Dennis & Julie: Degradation of Intellect

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Hey everybody, Dennis and Julie. I'm Dennis, as in Dennis Prager. Julie, as in Julie Hartman. I think this is episode number 61. That is amazing. I'm not kidding. That's 61 is a lot.

I know. That's how many weeks. So it's been over a year.

No, no, I'm not. No, it's funny. I have a different view. Oh, a little over a year doesn't seem like a long time. 61 episodes of this seems like a lot. It's a different calculation in my brain.

That means they're probably 80 hours of Dennis and Julie. Dennis Prager.

This, this is a real treasure to both of us. And I know to people who watch and listen, I really do know that. It's not self-aggrandizing. So I just want to say, you don't even have to react. I'm serious. As soon as the music comes on, I get into a good mood. I mean, it's not like I walk around in a bad mood, but I get into even a better mood. I really, really like doing this with you.

I mean, it's the highlight of my week. It's so much fun. We, we view these days of filming as vacation days because it's just so— it is chill and fun.

So I also want to make clear that as much as I, I know you believe that, and it means a lot to me, remember, I've done 40 years of never having a co-host. It never dawned on me that I would want to have a co-host.

I mean, trust me, I think about that a lot, and, and what an honor it is that you are doing with me. Sometimes I think, oh gosh, I'll catch on.

When will he awaken to what a silly decision he made?

Well, whenever I guest host for you, I mean, I'm always, you know, and the viewers know I'm very hard on myself, but I'm always trying so hard to make you proud because I want to prove to you that you made the right decision.

That's nice. That is. It's beautiful and it touches me.

Well, I'm glad. Well, I have a request, if you don't mind, at the beginning of this show.

Yeah.

So Dennis has to do a promo for his radio show. How long are they? 10 seconds?

How long are they, Sean? How long are they supposed to be? So between 10 and 24.

Yes. And so it plays— actually, I don't know where it plays.

All over the country.

All over the country. The day of the show. To get people excited or to encourage them to listen to the show. So a little behind the scenes revelation here. Dennis hates reading ads and he hates doing promos. It's like a fight every single day.

All right. But, but let me just say this. I really need to say this. Forgive me. I want to say to all the advertisers, I don't like reading ads. However, I am profoundly appreciative of the fact that without you, I have no show.

That's true.

So I'm not a dummy. Having said that, about promo, I don't like either aspect.

Well, it's hard. It's difficult. I've seen it with you because you have to pick one news story and you have to.

Yes, yes, exactly. So also, I— there's another factor which you're not aware of because I've never said it to you. There's no reason you would be. You know, after 3 hours, that's the reason on the ads and the promo. After 3 hours of the intensity of a radio show, live radio, And folks, it's intense. When you listen to me, it sounds like it's the easiest thing in the world. Just sit in the mic and talk. It's incredibly challenging and exhausting. And so after that, I have to come up with the promo and read it. That's the reason. Not that they're not effortful.

You are totally right. Ever since I've started guest hosting for you, and it's been about a year or two now that I've been doing it, I have gained an appreciation for just how difficult doing 3 hours of radio is.

There is no way.

It's exhausting.

There's no way the listener can know. It is not possible. It is like saying to me, do you know what it is like to be a goalie in the National Hockey League? No, I don't. Having a rock-like iced item come to me at 90 miles per hour, I don't know what that's like.

Male analogy ever.

Yeah, that's true. It is a male analogy. I should give a female analogy.

Sure.

Yes.

I'd be interested to know.

Yes. I don't know what it's like to give birth, to be pregnant, to menstruate.

Well, that's longer than—

I don't know what it is like to love a man.

Guess that's a good thing. You know what it's like to love a man, but you don't know what it's like to be in love with a man.

Okay. What did you say, Jules?

I said you know what it's like to love a man.

Yeah, totally.

No, no, I love those.

I know.

You know, I love many male friends. That's true.

Okay, so we have to play this promo.

Dennis yesterday—

this was his promo.

Dennis Prager here on the next Dennis Prager Show on the difference between the Asian and the African elephant. I can tell you now, the African elephant has much larger ears. That's the way to identify them immediately. Plus, you can't ride an African elephant. He will stomp you to death. Death on the next Dennis Prager Show.

So it's so funny. It's so, so funny. I'm shocked you're not— you haven't gotten in trouble for it for many reasons.

Yes, I am too. Sean, why don't we get in trouble? Or not we. Why don't I get in trouble for a promo like that? Maybe we did and he hasn't heard yet. Yes, that's possible. Elephants always make Julie sneeze. There's something about— I don't know why.

Elephants.

My, my theory is that the guys who are in charge of sending out the promo, if, if I read the alphabet, I'm not sure they would be aware of it.

Well, it wasn't Sean saying it's an automated system. They just pull the promo and I don't think they listen to it.

So here is the question: did the average listener hearing an absurd promo Are they cracking up and thereby I'm drawing listeners, or are they thinking, this guy is weird? Well, I don't really give a damn about the difference between Asian and African elephants.

If they know you, they probably know that you're kidding. But as we established before the show, and as I have learned many a time through working with you, Dennis has a remarkable ability to say absurd things with a straight face. And even listening to you in that, you said you You're not laughing in it.

That's right. There's no chuckle required.

You're delivering it totally straight.

Yes, I know.

And I have fallen for it many times.

Yes, it's a gift. It's a strange gift. It's given to very few people to say the absurd with a totally straight face. Sean, can I reveal the one that Julie was referring to from before the show with regard to your colleague Rick?

Yeah. I think it's funny.

Okay. So a nice thing that I do is that periodically I say yes to charities that auction off my, my radio show. In other words, you give us X amount of money and you can sit in Dennis Prager's radio show live in his studio. And so I raise money for charities that way. And it's a sweet thing that I do because the truth is, I rather have no one in the studio because it's very intense. But I am happy to open it up periodically to charities. Okay. Anyway, so this was a lovely Mormon couple that was here, and they were grandparents. Their children had all chipped in for this charity to get them the show. Yeah, it's very sweet. So Rick came in. Rick is Sean's colleague on my show, and that's his official job title. Rick has a very long gray and white beard and black— a pepper beard, correct? Long, not short. It's not— it may be trimmed, but it goes down below his neck. And he's there, and the subject, since I had mentioned it on the show, was transgender. And I say, you know, Rick here, for example, uh, he, he's transgender. He started out as Lucy, and, and look at him now, how successful his transition to male has become. So I'm thinking they're cracking up inside because I'm cracking up inside. Sean walks them out afterwards to make sure that their parking ticket is validated at the front desk, and they whisper to him What did they whisper to you? Is that story about Lucy true? So wait, first of all, how did you remain standing up and not fall down when they did that? I— that is an achievement on your part, Sean. So what did you say to them? Oh, you said that— that was a good one. He said that he and I are rarely serious. But that is a treasurable moment in your life, is the story about him being Lucy True.

Well, I tell the story of when I— it was maybe the third day that I was working for you that summer when I followed you around all day. And I went to your house after the studio and we were doing some work and you told me that wife is Sanskrit for flaw finder.

I've said it on the radio.

Oh yes.

Yeah.

And I go home that night.

Uh, well, say it slowly so it might have gone right over people's heads. Say it again.

Dennis told me, you know, because he speaks many languages, and we— I remember we were at your house and he goes— I actually remember exactly where we were. You were pulling out a book from the shelf and you go, you know, Julie, wife is Sanskrit for flaw finder.

Flaw finder. Want to make that clear? Yeah.

And so I go home to my parents' house and we're sitting at dinner and I, you know, my parents are like, wow, you started this new job with Dennis, you know, what are all the things you're learning from him? And I'm like, he's such a linguist, he's so, you know, he knows all the origins of words. And you know what he told me today? That wife is Sanskrit for flaw finder. And my mom is like, not, my dad just starts cracking up and that's when I knew I got played.

My mom, we, we, we believe at that moment I went up in your father's estimation.

Oh, a lot of the stuff that you say about the differences between men and women crack him up. Like Dennis is the saying, if a man were, or if a woman were to go in a man's head, he would get a male brain. Get a male brain. She would realize, oh, he really is thinking about nothing. And if a man were to get a woman's brain, he would shoot his brains out.

Right.

My dad repeats that. I'll tell one story before we move on because I think you'll find it to be funny. Also, I have to expose it is my dad. I was going to say a male relative, but this story is my dad saying it. So my dad went to a small liberal arts college that he loves to read newsletters about. He's very still involved with the college. And one night at dinner, we were sitting and he was reading the newsletter to us at the table. You know, the basketball team scored this many points, et cetera. And then he goes, oh, this is really interesting. They're building a new $50 million queer resource center at the school. My mom and I are kind of looking at each other like, okay, why do we care? And I said, yeah, no, I mean, Harvard has a queer resource center. And my mom was saying, I think a lot of colleges have queer resource centers. My dad, totally serious, looks at us and he goes, wow, well, those queers must be a very prominent family to donate so many resource centers.

That's good, isn't it? That's a good one.

Well, he said in defense of him, he grew— he was born in the '50s. He said growing up, he said, I can't imagine. It's so inconceivable to him that that word is allowed now. And you may know this too, because growing up, he said if you called someone queer, you were sent to the principal's office.

They adopted a derogatory term. Yeah, that's exactly right.

Anyway, sorry, Dad.

You know, uh, this is totally out of left field. This is an American saying meaning unrelated to anything we've been talking about, and I'm only mentioning this for the foreigners who listen. I watch Julie interact with people, and it's— I watch everybody interact because it's— people are in my life, I watch them. I guess I don't think that's unique to me, but I'll tell you something that I have noticed that you don't know that I've noticed.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, you'll find this interesting. So Julie went to Harvard, as every— every— most people would know. I mean, the show started, you were in your dorm room. Are we going to say your dorm room in some college? We're not going to say where. Okay, so I suspect that a lot of people who did not go to Harvard think that people who went to Harvard think that they're superior. Not that they're not Nazis. I'm not talking about, you know, the rest of you are untermenschen, you know, under people, sub-people, but that they're better, deeper. They're the elite. And feel it and know it. And that's not even what I'm getting to. So I watch you interact with your peers, none of whom went to Harvard, and there is not a trace of that in you.

No, not at all. I, you know, it's interesting because when I was in high school and I, you know, feel comfortable comfortable, excuse me, admitting this, even though it may not sound particularly favorable. I thought if I got into Harvard, it would give me a boost for the rest of my life. Like, I would drive down the street when I was 40 years old and remember the fact that I went to Harvard and feel good about myself. Because that's, that's sort of the perception that, that people in my high school had, like, getting into college was Everything. And I have to— I think about the fact that I went to Harvard as often as I think about how many legs there are on a beetle. I don't think about that often.

You just graduated.

Yes. I don't think about it at all. Actually, it's interesting. I was on a date recently and the guy on the date went to another Ivy League school. And he, you know how I knew? Well, I knew within like 10 minutes that this was not someone who I would pursue a second date with. He was perfectly nice, but it just, it was clear. Honestly, because I asked about reading and books and he didn't have any great response.

I wanna get to that, by the way.

Yes.

That's a big story.

It's very interesting.

I've kept that story in my mind. Go on.

And he kept saying—

Beatles have 6 legs, Sean.

Oh, they do. Oh, riveting.

This is what entertains him. Oh, it's pathetic.

Hey, you guys, your banter before the show, usually it is the most stupid thing alive.

Actually, it's not pathetic, Sean. It's admirable. Beetle in Hebrew means 6.

Really?

No. Oh, go ahead.

See, this is right there.

You see, you gave him great joy just now. Okay, go ahead.

So what was I saying? Oh yes, I was on this date and the guy went to an Ivy League college and he had this complex and I could detect it. It was sort of like a little under the radar, where I think he felt insecure about the fact that I went to Harvard and he didn't. And he didn't, but he went to an Ivy League.

Yeah, I understand.

And so he, at one point in the middle of the dinner, he was like, well, those of us who went to Ivy League school. And that's when in my head I was going, I mean, like, it was just, I don't know, I couldn't imagine thinking that way.

Yes.

And then towards the end of the date, he said, um, because I was talking about a book that, that I was reading that, that interested me, and he said, oh, I took a class, you know, in college, uh, on a similar subject. The professor, uh, of the class was just as smart as any of the professors you had at Harvard. And that's when I detected—

So that was the second time.

It was the second. Happened twice in that date. And I just—

So he's feeling inferior.

Yes. And it was so unattractive to me. I can't even tell you. It was unattractive to me that he was talking about the Ivy Leagues. Like, literally, I was sitting there and I'm like, oh, I want— you're right.

I want—

you know, it's so not a part of my daily life. And I'm not saying this in a self-aggrandizing way.

No, no, I'm the one who raised the issue.

I'm trying to illustrate.

But I want to go further. So I just want to make clear that, look, it's hard. I believe you because you're a truth teller. It's hard for me to believe you think about it that infrequently, but it doesn't even matter. Only because it's recent.

No, I think about— let me make something clear. I think about college a lot. I think about the times I have—

not specifically Harvard.

I don't think that I went to Harvard. I just think I went to college.

Well, I just, I just want to repeat my point that You don't give a damn.

No.

I mean, if you're— you just care about the person.

100%. Yeah.

No, no. It's clear as anything to me because I see your interaction. So my— I have a few comments and questions. One question is, do you think you are typical of the kids who graduated with you at Harvard?

I would say it's 50/50. I think there are some people who, you know, you were describing earlier, think that they're the elite. There are definitely those people at Harvard. And I'm not trying to pick on Harvard. There are those people people at all of these Ivy League colleges. They get off on the fact that they can wear the sweatshirt.

Yeah, I would, I would be surprised if it's only 50%.

I actually think it is, because the other half— and this is what I tell high schoolers now, and I can see they don't believe me, because when I was told this when I was in high school, I didn't believe the person who was telling it to me either— but once you get in, it doesn't— you're, again, you're just in, you're in college. Like, when I would walk down the street—

oh no, I know that once you're in. Yeah, I agree with that.

Yeah, you don't think about it.

It's when you leave, you go outside, and then you, you say, look, it's called the H-bomb for a reason. Harvard is mentioning any conversation. I'm just explaining for others, it's called the H-bomb.

Well, I'll tell you something, I'm so grateful for this job because I think for my peers who go on to work at— and again, I'm not trying to pick on this specific institution, it's just the first thing that came to my mind— Goldman Sachs, or they go on to work at these sort of big financial firms, I think the pecking order matters more in that environment. They, they like sort of talking about the fact that I think it, again, it just, it's more important to the people there.

Yes.

I work in an environment, A, it's already inside me not to care, but you don't give a bleep. They don't give a bleep. No one.

Well, so now I'll tell you one of my favorite little anecdotes. When for all of my career I told people, Don't drive your kid crazy about what college to get into. It doesn't mean anything. And I give a very powerful— I think, tell me if you think, and you know I'm totally open for you to not think I'm right, but it's, it's, it's a little anecdote that I say, you know, folks, I've been on radio, let's say I said this 15 years ago, 25 years, and I have been asked about Everything. People open up about their sex lives. They will ask me about my divorce. They will ask me about my kids. They will ask me my views on everything. Folks, there is only one question that I have never been asked, which is remarkable. When it occurred to me, I thought it was remarkable. Nobody once asked what college did I go to. Here I am giving my opinions on everything. From, from war to peace to the economy to cultural issues, personal issues. Wouldn't you think somebody would say, hey, wait a minute, you know, before I take your word for it on NATO, I'd like to know, you have any background? Where did you go to college? No one. For all they know, I didn't go to college.

Fascinating. You're right.

Isn't that interesting? You never heard me tell that, did you? Isn't that interesting?

I never thought that when I was listening to you for the first time. First time.

That's right. Where did we go?

Stunned by your intelligence, right?

Right. Well, thank you. But, but putting the compliment aside, that's, that's the point, right? You earn their respect. You're either intelligent or not that intelligent. You either make sense or you don't make sense. So I, I try to tell this also to young people like you try, and I don't think it registers, but it's— you're not judged by that the day you leave college. You better be damn good at what you do or bye-bye.

Yes. No, I totally agree with you. I do think there are certain environments like Goldman Sachs.

That's right.

In the beginning, the pecking order matters.

In the beginning.

Totally. Yes.

After 10 years, certainly it doesn't.

What I will say, though, and this is— this comes at the risk of, I don't know, sounding braggadocious, and I don't mean it to. I think about this because on the one hand, I really believe it doesn't matter where you go to college. Truly, the smartest people I know did not go to college or did not go to a recognizable name college. It doesn't— to me, it says nothing about your intellect or your work ethic or your character. Nothing. That being said, there are opportunities that I had, correct, going to Harvard that I know are extraordinary.

That's right.

And so when someone's applying, like, I don't take it so far.

No, there are advantages.

There are huge advantages. And I want to—

and I want people to know that I recognize that those advantages are during those years.

Yes. All I'm saying is maybe after, honestly.

And well, only in connection, in connection with that, only if you want to do a certain work like maybe law or, uh, or finance. And, and that dissipates over time depending on your ability. I mean, I would love— I, I— look, somebody did this actually. They took the first 100 names of the Forbes 400 richest people, almost none of them went to an Ivy League college.

Oh, is that true?

Yeah. Some of them, a fair number, never went to college or dropped out of college.

Yep.

Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard.

I know. He lived in the dorm across from me. They actually preserve the room where he invented Facebook.

Is that true?

Yes. You can go in and look at the room.

That's hilarious.

Yeah.

I mean, that would interest me. The room that he—

Oh, I mean, I'm fascinated by history.

I don't like the guy, but it is.

Isn't he awful?

Yeah, he's so awful. But it is. It is certainly an interesting thing. So before we leave the thing, this topic, I just want to note once again, watching you, it is so obvious. I mean, there is a— there is one terrific, spectacular young woman that you're getting closer to that I don't even— I don't even know to this day. And I introduced you. Where did she go to college?

You know what's so funny? I don't even know.

Oh my God. Am I happy I asked?

I don't know.

You're stunning me. That's— if that's not proof, folks, there is no proof.

You know, I swear I actually feel bad that I don't know where she went to college.

Oh, I have the chills. You have that answer. I was sure you would know.

I don't. I have no clue. I actually feel bad about that.

I feel like I'm a bad friend to you. Oh, I think it's awesome. I know. I think it—

She did go to college.

Wait a minute. Nothing proves my point more than you don't even know. And you're getting quite close.

I can't even tell you how little of a role it plays.

No, no, clearly it plays no role.

No role at all.

Well, so I knew her for at least a year before you knew her, and I, I didn't even— I did— I had no idea. It never dawned on me as an object of curiosity.

You know, it's interesting too for me because, you know, I have the best friends from college, and my— I had the most like incredible room situation my senior year. There were 6 of us. We're all We all were best friends. We are still our best friends. And other people who weren't my roommates, I'm very close to. I'm very blessed. That being said, in some ways, there are my friends outside of college I relate to more in some key ways than my friends that I have from college. It's just different. With the, with the young woman who— what did I say? Young woman? I'm a young woman. That was so weird. I don't know why I said that. That's so funny. You have to keep that in there. With the young woman, I was trying to avoid her name. 'Cause I don't know if she wants us to publicly say her name. That's why I say young woman.

Oh, no, no, no. I'm totally happy for you to say her name.

Okay. No, I know you are. I'm just protecting her in case she doesn't.

It would be very odd. Anyway, you're not giving her last name, so go ahead.

Yes.

Anne.

Yeah. Who is a young woman. Oh God, now I forgot. Oh yes. In some ways I relate to her more than I do with some of my college friends. Again, it's just different. Like Anne and I talk about, I'm reading Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" And, and we were talking about that. We had dinner last night. Um, Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton. That this isn't a, an insult to my college friends. They don't read religious books or they don't read books, um, that are, well, sort of old traditional books. They just don't.

Well, uh, look, you're protecting them and that's fine. 'Cause, uh, and they, they have every reason to be protected 'cause you had wonderful relationship with them and I know that. And it's to their credit and your credit because you didn't agree on a lot of things.

Yeah, it's true.

But the truth is, and this was true when I was at Columbia in graduate school—

Braggart.

Yeah, that's why I'm laughing. That— and I only mention it because it was an Ivy League school. And I remember thinking, they don't read. They read for exams. But otherwise they didn't read.

Yes. Well, that's a problem because in order to get into these schools, I mean, now it's really been exposed with the college admissions scandal. It is such a rat race. It's unbelievable. I look back on the time in my life when I was trying to get into college. It's— it is really bad. Thankfully, I went to a school that didn't have the corruption of the college. And, you know, corruption aside, I'm just saying the process, what the— the good grades, the activities, the sports, the whole thing was insane. And it really killed my love of reading. I since really killed it. Oh, okay. This is you, me. Wait, this is actually—

voracious reader.

Yes. This is actually why I just— I'm having a revelation on air. I feel like I talk about books a lot, both on this show and certainly on my show Timeless. And I think it's because I'm a bit astonished at myself as to how much I'm enjoying reading. So I graduated last May from college. In the past year, I think I've read 14 books since then, and I have enjoyed them so much. And I love reading now because I'm not tested. I'm not forced to do it. It's— I don't have to die if I don't understand every word. It's okay. I don't have to dissect every passage and find the symbol. It's just pure fun and enjoyment and intellectual fulfillment. And I think that's why I talk about it so much, because If you had approached me 3 years ago and asked me if I liked reading, I would have said no.

I'm shocked.

Oh, the high schools and colleges. I'm really sorry to say this.

And of course they kill love of reading. Well, no, no, that's why I said—

Absolutely kill it.

No, I'm not shocked on that score. I'm shocked that you would have said you don't love reading.

That's how I got into the Real Housewives, because the reality TV show I watch, because I just in my free time, I wanted to do an activity that was not reading. It wasn't even an option for me to read a book for fun.

Well, I assume that that still is the case.

Yes. I mean, it is. But now, now I spend all my days reading.

It's because it's so much fun.

I feel liberated, honestly. I feel like I've been released from prison.

Yes.

You know what I mean?

Totally.

And now it's just like, you, you have no idea, Dennis. I read a passage and I think, I don't have to analyze this symbol.

Even if I don't—

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So while we're on the topic of books now— oh yes, yes, tell the story, because I have a lot to say about that. Of the, of the date. I'm telling you, it is worth it for Dennis and Julie that you go on dates. I don't know what material we would have if you didn't go.

Yeah, we would have no material for sure.

It's a real— it would be a real loss.

Oh my gosh. Well, I, again, I just want to make it clear, if you go on a date with me, I'm never going to talk about your name. I'm never going to—

right now, and you're not insulting, you're making an observation, and I, and I would not insult either.

Believe it or not, I do keep things private even on this show, right? So, um, Oh, I don't know why I'm grabbing a book. It's just instinctive.

You're going to talk about it.

Yes, I want to talk about this book. But so actually, that, that wasn't a date. What you're referring to isn't a date. It was a Hinge conversation. So I matched with this guy on Hinge.

Hinge is a singles dating app.

I matched with a guy on Hinge. And one of the first questions I asked was, what is something interesting that you've read recently? The guy wrote back. I would pull it up, but I have the exact response seared into my memory. He writes back, haven't read anything lately.

So that's it. Okay.

So no shame.

That's— well, that— right.

That's the problem. It's not that he hasn't read anything.

You know, I really am embarrassed to say. Yes, that would be fine. I'm embarrassed to say I haven't read anything lately.

Even if he said I'm not big into reading, but I— this is what interests me. You know, even if he pivoted a little bit.

Right.

But it was just— first of all, there are so many things wrong with that response. A, frankly, to me, that he hasn't read anything lately. But putting that aside, B, that he expressed no shame. C, that he didn't try to pivot and talk about something else that was interesting to him, even if reading isn't his thing. And number 4, no reciprocity. It was just a response to my question. He didn't say, what about you? It's very common, Dennis.

So, uh, uh, no, I think it's very common. It's the norm. It's not just common.

That's the norm.

I enter a home and to this day I am stunned how most homes I enter I don't see a single bookshelf.

Really?

Yeah. Oh, you, you, you monitor it next time you go to homes.

Wow, I guess I don't go to that many homes.

Yeah, well, okay, I do, I, I do. It's just the nature of my life in some ways. But now you could say, well, people are listening on Audible, which is perfectly admirable, or even on reading on Kindle, and, and all of that is true. Nevertheless, not to have 10 books worthy of one shelf. So I, I recommend to people, and I'll tell you on what basis, because— and you'll certainly identify with this having been to my home a number of times— so I think people should have a bookshelf of books even if they didn't read one of the books in the bookcase. It— you have that. Yeah, that's—

Sean said that.

Sean has many bookcases of books here. So it is a statement that I value the life of the mind. I value the intellect. I value the book. So I strongly recommend that people somewhere have a Number 2, I know how big an impact this makes on the visitor because of my room with at least 1,000 books.

At least.

I mean, I own about 6,000 books, but I don't have the room for them. But, but the office in which I do my work is, is maybe more than 50, say 1,500 books. The— no one fails to comment on it. No one. If the woman who comes to draw my blood—

no, you get your blood drawn? Well, I guess everyone does it. But why is she coming to your house to do that? Are you donating?

No, it's— I wish I could. I can't. For— I can't. Why? There's a reason. I forgot why.

But anyway, I hate blood. Go on.

Oh, it means nothing to me. I, I I rather have a blood test than a mosquito bite. Oh, it means nothing to me. I— anyway, it doesn't matter. It means nothing to me. I do it because I like to check my numbers and stuff, you know, sugar and all that stuff and fats. And anyway, uh, everyone who comes into that room comments on the books. It's— it makes an impact, and, and they're sort of stunned because they've never— they've literally never seen that many books in their lives. And common question— well, first of all, some people, and, and I find this really, uh, impressive, is when somebody will just walk around and look at the books.

That's what I do whenever I'm at your house.

Oh, of course. Well, obviously it's you.

And steal them. But I always return them.

Okay, then you don't steal them.

Well, there is one book I haven't returned, but yeah.

Well, you temporarily steal them.

Yes. Yeah.

When I was a kid, there was no house without bookcases. Now, of course, again, it was the only way to read, whereas today we have other, other methods, and I appreciate that. But still, it's, it's a disconcerting part of life that the book is disappearing, as it were.

It is, and, and it's sad because, A, I think school has a lot to do with it. They kill your love of reading. And B, I, a year ago, I didn't enjoy reading as much as, I mean, of course, because I was still in school, but I mean, even after I graduated in the first few months of summer, I didn't enjoy reading as much as I do now. It has taken practice for me to enjoy it. I used to become distracted when I would read 2 or 3 pages, or I would think that it was, you know, too much to understand. And now every day when I read, I read faster, I can retain it. Quicker. And it just— I really would encourage people to stick with it because I thought that I was a bad reader. It just takes practice. And now that I'm good at it, I can fly through books and it's fun. I'm at the stage in my life, and it's so exciting, where I get to create my own bookshelf. Like, I get to collect my books. My father, like you, has a big bookshelf in our house. And it's so fun because I get to go and look at the books that he's read and I understand more about him and what he's interested in. And he can stand with me and go, oh, I read that after college. And that was— there's this book about the, the Berlin, the partition of Berlin into, you know, of course, East and West Berlin. And he was saying, I was so interested in it in the '70s when I graduated from college, I got this book. And, you know, it can tell you the story of your life. And that's what the same thing with you when I go to your house. There's that book of that, this is sad, but that young soldier that was killed.

Oh God, yes.

And he was a student of yours at Brandeis Bardine.

Alex, yeah.

Yes, and he was killed in the IDF, right?

Yep, in Lebanon.

But the point is, you can tell me about that person, you can tell me about that part of your life, and now I'm at the stage where I am collecting books and I can tell my kids one day, Dennis recommended this book to me, you know, it changed the way that I view the world, XYZ. It's like a shrine to your curiosity and intellect and personality. Another thing I like about books and bookshelves are that there's so few nowadays that isn't political. And I love looking at, you know, going into— I guess, I mean, of course you have political books and my dad's bookshelf has political books, but it's really nice to see—

Oh, it's overwhelmingly not political.

Yeah, I know that, but it's just—

It's 90% non-political.

It's nice to see the elements of life, you know, like I'll see a book on Thai cuisine or Thai architecture. I'll go, oh, that's, you know, that's a fun part of life. It's just, it's very, at least for me, it's very refreshing to see the possibilities that aren't political.

The lack of book reading is a bad sign because it means People aren't thinking about big stuff. Do you know, I always hesitate saying these words, when I was a kid, because it's often mocked. Oh, every generation says when I was a kid. But first of all, I don't know why when I was a kid invalidates the following statement. It either is valid or not valid. So books were huge. You would never have heard of this, I assume. Did you ever hear of the Book of the Month Club?

No, but that sounds so fun.

You have no idea how big it was.

Really?

It was gigantic. I believe it was Reader's Digest. Well, I'll tell you why it should make you sad. The average American was in the Book of the Month Club, not the elite. The elite looked down upon it because this was the hoi polloi reading their books. And yet every author ached to be the Book of the Month Club choice because it was an instant bestseller.

So was it like, how was it chosen?

It was chosen by— yeah, it was chosen by a committee of elite and/or self-appointed elite. And the Book of the Month was chosen. If you were the Book of the Month Club choice, You were an instant national gigantic bestseller. They sold so many books that they print— the publisher— people don't know this, I knew this because I love books— the publisher published their own version to save money. Wow. For the Book of the Month Club. That's how many they sold.

Wow.

But anyway, I'm just saying. Oh well, you want more amazing to show you the difference?

I don't know if I do because it's going to depress.

It will depress you.

It is depressing.

Dennis Prager. So listen to this. You should look this up. Actually, you should— you should do a podcast yourself on this. What was on television in the 1950s, '60s?

Yeah.

So I'll give you an example.

There—

the classical concerts were a feature of national television. Leonard Bernstein, whom I couldn't stand— he was a crackpot lefty. But he was a very gifted musician, the conductor of the New York Philharmonic and a pianist and the composer of West Side Story. I mean, very, very—

I didn't realize he was a radical lefty.

He's in the book that touched your life. Look up Leonard Bernstein in my book.

Still the Best Hope?

Yes.

Oh, okay.

Yes.

Oh, yes. I remember you talking about it.

He threw the Black Panthers party in his apartment.

Yes, I do. I actually do remember that.

Yes. Anyway, he would talk about classical music during prime time hour.

No, it's the— the degradation of the intellect has been very sad.

Well, yeah, television and college. That's the irony.

So, you know, this is actually something that I've been wanting to raise with you. And if I want to raise it with you, then there's no better place to do it than D&J. And I'm very interested to hear, too, what you— meaning you, the viewer— think about this. So on my show Timeless, I talk a lot about— well, I do Julie Noted, which is a news segment, and then I do Timeless, which are timeless eternal subjects. You know, I did one on is Machiavelli— does Machiavelli deserve the charge of being Machiavellian or ruthless? I talked about cemeteries the other day, burial versus cremation, how cemetery— you know, just stuff that is nonpolitical and I find to be interesting. I have had a lot of people say to me, you need to shift or not change my content. A lot of people like that my content is different, but they say in addition to that content, I should do like TikTok reaction videos. Have you seen those people? You know, they're conservative commentators react to a crazy woke TikTok.

No, I haven't seen it, but I heard of it.

I'm sure you— I'm sure I showed it to you. You You would see it. People, people at home know what I'm talking about. In other words, they think that I should talk about— sort of try to be more Gen Z in my approach, right? They go, one of the best parts about you, Julie, is that you talk about subjects that aren't, you know, sort of in line with your age, like people your age may not be interested in. That's one of the best parts about you. But then they say, in order to gain more Instagram followers, you should do more Gen Z stuff. This may sound like— this may sound a bit dramatic, but I really believe it to be true. If I reacted to woke TikToks as my whole basis of being, I would feel that I would be sacrificing my dignity. And crucially, I would think that I was insulting the audience. I— part of the reason why I don't do low-hanging fruit subjects like, again, reacting to a woke TikTok is because I have enough respect for the audience that I think we're better than that. There has been a degradation in intellect across the board, even among conservative influencers. I think one of the best things about conservatism is that it isn't just a political ideology. It is very deep. Baked into conservatism is gratitude and reverence and respect for the past, all of the past, great music, great art, great literature. And I want to— I don't view— I fundamentally don't view Americans as stupid. I think it's insulting if I just put out an Instagram video that they can just click on and like and react to. I want to elevate all of our intellects and consciousness. And so, but I've been struggling with it, Dennis, because I'm 23 years old. I want a long career in this industry. And whether I like it or not, part of how fellow, you know, conservative commentators who are my age or just commentators in general get followers or get known is by doing this kind of low-hanging fruit. Out social media clickbait stuff. And so it's hard. And I'm sure you encountered this in your career because I know that you always have a standard of conduct and a standard of what you talk about that you don't sacrifice.

You use the word and you wouldn't even know what the word is.

Dignity. Yes. I knew what word you would like because that's one of my favorite words, so I knew it would be one of your favorites too. That's what it is. It's dignity.

I'm debating whether I say this, but we pretty much don't hide anything on this. The sense that I have that I'm talking to me with you is uncanny, and it, it doesn't take anything away from your individuality, obviously, but that has been so operative in my life I know I've told you this, but I know I haven't said this publicly. So in my high school, I ran an anti-cheating campaign, which by the way, had a deeper impact on my life because I had a concern. Am I coming across as holier than thou to my fellow students? Who the hell is he to tell me not to cheat? And he's running a campaign on this. Yet they elected me the class president, the graduating class president. And I therefore learned you can actually try to touch people to be better and not be regarded as obnoxious. It was a very wonderful lesson for me. But anyway, this is what I admit to, which is fascinating to me. And I think to you, I thought it was morally wrong to cheat. That was a given. But half the reason I didn't cheat on a test was dignity. I felt like asking the next guy for the right answer. I was groveling. I was demeaning me. So anyway, I so relate to the dignity issue. Issue. To your specific issue, it's a very, very tough one. When I had a national TV show for 6 months, it had a whole life of 6 months in the 1990s.

Wow.

I don't even know if I knew that about you.

Oh yes, I did.

What was it called?

The Dennis Prager Show. And, and I think, yeah, I think it was called that. And I thought, I thought it was really good. And I had the— you know what? I had Al Sharpton as one of my guests.

Wow.

Yes. Oh, I had everybody.

I'd love to watch. Do you have—

I don't—

tapes or something?

They gave me tapes then, and as usual, I lost a lot of them. Some, some of them are— if you Google Dennis Prager and— oh, God, I just had his name on the tip of my tongue— the famous astronomer. Of the time. Carl Sagan. Yeah, Dennis Prager, Carl Sagan. I think you'll get an example of it. Anyway, they said to me, Dennis, if you want higher ratings, and your show will die if it doesn't get higher ratings, you've got to, you know, bend a little here on your standards. And for example, I said, for example, Well, we want to have some models, uh, model lingerie on your show.

What?

Yes.

Wow.

So here, here.

Wow.

Yes. Well, of course, because that's going to get ratings. By the way, you'll find this of interest. I was very conflicted because I thought, here is one argument. Damn it, have a lingerie model on and get better ratings, and then you can do all the good you want.

Totally. That's what I'm struggling with.

Okay.

Temporarily get the followers so that you you can bring people to the good.

So I'll tell you what I did. I don't know if it was right or wrong, but I'll tell you what I did. Since I remember thinking and telling people in my life, God didn't give me my talent so that I have lingerie models on my show. You know, it's particularly interesting given I'm the one who objected to that, you know, and has been roundly attacked for things that I have said about pornography. Which I was, you know, I had no chance to even explain at length, but it doesn't matter. I'm very, very clear about dignity and about modesty and all about that stuff. Anyway, so what did I do? I said, okay, one time, literally one time, this was the ratings a week or ratings 10 days, whatever it was, but I'm not going to appear on stage with them and I am going to talk to people from— I don't know, was it Victoria's Secret or whomever— about men, women, and lingerie. In other words, I'm going to make an intelligent subject out of what is clearly sexually provocative, the women in lingerie. So by the way, I've never actually seen any of them. I've never seen the episode. I wrote it.

Wow.

Yeah. So that was my compromise. I don't know if to this day I don't know if I was right or wrong, but that was my compromise. So you are dealing— it's not about lingerie, but you're dealing with that very, very real issue, the low-hanging fruit of TikTok, which is, you know, not exactly what you stand for. I get it. Totally. So I would say that if you went my route, but doing it once wouldn't be enough, right? But if you went my route, it would be, I'm elevating the subject. Here is what was shown. Let me give you—

No, that's a very, that's a very good piece of advice.

Well, yeah, because you could do that.

Yes.

Yes.

You know, you know what this TikTok episode symbolizes about our society, folks, or whatever you want to do. So you don't have to go down to the subject, which is your fear, as I didn't go down to lingerie. Not that I— by the way, there's nothing wrong with lingerie. I'm not— that's not my point. It just didn't belong on my show. That's all. I'm pro-lingerie. I mean, if whatever makes a good marriage, I'm for. That's my criteria. I'm serious.

I know.

So you can— I think you can do that. Of, you know, this is, this is rap, folks. Let me just tell you, this is the big issue right now. TikTok. So I'll give you my take.

No, you're right. And look, of course, there's a middle ground between doing it all the time and not doing it at all, you know, and maybe sometimes I'll on my Instagram, I'll do some of those reactions. But I just, I think it's because I really— it was on the subject of the degradation of society. It's interesting because I am pessimistic with regard to human nature, meaning that I believe that human nature is fundamentally not good. But I'm actually pretty optimistic about human intellect. I don't think that people are as dumb as others say they are, especially Americans. You know, there's this idea Americans are stupid, or we have a— there are all these stupid people in the world. Of course, there are many stupid people in the world, and there always will be. But I actually think people are a lot smarter than we think, but they just haven't been exposed to the right material. And our society has been made dumber by all this crapola. And so again, I view it as insulting to present that as the material to the viewer because I view it as sort of milking the fact that we've succumbed to this degradation of intellect. I, I, you know what I mean?

100%.

And I, and the thing is, again, And I think the average viewer, I think all of us were so much better than that. And I don't— I feel like it's almost you're using the— you're taking advantage of the degradation of our society to further your followers. And I think that's all.

I just think it's awful. Yeah. And I—

maybe I'm making too big a deal of it.

That's why I— one of the many reasons I adore you.

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There's no reason why you couldn't. There must be. So go ahead.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just going to ask why only 6 months?

Because it didn't have the ratings. Oh, that was the height of the Jerry Springer. I don't know if you know about that. He, he just passed away. He had a truly degrading show where people— he had bouncers on stage to prevent them fighting with each other. Like the guy who cheated multiple times on his wife, and they come on his show, and then the woman he cheated with is brought on the show, and then the wife and she start fighting. I mean, that was kind of— so that was what I lost out to. And I figured, okay, look, I have to live with me. I have to answer to God, not to ratings. I was— thank God I've never been money-driven. And so I really tried to march to the higher drummer all the time.

So I—

anyway, I'm only thinking though, when I think back at the show, so I was thinking of one episode To this day, I mean, we're talking 30 years later. To this day, I, I feel guilty. This I know I've never said to you. I don't think I've ever said this even to my wife, who knows pretty much everything about me. So one of the— one episode of one of the shows, I had women bodybuilders.

Oh wow.

Which, by the way, Like you, I'm interested in everything. I never met a woman bodybuilder in my life. I thought this will be interesting, and it turned out interesting. But I'm incapable of lying. It's not even a noble thing in me. I don't struggle with it. I should probably I have on occasion been more diplomatic, and I try never to be insulting. That's a very big deal.

Of course, yes.

But these women bodybuilders had a muscular body like a man. They were not trans. They were, they were fully women. They identified as women, but their big thing was developing muscles, giant biceps thighs, and, you know, a washboard stomach with, you know, ripples with muscles. And I said something to the effect, well, doesn't this make you look like a man? And which is what I really thought. And for some for reasons I can't remember, it's in the mists of history. I had a sense that I may have said something that insulted them. And do you know, I have never been at peace since then. Did I— did I hurt any of their feelings by saying that?

Look, I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, but you have no idea how similar we are. I remember one comment I made to a friend in 8th grade that I think was a bit insulting. Totally not— just like you, I wasn't trying to insult her, but I think it was. And I don't even want to say the comment because it's not really bad at all, but it's just—

she called me.

You actually know her? It's actually one of my— yeah, my friends. I, I doubt she would even remember it.

Wait, have you raised it with her?

No, no, I just— I, I don't even want to go back there. It It was about an award ceremony at school. And she didn't get an award. And I think I asked her, like, are you upset you didn't get an award? And I didn't mean it. I sensed maybe she was down. I didn't, but I had gotten an award. I actually gotten two at that ceremony. And I feared that it came off as like, are you sad you didn't get one when I did? Which is not at all how I intended it, but still I've never forgotten it, and I have probably thought about it once a week since then, especially when I'm trying to fall asleep. And I feel, I feel awful about it. I don't know if I should—

because you have the female curse when you go to sleep, you review—

what do I do now? We're 23, it was 8 years ago or however long, and go, hey, by the way, when I got 2 awards and you got zero, I didn't mean to insult you. You know, I don't know if I should go back there, but the point is I am very aware of if I've ever insulted someone. I feel horrible.

Yeah, well, that, that one gnaws at me to this day.

So what did they say? That's interesting.

Well, I don't know, because I must have picked up that it was hurtful.

Yes. Yeah.

Well, look, by the way, I don't think it would be hurtful today.

No, no, it would be—

it might be a compliment.

It may be allowing someone to express their alternative views about gender, you know.

Yes.

That's—

never know.

You know, you were saying you were talking about low-hanging fruit on TV, or I forgot the way the exhibitionism that you were competing with. I— so I read John Hersey's book Hiroshima. We talked about it on the show a few weeks ago. And one of the people who he followed, who was a victim of the atomic bomb, what, a Japanese man went on the American show, I believe in 1955, called This Is Your Life. Do you know that show?

Of course.

Where they brought people from the past. This, I think, what is one of the most despicable moments I've ever seen on TV ever. This guy, again, he was a victim of the atomic bomb. I think his wife died, his kids died. He survived it, had horrible radiation illness. He was brought on the show and his His third grade teacher came on and his cousin, and guess who they brought out? The captain of the Enola Gray, the American fighter pilot who detonated the bomb on the show This Is Your Life. They go, and the captain of the Enola Gray, da da da da. And the guy, the American pilot came out. Enola Gay. Oh, did I say Gray? Yeah, you're right, it's Gay. See, I'll never forget that mistake. In, in 20 years I'll be beating myself up. Um, that's, that's on live TV. And the, in the victim, you know, you could—

what was the point of that?

The point was the show is This Is Your Life, and they bring people from your life.

And, and I guess from your life, the person who— I mean, I defended the dropping of the bomb, but that's so insensitive.

It is.

It— well, the point is the fact that that could go on TV, it was just awful. And it's so sad. Sean, I don't want to create more work for you, but If you can, maybe try to put in video of it in this episode because I want people to see it.

This is your life. Time is standing still as our Earth shakes to an explosion never before equaled. In a daze, you pull yourself from your position position between the two garden rocks. From your vantage point, you again look out over the city. You started to tell us what you saw. What did you see?

Well, I saw the whole city on fire and many people running away from the city in their— in silence, their skin peeling off and hanging from face, from arm, but strange to say, in silence. It looked like a procession of ghosts.

Did you know that Hiroshima had been the first city to feel the force of atomic power?

Well, I didn't know what happened.

But as your mind clears, you think of your wife and baby, your church, your parishioners, all somewhere in the enveloping dust. You start to run toward the city saying, my God, God help them.

And looking down from thousands of feet over Hiroshima, all I could think of was, my God, what have we done?

The voice again of a man whose second of eternity was woven up with yours, Reverend Tanimoto. Now you've never met him, have never seen him, but he's here tonight to clasp your hand in friendship. Captain Robert Lewis, United States Air Force, who along with Paul Tibbets piloted the plane from which the first atomic power was dropped over Hiroshima. Captain Lewis, come in here close, and would you tell us, sir, of your experience on August 6, 1945?

Well, Mr. Edwards, uh, we left Tinian Marianas Islands at about 8:45 in the morning on August 6th, 1945. Our destination was Japan. We had 3 targets. One was Hiroshima, one was Nagasaki, one was Kokura. About an hour before we hit the coastline of Japan, we were notified that Hiroshima was clear. Therefore, Hiroshima became our target. Just before 8:15 AM Tokyo time, Tom Ferebee, a very able bombardier, carefully aimed at his target, which was the Second Imperial Japanese Army headquarters. 8:15 promptly, the bomb was dropped. We turned fast to get out of the way of the deadly radiation radiation and bomb effects. First was a big flash that we got, and then the two concussion waves hit the ship. Shortly after, we turned back to see what had happened, and there in front of our eyes, the city of Hiroshima disappeared.

Now, you entered something in your log at that time.

As I said before, Mr.

Afterwards.

I wrote down later, my God, what have we done?

So, Reverend Tanimoto, you on the ground, and you on your military mission, Captain Lewis, in the air, both appeal to a power greater than your own. Thank you, Captain Robert Lewis, now personnel manager of Henry Heide Incorporated in New York City.

The Japanese man, the victim, He looks very bewildered and he shakes the captain's hand. You know, he's, he's nice, but I just thought it was disgusting. And that was 1955. That wasn't, I mean, compared to the—

No, that was 10 years later.

No, but I'm, I'm saying this was still the '50s in America where American television has only gotten more rotten since then. But you would think in 1955 they wouldn't do something like that.

It is very odd.

I'm shocked it's not more well known. And I'm not insulting people who don't know it because of John Hersey's book. He mentioned it in the book.

Yeah, that's right.

And I went, there's no way this happened. And then I did it.

He wrote a book. Do you know this? Death Be Not Proud?

Yes. Yes.

About the death of—

You talked about it a few episodes ago.

I did.

Minute 48, second 17.

See, she's learning to say the absurd with a straight face. Face.

I feel like I look angry when I'm trying to— oh, that's when I'm trying to stay serious. I go, whatever I said, I kind of furrow my brow to keep a straight face. I'm not as good at it as you are.

You're getting there.

Do you ever laugh at inappropriate times?

I—

some— okay, I— this has been happening to me over the past few weeks. When something— when someone's talking about something that I shouldn't I get in my head and I tell myself, don't laugh right now, don't laugh right now, don't laugh right now. And then I start to giggle.

Well, a lot of people do that. It's usually a nervous laugh. Like my dear friend Joseph, whenever I raise this, it cracks him up because it's exactly what happened. We were both, I was in graduate school and he was in graduate school. He was in rabbinic school. And his school was in the very top of Manhattan. And I lived, I lived close to him, so we got together very often during the week. And we went to a diner, and it was slushy weather after, you know, rain after snow and ice. I tripped in the slush, twisted my ankle, and, um, you know, sort of hobbling in pain, and he starts cracking up. I, I don't think any joke ever made him laugh harder than me in agony with my twisted ankle. I don't— but I'll never forget, the owner of the diner comes out, seeing me in pain, and sees my friend cracking up, and he looks at me, he goes, who is he? And I go, it's my friend. Your friend? He was, he was baffled that I could call the guy cracking up at my pain my friend.

Oh, my friends and I do that to each other all the time.

What, you mean when they're in agony?

When in college, if like one of us would trip down the stairs, I mean, if some— if we were seriously hurt.

Yeah, no, I understand.

But we would laugh. Of course we would laugh at each other.

Yeah, well, okay, I, I don't find that as funny as you do, but my mom and I laughed.

Okay, I shouldn't tell the story, but too late. At my grandfather's funeral, funeral because someone was doing a reading and the reading was kind of absurd. Um, it was just—

oh, that's bad.

And my mom and I just started cracking up, cracking up at a funeral. And we had to sit 6 feet apart. It was— we had to sit 6 feet apart in the, in the pew because we couldn't be close to each other because if we were right next to each other, we would feed off of each other's laughing. So we had— I think people thought we were in a fight And then my mom at one point was laughing and she pretended to be crying.

Anyway, thank God I don't suffer from inappropriate laughter.

Well, yes, thank God. That would be bad. Okay, sorry, I know you probably don't want me to do this, but can I just quickly tell the audience about this book?

Oh no, no, I didn't want you to open up with it. Look, who recommended this book to you?

You!

Yes, exactly.

Okay, well, on this show, so this, because I feel felt a responsibility to our viewers to make this full circle because a few weeks ago you recommended this book, The Story of Language by Mario Pi, and I said I would order it and tell you all about it. And I have followed through.

I'm only the last edition.

Yes.

You said the last edition on Amazon.

I used, obviously.

Yes. Used.

This was published in what? '45?

'49.

'49.

And the guy has published 50 other books.

Yeah.

The guy, he is unbelievably intelligent. Unbelievable.

Yes. Unbelievable.

The, the whole book is riveting. I'm sorry, shameless plug for my show Timeless. I did an episode on what I learned in this book, so you should check it out. What's it called, Sean?

Watch Your Language.

Watch Your Language. That's what the episode is called. This book, I could not more highly recommend it. Any of you who are interested in language, it is— obviously it's a complex subject, but he writes with it in a very simple, understandable way. I'll tell you some things I learned. Icelandic, you don't say the flower, you say flower the. They change the article.

I find that so interesting. Of course, I'd like to know what percentage of those listening find that interesting.

I know, I hope it's high. I can't tell if they just think it's interesting.

I know, I love language. Language is too interesting to me, and that's why I read this. I read this in high school, and it was already in print for 20 years. So anyway, I find that fact fascinating, and I know a lot of languages a little bit. Some I know well, but a lot a little, little, little. That's unique to Icelandic, to the best of my knowledge, where you do the after the noun.

And you know what also fascinates me? Of course, to our ear, that sounds totally absurd. But think about Spanish. You don't say in English, you go, the red shoe. In Spanish, you say the shoe reds.

Okay. So you don't know how much thought I've given on that.

Okay.

I'm sorry. You can't start me on this subject.

I want to start you on this subject.

So what? So here is what I ask. Since when you learn languages, you learn not to think that your culture is necessarily normative.

Yes.

It's very helpful.

Totally. That's what I—

yeah, it's incredibly important to learn other languages. Anyway, I speak English better because I understand the construction of language thanks to other languages. So what's more logical? This is very, very interesting, and I have an answer in my mind. I've thought about this. Book read or red book? The book read or the red book?

Oh, sorry, is red a color or you read?

Okay, so yellow. The yellow book or the book yellow?

The book yellow, I think. Yes, because first you want to know what it is that is yellow.

Exactly.

So actually, they're right. We're wrong.

The yellow book is silly.

It is silly.

Yellow what? First thing you need to know is what it is.

Yes, it's true. But the point is, to our ear, bear the or flower the or microphone the sounds odd. But think about the way that Spanish speakers think it's odd that we say yellow book instead of book yellow. You know, I mean, sorry, there's that again.

I think in Spanish you can do adjective in either way. I know in Russian you can.

You know, Alejandro can— is it— is he in there? We have a Spanish speaker.

All right. Ask him to say the yellow book.

It's the book yellow.

Can you say— yeah, you couldn't say I'm a real libro. Yeah, so he's— that's right. Yeah, it's always, it's always after the noun.

So that's one thing I learned. Another thing which is obvious to you but was not obvious to me: Hebrew and Arabic don't have vowels. They have—

that's well known.

I didn't know that. That's so cool. Uh, Chinese is a picture because they all have—

both of them Nearly every word is composed of 3 consonants called the root.

It's a Semitic language.

So I just wrote about this in talking about love of dogs. So the Hebrew word for— you'll love this— the Hebrew word— this proves, and this is a great illustration— the Hebrew word for dog is kelev. So in English it would be K-L-V. The— how do you know it's kelev and not kuluv or kaliv, or— right, because those are the— there are no vowels, right? So in Hebrew, like in Arabic, there are dots and lines above or below the letter that tell you how to pronounce the letter, but the, the actual word is just the consonant.

It's amazing.

Okay, so here's the beauty. So the Hebrew word K-L-V in— for dog is kelev. For the word like the heart is kalev.

The same exact word means dog and like the heart, but the vowels are different.

That's all. Yes, but it's— but since they don't print vowels in newspapers and in books, you, you have to know the context. Is it like the heart or is it dog? And I— and Hebrew, there's meaning to the words because it's so ancient and it's part of holy texts. I think it's a statement about the value of a dog.

Yes. Well, no, I mean, even just now when I see Hebrew or Arabic written, I used to go, what are those dots? It's just— it's so nice to be able to understand it, even if it's only at an elementary level. One of the things I said on the episode on my show, and I'll say to you here because I know you'll, you'll love it. This is not something that Mario Pai— or actually, I think it's pronounced Pei. Thank you to a listener who told me that.

Oh, really?

Yes. Pei, actually. One of the things he didn't write about this. This is just my observation. I think the more a language is more advanced when it has more distinctions. And the language a civilization uses can tell you so much about what that civilization values. If you look at American Indians in their early societies, and maybe still in some cases today, it's very common to call a tribal leader by an animal name. You call a tribal leader the bald eagle. That did— that does not distinguish man from animal. That doesn't distinguish man from woman. In our society, well, it's increasingly unraveling these days, which is showing the unraveling of distinctions goes alongside the degradation of society. But again, the more distinctions you have, the better. I'll give you another—

Is that his point or your point?

My point. That's my point.

About more distinctions?

Yes.

That's a brilliant point.

Just the stuff that I've learned from reading this book. I'll give you another one that I took away from this book. He talks about language. There's a chapter called Language of Politeness. Politeness and insult. In Spanish, as well as in other languages, they have an informal you and a formal you. That keeps politeness in the back of your mind at all times, because when you're referring to someone, you have to think about, are they older? Are they in a superior position? I like that. Another, another great thing. I love the salutations in some languages. In Russian, as you know, they say, be healthy upon greeting. In Arabic, they say, peace be upon you and upon you be peace. We don't have an analog to that in the English language. We used to though. Goodbye used to be God be with you, and it was shortened to goodbye. Anyway, I could just go on and on about this. I love this book. So I know we probably have to end soon, but I have a final question.

I want you to know, folks, Julie thinks this: meeting Dennis was okay.

Yes.

But the fact that he brought me to this book makes everything worth it.

That is what I think. Yeah, you got it. So you— how many languages you speak? Hebrew? Wow. English, Hebrew, Russian, French. French. Oh, I forgot about that. How would you stack up English to the languages you know? In other— like, do we have more diversity in words? Is it hard?

You know, English has the most words of any language. Did you know that?

No, I didn't know that. That's why I'm asking you the question.

Yes. I love this fact, these things. Here's another. This will end with this. You will love this. I hope others love this too.

I know. Tell us if you do. I'm very— I'm truly curious.

So in 1967 was the famous Six-Day War in the Middle East, right? So there was a Security Council in the UN, Security Council Resolution, I think it was 232. For some reason that number stays with me, but I may be And it, in it, it said that Israel is committed, uh, with peace or whatever, to withdraw from the territories it gained during the war. So at the time, there were 5 official languages in the UN, and English and French were 2 of them. This document was drawn up in English and French. But here's the issue. You can't say in French— well, I'll put it first. In English it was from territories conquered in the war. Israel will withdraw one day from territories conquered in the war. You can't say from territories in French. Des territoires. Means from the territories. There's no way of saying from territories. So the English demand on Israel was completely different.

What made it different? Oh, the territories or just territories?

Territories doesn't mean all of them. Oh, from the territories is all of them. Now isn't that fascinating?

And so was there a dispute at the time about—

there's a dispute to this day.

Well, Of course.

Yes.

Wow.

But the— but English is more precise in that way than French because of the distinctions element. You can say in English from the territories or from territories. You can't say from territories in French.

Isn't it amazing? You just— you wouldn't think of these things if you weren't aware of them. I know that's a classically stupid statement, but yes, but yes, that is a great part of the English language that we have the word the.

That's right.

And we don't appreciate— we don't know to appreciate—

French has the word 'the.' The problem is they, they can't avoid the word 'the.' Oh, I see what you mean.

Yeah.

Oh no, they both have the word 'the.' I don't know any language that doesn't have— one second. No, Russian doesn't have 'the.' Really? Yeah, I'll give you an example. So in English, you could say, 'I am the doctor,' or, or, 'I am a doctor.' You can't do that in Russian. You can't do that. Wait, no, no, you could do it in Hebrew. Hebrew doesn't have a, but it has the. But there, there was no the. So in, in Russian, I am a— I am doctor is how you would say it. I am the doctor or I am a doctor is the same way in, in Russian. Again, your notion of English is the most precise language. It has all of these words.

I want to write an article, like a long-form article on this, the importance of distinctions. And not— you talk about moral distinctions, right? But the moral distinctions are mirrored in the language. You know, Sean told me I need to work on finding synonyms for cool. So I'm not going to say life is cool. I'm going to say life is riveting. C Sean, I do listen to you. Apparently I say cool too much on my show.

Is it C Sean or Sean Z?

Sean Z. See there, I can't see it.

See, it's like the at the end. Is it C Sean or Sean Z?

So finally, I know we're probably over time. What do you appreciate about the Russian language? Can you tell me some fact or some element of it that's interesting?

Well, I love its sound.

It is a beautiful sound.

Well, people find it a little rough. It is a little rough, but it's like every language has its charm. Every language. There's no way around it.

Oh my gosh, I want to ask you more questions.

It's part of the joy. It's another thing. People should have books and people should study a language. I guarantee everyone listening, if you learn a language and you don't have to be fluent. But if you learn a language, I promise you, money-back guarantee, you will be a happier human being.

Okay, which one should I try?

It doesn't matter. You have to ask yourself, what is the purpose? I mean, you're, you know, starting to fall in love with the Bible. Hebrew would be awesome. If you, if you could read the Torah in Hebrew, you'd go out of your mind. I mean, but But, you know, you don't need it for Israel because most Israelis speak English. So it depends what you want to use it for. Do you want to travel somewhere? I mean, they're opera lovers. They learn Italian. Everybody has a different reason. I learned Russian to read Pravda.

I'm— I can't tell you why I'm interested in Russian. Okay. I have no reason.

You don't need a reason because I think it's totally unlike anything I've heard.

I studied Spanish.

Well, it's like, you know, like any Slav. I mean, hearing, it's like Polish, it's like Serbian, so Bulgarian.

You know, Afrikaans is Dutch.

Yeah, totally, of course.

Well, I didn't know that.

The Dutch founded the white South Africa. Yeah. It's interesting to ask the Dutch what they think of Afrikaans. That, see, that's the stuff that I find fascinating. What do you think of this total variant in Africa of your language?

Afrikaans was the easy class at Harvard if you wanted to fulfill the language requirement.

They taught it?

Yes, they taught it at Harvard. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. All the athletes who wanted an easy language because of all their traveling, they all took Afrikaans. So you'd walk into an Afrikaans class and you'd see the entire lacrosse team speaking Afrikaans.

That's hilarious.

Yeah, no, it was known. You want, if you want to learn, take Afrikaans.

All right. Nice.

You can speak to any Harvard athlete in Africa.

I'm sure they couldn't speak anything. No, right?

Definitely not. Because Dennis probably doesn't know how to reach us even after 61 episodes. I will tell you.

@DennisJuliePodcast.

Oh, so close. No cast. @DennisJuliePod. You can also follow me @JulieRHardman. And what's my email? Dear Dennis, Dennis Prager.

Uh, uh, hold on. Julie at julie-hartman.com.

Wow! You get a treat. We gotta get him a Snickers bar or something. Bye everyone, shalom.

Thanks for watching, listening, and tell people about it.

Yes, retweet and subscribe.

Good stuff.

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