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In a culture constantly telling young people that the future is bleak and their problems are unprecedented, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is offering a different message: Don't buy the despair.“I think for a lot of you, there is this quiet voice that has been whispering to you for a while now. And it says the world’s broken and somebody’s handing it to me, and I don’t know what to do,” he says.“Let me start with the hard truth here. Life is hard. It is. It’s just not as hard as people profiting from your panic need you to believe. Okay? It’s not. The hardness is real. The hopelessness is a product. Don’t buy in to that. There’s an entire industry whose only job is to convince you that just being alive right now is the heaviest thing a human has ever carried,” he continues.“The weight is real, but the despair is a sales pitch,” he adds.And one major source of stress for young people is AI. Glenn points out that while it may be able to pass the same exams, it will never be human.“The machine that we have right now, in your pocket, that can read every book ever written, but it has never once been afraid of the dark. It can know everything and understand nothing. It will know more about you by Tuesday. Yet it will never really know what it’s like to be you,” he says.“And that’s not your weakness. That’s the entire point of you. It has all of the answers, but not a single reason to get out of bed. You have all of the reasons. You may not have the answers, but you have the reasons. Don’t trade those away,” he continues.Glenn goes on to explain that you should not mistake all the knowledge AI has for wisdom.“Don’t confuse the two, and don’t worship either one of them,” he says, before pointing out that human beings were created by God — and AI was not.“A universe of cold math does not produce a soul that weeps at music by accident. You were made. And you were made on purpose. You, not just man — you,” he continues. “And somewhere underneath all that noise, purpose is still waiting for you to get quiet enough to hear it. I’m telling you: You will find it.”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.

My husband has bipolar disorder. I know firsthand that the medications he takes do not merely improve his quality of life — they make our family life possible.I am thankful for the drug companies whose products and innovations help keep my family together. But that does not mean I trust Big Pharma.The pharmaceutical industry’s incentives are often at odds with the people it treats.The pharmaceutical industry has helped create a culture in which Americans are taking more prescription drugs than at any point in history. Last year, more than two-thirds of Americans reported taking a prescription drug daily, and 26% said they take four or more.No wonder the average price of prescription medications in the United States has risen by about 37% in the last decade. Many of the most popular brand-name medications have doubled in price over the past 15 years.One study found that prescription drug prices in the United States are nearly three times higher than prices for the same medications in 32 comparable countries. Family health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored plans jumped 26% from 2020 to 2025, outpacing wage growth and inflation.A quarter of Americans recently reported having difficulty paying for their medications. About 19% said they had skipped or rationed doses because of the cost. Research indicates that medical expenses are now the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in this country, surpassing job loss.I understand that high prices help fund the astronomical cost of clinical trials that test and bring new drugs to market. But Americans have also seen pharmaceutical companies acquire the rights to off-patent drugs and raise prices overnight. They have watched insulin prices climb for years even though insulin is relatively cheap to produce.Let’s face it: The pharmaceutical industry’s incentives are often at odds with the people it treats.The same industry that helps my husband is increasingly keeping medications out of reach for many families.Drug prices would not be so high if Big Pharma did not spend between $13 billion and $14 billion a year on direct-to-consumer advertising. They would not be so high if the pharmaceutical and health sectors did not consistently spend more on federal lobbying than any other industry.Those efforts shape the laws and policies that allow current drug prices. The industry clearly views them as worthwhile investments.Americans spent 12.7% more on pharmaceutical drugs last year than they did in 2024. A significant share of that increase came from popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy. Roughly 12% of American adults are currently taking one of these drugs, and that number is expected to rise significantly in the coming years.I am not saying people should not take these medications. That is not for me to say. But I am deeply concerned that, culturally, we increasingly treat medication as the first line of defense for nearly every challenge before seriously exploring other options.RELATED: Want to live to 100? Don’t expect Big Pharma to help. lucigerma/iStock/Getty ImagesThat concern comes from firsthand experience.As someone who has battled addiction, I am acutely aware of the power substances can hold over a person’s life. That experience has left me worried about others who may develop dependencies on drugs.I remember how the opioid crisis destroyed entire communities and caused a staggering number of deaths after companies such as Purdue Pharma aggressively pushed OxyContin while downplaying its risks. That epidemic continues today with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.Is it any wonder some of us remain skeptical of pharmaceutical companies’ motives?As a parent, I do everything in my power to ensure that my children do not become unnecessarily dependent on medications. I want them to understand that any drug they take should be used carefully and for its intended purpose.I acknowledge the value of medicine. I deeply respect what the health care industry can do. My own family depends on it.But respect should not require blindness.The pharmaceutical industry should remember the families paying the bills, rationing the doses, and wondering whether the medications they need will remain within reach.Innovation deserves reward. Exploitation does not.

New York police have released new details from their investigation into a possible murder-suicide incident that makes a grandmother the lead suspect.On Tuesday evening 2 adults and 4 children were found dead inside of the home in Mechanicville, a small town north of Albany.'Many residents knew the family involved, have children and grandchildren of their own, or simply cannot comprehend the loss of six lives under such heartbreaking circumstances.'The adults were later identified as 64-year-old Amy Steadman, her 44-year-old daughter Sarah Myers, and her four children, 13-year-old Harper Harmon, 11-year-old Hudson Harmon, 10-year-old Gavin Harmon, and 10-year-old Gracelynn Harmon. Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt said Thursday that police were called for a welfare check on the family after a neighbor said they had not been seen in many days.He said the bodies had been dead for an undetermined period of time before they were found. “I can’t speculate as to the number of days, but it was such that making identification at the house was difficult," he said.Rabbitt said "numerous" prescriptions and over-the-counter medications were found at the home that led police to believe the cause of death was intentional poisoning. The official cause of death are yet to be determined officially.One of the children had also suffered from sharp-force injuries, he added. A handwritten note found at the home indicated that Steadman was responsible for the deaths, but the investigation was ongoing."I cannot get into the authorship of the note at this time nor the contents of what was in it," he said. "Until we get the cause and manner certified, we can’t speculate on the involvement of all persons."Rabbitt said there was no threat to the public.Investigators contacted the father of the children, Brady Harmon, who lives in Utah. Harmon spoke to WRGB-TV and said he had been the subject of false rumors and accusations on social media.Harmon said they were in a custody dispute but denied the online allegation that he had abused his children."Never touched my kids. And this is coming from someone who has been abused. Unless you're in that room and living a day-to-day, you know, life with her, you know nothing," he said.Court documents did not indicate any allegations of abuse related to the couple, but Harmon told WRBG that he had been assaulted by Myers on the last day he saw his children in person in 2019."I was called a sperm donor, nothing more than an ATM, deadbeat father. I put my hand up and then she opened the door and stabbed me in the face with a medicine dropper," he claimed.RELATED: Elderly woman found beaten to death with a hammer after husband talked about suicide pact Social media users also uncovered a GoFundMe started by Steadman, the maternal grandmother, that was titled, "Help get a domestic violence lawyer save my kids."Harmon said that Myers had not come to Utah for any of the legal hearings in more than 6 years, and had only appeared via Zoom.Sheriff Rabbitt described how the horrible incident affected the residents of the city."Mechanicville is a close-knit city," he said. "Many residents knew the family involved, have children and grandchildren of their own, or simply cannot comprehend the loss of six lives under such heartbreaking circumstances."The town has about 5,200 residents.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Markell Hitchings — a 21-year-old cook for a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Florissant, Missouri — had an unsettling notion going through his mind when the restaurant was just getting underway for business Monday morning.Hitchings told KSDK-TV his concerns were sparked after he noticed a male dressed in black.'I was never afraid at all.'"I thought he was a regular customer just going to the bathroom and leaving," Hitchings explained to the station. But he recalled something else to KSDK: "I had it back in my mind that he was going to try to do something."Turns out Hitchings' unsettling concerns were spot on."He came back there behind our counter, and it all started from there. At the time, he was asking my manager for money. She dropped to the floor. I told her to give him the money because I didn't want her to get hurt," Hitchings recalled to KSDK.Employees told the station that after the robber got the cash, he ran out the front door and around to the back of the business.Except Hitchings also was out back, KSDK said."He asked me for my cell phone, and I didn't give him my phone — and we got to tussling around in back by the drive-thru," Hitchings recalled to the station.Hitchings told KSDK that he and the robber fought for several minutes as the suspect's gun flew out of his hand."I was screaming for help because I was losing adrenaline," Hitchings noted to the station.Nevertheless, the courageous cook still had plenty of strength left."Once I had him in a chokehold, I'm on his back," Hitchings recalled to KSDK. "He grabbed rocks and tried to smash them over my head, but it didn't work."RELATED: Blaze News original: 10 times retail workers ended violent threats with absolute finality Soon employees at a neighboring business called 911, the station said, adding that Hitchings held down the suspect — Tamon Sleet — until police arrived and arrested him.Police added that officers recovered a stolen firearm that was used during the robbery, as well as currency taken from the business.Police told KSDK that Sleet tried to strangle a ride-share driver in north St. Louis County several days before the KFC robbery — and Hitchings added to the station he's grateful that he, his manager, and the ride-share driver all survived."It all just happened so fast. I know it was dangerous. I wouldn't advise anyone to do that. I was never afraid at all. Honestly, I thank God that it all played out the way it did," Hitchings noted to KSDK.The station said Sleet faces multiple charges in both cases, including assault, armed criminal action, and vehicle hijacking.KSDK said he remained jailed Thursday night on a $250,000 cash-only bond.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!