Podcast: Greenwald Strikes Back

Glenn Greenwald answers some criticisms

Jeet Heer

Dec 09, 2021

Smiling Glenn Greenwald and grumpy Oliver Stone, who was kept waiting because of this podcast (photo courtesy of Greenwald)

On November 30, I posted an interview I did with the journalist Eoin Higgins where we discussed the polemicist Glenn Greenwald, particularly his increasing willingness to ally himself with Fox News.

Greenwald was not happy with this interview and issued a stern rebuke:

Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald

These cowards will use your name in Substack articles, YouTube segments, proclaim themselves creepy "watchers" of your work, talk to like-minded liberals about your flaws: everything *except* say this to your face so you can debunk their lies & make them justify their claims.

Jeet Heer @HeerJeet

3. I talk with the astute Greenwald-watcher @EoinHiggins_ to figure out what happened to Greenwald. https://t.co/aAnSXaueBy

I took Greenwald’s words as a challenge and responded:

Jeet Heer @HeerJeet

I'm more than willing to say this to Greenwald's face.

Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald

Greenwald, to his credit and my delight, took up the implied offer. After some haggling, we agreed to record a discussion of our differences. Much of the conversation is taken up with our disagreements about Tucker Carlson’s racism. For a good and detailed timeline of racist statements made by Carlson (with many links), I recommend this Media Matters dossier (a pdf file).

I’m grateful to Greenwald for his generosity with his time. The conversation went on so long that Greenwald kept the film director Oliver Stone waiting.

If you have any thoughts on our discussion on one side or the other, you can leave a comment below or on Twitter.

(Edited by Emily M. Keeler)