take 124 years to reach the potentially verdant planet. Even if humans made the long trek to K2-18b, they would be faced with an even more intense challenge upon arrival: Gravity. Assuming K2-18b has a similar density to Earth, its increased size would also mean it would have increased gravity, two and a half times as much gravity, to be exact. This would make it very difficult, if not impossible, for humans to live or explore the surface without serious technological support. But who knows, give Elon Musk and SpaceX a few years, and we might be ready to seek out new life (and maybe even new civilizations).

But Glenn wants to know what you think. Could K2-18b harbor life on its distant surface? Could alien astronomers be peering back at us from across the cosmos? Would you be willing to boldly go where no man has gone before? Let us know in the poll below:

Could there be life on K2-18b?

Could there be an alien civilization thriving on K2-18b?

Will humans develop the technology to one day explore distant worlds?

Would you sign up for a trip to an alien world?

Is K2-18b just another cold rock in space?

Big Pharma’s role in rising neurological disorders: Will RFK Jr. uncover the truth?

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Our children are sick, and Big Pharma claims to be the cure, but is RFK Jr. closer to proving they are the disease?

For years, neurological disorders in our children have been on the rise. One in nine children in the U.S. has been diagnosed with ADHD, and between 2016 and 2022, more than one million kids were told they suffer from the disorder. Similarly, autism diagnoses have increased by 175 percent over the past decade. RFK Jr. pledged to investigate the rising rates of neurological disorders as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and this week, he announced a major initiative.

Earlier this week, RFK Jr. announced that the HHS has embarked on a massive testing and research effort to uncover the root causes of autism and the sharp spike in recent diagnoses. The HHS Secretary vowed that the results will be available by September of this year, leaving many skeptical about the study's rigor. Conversely, some speculate that the HHS may have unpublished studies revealing critical insights into these disorders, just waiting to see the light of day.

Glenn brought up a recent article by the Daily Wire referencing a New York Times piece in which experts questioned the legitimacy of ADHD diagnoses. Glenn agreed and suggested that people are just wired differently; they learn, work, and study differently, and the cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all school system simply fails to accommodate everyone.

New York Times' ADHD Admission

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Earlier this week, the New York Times published an article that made a shocking admission: there are no concrete biological markers for ADHD. The clinical definition of ADHD is no longer supported by the evidence, and there are no physical, genetic, or chemical identifiers for the disorder, nor is there any real way to test for it. The paper also admitted that people diagnosed with ADHD would suddenly find that they no longer had any symptoms after a change of environment, profession, or field of study. This suggests that "ADHD" might simply be a matter of interests and skills, not a chronic brain sickness.

The most horrifying implication of this admission is that millions of people, including children, have been prescribed heavy mind-altering drugs for years for a disorder that lacks real evidence of its very existence. These drugs are serious business and include products such as Adderall, Ritalin, and Desoxyn. All of these drugs are considered "Schedule II," which is a drug classification that puts them on the same level as cocaine, PCP, and fentanyl. Notably, Desoxyn is chemically identical to methamphetamine, differing only in its production in regulated laboratories rather than illegal settings.

Worse yet, studies show that these medications, like Desoxyn, often provide no long-term benefits. Testing demonstrated that in the short term, there were some positive effects, but after 36 months, there was no discernible difference in symptoms between people who were medicated and those who were not. For decades, we have been giving our children hardcore drugs with no evidence of them working or even that the disorder exists.

RFK Jr's Autism Study

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Autism rates are on the rise, and RFK Jr. is going to get to the bottom of it. In the year 2000, approximately one in 150 children was diagnosed with autism, but only 20 years later, the rate had increased to one in 36. While some claim that this is simply due to more accurate testing, RFK Jr. doesn't buy it and is determined to discover what is the underlying cause. He is an outspoken critic of vaccines, asserting that the true scope of their side effects has been buried by greed and corruption to sell more vaccines.

RFK Jr. doesn't plan on stopping at vaccines. Similar to ADHD, RFK Jr. suspects other environmental factors could increase of autism or exacerbate symptoms. Factors like diet, water quality, air pollution, and parenting approaches are all under investigation. It's time to bring clarity to the neurological disorders that plague our nation, cut through the corruption, and reveal the healing truth.

Neurological Intervention

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Big Pharma has been all too happy to sit back and watch as the rate of neurological disorders climbs, adding to the ever-growing list of permanent patients who are led to believe that their only choice is to shell out endless money for treatments, prescriptions, and doctor visits. Rather than encouraging lifestyle changes to improve our well-being, they push ongoing medication and costly treatments.

All RFK Jr. is doing is asking questions, and yet the backlash from the "experts" is so immense that one can't help but wonder what they could be hiding. Both Glenn and RFK Jr. have their suspicions of Big Pharma, and the upcoming HHS study might be one of the most important steps to making America healthy again.

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