When Glenn Beck first learned that the 2026 FIFA World Cup would be hosted in America, he immediately lamented that “all the people that hate us are going to come” and further the bash the country.

But it seems the opposite has happened. Tourists from all over the world have been proclaiming praise for America and its people — even accusing their own countries of lying to them about the United States.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn sat down with Andrew Brocklesby — a British-American from Nottingham, England, who moved to the U.S. in 2020 — to discuss exactly how the British media convinced so many millions of people to fear and hate America.

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Brocklesby explains that in the U.K., America is portrayed by the media and in TV shows like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” as a place defined by “war” that’s run by a “bad person” (Trump).

“You can imagine my shock when I first came to the U.S. … I’ve had not a single issue. It’s been absolutely wonderful. The community here has just blown me away,” he tells Glenn, noting that the Southerners he lives among now have been quite the opposite of the “hillbillies” England portrays them to be.

Social media, Brocklesby says, is full of evidence that the U.K.’s anti-America propaganda has been hugely effective. He cites viral street interviews where British people cringe and recoil at the idea of visiting the United States.

“I recommend anyone in the U.K., if they’re listening to this, please, please come to the U.S. Come to the South, anywhere in the U.S. You’re going to be blown away, and you’re not going to want to go home,” he says.

“It’s almost as if we’ve been made into cartoons for the rest of the world,” Glenn says, recalling a story about a black Canadian woman who was legitimately afraid to visit Texas because there are “guns and racists everywhere.”

From what he’s experienced, Brocklesby says Texas “might be one of the safest places in the entire world.”

“Everyone has guns for a reason, and that’s to protect themselves, their family, and the community. That’s what it’s all about. You’re going to be safe,” he says.

Glenn then asks Brocklesby about the notion of “free speech,” which England claims to protect despite its significant legal restrictions on hate speech, “offensive” expression, and other categories of speech.

Free speech in England is “not the same” as free speech in the U.S., Glenn says. “Our Bill of Rights makes things different.”

“One thing that really breaks my heart since becoming a U.S. citizen … is you’re not allowed to fly the Union Jack or the England flag because it’s seen as rude, offensive, racist,” Brocklesby says.

“What I want people in my home country to understand … [is] the flag stands for community. It stands for what you envision the country to be, and you should be proud of that,” he continues. “And the fact that you can be fined and arrested in the U.K. for voicing your own opinion now is absolutely disgusting, and I’m so hurt for my family and my friends back home.”

“What’s the best thing about America?” Glenn asks.

“The community,” Brocklesby says. “Everyone just looks out for each other, no matter who you are. … That doesn’t happen anywhere else.”

“There is no other country in the entire world that does it quite like America.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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In his 1956 essay “Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to Be Said,” C.S. Lewis separates the creator of any given imaginative work (novel, poem, etc.) into two distinct identities: the Author and the Man.

The Author, initiator of the creation, is he who first feels the desire to put imagined scenes to form. For him, it’s inspiring, it’s fun. It is the Man, on the other hand, who elevates the work. He supplements it by sprouting meaning within the Author’s vision. The two are essential to any great work, says Lewis, in order to create something that is just as edifying as it is pleasing.

I am there to define, explain, or find out more alongside them. We learn together. Each individual piece in the book acts as a wellspring for more.

It is within Dr. Matthew Mehan’s most recent work — a 375-page tome for all ages, which commemorates our nation’s 250th anniversary — that we see Lewis’ united Author-Man theory perfectly executed.

A good, new book

“The American Book of Fables” is, at long last, a good, new book. Not a reprint of a forgotten favorite, not an old “classic” we must dust off and apply new pictures to. But a new classic, which explores both the natural splendor and man-made creations that make up our United States — alongside (or rather, through) beautiful poetry and prose and stunning illustrations by master artist John Folley.

The book is divided into 13 parts. Each one is introduced by a unique portion of text from the Declaration of Independence and focuses on a different ecological region of the country. Within the text, we find poems, rhymes, fables, and true narrations of America’s historical and cultural traditions. Ensuring no one is left out of the book’s offerings, Mehan includes something each for “littles,” “middles,” and “bigs” in every chapter.

On a personal level (I’m a homeschool mom), this setup has been invaluable. I say this because this year, as we lead up to the semiquincentennial, I’ve struggled with exactly where to begin in teaching my small children about the greatness of our nation.

Yes, we’ll be going to the Independence Day parade in our town. We’ll wear red, white, and blue and wave American flags. We’ll see fireworks and eat hot dogs. But I’d be lying if I said I actually thought these activities mean nearly as much as having a true understanding of America — its epic history, its diverse beauty, its superb design.

Bigs and littles

This is what “The American Book of Fables” offers. I’m able to start my eager 4-year old with the rhymes and poetry in the “littles” section. My 6-year-old especially enjoys the fables of the “middles” section. And I myself have learned a great deal from the section for “bigs,” which we will undoubtedly graduate our kids to as they get older.

It was last fall that I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Mehan about his book, which was then still in the works. Talking with him via FaceTime, I had one of those experiences where I was so obviously in over my head in regard to the content of our discussion. I pride myself on being rather well-read and knowledgeable of historical facts and general information. But Dr. Mehan is a walking encyclopedia of the Western canon. His knowledge of the great books, the great thinkers, and all related fields is light-years beyond my own. I won’t fib and say I didn’t sometimes struggle to remember my philosophers and to understand some of the concepts we discussed.

I don’t say this to stir pity, but rather to emphasize a theme that I’ve come to understand in both talking with Dr. Mehan and reading his book. And that is that it’s good to be a bit in over your head. In fact, this is the way the best thinkers learn. It is, for instance, how our founding fathers learned. And somewhere over the last 250 years, we Americans have forgotten that.

Antidote to brain rot

Shining the spotlight on modern-day kids’ literature, I hate to be the millionth parent to say it, but much of it is brain rot. If it doesn’t lack a moral center, it lacks plot or meaning entirely. The oversimplified Corporate Memphis illustrations add nothing. Sometimes, the books are actually evil — for example, in those that encourage kids to believe it’s possible to change their sex.

The children of the founding generation dined on far heartier intellectual fare. And this drove the entire educational process from youth through adulthood.

When we talk about the greatness of America, we do ourselves a disservice by only skimming off the top of what the founding fathers created. Dr. Mehan emphasizes that it’s important to go deeper and examine what they themselves read, studied, and mulled over. This is, after all, what created their imaginations. And “it is just that ‘brilliant imagination’ that formed a crucial and prior condition for all of the founders’ deliberations, words, and deeds — the very things that brought about the formation of this great country,” Dr. Mehan explains.

RELATED: ‘The American Family’s Book of Fables’: Wit and wisdom for our nation’s 250th

Matt Mehan at work (l, photo by his son) and on a research trip to the Everglades (r). Hulton Archive/Getty Images/mythicalmammal.com

A rich tapestry

In “The American Book of Fables,” Dr. Mehan creates a tapestry of Judeo-Christian values, lessons from the “Book of Nature,” ancient philosophy, Greek and Roman myths, beast fables, and other imagery that the founding fathers studied. He accomplishes this while weaving within them his own tales and adapting certain works to American soil.

As the title implies, fable stories feature prominently in the book. Fables are, to most modern Americans, a type of story for kids. Historically, however, fables were read and appreciated by adults just as much as children. According to Mehan, these tales were fundamental in the teaching of right from wrong but also in the teaching of human passions and self-government.

The more you read fables, the clearer it becomes that individual animals tend to have their own lower order passions they struggle with. Humans share the same struggles. The pig, for example, the gluttonous pig, errs in his gluttony — a sin that is likewise certainly not unheard of in humans. So how do you learn from the pig and govern yourself better? The fables were very much a part of early America’s self-governing spirit and, Mehan says, were mentioned often in the letters and speeches of the founding fathers.

As my family reads “The American Book of Fables” together, my kids are sometimes flummoxed by new words or ideas. They have a lot of questions. What’s a lynx? What was the Navajo Nation? What does “candor” mean?

Literature to last

But again, this is a good thing. And it’s why this is a family book. I am there to define, explain, or find out more alongside them. We learn together. Each individual piece in the book acts as a wellspring for more — to look up pictures of the Rocky Mountains or videos of otters swimming, to discuss what the Independence Bell is and why it’s important, or to talk about the marriage of John and Abigail Adams — or what marriage means, for that matter. Each line of text and each beautiful image provides thread for new stitches in our own imaginative tapestries.

Two-hundred fifty years from now, God-willing new generations of good Americans will be celebrating our nation’s quincentenary, our 500th anniversary. All of us alive today will be gone. But the good literature of our time will live on, as we have seen good literature do for thousands of years before us.

Undoubtedly, “The American Book of Fables” will make it to that time. Its beautiful pages and stories will continue to enlighten the minds of Americans and their children for innumerable generations to come.

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On June 14, President Trump hosted UFC Freedom 250 on the White House South Lawn for his 80th birthday and America’s 250th anniversary. The historic event featured seven thrilling fights, showcasing some of the UFC’s top fighters in a one-of-a-kind display of American strength and resilience.

But Trump isn’t the first president to host fights at the White House. Many forget that Teddy Roosevelt regularly used the president’s house for sparring and boxing, often training with military aides, visitors, and even professional boxers as part of his “strenuous life” philosophy.

This penchant for physical and mental toughness translated to his six children. Roosevelt was known for pushing them toward strenuous activities, outdoor adventures, and intellectual curiosity that would hone their physical skills and their moral character.

“He would just take [his young children] out in the middle of the forest and say, ‘Find your way home,”’ Glenn Beck recounts to bestselling author Brad Meltzer, who is known for his children’ s books on prominent American figures.

Out of all the American figures he’s written about over the years, Teddy Roosevelt, Meltzer says, is “the most complicated.”

While Roosevelt’s political career is undeniably marked by several controversial decisions and beliefs, he chose to focus on the 26th president’s best traits in his new book, “I am Teddy Roosevelt.”

Roosevelt’s father, Meltzer explains, taught young Teddy to stand up for the underprivileged and downtrodden. “His father says, ‘When you have money and you have power, that doesn’t make you fantastic or strong or terrific. What it does is it gives you a responsibility — a responsibility to help other people,”’ he recalls, noting that this care for others extended especially to orphans and the working class.

Roosevelt’s protectiveness translated to the environment as well. He is widely regarded as America’s greatest conservationist president thanks to establishing five national parks, 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, and protecting roughly 230 million acres of public land during his presidency.

While Glenn understands why a children’s book should highlight Roosevelt’s strengths, he personally has a difficult time reconciling some of his controversial perspectives.

“He was a big eugenist guy,” says Glenn, highlighting how Roosevelt pushed for more breeding among certain white Americans while discouraging it among people he saw as unfit or inferior.

Meltzer agrees that Roosevelt’s belief in eugenics is deeply problematic but still finds him “an incredibly great hero” — especially for kids.

“I think today Teddy Roosevelt is sometimes held out as being that strong guy, the macho guy … but that’s not who he is when he’s growing up. He’s actually sick a lot. He’s smaller than everyone else. He gets picked on,” he says.

“He had mice and spiders he used to keep in his room. He was a weird kid,” he adds.

But tragic loss would soon turn the fragile, intellectual Teddy into the tough, fearless leader he’s best known for today.

“His father dies and then soon after his mother and his wife die on the same day, Glenn, on Valentine’s Day,” says Meltzer.

“He moves to their ranch out in North Dakota, and … he just sits under the stars, and he listens to the wolves. … And if being out in nature teaches him anything, it’s that success doesn’t come from having natural gifts; it comes from how hard you work those gifts,” he continues, “and that’s where he falls in love and starts protecting the outdoors.”

On July 4, 1886, in a speech in Dickinson, Dakota Territory (his first major Independence Day address as a young rancher/politician), Roosevelt famously said, “Like all Americans, I like big things; big prairies, big forests and mountains, big wheat fields, railroads — and herds of cattle too; big factories, steamboats, and everything else. But we must keep steadily in mind that no people were ever yet benefited by riches if their prosperity corrupted their virtue.”

“That’s when he starts protecting Yellowstone and Yosemite and Niagara Falls, and he creates five national parks. … They exist because of Teddy Roosevelt,” says Meltzer.

Glenn’s favorite Roosevelt story by far, however, is his shocking response to being shot in the chest while on his way to deliver a 90-minute campaign speech in Milwaukee. Instead of seeking immediate medical care, Roosevelt delivered the speech anyway, famously declaring, “It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose!”

“Where does [that kind of strength] come from?” exclaims Glenn.

“[Roosevelt] is complicated,” Meltzer emphasizes, “but he has these hero moments that you’re like, ‘Oh my goodness.”’

To hear more, watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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