Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

Your dog and a stranger are drowning. You can only save one. Who do you choose? Dennis Prager says your answer reveals everything about how you define right and wrong. In his new book, If There Is No God, Prager exposes the danger of emotion-based morality and why without objective truth, society descends into chaos. This isn't a religious book. It's a rational case for moral clarity in a confused age. If There Is No God from Dennis Prager. Order now at PragerStore.com.

Hello everybody, Dennis and Julie. Dennis Prager, Julie Hartman. Do you know, folks, Dennis and Julie get excited about doing Dennis and Julie.

I think they know. I think some of them are at home groaning.

So it reminds—

acknowledged it again.

No, no, no, no. Okay, they may— that's a good point. They may well be. But you know what, I wonder, do people ever sense people in, in any medium— television, podcasting, radio— that they don't love what they're doing? Is that an interesting question?

You mean in the person on the air?

Yeah, the person on the air. Yeah. Because it would seem to me that's the kiss of death. If you don't— hey, if you don't enjoy you, why would anybody else enjoy you? Right? I mean, it makes sense.

You know, I— so I've been doing Timeless for about a year now, a little over a year, which is amazing. It's flown by. And I think in my early episodes, it comes through that I was nervous.

Oh, interesting.

And I was always enjoying— I mean, this is what I've been wanting to do since I was 5 years old. And I love it. I mean, I basically say to people, I get paid to learn and talk about life. It's great. But I remember those first few weeks thinking, oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into? Like, can I do this? And I don't wanna go back and watch myself because that's torture for me. And in any event, looking at photos of myself or video or, or anything, but I, I would not be surprised if the nervousness comes through because now I'm, I feel so at ease, so much more at ease and happy.

Well, with the words you just used about, uh, I, I jumped into something and didn't know if I could do it.

What did I get myself into?

Yeah. What did I get myself into?

Yeah.

That— I don't want to do the whole show on it, but you— we can do a whole broadcast on that question, which— and you're wondering how so. I have spent my life doing that, getting myself into things that, uh, I really wondered, can I pull this off?

Really? I've never heard you say that.

I know that. That's the reason people who care about what I have to say should watch D&J because you bring things out of me that even I don't bring out of me.

So can you give some examples?

Yo, I can, I can actually. That's the point. So for example, my conducting orchestras. Remember, I am not a professional musician. I am an aware, intellectual, knowledgeable amateur musician, but that's all I am. And It's a great story. I don't think you know— do you know how I ended up ever conducting an orchestra?

No.

Oh, it's beyond belief. This is truly typical of my life in a totally blessed way. Many years ago, as people know, people can often call and ask me anything, talk about anything. So a woman calls up, says, Dennis, you know, you've done so much in your life, which is true, I'm blessed. And she said, well, is there any— what is it? I think she used the word fantasy. Is there any fantasy that you have not lived out? So being male, I was thinking, I don't want to look at Sean. So I, I realized we're not going in that direction.

Oh gosh.

So I, so I used to understand.

I've gotten so used to it and it's been— it's actually been good because I grew up with all sisters, all girls, high school. It's Yeah. Anyway, I'm used to—

each sex has to learn the other sex. It's as simple as that.

Boy jokes, right?

So I said, yes, there is one. And it wasn't climbing Everest. That is not—

wait, so who asked you this?

A listener? A listener out of nowhere. And I said, well, there is one. I would like to conduct an orchestra. Are you ready? This is— if this doesn't sound like divine intervention, nothing does. She goes, really? Do you think you can? Why do you think you can? I said, well, I have been teaching myself score reading, symphonic scores or orchestral scores, since college, and I have studied conducting on my own And so obviously I read scores and I know a lot of music, so I think I can. I don't know for sure, but I think I can. So she said, ready? Well, as it happens, I am the first clarinet and president of the West Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.

Whoa, that's kismet.

Totally. And I'm thinking, I can't believe this.

This woman is on the air.

On the air.

Oh my gosh. Wow.

So it's— so she said, I'll hang on. I said, please hang on. Let's see what we can do. So I call her up, or I spoke to her right after, and she said, look, you know, I can't promise anything, but you're a serious guy. And I said, I'm very serious and I'm very serious about music. And I don't want to wave a baton and embarrass myself. So she said, good, I'm going to send our conductor to your home and he'll watch you conduct.

Was it Guido Lamell?

Oh no, he was with the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra much, much later. This is like 20, 25 years ago. So the guy comes to my house and this, this was one of those moments like when my first tryout for radio, the guy slipped me a note: tell them you'll be on next week. Oh my God, this was on that caliber of life changer. And the guy, he has me conduct, you know, obviously I put on stereo, he gives me a score, I can, I conduct. And he, he looked at me and he said, oh, I loved it. I couldn't— very understated. Dennis, you know what you're doing.

Wow, that's great.

A conductor said to me, I know what I'm doing.

Wow.

This is like one of the great moments of my life.

Oh my gosh. Wow.

So as a result of that, he invited me to conduct the opening piece, a very short piece, and an overture by Mozart. The first rehearsal. This is the first time I'm ever standing in front of an orchestra. It takes a lot for me to get nervous.

Yeah, but I've never— I've never in all my time working with you seen you nervous.

I don't— no, no, no. If I spoke to 50 million people, I wouldn't get nervous. But that's, that's what I do. I speak. I don't conduct. And not only that, I'm conducting in front of people who are professional or semi-professional musicians.

Oh wow.

So this is all— what did I get myself into? And if, if you're not— you can't be afraid. The worst thing that could have happened is I failed, and it would have come out in the rehearsal You know what, I mean well, I love music, but thank you so much for the opportunity, but I can't go in front of an audience or in front of you. I respect you too much. So what happened? The first rehearsal, first time doing this piece, the overture to The Marriage of Figaro. It's a very fast piece, as it happens, but so what. Anyway, I lost the place.

Wait, this is rehearsal?

Rehearsal. Oh no, no, rehearsal. I lost the place and the orchestra fell apart. Oh, so I looked at them and you will love what I said. It was— I'm very proud of what I said because it was so 100% honest. I said, look, I'm terribly sorry, I'm terribly embarrassed, but there really is good news as well as bad news. The bad news is I lost the place. I was very— I was so nervous, sweat dripped onto the score. I'll never forget seeing water dripping onto the notes. So I said, That's the bad news is I blew it. The good news for me, not for you, but for me, you were really watching me. I thought they would let me do the baton because they knew I would attract people to the concert.

Right.

And they would then do the— Yeah, they would follow the first violinist. They did that with Beethoven. He was deaf, so he couldn't conduct, but he conducted. They followed the first violinist. So I never did that again. It never happened again in all of my conducting. It was the first time, and I was dripped. My only point is you've got to go where you are afraid to go. And I'll give you one other example. I know I'm speaking for a long time, but I do believe it's inherently interesting. Otherwise, I wouldn't do it. This was way— this was when I was still living in New York City, so I was in my mid-20s. I moved to California when I was 26. One of the leading Soviet dissidents came to New York to speak. I was very involved in the Soviet Jewry battle to get them out of the Soviet Union and on behalf of dissidents. And he came to speak and for whatever reason, he had moved to Israel and he knew Hebrew. He was going to give the speech in Hebrew. His English was not good enough and nobody would have understood the Russian. But a fair number of Jews speak Hebrew and the others he needed a translator. So Dennis, would you, is your Hebrew good enough to simultaneous translate?

You're like, yeah, it is.

And I said, well, I I knew I'm not a— again, I'm not a professional translator, but I also knew I have to give this a try.

Yeah.

If you are afraid of stumbling, you won't run.

Oh gosh, do I have so much to say about this.

Go ahead. So anyway, I did it. Anyway, I did it. I translated for him. I made one error. He said the word fireman or firefighters, firemen in Hebrew. And I knew the words, literally, extinguishers of fire. So I said extinguishers of fire.

What's wrong with that?

Well, same thing. Yeah, exactly. All right, go ahead. So I'm curious. No, no, no, that was it. That was so close. So a bunch of people yelling, firemen, firemen. Okay, it was good.

Well, I, I think I've talked about this. Well, I know I've talked about this on Dennis and Julie, but I'm trying to go back in my memory and make sure it wasn't too recently, but I really— I've been incredibly ambitious for all of my life. And I mean, it started from the time I was 5 years old and swimming and, you know, being in school and then going to high school. I loaded up on all of these APs because I wanted to get into an Ivy League college. And then when I was there— in other words, for my whole life I've been kind of following this trajectory of perfection. And I was always so afraid to fail and make a mistake because I thought it would like take me off course on the road that I was barreling down. And I see a lot of my peers, and I understand this may be, you know, especially prevalent in a school like Harvard, but I see that many of us are so afraid to fail because we think that it's going to lead to this catastrophic, you know, like end of life kind of thing. Like we're not going, oh my God, well, if I, you know, don't get into Harvard, then I'm never going to get into graduate school. I'm never going to work at this firm. I'm never going to make this much money. And I've really had to get myself away from that way of thinking. And the biggest thing that's helped me do that is launching my show because Why? Well, it is such a risk. First of all, putting, putting your face on the internet, especially at my age, with things that are deemed to be controversial views. It's, it's not easy. And it's a risk because, look, I hope I succeed at this career, but there will be a lot of places that will not hire me or not want to deal with me because I did this. And, you know, they can quote something that I said. You know, for instance, I told you this before the show, but recently I was on British news and one of the people who— the commentator asked me, do you think Trump will win in 2024? And I said, if it is a fair election in 2024, I do believe that he will win. And it was just so fascinating to see on the internet, people just come after me. She's an election denier. She's— and I didn't say that the election in 2020 was stolen. I was speaking about the 2024 2024 election. I said, if it is a fair election, I do think Trump will win. And I was thinking a lot of things. First of all, at the time of filming this show, Trump was just removed from the ballot in Colorado. Are you telling me that's fair? Also, we know that in 2020, Twitter suppressed and indeed removed the Hunter Biden laptop story 2 or 3 weeks before the election. That's not fair. You know, It's amazing how I'm called and you're called, you know, these election deniers and we're pointing to things that are sketchy and we're not even— again, not even saying that it's stolen. And also, to add one more, I know we're kind of on a tangent here, but to add one more piece of evidence, you know, were you called an election denier in 2016 if all the people who said that Trump colluded with Russia, which he did not, or Gore Bush? Right. But the point is, you know, I say stuff like that. I don't think it's particularly controversial, but I know that there will be future employers possibly who will look at that and go, no, there's no way we're hiring her. So that's just to say, I've taken a really big risk and, you know, I could, I could make it, I could not make it, but it's really forced me to look inside of myself and go, okay, like, you need to be good. If you make it or you don't make it, you need to be strong and believe in yourself and have confidence in yourself and know that you'll be okay. And it's not going to be the end of the world.

There is no safe space.

Yes.

You're, you're prepared for that fact. I'm not retreating to a safe space.

And when you do a show, you know, every single day there are failures or every single day there are setbacks. Like, you know, there are times when I stumble and I get really down on myself. Like, why did I just do that? There are times— totally get a fact wrong. Or, you know, maybe I didn't say something in the most eloquent way that captured all sides, you know? And so every single day you go home and you go, okay, That maybe wasn't my best moment and you have to recalibrate. And I can't tell you how good it's been for me in my head. And I wish, I just so wish that many of my peers, especially at Harvard, could have an experience like this where every single day you have to, again, like you can't, you will be paralyzed in this job if you just follow the perfection path. You have to allow yourself to take risks and move on when you stumble. And that's hard for someone like me.

Right. In effect, what we're saying, we're inverting the famous cliché. We're saying better sorry than safe. Which, which is what I believe. Okay. You know, I blew it. I'm sorry I blew it. I'm, you know, I got, I got hurt in this way. But you don't live a full life.

Yes, that's what it is. You don't live a full life.

Yeah. What about the phrase, he asks, don't bite off more than you can chew? I've never used the phrase in my life.

That's a good question.

And I— first of all, how do you know how much you can chew? That's the argument you and I are making. You don't know how much you can chew until you begin chewing.

Yes.

And if you're— if you're stymied from chewing based on that phrase, you'll never chew.

If you challenge yourself to, you can, you can really surprise yourself.

That's right. Yes.

I mean, there are topics that I thought going into this, I would never be able to learn. That's right. Correct. Or I just go, okay, that's someone that, you know, that's someone like Dennis can talk about those things. I don't know if I can talk about those things. Right. And I've, I've been so motivated to not pigeonhole myself, not just talk about pop culture, not, and you set these challenges in the human being. I mean, look at, for instance, I know this is, may seem like a crazy comparison, but Have you ever read those Civil War letters where people who have very limited education can write gorgeous, like, beautiful descriptions? And it's like, you know what? If they can learn and do it, we can, we can meet some of the smaller challenges we set for ourselves.

My life has been directed in that way. If you take that attitude, I want to live a full life, not a safe life.

Right.

They're not— they're mutually exclusive.

Well, that's one of the things I love so much about conservatism, and that's why I am a conservative, because I believe that you are the engineer of your own destiny. I think it's so offensive when people tell you, especially in the United States of America, because in other countries, you know, you are held back if you're a woman in Iran, you are held back if you are a, you know, Shia in a, or a Kurd in a majority Sunni country. You are in other places, or you are in half of Africa's 54 countries which criminalize homosexuality. You are held back if you're gay. But in America, you're not held back in 2023 or 2024 for being any of those things. And I think it's insulting when people, they're essentially saying to you like, I don't believe in you. I don't believe that you can, you know, accomplish XYZ, or you can restrain your impulses when they feed you this sludge that, oh, you're held back because of your race. I think that's insulting to the human being.

You know, had I designed this podcast today, I could not have designed it as well as you just—

Really?

Yeah. You wouldn't know because I wanted to talk to you about something my son Aaron said when I interviewed him. And what you just said is exactly what I wanted to raise, so it's actually perfect.

It's like the woman calling in and happening to be the— well, that's right.

If you— by the way, it's a topic worth revisiting, the taking risks for, for living fully. It's like all the— I mean, it's endless. It Conducting orchestras and doing podcasts is a rarefied realm. I acknowledge that. But it's like all the people— I'll give one more example because I want to get to this huge subject that Aaron raised. But as I've noted, because I've taken many, I've taken, you know, 500 listeners at a time to Israel on a number of occasions. And—

Boy, I hope you do that again soon.

Well, that's of course my dream, and it is planned for later in the coming year. But I've said to people, are you ready to lose weight but not sure where to start? Let me tell you why I chose PhD Weight Loss and Nutrition. First, Dr. Ashley Lucas has her PhD in chronic disease and sports nutrition. The program is science-based. The PhD program starts with nutrition, but it's much more. They know that 90% of permanent change comes from the mind, and they work on eliminating the reason you gained weight in the first place. There are no shortcuts, no pills, no injections, just solid science-based nutrition and behavior change. I've lost 10 pounds in the time that I've been with her, and that's not easy for me because I, I'm, I'm not a bad eater to begin with. If you're ready to lose weight for the last time, call 864-644-1900 to get started, or online at myphdweightloss.com. Do what I did and just make the appointment for your one-on-one consultation call today. That's 864-644-1900. Ever since I began going to Israel— well, I began when I was 18. So ever since I began broadcasting, I would get calls from listeners say, you know, I so much want to visit Israel, but I'm waiting till it's safe. And as I pointed out, I've been there 18 times since they started saying that.

Yeah.

And it's been safe all 18 times. Until it's safe is paralysis. So they never ended up going, and I ended up going 18 times.

Well, it's some category.

All of Wallaby.

Evan Gershkovich and Brittany Greiner and Tom Whalen have taught us that.

I have never believed in silly risks, and especially where the gain is not commensurate. Right. See, what is the gain if I went to Russia now? And I speak Russian. I don't know. What would the gain be?

Well, you especially would be in danger.

Well, yes, I agree with that. But forgetting me and anybody, there's no gain to go there now. But look, clearly the guys who stormed Normandy Beach on D-Day took horrible risks and many were blown up.

Can I say, I know that you want to talk. No, no, no, no, no.

Fine.

But what you just said about the guys storming Normandy Beach, it made me think of COVID and the irrational fear, right? So many people had, especially people my age, you know.

Yeah. Well, you wrote about this in The Wall Street Journal.

I did. Yes. I totally understand being older in age and perhaps you have.

I'm older in age and I didn't wear a mask and I didn't get vaccinated.

Right. That I'm saying I'm part of the reason I'm healthy and happy. Yeah, no, it's true. I— what I'm saying is I can understand for some people being afraid, but people my age, I mean, I remember when I was a junior and I was, you know, doing Zoom school. I had all these friends who like wouldn't see me unless I was wearing a mask and we'd have to be 6 feet. And I'm like, we're 20 at the time. You're 20 years old. Like, this is crazy. But I think it's part and parcel of this whole people my age are afraid to take risks thing. I think it's actually more related. We're afraid of failure. We're afraid of risks. We're afraid of like going out of our bubble in any kind of way. And then no wonder we reacted that way when COVID happened, you know, because we're, we're not used to the mental, emotional, spiritual, whatever you will, exercise of pushing the boundaries.

That's right, that's correct.

It's all especially when other people are telling us to follow something we're not used to going, you know what, I'm going to push past that and take a risk. Anyway, I'm sorry, go with Aaron.

Okay, don't be sorry.

Well, okay, okay.

So this, this is worthy of universal attention, as it were. I— so let me tell everybody that on my fireside chat that I do every week for PragerU, it's at prageru.com, and I've done 320 of them. I only missed one week in 320 weeks. It's, it's a beautiful half hour that I do talking and then taking questions from mostly young people around the world. It's a wonderful thing, the fireside chat. So go to PragerU, and I never have guests. Well, not never, about 3 times a year. So 49 out of 52, it's just myself. 3 times I have a guest. The last one was RFK Jr. I decided to have my younger son Aaron, and I, as you know, I believe in being transparent. That's my term. And I let the chips fall where they may. I, I'm just open. I asked Aaron— Aaron, his late mother and I adopted him when, when he was— the day he was born. And he was born to a meth addict, which we did not know. And he was an alcoholic, an alcoholic for years, and he's now sober 7 and a half years. And it is known— I've learned a massive amount about the addicted community, massive, and it's all been important. So why does— why are there two people? One turns their life around and one doesn't, right?

Right.

There's not a There's no foolproof answer to that question, but is it— is a one of the answers that the, the 12-step AA community give, the, the recovering addict community, is you hit bottom. And if you hit bottom, you, you decide, I want, I want to live. I don't, I don't want to, I don't want this living death, which is what addiction is. Yeah, so I said, yeah, I have no— I never put it that way, but it's true. So I said on, on the PragerU chat, I said to him, what, what did turning— what did hitting bottom mean to you? It's not the same perhaps as to everybody else. And he said, when I realized— when I stopped blaming everyone else for my problems, that, he said, is what turned me around.

Amazing answer.

Amazing.

And it's so applicable to everyone.

That's why I am raising it. That's the whole thing about AA.

You hear these nuggets of wisdom they have and you're like, wow, as I said, everyone should go to AA.

There's more wisdom at AA than at Harvard. I'm sorry.

Right now there's more wisdom in a—

Well, yeah, you're right. Yeah.

In an abandoned mall.

In an abandoned mall. That was more dramatic. But it's really— that's— that is the left's way of ruining society, is to teach people to blame others for their issues.

Yes. And again, it's actually so insulting. This is what I wish people saw. Because essentially, I think Jordan Peterson says this, that like the most insulting thing that you can tell a person is, you're perfect the way you are. Because it's putting them in a box and saying like, you can never grow beyond this. I think teaching people to blame others diminishes the power and potential of the human being to go beyond their circumstances and be, as Charlotte Brontë says, superior to them.

Oh, there's no question about that. But I am frankly more concerned with the harm such people do to society than the harm they do to themselves, right? When you, when you blame everyone else, you lash out. The— I, I wrote, I wrote this decades ago, the, the victim mentality. Is one of the green lights to doing evil. The Germans felt that they were victims of the Versailles Treaty and of a sellout by their government.

Yes.

In losing World War I.

Powerful example.

Yes. And unleashed the evil of World War II and the Holocaust, all because Germans saw themselves as victims.

I'm trying to think of another, like, Do you think slaves viewed themselves as victims and in that way the victim mentality was good?

That's a very, very good question.

I don't think they did.

Well, they're—

In the same, in the victim mentality way we have now. I mean, of course they were.

Look, did Jews in the concentration camps think they're victims? Of course they were. They should. They didn't have a grasp of reality if they didn't. But A victim mentality is not the same as an acknowledgement of victimhood. If I were paralyzed by a drunk driver, I would acknowledge I'm a victim. I was victimized by a drunk driver, but I don't think I would adopt a victimhood mentality. They're not the same thing.

Well, if you adopt a victimhood mentality, and that's what I was saying, I don't think existed so much among American slaves. And the proof is that they fought so hard to overcome their victim status. When you have a victim mentality, you wallow in your victimhood.

Well, they think they're trying to overcome it by overthrowing America, by undermining the victimizers.

You know, I know this is a little bit of an aside, but we are going to look back on this era of our history where people hate America so much and we are going to compare it to the irrationality that infected Germany in the '30s.

There's no question. Or I mean, we're actually less defensible.

Why?

Germans, Germans suffered horribly in World War I. They were misled by the, by, by their media and so on into thinking they were doing better than they were in the war. They actually were, I mean, all the combatants in World War I were victims. The horror of the losses was immense.

And Germany was given a punitive deal.

That's right, they were given a punitive deal and Article 231, all of their savings became worthless with the Reichsmark becoming toilet paper. I mean, people You know, there are pictures. What we— people should see it. You've seen it.

I have. Yes.

Their money in a wheelbarrow to get a loaf of bread.

Superinflation. Yeah. Or hyperinflation.

So. But America, you're the luckiest human in the world to live in this country. My contempt is palpable for people who complain about this country.

Yeah.

Not now. What the left has done to this country is new and horrible. But until very recently, you were the luckiest person in the world.

And even still— and look, the left has, has damaged the country a lot. But even still, right now, living in America, we're very, very lucky. We have daily privileges that we do across the world could only dream of. I mean, I think as I bring this example up a lot, but I think as a woman, I'm allowed to walk out with my hair down and makeup and wear a dress and embrace my femininity, there are millions of women who have to put essentially like trash bags over themselves.

And women who don't have to put bags over their bodies are afraid for other reasons walking down the street.

Yes.

So yes, it— the girl who came over, I think it was the University of Wyoming, but I don't remember which university. After my speech, I said, if you don't agree with me, line up, come first. So they come up first. I always like that. I love being challenged. So this woman, a female student, she goes, so let me ask you something. Are you telling me that as a woman, I am not oppressed?

In America?

Yeah, in America.

Yes, that is exactly what I'm telling you.

That was my answer. You know, the left's raping— and I use a very powerful term— of language. They've raped the word genocide. They have raped the word racism. They have raped the word oppressed.

You know why I don't— just to cut in— you know why I don't— I wouldn't use the word raped? It's because you're saying that those words like genocide and racism have been co-opted.

So I'm co-opting rape a little bit.

Yeah, I understand what you mean. They've been taken advantage of. They've lost their dignity. They've— I—

everything.

Or what do you— what do you mean? Well, I think I know what you mean.

Yeah, of course you know what I mean. And, and your, your critique may be accurate. I have debated whether to use the word rape for what the, what the left has done to language. But if it can— let's put it this way. If the word can ever be used outside of its literal meaning of what is usually done by a man being horrific to a woman, you may say it can only be used in terms of what a man does to— I mean, men can do it to men too, but generally speaking, it's done to a woman, and it's horrific. Unless you believe it can never— the verb is unusable except there.

Oh no, no, no, I think it's usable. Well, so I just try to be as precise as possible with language because we live in this Orwellian world.

I agree. I— they have raped the language. That I do believe. For example, when I have read, uh, and they, they raped the, uh, what is it, the land, when it with their strafe bombing in a war. I've read that. Can you rape land?

I mean, yes, I hear you. No, I hear you. I just—

so I have thought, is it— I don't believe what they have done to language qualifies with that verb, because what verb would you use to what the left has done to language? Misused, taken advantage of, transformed. It doesn't. It doesn't have the impact of— and the damage. The damage is horrific. What they have done to say that— that's true, that a columnist in the Los Angeles Times, a Black columnist, said that Larry Elder is the blackface of white supremacy. Now, does that not rape the word racist and the word white supremacist?

Right.

To say misused is to understate the case.

I agree with you. I hear you. Again, I just—

by the way, forgive me. Oh, I'm with you. And but I'm telling you that I've thought it through. I'll give you another example. I wrote when I— before the internet, I put out a newsletter, first Ultimate Issues and then Prager Perspective.

You mean like a, like a get-in-the-mail newsletter?

Yeah, get-in-the-mail. That's correct. Yes. Thousands of subscribers.

I love how I even had to ask because the idea is so foreign to me. You mean you opened the mail and read the newsletter?

That's right. And people looked forward.

Do you have copies of that?

I sure do.

That's great.

So I wrote a piece and I'm proud of the piece. And it's so— it just shows you, you— I'm glad you challenged me. And I want you and everybody listening/watching to know I've thought this through. Here is another time I used it. You'll find this fascinating. The Rape of a Name is Also a Rape. That was the name of my column.

Go on.

When you— a woman who falsely accuses a man of rape has raped his name, and that too is a rape. As I said earlier, if the only rape is the literal one of forced sex forced intercourse, then clearly you can never use it anywhere else. But, uh, we use, we use terms for many things, right?

And, and the damage done to a man falsely accused and to other women who really have endured the trauma and the horror of being sexually abused When a woman, just as when you accuse someone of being racist when they're not, it cheapens the charge and the gravity of the actual instance of sexual assault or racism. You know, I recently on Timeless interviewed this amazing woman who you should have on your show, and I never tell you, you know, have this person or that person. You should really have this lady on your show. Her name is Monica Harris. And she is Black and lesbian. And she went to Princeton, she went to Harvard Law, and she was a leftist. And one day she was in her corporate law job that she had for like 20 years, and she just decided, I don't like this world anymore. And so she and her wife and their son decided to move to Montana. And some of her left-wing friends, her colleagues at her job, her former classmates said to her, what are you crazy? You're a Black lesbian. You're going to move to Montana, all of those bigots, those right-wing, you know, anti-vaxxer, homophobic, racist people are going to, you know, shoot you. Like they were saying to her, you're nuts. And so she went in a little bit apprehensive and she loved— I mean, she still lives in Montana and she loves living in Montana. And she realized, huh, all these, you know, bigot white supremacists who I was told were going to persecute me, in fact, didn't persecute me. And I became friends with many of them. And so she wrote this book called The Illusion of Division about how so many of these purported divisions that we have—

Fascinating.

Totally fascinating. We chatted on Timeless for over an hour.

I do on her own.

Oh, she's amazing. She's a friend now. She and her partner, I would consider to be friends. And why did I bring this up? Oh, yes, because she is head of this organization called— oh, wait, sorry, sorry. So The Illusion of Division. I just want to finish with that because everyone should get this book. It's about how all of these purported divisions that we have among race, gender, sexuality, vaccination status, a lot of it is an illusion, she argues, and that this stuff has been planted to divide us. But really, if you just get to know people, you'll find that actually you might have a lot more in common with them. So it's a great book. But the reason why I bring her up with regard to our conversation about language is that she's head of this organization. She found— I believe she founded it, and it's called FAIR, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. And she— her clients are people who have been fired from universities for standing up for free speech. For instance, also on Timeless, I had this woman on named Dr. Tabia Lee. She's Black. She was head of DEI at a community college in Cupertino, California. And she was fired because she stood up for Jewish students. She, I guess, wanted to create like a Jewish group and they told her no. And she thought that was wrong and she stood up for free speech and she argued that some of the things that were being called white supremacist weren't white supremacist and she was fired. And so Monica Harris's FAIR, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, is representing her in her lawsuit. And I said to Monica on Timeless, I said, it's amazing that you've called your organization Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism because when I look at that, if I didn't know you—

Of course you think it's a left-wing group.

I would think it's a left-wing group. And it shows you the extent to which those things have been co-opted. And I said to her, God bless you. We need to reclaim the true meaning of these terms. She is standing up against real intolerance and racism. Not, you microaggressed me by calling me a fresh man. MyPillow is excited to bring you their biggest bedding sale ever. Get the Giza Dream bed sheets for as low as $29.98, a set of pillowcases for $9.98. Rejuvenate your bed with a MyPillow mattress topper for as low as $99.99. They also have blankets in a variety of sizes, colors, and styles. They even have blankets for your pets. Get duvets, quilts, down comforters, body pillows, bolster pillows, and so much more, all with the biggest discounts ever. They're also extending their money-back guarantee until March 1st, 2024, making them great gifts for your friends, your family, and everyone you know. Go to mypillow.com and use the promo code Hartman or call 1-800-566-6745 and you'll get big discounts on all MyPillow bedding products, including the Giza Dream bed sheets for as low as $29.98. And get all your shopping done now while quantities last. But it shows you— isn't it amazing that I look at something like that and instead of thinking, wow, a great organization, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, I would think, oh God, left-wing sludge.

But it's not what I— if I have her on, all I want to really talk to her about is her experience as a Black lesbian in Montana.

Oh, I mean, that's her whole book.

Yes. Okay. Oh, good. I thought it was much more than that.

She met with a white supremacist pastor. She was told that there was this guy who was a white supremacist and she had coffee with him. And she was— she, she said to me, I couldn't figure out why he was called a white supremacist. It's like you. They call you white supremacist.

Well, they call me everything, at least that I know of. Yeah, that's right. Well, you know me. Yes. Oh, that's right. That was good. A rare good point from Sean. And that was that. Look, look, look, he's saluting himself. No woman in the history of femaleness has done that about herself. That's what—

No, no woman.

Yeah, it's why I said you can't be trans because you can't get the other one's brain. But that's— well, that's the biggest, I think. But anyway, that's another subject. So he says, bring it full circle, she took a risk moving to Montana.

Yes, yes.

The safe place— oh, you're a black lesbian? Stay in Baltimore or wherever the hell she was, any major metropolitan liberal city. But she went to Montana. This, you have no idea how important that subject is. The entire hatred of conservatives is phony. It's a complete falsehood. Everything that is said, nearly everything, because there are always exceptions, is false. Mean, stingy, cheap, they only— uncompassionate, non-compassionate, they only care about babies in the womb, but they don't care after they're born. How about this? I'll bet $10,000 to anyone that more conservatives adopt kids with special needs than liberals. So much for your vaunted crap that you care about kids after they're born, but conservatives don't.

Oh, as we say all the time, so many things are inverted. And by the way, of course there are individual conservatives who are not great people, just as there are individual liberals and individual everyones who aren't great people. Yes, but I have I've never met a conservative who says that there isn't racism or who hates gay people. I mean, it's like, I know it's a crazy myth. I've never— and I am steeped in this world.

Right. So, so again, you know, if I say, hello, just for the record, my wife and I are godparents to a gay couple's children, a married gay couple's children.

Yeah.

So they, oh, big deal. You're still a homophobe. Wait a minute. Why? How? Why would a homophobe be the godfather and godmother to a gay couple's children.

Yeah.

Is it that— is that bizarre? Would an anti-Semite be the godparent to a Jewish couple? I mean, what are you talking about?

Oh, well, so I remember in college a lot of people would make fun of others who would say, I'm not racist, I have Black friends. Like a lot of liberals.

I know. Oh, they always make fun.

They make fun of it. Like, that's so absurd. Of course you can be racist and have Black friends. I'm like, No, you can't. If you're racist, you won't have Black friends.

Like, well, I would like to know what constitutes their racism. If they're really having dinner on a regular basis with Blacks, they would say microaggressions.

They have these.

Oh, well, that's it. That's the whole point. That's all made up. Everyone listening to this should look up the list. I Wrote an article on it, or just look it up. University of California list of racist microaggressions.

Yeah.

For example, if you say there is only one race, the human race, you are a racist according to the University of California official proclamation. That makes you racist.

I want to take this back full circle, as you said a few moments ago, to the conversation about taking risks because— and this blends nicely with the conversation we're having about myths about conservatives— because when I first went on your show, that's right, that was a major—

oh, that's a good one.

People don't understand it because now we know the whole story.

Yeah.

When I went on Dennis's show the first time, I had no bleeping clue that it was going to amount to this, that I'd be— I'd have a show with you one day.

No, you already knew. What I warned you, you're going to be hated.

Yes. And I mean, I thought it was like a one-off going on the radio talking about my views, the way that you and PragerU have influenced me. And then I go home and like apply to go to law school. I mean, again, I had no idea that it was going to turn into this, but thank God I did that because look at what it turned into. And I remember even when I went to go work with you that next summer, It was a very contentious time. I mean, it continues to be so, but, and I wasn't even fully conservative. I was still, I mean, I was, but I was kind of still on the journey, if you will. For instance, I remember thinking when I first went to work for you that as much as I respected you, I thought you were way off on your warnings against people to get vaccines. Your warning against the vaccines. Excuse me. I thought that there were times when you were not condemning January 6th as vociferous. And by the way, I have evolved on those things. I now understand you were totally right about the vaccine. I understand, you know, the things you raised about January 6th.

But the point is insurrection.

No, it wasn't. And if it was, then the Black Lives Matter riots were insurrections because they damaged federal property, went in and occupied federal buildings.

Derek Chauvin did not murder George Floyd.

Oh, well, that's another one. That's— he did.

No, I mean, I mean, if you care about truth and John McWhorter, who's Black, and Jason Riley, who is Black, just did a podcast saying the evidence is overwhelming, he didn't murder him. That was another one I thought you were off on.

I know that's another one I thought you were off on.

Yeah.

And so I remember having a kind of— and there were people in my life, I don't even know if I've I've told you this, who were saying to me, maybe it's not the best idea for you to go work for him.

Right.

You know, maybe you're gonna, you're gonna align yourself with, you know, so, right. They weren't calling you a bigot, but they're like, you know, he's very right-wing. Maybe you wanna, uh, very right. Maybe you wanna work for Mitt Romney. You know, like that was kind of the advice I was, but I, I just wanna tell people this to, to put all of you in the position that I was in, which was I was apprehensive. I didn't agree with you on everything, but I wanted to take that risk because I respected you on so many other things that I thought it was worth it. And imagine if I had listened to those people who told me, play it safe, play it safe. I wasn't playing it safe. And then it amounted to the greatest blessing in my life.

Yes. Well, Thank you, and you've been a blessing to all of us, just for the record. I mean, big time. But the biggest risk you took vis-à-vis me was coming on the show the first time, right? I'll never forget. I tell people, I tell the story publicly how I met you. I think it was the first time we met, right? And you just came into the studio. It was right. So I was, I was taken with you and I I thought, well, how would you like to come on the show? Because you said how much, you know, my work had changed your life, which meant a lot to me. And I said, but I was very open with you. I said, if you come on my show, you will lose friends, you will be attacked at Harvard and so on and so forth.

And you were right.

And I was right. But no, but I— but that's not the part that I tell people. I know it's that you said during the break, can I call my mom? Can I call my mom? I just thought— I actually thought that was beautiful because it— you, you do not radiate codependency. So I didn't think for a second, what, she can't make up her own mind? I was actually completely impressed.

I'm so glad because I thought that you thought that. Oh, I thought that you went, oh, this girl needs to get approval from her mom. Yes, but I love my parents so much. I never want to hurt them or embarrass them or anything.

My thought thought was that this incredibly bright girl will want to call her mom. It's just— it struck me as beautiful.

And you know what? I— God bless my parents, and God bless a lot of other people in my life, because when I called my mom that day, she was at the hair salon. She said, do it. I remember she said, be careful.

She was at the hair salon.

Yeah, she was like, get off, just, just do it, stop calling me. No, but you— I think it's actually really important because you, you need people in life. Everyone needs a cheerleader. If you have just one person who's encouraging you to take that risk, I mean, it's, it's, it's nice for us to wax eloquent about how important it is to take risks, but also I recognize that you, you really do need people in your corner who are cheering you on for doing it. But, you know, even I'm sure some people may be listening and thinking about this example of my whole taking the risk coming onto the show. And they may be thinking, well, it worked out really well for you. So, you know, what about people who take risks and it doesn't work out for them?

Well, that's like saying it worked out for Charles Lindbergh, but, you know, it did. He became the most popular man in America. He was— he had big moral flaws, but that's beside the point. But he took a risk flying an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean.

Right. But I can— I have a lot of risks that I've taken. Well, actually, I shouldn't say a lot. There aren't a lot, but there are a few that I've taken where it didn't work out and I learned so much.

You take a risk on every date.

No. Well, that is true. It's kind of not, though. Yeah, there are a lot. There are a lot of those that don't work out.

Yes, exactly. Yeah.

The state of men in America and especially in Los Angeles is really Really bad, really dismal. I showed Dennis, everyone, my Hinge, my—

well, that was depressing. Yes, the way the men—

it's horrible. These guys are like, they like slap and they take these photos and then they're like this, you know, and they've got their chains and they've got their—

as a man, you look like a pimp.

Like, what, you think, you think like I'm attracted to this?

Well, they, they need their head in the sand. Their ignorance of women Totally. It is.

I'm wondering, like, who are they casting?

Exactly. They— it's like women who think men are women with different body parts are totally clueless, and likewise men who think that women are men. Oh, I like to see women's chests, they must like to see mine. It doesn't work that way.

Yeah, and they have their, like, legs spread. They're so— just the posture, the poses. Of like, and the thug life. It's like, what are you doing?

If a guy put on Hinge himself looking— well, let's say even— let's forget a tie, a jacket and a shirt like this.

Yeah.

It would attract so many more women than the asinine look. You look like an a-hole.

Worse. You look like a criminal. I'm sorry. Like, you just— you look bad. You look bad. Please don't. Oh my God.

Let me say to men on this, in this regard, if you, if you are on— and I'm, I, I do advocate going on a single—

I don't, honestly.

Well, that's another— we should do that again. It's a very important subject. But let's— if you go on, and I think you should, please, I'm telling you this as a man, that Women are attracted to classy looking men.

Thank you. As you would say, correct. Correct.

When I walk on a plane, is that—

but it's like, why is this news?

Oh, it's total news.

Why is it?

Because no father told them and no mother told them. Why didn't their mother tell them? Forget this. So the father is gone. Okay, maybe literally physically gone. But why didn't the mother say, hey, you know what, if you want to attract women, I got a, I got a thought, got a thought for you. A t-shirt may not do it.

If they even have a t-shirt on.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, that, well, that's beyond belief.

But what, why did— oh, you made the joke about being on, on dating apps. So I was saying there, you learn so much from the risks that you do take and you fail at. For instance, I, in college— I've talked about this on the show— I joined an improv troupe at Harvard, and miraculously, I tried out my first week of freshman year, and miraculously I got on. Because, and I— yeah, that's a big zero improv experience, right? Because it was a total eff it, kind of like, I'm just gonna try, right? And I played my mom in every scene because my mom is so funny and, and she's so vibrant, and I just I just like literally took some of her mannerisms and her sayings and I played them in scenes. So in tryouts, people thought I was hilarious. Then I got on the team. And interestingly, I became so paralyzed by self-doubt. Like, oh my God, all these people, because all of these people on the team had done improv in high school. And I was the only one that didn't. And they were so funny. And they were so quick. And they were so comfortable. And I was just learning all of it. And I became so like in my shell. I would go up on stage, we'd have these monthly shows. First of all, I would think like, how can I get out of this? Can I be sick? Can I like fly to Florida to see a great-great-grandmother? Like, what can I do? And I was like, no, Julie, just go. And I would be up there and no one would laugh.

Oh God, that's the worst.

I would look—

that is the worst.

People would be looking at me like They'd be looking at me like, we so want— and then what was even worse was I would say something and I'd hear like a, like a pity laugh. And then I would see—

laugh, that was better than polite.

And then I would see on the sidelines, I'd be up there and you're supposed to like come in, like tap, you can tap someone's shoulder to tap them out. And I would see my teammates like waiting to come and tap me out.

So how long did you last?

Well, I lasted until we got sent home due to COVID. Due to lockdowns, as you say.

Somebody benefited from COVID I finally met somebody.

Totally. No, I did immensely. But I learned so much from that. I learned how to walk with, you know, like to handle embarrassment with dignity. And I learned that you can't go inside your shell, especially when you're in the public eye. Like, the more you're in your head, it's gonna come out on the stage. So anyway, um, well, you didn't—

you couldn't do improv, so what you should have said, folks, okay, you do improv better than me, but I swim better than you.

That's true, though I wouldn't want to challenge them to a competition because I don't want to get in a pool for the rest of my life.

Have you— is it swum or swam?

I think it's swam.

Have you swam?

No, I swim in the ocean and I go in hot tubs.

No, no, no, I'm talking grammar. Oh, as a past participle, I have swum or I have swam? I have swum. So I'll do it this way. Well, have you swum once since high school?

No.

That is— do you realize you were a champion swimmer in California high school? And the, the day you left high school, you didn't get into a pool since? Nope. If that is really proof that you didn't like swimming.

You have no idea. Um, I have a question for you.

Yes.

Mainly because I want to get off the swimming stuff. No, I'm kidding. I'm, I, we, we, we did a whole show on it. I'm very comfortable talking about it. And I'm great. I'm grateful even for that, for a lot of reasons.

That's right.

Not that it's exactly a risk or certainly wasn't. No.

Well, well, it was a risk. I mean, you paid a lot of price.

I realize in my life I'm paying dividends for, for that time.

Yes, exactly. Okay. Why did you want to ask?

I wanted to ask you because this show, we usually try to make it evergreen, but this show is premiering on January 1st, 2024.

Right.

Do you do New Year's resolutions?

So I am a— I'm actually a big fan of resolutions.

So I am too. I do them every year.

A good final topic for our podcast. You do? So I want to hear in a moment, but I want to deal, which is the way I always advocate things. I first deal with objections, then people are open to hearing me. Saying that my advocacy of God to be taken seriously has always been, I know your objections, let me deal with them. So anyway, the, the biggest objection is, oh please, people break them on January 10th. That's the most common objection.

Sorry, I'm just thinking, why would anybody object? Like, it's a great practice. Even if it does get broken, why would anybody like cause a stink about it?

Well, they say you're fooling yourself or it doesn't work. My view, not oddly, is just what you said. What price? First of all, let us say you keep the resolution for 9 days. 9 days beats 0 days. I mean, that's the way life works. A little is better than nothing. That's just the rule of life.

It's like the people who also say, well, what if, what if it turns out that God isn't real and you spent your whole life going to church and reading scripture, right? So what?

That's right. So what? You would have a deeper— I mean, community. Exactly. That's exactly right. So you made— you make— first of all, even thinking about a resolution means, where can I get better? Isn't that what resolutions are all about? Where can I get better? So why is that anything but good?

I mean, right.

You know, your silence is— what else? What sort of— what else is there to be said? It's crazy not to make a New Year's resolution because you think you might break it. By the way, if you break it this year, January 15th, maybe next year will be January 25th. So you just got to give it a try.

Also, you can break it and pick it up again the next morning. That's the great thing about life. You wake up, you have a new— that's right, a new day.

You know, so here, here's a— I want to hear yours because— well, we'll give you—

no, I know.

All right, well, all right, so I have an interesting, uh, interesting thought for you.

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So I have an interesting, uh, interesting thought for you, which you will, when you hear it, you'll go, that's Dennis. In your mind. You won't say it.

Or maybe I will now.

True, but there's not necessary. But I think I, I know you, and I know how you think of me, and I know how I think of you. Okay, so I have often noted almost every New Year's resolution is about making me better. For me. People should also take resolutions on how they could be better for others. And, and it's almost never thought— I'll lose weight, I'll exercise, I'll go to bed earlier, I'll eat better. And all are good, all are good. But, you know, how about a res— you know, a resolution that You know, I will make sure to say hi to the doorman if they have one in my office building, or to the guy who cleans the toilets. I'll be sure to ask him about his life. That's one. Just by the way, resolutions don't have to be major. That's minor, but it's big.

Yes, so I was in church on Christmas Eve and actually went to two churches, one Catholic, one non-denominational. And the differences were really interesting. We should talk about that in a D&J.

Yeah, I would like that.

But the priest at the Catholic church was talking about how we can all live a life more like Christ. And he said, just start in your own family, start being more charitable, more graceful, more loving to the people around you. And I love that you said that, because I think that's also another great thing about conservatism, not to bring everything back to it, but it's not Politics is not what animates my conservatism. It's values. It's the greater idea of conserving the best. It's about the power of the individual. And it's about take care of your own community, go to church, do these kind of smaller things, keep your own home good before you go big. But what were we saying? Oh, New Year's resolutions. Wait, did you say yours?

No. What you're saying— No, that's right. Make some about all those ethical resolutions, right? Not just for yourself.

So what are Dennis Prager's?

Well, I have— I don't have a list this year because I sort of make resolutions in the middle of August.

Me too.

Just as likely as I would. But I do believe that the new year gives you a chance to start anew. And it's, it's worthy of, of doing. But, you know, I, I haven't eaten a dessert in 5 months. I eat virtually no sugar. I have virtually no carbs. Well, I've been working out for 7 years, 3 times a week, so that's not new. Um, that's the personal stuff. I'm very, uh, self-monitoring on the ethical, so I'm not sure. It would be fun to ask my friends. I, I may do that at Shabbat lunch.

I'll say to my friends, do it at Shabbat dinner so I can be there.

Okay, that would be fun. You'll be— well, you are.

I'll do it. I'll kick it off.

Let's— let it be fun to say what, what What do you think I should do?

Oh, like New Year's resolutions for each other? Oh God, that's right, that could start a food fight. Not at our table.

See, I have a few— Zach works here. There are a few arenas I would suggest to him where he could be much, much finer human being, but he, he's very young, so he has time. Oh, what? Oh God, Sean. What is— Dennis, what is hilarious is that he was so happy you mentioned him until you said what you said. Zacky, Zacky, you know, Zacky, that one of us really likes you.

We, we really work with amazing people. I love, I love who we work with.

People— I've always said this— people come to the Prager studio because there are many stations in, in our area, not, not just, not just the, the national studio. And people come just to laugh. They come by and have a good time, and then, and then go back to their serious work, which is what it should be. It should be. Yes, yes, that's correct.

And they, they make this all possible.

Did you hear my promo for my show?

Yeah, of course.

I was just there.

Yeah, I laughed.

I'm going to be thanking on my next show, the final show of the year, I, I will be thanking everyone who works with me except one on the next Dennis Prager Show.

Your promos are something else.

They certainly are. I agree with you on that.

You know, I'm like you in that I—

well, anyway, you were going to tell your resolution. I, I admit I don't I sort of make resolutions all the time.

No, I understand that. I do too. And one of the things I just said this kind of offhandedly a few minutes ago, but I think the way that life is structured or the way that your weeks are structured are actually really great for starting anew because every day the sun sets, it goes dark, and then it rises the next morning. And you can kind of, you can kind of view that as a start of something new. It is a start of something new, a new day, a new week, a new month. There are all of these opportunities. I mean, you can do it in the next hour, but I think there are all these kind of more miniature opportunities besides just the change of the year for you to go, okay, this is where I'm turning a new leaf. So I do that a lot. I go, okay, tomorrow morning, starting tomorrow morning, I'm gonna read my book for 5 minutes after each— I read at night, you know, I'm like Starting tomorrow, I'll work out every morning. Or so I do them kind of throughout the year. But what's so cool about doing New Year's resolutions at my age, I think, is like, I'm still kind of molding my brain and I'm still figuring out my life, you know, figuring out my career, figuring out who I'm going to marry, figuring out where I'm going to live. Like, there are all of these things that aren't permanent, and that can be anxiety-provoking because you want a kind of— you want your life to be settled. But it's also cool because I can I can change course and shape myself. So one of my big goals for 2024, and this is really boring, I'm so sorry, but it's important for life, is that I need to do better at managing money. It's not that I'm a big spender, but I, like you, don't give a bleep about saving, investing.

By the way, this is a good example of a blessing and a curse. In one, which is usual in life. Many blessings come with curses. It's like if you have perfect pitch— I, and I think in terms of music very often— if you have perfect pitch, which— do you know what perfect pitch is?

Yep.

You do?

Yes. Are you gonna quiz me?

No, I won't.

Well, actually, can you quiz me? I think it's like your, your pitch is perfect, your voice is perfect.

No. Oh, well, I'm glad.

I'm glad.

Most people who are not in music don't know. Oh, perfect pitch means it'll blow your mind when I tell you. Perfect pitch means that if, let's say, a wind instrument plays a note or a violin plays a note, you will know what note it is.

Boy, was I off.

That's an A-flat. I mean, that's beyond belief to me. It's— or if I say to you, hum me an E-flat. And the guy gives you an E-flat. That's perfect pitch. A very small percentage of these even musicians have that. So if you think it's a blessing, but it's also a curse because they hear things the rest of us don't hear that are off. So it's a great example.

So it must drive him crazy at times.

Yes, exactly. I, I have almost perfect pitch on logic. So it drives me crazy when I'm talking to someone or I read something and they made a— to me is a colossal error in common sense, in logic. It drives me nuts. It's like, you know, nails on a chalkboard.

And you and my mom have perfect pitch on grammar. Well, I know it bothers my mom all the time.

Oh, that's true. Well, ask your mother if it's I have swam or I have Swum, I think it's—

oh, she, she's watching and yelling it out.

Yeah, but she is. Yeah, but we can't hear her.

So what did you— so I was talking about saving. I don't care about money, right?

So it's a per— yes, thank you. It, it's a blessing and a curse because you are a better person for having such a nonchalant cavalier attitude toward money as I am. I only— my own— you may be able in your way to relate to this. From my earliest days, and I was always independent of my parents from the age of 21, but I considered myself rich if I could afford any book I wanted, if I could travel, And if I could buy records and then CDs and have my audio equipment, that's— I longed for nothing, nothing. So that's great because all I wanted to do was think about my— how can I influence people toward the values that I care about, or what I call the good.

Yes, money is so boring.

That's right, boring.

And it feels inconsequential.

I never read the financial pages. Pages of the newspaper until maybe 15 years ago. And then because I had to.

Right.

So I and you, as in so many arenas, were so similar. It touches my soul, actually. But there's a middle road and you're right to adopt it because had I been more aware of what to do I, it would have been helpful to me, right? I'm blessed that I— my career is better today at my age than it was at any other time in my life. That's very rare. Yeah, it's very rare for a human. I know how lucky I am. But you should, you should look— if you just start saving now a minimal amount of money, you'll be a millionaire at a certain point. I know, because by the time you're a millionaire, a millionaire won't mean—

well, exactly. Exactly.

But nevertheless, the point remains.

But I'm trying to create my goal for my 20s. And with each New Year's resolution, I try to focus on a new thing, is that I want to develop really good habits. This past year, I have fulfilled my 2023 New Year's resolution. You know what it was? To read more. I was not always a reader. You now think of me as synonymous with being a vociferous reader. I actually didn't like reading for much of my life. When I was a kid, I was in remedial reading because I was so not good at it. And I just wanted to play sports all day. I don't want to go home and read a book. And it shows you the power of good habits because this year I got, you know, the first few books, it was hard. And now I just fly through them and I love them. And so while my brain is still malleable, and at any time in life you can, you know, try to develop good habits and you can start anew and charge forward. But especially in my 20s when it's easier to do so, I want to do it. And so this year I'm really, really just going to try to get good money managing habits so that for the rest of my life it's just kind of second nature.

But let me throw out one final thing for people because we're coming to the end of the— amazingly, because we have such a good time and hopefully the listener does, but Taking on— you took on reading. That's a great, great example. I have so urged people all of my life to do something that is so outside of what they would ever think of doing, and I have two examples, but if they did it, they would be so happy they did it And I'm not talking the obvious, oh, workout, because nobody wants to do it, including me. But I'm happy when I did it. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about two things: learning a foreign language or learning a musical instrument.

Neither of which I have done.

Right. So, okay, well, it's not like you haven't done a ton. Your life is very rich. But I think a lot of people— this is the way I put it— if you are on social media or on streaming of movies or going to a film or watching television or whatever, X hours a day, if you took a half hour away, a half hour, ideally an hour, but let's say a half hour and decided I want to learn. And you could— I don't give a damn, you throw a dart at a list of languages, throw a dart at a list of instruments, or throw a dart at a board, you'll get really good at it. Well, that's true. You'll get it.

You'll learn how to do bullseye.

Yes, which is big in Europe, by the way. Darts are a big, big sport in Europe. But, uh, you know, so it lands on Portuguese, so learn Portuguese. Chinese. It doesn't matter which it is. First of all, you'll speak English better. One of the reasons I speak English so well is that I learned so many languages. I know how language is constructed. It was fascinating for me how much I learned about English by— Mario Pei is a great— yeah, I know, I know why you're smiling. I know you well. And so the— correct. So, and likewise, a musical instrument— if you did, and you know, you took a lesson an hour a week and you played a half hour a day, it's not a massive investment of time. Uh, you would be so happy you did it. By the way, uh, learning to read music— I, I, I— when people ask me, how many languages do you speak? So I give it, I give my number. But I don't include another language— music. It's— that is another language.

It is.

And, and every, every study that I take seriously showed what it does for a— for the mind to know music. That, that kids are deprived of it, that they get, you know, preferred pronouns and, and American racism instead, instead of music, is sickening. Anyway, there are a lot of things to resolve. You should— here's a resolution. We would like you to tell friends about Dennis and Julie, especially friends who have kids. And I mean college kids, kids in their 20s, Julie's age, because this is so human. It's hard to imagine that they would dismiss it. And I agree, they'll be doing good, good for society and, and just good generally. Happy New Year, everybody.

Yes, Happy New Year. I, I hate to say this because it is quite negative, but you're worried about 2024. Buckle up for 2024, right?

Oh, by the way, and watch my, my interview of my son. Oh yes, yes, prageru.com, the fireside chat.

Dennis. You can reach me at julie@julie-hartman.com. It is— I really understand you now, Dennis, because you would tell me a few years ago when I was working for you that it's so painful for you that you can't respond to mail, all the mail. It is so painful that I can't respond to each and every one of them.

But you do read them.

I read them.

So please send them.

Yes. Please continue to send them. I read every single one. And you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter @JulieRHartman. You can follow Dennis on Instagram @TheDennisPrager. And Twitter @DennisPrager.

Yeah, but go to DennisPrager.com to really see what's happening.

Shalom, everyone.

Bye.

Your beloved dog and a stranger are both drowning. You can only save one. Who do you save? Every time Dennis Prager asks that question, his audience splits. Puts 3 ways. 1/3 chooses the dog, 1/3 chooses the stranger, and 1/3 aren't sure. Why? Because we live in an age where increasingly feelings define right and wrong. But if morality is based on emotion, then murder, rape, and theft are just opinions. And if people feel justified, why is rioting or destruction wrong at all? In his new book, If There Is No God, Dennis Prager explains why civilization why nations cannot survive without objective morality, and why Judeo-Christian values shape the moral foundations of the free world.

If you claim that certain things are good, certain things are evil, independent of how you feel about it, you are in effect affirming God.

If There Is No God by Dennis Prager, available now at PragerStore.com. That's PragerStore.com.