Loading summary
A
True self reliance begins with taking control of your health. Our sponsor, Armor Colostrum, harnesses nature's original blueprint for resilience. Our bodies face constant pressure from toxins, processed foods, relentless stress. AMRA Colostrum is a bioactive whole food, a pure concentrate of bovine colostrum that's sustainably sourced with a commitment to calf first sourcing. With over 400 bioactive nutrients, it fortifies your entire gut wall system and strengthens your immune system from the cellular level up. This means balanced immune health, better digestion, less bloating and support for healthy metabolism and fat burning from the inside out. Your elite athletes have been using Colostrum for years because it enhances nutrient absorption, builds lean muscle and speeds recovery. But the benefits go way deeper. Cellular level support for hair, skin energy, everything. This isn't processed or manipulated. It's pure, potent and natural, your body's blueprint for rebuilding itself the way it was designed to function. When you invest in your health, you invest in your ability to show up fully, think clearly and stay in control no matter what comes your way. We've worked out a special offer for my audience. Receive 30% off your first subscription order. Head on over to armor.comshapiro or at. Enter Shapiro to get 30 off your first subscription order. That's a R M R A dot com Shapiro Ari today we're going to do something different. We're going to crown the top five goats of all time. Greatest of all time. So it's actually you can't say goats of all time in any case, in a variety of categories. We're going to goat of sports, goat of movies. Go to politics, TV and music. Let's begin with sports. Now, obviously there's a goat in each sport, right? Jack Nicklaus in golf or Michael Jordan in basketball. But if you're going to go with a goat of all sports, you have to say Babe Ruth. And the reason you have to say Babe Ruth is because he totally revolutionized sports in America. Long before basketball was sort of a national pastime, or even football was a national pastime, Babe Ruth was revolutionizing how people thought about sports in America. And it's not just that he was the greatest baseball player ever. It is that he turned America into a sports crazy country. Truly a sports crazy country. Now, he was in fact the greatest baseball player ever. He has the Highest career on base plus slugging percentage in MLB history. The average on base plus slugging in Major League Baseball is around 100. Ruth is at like 206. So twice as productive as the average player of his era. The next closest are Ted Williams, widely considered the greatest hitter who ever lived, and Barry Bonds, who again without the steroids, was still a great player with the steroids, was an all time great player. He had the highest career wins above replacement in baseball history. Wins above replacement is sort of an all around metric that people use in order to measure how much better you would be than sort of the normie replacement player. His number is 182.6. He is well ahead of the second place finisher, Barry Bonds at 162.8 or Willie Mays at 156.2. And if you look at top war seasons of all time, he's like all of them. And that is also because he was not just his era's best hitter, he was also his era's best pitcher. He had a 9446 record and a.228 ERA earned run average. The only player who was even remotely close to Babe Ruth in terms of efficiency on both sides of the ball is Shohei Ohtani. That's what makes Ohtani remarkable is the fact that he is pitching and hitting in today's major leagues. But Ruth did it. And Ruth revolutionized baseball by doing it. So not only did he hit 714 home runs in a little less than 8400 at bats and led the AL in home runs 12 times, he also again revolutionized how the sport was played. So before Ruth, in the so called dead ball era, a huge season was you hit 15 to 20 home runs. In 1920 he hit 54. And then in 1927, of course he hit 60. Totally changed how the game was played. So Babe Ruth changed the sport, changed America. Okay, greatest musician of all time. The answer obviously is going to have to be Babe Ruth. There are competitors in the classical category. Bach would be in this conversation. Mozart would be in this conversation. Brahms would be in this conversation. But if you're just going to go for one, it's got to be Beethoven. If you're looking at the eras of classical music, you're looking at the Baroque, which was Bach. Then you have the Romantic era, which is Brahms. Beethoven bridges the classical and the romantic eras. He totally again changes how music works. So the Eroica Symphony, which was composed in 1804 and originally dedicated to Napoleon as a symbol of heroic ideals and freedom. And then Beethoven actually scratched out the dedication when Napoleon crowned himself emperor to dramatically longer, significantly more complex than any previous symphony, far greater like expands the boundaries of what the symphony is all about. Everybody knows of course, Symphony number five, the Fifth Symphony, Everybody knows it, literally every human. And it is an extraordinary piece. The fourth movement, wildly underplayed. The whole piece is great. And of course, the ninth, which again expands the entire genre of how symphonies work. The reason that you end up with the choral ode to joy in the final movement of the 9th. And by the way, the other movements of the 9th are ridiculous. Some theorists suggest he had gone beyond what instruments could do without the human voice. His nine symphonies are all masterpieces, although starting with three, they really become masterpieces. You have his piano sonatas, which are astounding. You have his string quartets. The late string quartets are unbelievably sophisticated. Like, so sophisticated musically that they are actually thematically more difficult to listen to. They're not easily accessed. They sound like they were composed in the 20th century. And of course, he was doing all of this while he was going deaf. Beethoven, his late work, was all written while he was deaf. You've got the Beethoven Piano Concerti, which are, again, astounding. They're wonderful. Check out the Gillell's recordings. I love them. You've got the Violin concerto, which is an amazing piece. His work is endless. It is endlessly innovative. It is powerful, it is inspiring, it's dramatic. If you got to pick one, it's clearly Beethoven. All right. Greatest TV show of all time. The answer here is Breaking Bad. Yes. Hell, yeah. Hey, come on, baby. Come on. Yes. Come on. I know that there are people who are going to say the Wire. I love the Wire. The Wire is great, but it is not as consistently good as Breaking Bad, because Breaking Bad is a five season arc. It is better plotted, it is better written. The characters are drawn beautifully and satisfyingly. It is stylistically innovative. The acting is terrific. The reason I love Breaking Bad as somebody who writes is because Breaking Bad is focused on people don't just do dumb things. The thing that drives me absolutely up a wall when I watch a TV show is when the writer writes himself into a corner and then can't get out. And so you have to have a character do a dumb thing in order to get out of the situation. Breaking Bad is so beautifully plotted that that never happens. And again, it makes Walt's journey from extraordinarily sympathetic victim to horrific monster absolutely understandable and wonderful. By the way, the moral message behind Breaking Bad is actually quite good. I know there are a lot of people who watch Breaking Bad. Oh, it's glorifying crime. No, it isn't. Breaking Bad is about how if you Perceive yourself to be a victim. And if you can't get yourself out of that mindset and you refuse to accept help from the people who love you and want to help you, you end up being a true monster. That is the theme of Breaking Bad. Say my name. The goat. We'll get to more on this in just one second. First, have you ever had to buy a product online that comes with like one of those giant waiver forms? You know, the one that you scroll all the way to the bottom? Just hit click right. Because are you kidding? You're never going to read any of that. Ever, ever, ever, ever. But the problem is that something goes wrong and you're now bound by that contract. Well, this is one of the reasons I like what super sure does. So say you're the owner or CFO or HR manager of a company or more than 25 employees, but you're probably not spending a lot of time to decipher the pages and pages and reams of insurance language every time you have a question. Super sure is a super agency built specifically for growing businesses. They're licensed in every single state for both business insurance and employee benefits. They provide year round support for you and your team at no additional cost. One feature I particularly like is their Fine Print Facts tool. It translates your current policy into plain English so you can actually understand what's covered, what's not covered, and where there may be gaps. They also offer a business value calculator to help estimate what your business is worth. Because it's hard to protect something if you don't understand what you've built. Head on over to Super Sure.com Shapiro that's Super Sure.com Shapiro One super agency, one powerful platform. All your policies in just one place. Again, that's super sure.comshapiro paid for by Super Sure Insurance Agency LLC, a licensed insurance agency. Okay, greatest politician ever, Winston Churchill. I know there are people on the right who now don't like Winston Churchill, mainly because they're Winston Churchill, who was essentially encouraging Britain to stand up alone against the predations of the Nazis and at the beginning of the war, against the predations of the Soviets as well. Winston Churchill, who was warning for years in advance what the cost of appeasement and weakness would be, who was a key player in pretty much every important issue involving the British Empire from the beginning of the 20th century all the way through until the 1950s. Winston Churchill, not only the most talented speaker of his generation and the most talented writer of his generation, but also the most talented leader of his generation. The, the clarity with which Churchill saw the world, his pugnacity, his unwillingness to bend or curry favor in order to achieve what he needed to achieve is truly astonishing. There's so many great biographies of Churchill that are worth reading, like tons of them. There's a brand new Andrew Roberts biography of Churchill, one volume. That's really great. There's the Martin Gilbert huge volumes about Churchill. Wonderful. There's the William Manchester several volume series, the Last lion, which is great. All of them are wonderful reads. The best way to get to know Churchill is just read Churchill. Whether it's the history of English speaking peoples or his history of World War I, in which again, he was the head of the admiralty, or his history of World War II, which is astonishing in its scope and its breadth, particularly the first volume and Churchill. One of the beauties of Churchill is that he produced so much over the course of his lifetime that you can just read all of his thoughts and it's pretty amazing. Okay, finally, best movie of all time. I know lots of, lots of competition in this category. Some people say Citizen Kane. Listen, Citizen Kane is brilliant. I love it. Some people say Casablanca. Casablanca is close to my heart. I've watched Casablanca probably 15 times. The best movie of all time is the trilogy of Lord of the Rings. It is the greatest movie achievement of all time. It builds an entire world. It takes what is a kind of loose book. Because the truth is, when you read the books, and I've been reading them with my son, there's a lot of wasted movement, a lot of motion that doesn't need to be there. The attempt to hone that down to the sort of core essence of Lord of the Rings. The immersiveness of the world, the acting quality, the writing quality, the visual creativity is just the detail orientedness of Lord of the Rings. Like the movie holds up. It was made. Those movies were made in the early to mid 2000s and they still hold up visually better than most of the stuff that is made today. And I'm not sure there's ever been a more inspiring trilogy ever, ever made. One of the things about Lord of the Rings that works as a trilogy is of course it was filmed continuously. It was filmed essentially as one piece. And Peter Jackson had overall control. He never matched that level of accomplishment again, but it is an astonishing piece of film accomplishment. All righty. So again, in sports, Ruth, in music, Beethoven. In tv, Breaking Bad, in politics, Churchill. And in movies, Lord of the Rings. Those are my picks. What are yours? Leave them in the comments below.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Date: July 13, 2026
Host: Ben Shapiro (The Daily Wire)
In this special episode, Ben Shapiro takes a break from his usual news and cultural commentary to rank his picks for the "Greatest of All Time" (GOAT) across five major categories: sports, music, television, politics, and movies. Drawing on data, personal opinion, and cultural impact, Ben offers a fast-paced, detail-oriented rundown of his all-time favorites and explains the reasoning behind each choice.
Revolutionized American Sports: Ben argues that Babe Ruth isn't just the best baseball player, but the singular figure who turned America into a sports-crazy nation.
Unmatched Statistics: Ruth's on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) is “like 206,” nearly double the league average.
Wins Above Replacement (WAR): Ruth leads all players with 182.6, well ahead of Barry Bonds and Willie Mays.
Dual Threat: Ruth wasn’t just a hitter—he was also an elite pitcher, with a “94-46 record and a .228 ERA.”
Comparison to Shohei Ohtani: Notes Ohtani is impressive for modern pitching/hitting but Ruth did it first and transformed the game.
Impact on the Game: Before Ruth (the "dead-ball era"), 15-20 home runs was a big season. Ruth hit 54 in 1920 and 60 in 1927, “totally changed how the game was played.”
“Babe Ruth changed the sport, changed America.”
— Ben Shapiro [04:44]
Iconic Across Eras: Beethoven bridges the Classical and Romantic periods, expanding what music could be.
The Eroica Symphony: "Composed in 1804... dramatically longer, significantly more complex than any previous symphony."
The Fifth and The Ninth: Praises Fifth Symphony for universal recognition and the Ninth for revolutionizing symphonies by introducing choral work (“Ode to Joy”).
Late Work While Deaf: Notes how Beethoven’s late compositions were written while deaf, “endlessly innovative, powerful, inspiring, dramatic.”
Beyond Accessibility: His late string quartets are “so sophisticated ... thematically more difficult to listen to,” even sound 20th-century.
“If you’ve got to pick one, it’s clearly Beethoven.”
— Ben Shapiro [08:42]
“Say my name. The goat.”
— Ben Shapiro [12:25]
Unwavering Leadership: Churchill’s greatest achievement was “encouraging Britain to stand up alone against the predations of the Nazis.”
Clarity and Pugnacity: Praised for his clear worldview and steadfastness, “unwillingness to bend or curry favor.”
Prolific Writing and Speaking: “Most talented speaker...most talented writer...most talented leader of his generation.”
Historical Influence: Played a “key player in pretty much every important issue involving the British Empire from the beginning of the 20th century all the way through until the 1950s.”
Recommended Reading: Endorses biographies (Andrew Roberts, Martin Gilbert, William Manchester) and Churchill’s own writing.
“The best way to get to know Churchill is just read Churchill.”
— Ben Shapiro [17:57]
Cinematic Achievement: Describes the trilogy as “the greatest movie achievement of all time.”
Adaptation Strengths: Praises “immersiveness of the world, the acting quality, the writing quality, the visual creativity.”
Enduring Visuals: The films “hold up visually better than most of the stuff made today.”
Inspiring Trilogy: “I’m not sure there’s ever been a more inspiring trilogy ever, ever made.”
Continuous Production: The trilogy worked because it was filmed as “one piece,” with Peter Jackson having “overall control.”
Surpasses the Book: Points out that the adaptation improves pacing and focus over the source material.
“The detail orientedness of Lord of the Rings—the movie holds up.”
— Ben Shapiro [22:08]
On Ruth’s Transformation of Baseball:
“He totally revolutionized sports in America … He turned America into a sports crazy country.” [03:21]
On Walter White’s Arc:
“Walt’s journey from extraordinarily sympathetic victim to horrific monster [is] absolutely understandable and wonderful.” [12:01]
On the Moral of Breaking Bad:
“If you perceive yourself to be a victim and you can't get yourself out of that mindset ... you end up being a true monster.” [12:10]
On Beethoven’s Legacy:
“He was doing all of this while he was going deaf.” [08:15]
On Lord of the Rings’ Cinematic Impact:
“The movie holds up. It was made ... in the early to mid 2000s and they still hold up visually better than most of the stuff that is made today.” [22:05]
“Those are my picks. What are yours? Leave them in the comments below.”
— Ben Shapiro [24:10]
| Segment | Topic | Timestamp | |------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------| | Sports GOAT | Babe Ruth | 01:15-06:45| | Music GOAT | Beethoven | 06:46-09:14| | TV GOAT | Breaking Bad | 09:15-12:50| | Politics GOAT | Winston Churchill | 16:20-19:50| | Movies GOAT | Lord of the Rings trilogy | 20:20-23:12|
Ben Shapiro delivers a brisk, data-backed, and passionate rundown of his GOAT picks, emphasizing cultural impact, timelessness, and narrative or artistic innovation in every field. His rankings invite debate and audience participation—a classic hallmark of The Ben Shapiro Show.