Sinatra vs Sheep

Hey everybody, Dennis Prager here with Julie Hartman, and it's the Dennis Dennis Prager and Julie podcast. I think it's fair to say, Julie, that while obviously there's an element of work to what we're doing, it is mostly fun.

Oh, the fact that this is a job is insane. This should not be called a job. We're just chit-chatting.

So, you know, it's an interesting thing, but I, I'm very, uh, open, as you know, and my listeners know. So I want you to know, I debate whether to say this to the audience because I don't want them to think that we take this one whit less seriously, even though we enjoy it so much. You're allowed to take seriously what you really enjoy. That's the ideal.

I have to tell you, when I just said that, I thought, ooh, maybe I shouldn't have acknowledged that.

Oh, so you thought that?

I thought that ran through my mind as I said it because I agree with you. Look, I mean, it is so much fun, but we do take it incredibly seriously. You know, I mean, I read all day every day trying to prepare for this, trying to prepare, and you have years and years of reading and researching under your belt.

So, by the way, as usual, something sets my mind wandering into another realm that I didn't expect. There, that is really the ideal, is it not? That one works and loves one's work. What is it? I— what is it somebody once said? The ideal is to make your passion your work.

Yes, I think that you've really made it in life when someone looks at what you are doing and they can't tell if you're working or having fun.

That's good.

Because, you know, again, this is sort of hard for me to acknowledge because I do want to recognize how hard I work, but I spend, as I just mentioned, most of my days reading. For instance, I just finished The Scarlet Letter, and half of it was I wanted to reread it because—

All right, so I know people are sick of my complimenting you.

Okay.

All right, but never— I will, I will risk it.

Sorry, Juliette.

Is that who it was?

Juliette in Virginia. She's a legend here. She is.

That's true. She started a big conversation.

Yes, she did.

But it's meant as a compliment. But the reason I'm saying it is not to compliment you, is to make an observation. How many kids if I could say kids, how many people your age who just graduated college, I don't care what college, graduated from college, you're right, that's good, I love being corrected, I really, you're right, I don't know why I never say that properly, who have graduated from college just this past few months, in this past few months, in your case it's Harvard, and I only mention that because I want to include the elite or any other university picked up a 19th century American novel for enjoyment. I'm not, I'm not joking. I'd like to know what percentage do you think of people your age who just graduated college? Oh, very small percentage. Okay, so here's, this is a big subject. This is big. If school doesn't engender a desire to keep learning, then what good is it?

Okay, this— it's so interesting that you say that because I think the reason why I picked up The Scarlet Letter is because I'm no longer in school. It is because I've graduated and reading is no longer an obligation. When I read The Scarlet Letter in 9th grade— oh gosh, this is, this is another topic that we have to discuss— I didn't understand it at all. It was way above my head. I think that when you're— a lot of these books I don't like that they're assigned in high school.

That's right.

Because it makes people hate them. And you really do need to accumulate sophistication and life experience with age in order to appreciate a novel like The Scarlet Letter. And I'm sure if I read it in 10 years from now when I'm 32, I'm going to appreciate it even more. But now that I'm 22, dear Lord, I completely understand it now. And when I was in 9th grade, I just— it was— above my head. But anyway, back to my original point. I, when I read it in 9th grade, not only did I not understand it, but I was reading it to take a test, to write an essay on it. And now, because I don't have that obligation, it allows me to enjoy it and actually really understand it better.

Right. But it does. Correct. All of that is correct. But why you and almost no none of your peers. By the way, it was none of my peers. I remember when I was at Columbia, I remember this so vividly because I actually wrote it in a, in something I sent to the New York Times, which they never published and I have no copy of. But I wrote that when, when my fellow students at Columbia were not reading assigned books They— are you ready? They were reading comic books.

Well, now people are going on social media and they're scrolling through TikTok and they're not reading books, period. It would be better if they just read comic books, at least something.

But right, you know, so that goes to my original question. How do you foster— maybe you can't, maybe it's internal.

I think it is internal.

Oh, well, that's depressing.

I agree, but because I have it internally, you have it internally.

It is the, the desire to keep learning. You know, this is a, a little, a little sad, not just— and literally a little sad, but I remember when my dad was It was clear he was in his final years. I mean, he was 96 when he passed away. And he read the— I saw him in his home, maybe he was 95, and reading both a book and the New York Times. And I remember thinking, look at that. We all know, even he knows he's not here long. But what difference does it make? He wanted to learn to the last minute. I thought it was touching.

Well, I have this desire and really, again, I'm sorry, Juliette and Virginia, but you have, you've really motivated me in this regard. By the way, did I say that correctly? You motivated me in this regard. I know regard is your thing.

I now sort of take it for granted that you'll get it right, that I didn't notice.

You say to me frequently when we speak on the phone or in person, you'll just say, I'm having a blast. I love my life. You said to me a few days ago, you said, on my tombstone, it will say he had a blast. And you have really motivated me to embrace the richness of life in all of its forms. And when I read a book like The Scarlet Letter, it really is just, again, I want to experience the fullness of life. And I see the world differently after, I mean, Nathaniel Hawthorne, I could go on and on about him for hours. He is such a magnificent writer. Even the way that he describes—

Do you know anything else he wrote?

Yes, oh, I do. I just ordered all of his other books because I was so taken by The Scarlet Letter.

Like what?

Twice Told Tales. It's a collection of short stories. House of the Seven Gables, he wrote in 1837. And then, oh God, there was the one I just— The Marble Faun. He wrote that shortly before his death, I believe, in 1861.

Do you— I hope that Nathaniel Hawthorne knows that you love him?

Well, I want to go visit his grave.

Where is it?

It's in Salem, Massachusetts. I actually think I did visit his grave when I went to Salem when I was younger, but I want to go back. He had— first of all, The Scarlet Letter is such a deep book with so many important lessons that I think we can talk about. It would behoove young people to learn about today. But also, the most fun part of the book was just the way that he described nature or just everyday things. For instance, this especially resonated with me because, as you know, Dennis, I am— I'm not a good sleeper. I have horrible insomnia. He was talking about someone's sleep and he said it was as fitful and easily scared away as a bird hopping on a twig. And I thought, what a great— like, what a great description.

It takes an original mind to think that way. So listen, Okay, go on.

No, I was just gonna say, and that's just one, like, he has—

yeah, and he talks about the way that, like, the, um, it, it made me feel good that you were reading him, but I, I want to revisit something because I don't want it left that way. It bothered me when we both concluded it's only internal, right?

Right.

It can be motivated, which brings me to what I just did the last 8 days. I was in Florida, I just came back from Florida. And I had the honor, and I mean it's truly an honor, Jordan Peterson, who is a remarkable, truly remarkable human being. I felt this before, and now that I know him quite well, I mean, not his best friend, but we're very, very close in some ways. Anyway, he invited me and 5 others to spend 2.5 hours a day reading verse by verse and commenting on the book of Exodus. So the reason I raise this is I have no doubt this will animate many of the, I presume, millions who will watch this not all by any means, not even necessarily a majority, but at least hundreds of thousands to pick up the book. You— so what's the key? I think the key is passion. When a person is passionate about something, it's infectious.

Yes, it is. You know, I was just in Shawn's office a few minutes ago, and I, as you know, I sit there and I ask him questions about my career and what works on air and what doesn't work, and I'm like constantly interrogating him. I'm sorry, Shawn, and thank you for all of your wisdom. And he constantly says to me, I think this is actually the thing that he says most, if you're passionate about it and it interests you, it will interest other people.

He said that to you?

Yes. I know what you're going to say. He's actually smart.

No, no, he got it from me. There he is. Look at him. It's disgusting. He's patting himself on both shoulders with both hands. So is Rick. Amazing.

He's so right though.

So listen to this. I love the free thought aspect of this. So now I want to talk about passion. So you and I were talking about your dating life, to the extent that we have one to talk about.

I feel like every episode this comes up.

Yes, it does.

Is my mom paying you on the side to talk about this?

She doesn't have to, as you will know.

Oh my God, all the adults in my life, every 5 seconds they bring it up. Okay, yes, go on.

So I, I dated til I married at 32. So that's a long time to date, right? Everyone, not just every single human being who's dated, has had boring dates. It's inevitable. Included in yourself included. Okay, so I am proud to tell you— I don't often say that— what I worked out not to dread boring dates.

Do tell.

Can you guess? I don't think you can.

I can't.

Right. But once you hear it, you will go, great. I— maybe you won't. We'll see how you react. So this is what I decided to do.

Oh no, I made a game of it.

A project, not a game. Yes, I made a project. The project was I wanted to figure out why some people were boring. And I did.

Okay, tell them, what is it?

Well, it leads exactly to what we were just talking about. They didn't have passion. I don't care if the girl had passion about water skiing.

That is so true.

I wouldn't have cared. I would have found it fascinating.

Well, this is such, this is so full circle because I think one of the reasons why people my age would not read The Scarlet Letter is because they don't have interests. They don't have hobbies. I feel like we've talked about this, I know we've talked about this often.

[Speaker] Right, their passions are climate change.

[Speaker] Yes, it's all, I think I said, I can't remember if I said this last week, but I'll repeat it, it's worth repeating. If you went up to 10 university students and asked them, what are your interests? I can promise you that 8 out of 10 would say politics, reading about politics or discussing politics.

[Speaker] Oh, is that true?

[Speaker] And by the way, okay, I do know that I talked about this last week, I feel a little bit like the pot calling the kettle black because look at what I'm doing as a career. However—

No, no, okay. I know it's different. Go on, go on.

However, I recognize that my whole life cannot be politics and it shouldn't be.

Also, you're not reading about politics because you're crazy about politics.

Right.

You're crazy about defending American freedom.

Yes, absolutely.

That's the whole reason I read anything of this.

Yes, yep. Well said. And so, I've actually made a hobby or a project of it myself to go up to people and say, what are your interests? People my age. And I think the reason why we lack interests and hobbies is because from the time that we've been little, and by the way, I have to acknowledge I'm talking about the cohort that I know, you know, Harvard students, sort of like elite university types of students.

How come I never use the word cohort? Never.

It's a great word. I love that word.

What does it even mean? Group?

Group.

What's the difference between cohort and group?

I believe they're synonymous. Sean, you, you check us on that.

Sean, are you a cohort? Were you born a cohort? Are you from the cohorts of Scotland? Okay, yes.

I love that word.

By the way, another word I know you love it, that's why I commented on it.

Uh, a word I've been using a lot lately is conundrum. Another C word. I love that word.

Well, that doesn't have a good synonym. Conundrum, right? Mystery, riddle, enigma. But conundrum is unique, right? Okay, yeah, go on.

What was— so I was saying, um, my co— oh, the reason why we—

you ask your cohort a question.

Yes. And I, and I was saying the reason I believe why we lack interests and hobbies is because, again, from the time that we've been young, everything has been professionalized. Everything has been with the intention of getting into college or getting into graduate school or landing a good job, you know. And so it's sad that a lot of the times people will pursue things insofar as they can put it on a resume and tout it in an interview. And as you know, Dennis, and as you have meaningfully demonstrated to me. So much of developing who you are is that you have to spend time doing things that you can't put on a resume, that you can't tout in an interview, like listening to music or, you know, reading really interesting books that will, again, benefit you in no other way besides enrich your soul. You know, playing a sport. People don't do that. Having a hobby— you can't put a hobby on your college application resume. Having a hobby doesn't help you get into Harvard.

Right, exactly.

Yeah, the difference. Let's hear it, Sean.

The difference between group and cohort is that a group is a number of things or persons being in some relation to one another, while a cohort is a group of people supporting the same thing or person. Cohort is a group of people doing what?

Supporting the same thing or person. So a group is just a conglomeration of individuals, and a cohort, I guess the difference is— They support something? Really, is that true?

Well, if that's true, so you misused cohort.

Oh my God.

I think we should do the broadcast over.

Well, you know I'll beat myself up about that for—

Yes, you will, I feel bad.

6 days.

We should never have asked.

Oh, you know what, this is a little bit of a tangent, but we will come back. I guest hosted for you, had the honor of guest hosting, I should say, for you about a week and a half ago when you were in Florida. Or actually, maybe you were in Utah.

You're everywhere.

Yeah, I was in Utah, right? You are truly everywhere. You asked me how it went, and I couldn't stop thinking about this mistake I made on air. I was talking about Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan who was just assassinated, and I was actually comparing him with Boris Johnson, because I thought, two conservative figures in the news, let's talk about them side by side. And I was referencing a really awful comment that Shinzo Abe made about comfort women, And essentially he denied the role of the Japanese government in recruiting comfort women. And I said to the viewers—

Comfort women were women kidnapped, Korean women kidnapped to be used by soldier after soldier to rape.

Yes. Unfortunately, when I explained that to the viewers, I said that they were Japanese women. I did not say that they were Korean women.

You did? On what, on this broadcast?

On air, I did.

And I didn't correct you?

No, no, no, this was when I guest hosted for you.

Oh, sorry.

Okay, so I actually did know that, so maybe I just misspoke or—

You misspoke. Of course you knew. The Japanese aren't gonna—

Of course they're not gonna draft their own women, right? But you know, it was a mistake, and people wrote it and they were very kind about it. You know, they weren't mean, but they just said, hey, you know, you need to correct this. And you know, of course for 5 days I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Oddly enough, it If I did that, it would bug me too. It would bug me on behalf of the women.

Oh, of course. I mean, it bugs me on behalf of the women. It bugs me because I know better and I knew it and I just misspoke.

But also, it's like a professional athlete. He's gonna make an error. It is part of the game. There's no such thing.

Right. So, okay, let's go back. So I was talking about the cohort and I was saying everything is professionalized from the time that we're little.

This is so important. And that's why I said it to you earlier, what I saw at Columbia, and this is so long ago. They read for exams, just as you put it. They didn't read to learn. Mm-hmm. That's why I said that. But you made a really big point because I knew that a lot of what I was doing, certainly in high school, would benefit me zero in getting into a prestigious college. Zero. So I went every week from Brooklyn to Manhattan to go to the New York Philharmonic Library to learn how to read symphonic scores, which I got so good at I ended up conducting as an adult, as you know. And that's not going to impress an admissions officer. Oh, he went every week to the New York Philharmonic Library.

Boy, if I were the admissions officer, it would certainly impress me, but you're right.

But, but, and I knew it. The beauty of marching to your own drummer. As I get older, I realize this was such a gift. And it, that is me. It's, it's, if it weren't a cliché, I would adopt as my motto the Frank Sinatra song, I Did It My Way. But that is so exactly what I have done with my life. And, and you— I'll tell you, one of the secrets to living that way is you cannot walk around in fear. People fear if they don't do what society tells them. And I, I don't mean in a moral sense. Of course I want to do what society tells me in a moral sense, you know. Don't rob. Don't—

Well, religion more than society today.

Right. But either way. But so I conform to a good moral code, hopefully, with all the sins that any human will commit. But I never feared what will others say. When you can liberate yourself from that, not that By the way, there's got to be a balance because you can't be a crackpot. Of course, it gets you nowhere if everyone thinks you're a crackpot. But the fact that you will be dismissed— look, you've already lived it. Look, I am amazed that you wrote a piece which The Wall Street Journal published, that basically your fellow students at such a prestigious college, no less, were sheep. Do you, by the way, know how many students knew about your piece?

Many, many.

So I would think—

Random students.

Yes, I would imagine that.

Right.

And what was their reaction?

I mean, a lot of them said that they disagreed, or, you know, just— but actually, I have to say, many were polite. I had some people that were a little bit rude to me, but that's to be expected. And I actually had many that that thanked me and that said that they admired my candor. And I had some say, "Wow, you know, I hadn't thought about it that way before." And I actually do believe that because when you're so used to acquiescing to whatever kind of the American elite wants you to do, it's just so a part of who you are and part of your everyday life, you don't even realize that you're doing it. And I think what my article hopefully exposed and what people told me they learned is that they realized that that was part of their habit just established by, again, throughout their whole life acquiescing to what adults wanted. They said to me, I just thought wearing a mask and abiding by rules wasn't a big deal. But now that I've read your article, I do kind of see that it is a bigger deal. It reflects a character defect in all of us that we are so willing to go along with whatever they tell us.

It also is an intellectual defect. Oh, that you don't understand the price paid by your wearing a mask. I know when these people, these, these fools like Fauci and others. Oh, what's, what's, what's, what's this big deal? A mask? It's, it's a few inches of cloth on your face and you're making such a big deal. That is a common argument.

Right.

So I flew from Miami to LA this week, and I was seated next to a young woman who wore a mask the whole flight. I didn't say a word to her, right? You don't talk to people in masks, right? And do they not care? I mean, I don't, believe me, I don't look to talk to the person I'm seated, I have too much work to do on a plane. But I do like to make a few minutes of conversation to make the flight human. And I always do, but I didn't with her.

See, people don't do that anymore. I was thinking about that the other day, like we've just so lost our sense of civic respect for one another. Trust. I mean, when you go on an airplane, yeah, I mean, when I sit next to people, I also enjoy just having small banter because you're right, it does make it human. I mean, sometimes I do cut it short because if you get a particularly talkative person, you're like, oh dear God. But, you know, even on the street nowadays, I often smile at people who I— no one does that. No one will strike up a conversation with someone in line at Starbucks. I even remember a time, and I was born in '99, so that was kind of fading out from our American civic life. But even when I was younger, I remember it existing somewhat. And now at age 22, I never see people interacting.

Well, and you're not talking masks now.

Oh yes, I'm sorry, I've gone beyond masks. I'm just talking, certainly masks have exacerbated the issue.

No, no, no, masks exacerbates. To the extent that you're right, and I don't know whether you are because I'm almost never in line except at an airport, in which case I always talk to people around me and they're generally receptive. Uh, I wonder, I don't know if you're right. I want you to give it a try. Say something next time you're in line. And, and see what happens.

Oh, I do, and people are curt.

They are?

Yeah, they're not rude, but they're just, you know, they'll answer.

It ends with that. It ends, right? Wow.

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I don't— well, if it's true, I have to do it. So you haven't noticed that? I haven't. The masks thing is obvious and obvious. You don't talk to people in masks. You don't talk to people whose face you can't see. People who wear a mask should know that. Of course they don't care because they truly believe it's saving their life. Which is beyond belief, but okay. So if it's, if it's true what you say, I wonder if the amount of hostility of American to American, left to right, is a factor that you no longer see the guy next to you. Obviously a woman, same thing, as just a fellow citizen of the country.

Right. Yeah.

Which is like, forgive me, like, like at a ballgame. The ballgame is the best example. And that's why one of the reasons I loathe the left, because they have ruined everything that the touch— my motto, which is because it's true. So one of the great, great, great achievements of sports is that it superseded politics. If you're both a Red Sox fan, to use state you were just in, if you're both a Red Sox fan, you don't ask the guy who'd you vote for. You don't give a damn. You're— you have something deeply in common. You're both Sox fans. And that— that they killed that in the last few years. Major League Baseball.

Yes. I think a lot of it, to your point, has to do with the intense politicalization.

Politicization. Politicization.

Here we go.

No, no, no. There are some words. Okay, now she's going to— she's not going to sleep for a week.

Politicization.

—coalization. No, forget coal. Politicization.

Okay, so we know the word that I'm trying to say.

The— politicization.

The immense amount that politics plays in our everyday lives. Sean, please edit that out. Just kidding. No, I think it's funny. They keep doing it.

She's not kidding. But don't edit it. But don't edit it.

Don't edit it. Okay, I even do— even though I'm hard on myself, I do have a sense of humor. I think that's funny. Keep it in. I think you're right about that. I also think, though, it's because not just things like sports, but just in general, community-promoting activities have really gone by the wayside. For instance, church. People don't really go to church anymore the same way that they did.

Even just— Well, you have no idea because it precedes you. Rotary, Lions Clubs. Rotary.

We've talked about this. Yes.

Even, you know, just my parents met with other adults their age every month on a Wednesday night at one of their homes to discuss a book that they read that month.

Oh, I love that. I've been thinking about starting a book club, by the way. I think that'd be really fun among people my age. I mean, I don't know if they would do it.

It is definitely worth trying. Yes. What would you use, Facebook? What would you use to get the word out?

Oh, I would just text. Oh, okay, well, I was thinking really with people I know, but I guess the fun part is the public.

Yeah, that would be fascinating.

Yeah, I guess, I mean, I've been trying to get off of social media. I just deleted my Facebook and I deleted the app of my Instagram.

Is Facebook starting to fade? I think so, yes.

Why? I mean, I would love to think that Mark Zuckerberg and all of his antics would have something to do with it, but I think it's just that, Instagram, I think, is more conducive to a dead-end mind, and maybe that sounds really harsh to say, but Facebook, you write kind of longer posts, and it's actually more of a forum for discussion. Instagram is more like you post the picture of the food, you post the picture of wherever you are. So it's right, it's really superficial.

It's superficial, which appeals to people. I have a public Facebook page, which means I don't have a Facebook page. Page, obviously. If I were a normal private citizen, I, I always think I would love Facebook. I would love— because I love people. I can't stand humanity, but I love people. That's my old line. And I would love to know the, the people that I have met and, and just have an insight into their lives. I would find that fascinating.

[Speaker:KATIE] In many ways it is fascinating. I mean, social media is not all bad, but I would so much rather, maybe because I've seen how bad it can get and how people don't use it for that reason and how they become addicted to it, I would so much rather figure out those things about people I know through just talking with them and meeting with them. Because now what happens is that Facebook and Instagram are substitutes for person-to-person storytelling or contact. So I'm trying to get off of them. And by the way, I have. In the past 2 weeks, I completely permanently deactivated my Facebook. I deleted my Instagram app. So I still have the account, but I just deleted the app off of my phone. I'll probably delete the whole account.

Well, how do people— but you have a website.

I have a website. Oh yes, people go to my website and they can email me.

I always— julie-hartman.com. Well, now, how many people spell Hartman H-E-A-R-T? I think I've never seen that.

No. Oh, good. Um, and I went off of Instagram for 2 weeks, and it was, it was incredible. It just— you can't imagine. For you, I mean, you're not on Instagram, so you live life this way, but just to, just to get rid of that and actually just live in the world—

there are parents now suing Instagram. Really? Yes. Oh, I didn't know that. Yes. So listen to this. I, I didn't read it deeply, but I, I read the opening paragraphs. Their daughters, they claim, got depressed and, uh, even in some cases anorexic seeing the models, the girl models on Instagram. Apparently that's a very big deal. It is. Girls in bikinis are showing their bodies on Instagram. Okay, so Do you buy that?

I don't, well, wait. I certainly buy that girls are becoming depressed and developing eating disorders as a result of Instagram, absolutely. I've even seen it among my peers. So tell me an example. Well, I think that especially among women, it fosters this culture of showing off what you have, whether it's the vacation that you're on, the food, I mean, people post about food all the time, the cool restaurant that you went to, and of course bodies fall into that. And so it's sort of in vogue for people my age, especially women, posting— well, exclusively women because men don't really post body photos—

posting on gay sites, right?

Right. Posting bikini photos. And I think that is because you see these models on Instagram and they're so beautiful, and you— I don't know, you just kind of want to show what you have and impress people, right?

But I'm thinking, is there a male equivalent? Obviously not in body. But this, to the extent that it would actually cause a psychologically disordered state, it's hard for me to imagine a male analogy. If I— so this guy posts he makes much more money than I, I can't see that happening. A guy may wish, oh, I wish I earned that much money. That may be more of a female problem.

Oh, totally. Oh, absolutely. And by the way, when you just asked me about a minute ago if I buy that, you know, when you were talking about the suit, I originally reacted a certain way and then I said wait a minute. My original reaction was, although I do buy that Instagram is harming young women, I don't think it's right for the parents to sue Instagram.

No, that's absurd.

I mean, that's absurd.

No, no, no, of course. You might as well, Sue, the billboard makers. Of course.

Yeah, I mean, that's absurd. But yes, I certainly buy what, what they're saying.

So I didn't have a daughter, so I— if I did, so what I think, and I don't know the answer because I don't have one, but what would I say to my daughter who, let's say, was a normally attractive— not, not glamorous, normally attractive Young woman, because most young women are attractive, are normally attractive. Some are obviously more than others. Okay, so what would I say to her? I wouldn't say don't— I don't think I'd say you can't go. I certainly wouldn't ban Instagram.

I don't know how I might for my kids.

Okay, so but if you did, won't they see Instagram on their friends' phones? Probably.

Probably. But there's a huge difference between just seeing— for me, I— So you, you—

oh, that's an interesting thing then.

I would, you know, well, this is interesting. I want to hear your take on this. I think a lot, especially recently, about how I want to raise my children. I think that's just a part of getting older. You reflect on your own childhood. Of course, right. And there are so many things I'd like to emulate in my parents. This in particular has nothing to do with my parents. But I did grow up especially at the age of, really Instagram came into vogue around when I was 13 years old. I had an Instagram for most of high school. I actually went off of it on my own volition in 11th grade because I just thought it's taking up too much of my time, it's not healthy. I dream though when I have kids of not giving them a phone until they're like 17 and accordingly not letting them be on social media until that age. I so badly, and I'm so lucky I had a childhood like this before phones really came into being. I just, I want them away from that crap. I want them to play and see the world.

So my instinct is a little different, and I'm not saying it's right at all, and I would tell you if I thought I was right. I'm just telling you my instinct. My instinct is confront the devil and figure out how to manage it. Fair enough. I think to a certain extent I would say to my daughter, hey, listen, You will always see pictures of more beautiful women. That is the way the— which the world works. Mm-hmm. You must understand, and I'm telling you as a man, that's what I am, is your father. Men don't— this is, by the way, a really great discussion. You know, the video I may be most proud of, of the 50 that I've done on PragerU.

Now, what is it? That's a lot to be.

Yeah, it is. He Wants You. Have you seen it? No. Oh my God. Oh, you, you will actually— you will respect me more after that. Oh, I love it. I am so— yes, I am so proud of it. You have no— it was such a difficult subject. So in a nutshell, listen, so I was— this is, you know, my mind. I see something, oh, that raises a great issue. I'm reading in, I think, the Daily Mail in England, or maybe not, some English website, that there's a lot of— there are a lot of problems when a couple go on a vacation to a beach resort because the husband is looking at all these women in bikinis on the beach and the woman gets resentful and insecure.

The woman is also looking at all the women in bikinis on the beach, right? Correct.

That is entirely accurate. Accurate. So I— it's the funniest video I did and the wittiest and, and most healthiest. Most healthiest. I like that. Definitely the most healthiest. So my theory is that the truth— I mean, it's a long thing. Women don't know men. There's no possible way. Men must teach women who they are. Most men don't. They're embarrassed by male sexuality. They, they, because we're at, at bottom, we're animals. It's just a fact that the finest man on earth is also a male animal. Like, there were two beings in me, the male and the man. I want the man to conquer the male But the male is there. There's nothing I can do about it. I made peace with my being an animal at a very early age. I give my father great credit to that, and it has helped me explain men to women. By the way, I have— I appreciate the candor. Oh, well, that's the only thing that helps people. People are afraid to be candid. It's horrible. It's horrible. So I— so what I explain it, and it's really well done, I explain, I want you women to understand something. It is true, your man did look at these women, and he may have even lusted after them. But I want you to understand something that you can't possibly know because you're not a man. He forgets how they look in 30 seconds. Out of sight, out of mind, literally. And the fact is, go back to the hotel room and you wear a bikini, he'll be a very happy man. And women need to know you don't have to look like that woman. Now, obviously there's, there's a limit to that theory. There are women that many men won't find attractive. It's a tragic fact, and to deny it helps nobody. But there is a very large parameter. If he married you, the odds are— or if he's your boyfriend, the odds are he's attracted to you. That's one of the reasons he's dating you or married you, right? So you put on a bikini in the, in the hotel room, and voilà, end of, end of issue. You remember those women, he doesn't. So you think— I know it's interesting, and this is news to you because you're a female. So it is. So what I would do— that's back to the, to the origins of this discussion. My daughter is seeing these glamorous women on Instagram. I need to help her deal with it rather than have her avoid that fact.

Let me clarify something. It's hugely, hugely important. I 100% agree with you. I would not want to deny the existence of beautiful women to my son or daughter. I would want to help them deal with it. The reason why I am so adamant about hopefully getting Instagram away from my kids isn't that they're going to see beautiful women. You know, it's not that issue. Instagram deadens you all day. You're mindlessly scrolling.

Oh, I agree with you.

No, no, we're both right. Yes. And let me tell you, and again, I'm, I'm sorry if this comes off as a compliment to myself, but I have a very active mind. I love reading, I love learning, I, you know, but I even find I'm on Instagram and I'm scrolling through videos of like people playing with silly putty or people making a recipe of cookies and it captures your attention and I'm just over and over. Fascinating. And that's what people do. That's what And literally for hours, hours, and I see my friends do it.

You go on and you're— My God, compared to that, movies are deep. Oh, oh, totally. 2 hours of one idea. Yes.

Or one plot. Well, look, maybe they're not spending 2 hours, but they're spending 2 hours—

No, no, no, I'm saying a movie has to be deeper. It's 2 hours of one idea.

Oh, totally. Well, what's also interesting, well, first of all, there was this fascinating documentary, maybe it was on Hulu, I can't remember, but it talked about, it was called like Hooked or something, how these apps are designed to rope you in and make you addicted. And they deaden your brain because with each swipe you're getting, you like think you're getting something new. But God, I can't, I can't even tell you.

In light of that, I want to tell you something interesting. Mm-hmm. So while in Florida this past week, so I had this 8 days of recording The Exodus with Jordan Peterson and a few others. But it was only less than an hour from my son's house, who lives in Fort Lauderdale. So I was there. I visited them whenever I could, and it was really wonderful. And I'm going to show you what my grandchildren wrote to me. Oh, I have to say I was very, very moved. Anyway, so on my— I am religious. I'm a religious Jew, as you know, and many of those watching or listening know, but I'm not fully Orthodox. So I, for example, use electricity on the Sabbath, and the Orthodox do not. So I was at my son's house, no electricity on Shabbat. What does that mean? It means something you will love. It means the kids cannot use their phone for 25 hours or 24 hours. And what happens? I saw it with my own eyes. A whole bunch of kids come over on Shabbat and all they do is play.

I imagine that it is liberating for them.

Oh, it's beyond healthy. They're playing with other kids with no video, no phone, no audio, nothing. Just playing. It doesn't happen in America. No, that, that's— kids get together. I know it does.

I'm sorry, no, I'm supporting how people—

I am supporting your point.

Yes. Oh my gosh. But I, I'm sure that it is liberating for them because look, People could do that themselves. People could say to their peers, hey, let's put the phones away and just talk. But they don't. So it's so much better when someone else does it for you. God, maybe I just need to convert to Judaism and that's the solution to having my kids off of their phones.

Well, what you would have to do, and you'd have to obviously, it would be Well, I did it. I'll be honest, I did that. I did not allow my kids— I allowed my kids to use electricity, I'll give, but only if it helped make Shabbat better, not for, not for non-religious reasons. But I, I have a very— look, as again, I march to my own drummer because the Orthodox are not happy with me in that way. They're happy with me in every other way.

I'm sure they I'm sure they can push that aside and be happy with all that you've done.

Most can, not all. But it is what it is. But I remember when my older son was about 8 years old and he said, Dad, can I use— then it was, can I use my cassette recorder on Shabbat? And I said, sure, if you record anything to do with the Torah or religious songs. And that ended that. That was not what he had in mind. I mean, if you wanted to play, you know, the Book of Exodus. That's fine, use the recorder then.

You know something else that is important in this Instagram discussion? It actually dovetails nicely with what I was talking about earlier with how my generation does not have hobbies or interests. Every single Instagram, or I should qualify that, almost every single Instagram I've seen from people my age, and I've seen a lot of Instagrams in my day, they all are the They have the same kind of structure, the same kind of content. And it's so interesting to see like the waves of what's in vogue. So for instance, I'll give you an example.

Yeah, I'm dying to know what's in vogue.

Okay, so when I was younger, when I was like 13 or 14, you always posted a montage for your best friend's birthday or, you know, some of your friends' birthdays. And that was sort of your way of outwardly indicating, like solidifying your friendship. You were not a real friend to someone if you did not do a birthday post for them. And part of it was people would post these video montages and they would go— they would like make it on an app and the pictures would zoom by so fast. And the idea was the more photos you have in the montage, the better friends you are, the more memories you've had. And people would write paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs of all of their memories and all. And it was like it was an ordeal. And you always did that for your friends. And a lot of it, again, was political, not in the sense of now, but in the sense of solidifying your friendship. Okay, so that was a phase. Another phase was you put white borders on whatever post you had. I don't know, people just thought it was aesthetically pleasing to do that. Then there was this shift where Instagram became quote unquote casual, where people got rid of those borders big birthday posts. They got rid of the, you know, carefully curated white-bordered posts, and they posted, you know, a picture of a flower in their garden or, you know, a quote-unquote candid— of course nothing is candid— picture of themselves and their friends lying on a couch. So my point is, like, when Instagram changes, when the— when what's in vogue, the style of your post changes, everyone changes their Instagrams accordingly and marches in lockstep. It's so fascinating. And so nowadays, I think, again, I'm sort of off of Instagram, as I mentioned, but people post a lot about food. They do a lot of these seemingly candid posts that really aren't. And everyone does it. Everyone does it.

So tell me, because I don't quite quite follow.

Okay. Anyone who's my age listening will know exactly.

Oh, I'm sure. I'm talking. So, okay. But the reason I don't follow may not be an age issue. It may simply be an interest issue. Okay. It's hard for me to imagine unless I'm a cook, which a lot of people are, why I would be interested in anything specific to food.

I mean, I agree it's stupid. I think that it's—

No, no, no. But stupid or not, You still understand it, no? Oh, of course. So explain it to me. Well, so give me an example, like, hey folks, I got a great pizza recipe. I, I, I don't—

oh no, it's not recipe, it's like, it's like a picture of the pizza that you got at the restaurant you may— you went to.

Wait, so why is it—

so that's even more remarkable. You know what I think it is? Yeah, I've thought a lot about this because I agree with you, why the hell would anyone care, right? I think it's I think it's, first of all, everything in my generation, or almost everything, is for the affect. It's for how you are perceived. And so I think the reason why people do that is they want to show that they're doing something interesting with their lives. I think they're actually trying to give their lives meaning and saying, wow, I have an interesting life. I'm going out to a restaurant and eating great food. See, I have a rich life. This is the proof. That's my theory. And you know what? How sad it is that our, you know, the thing we brag about or the thing that we try to indicate as evidence of having a full life is the pizza that we ate? That's really sad. But that's what it is now because people don't, people really don't have a lot of other richness to their lives besides the restaurant they went to.

I believe you hit on something.

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What am I going to say? I'm not going to beat a dead horse. So it, it's so funny how as far off as we go, it comes back to that passion thing that I began with when I discovered that boring dates, they didn't have a passion. There was one other, by the way. There was one— I, I isolated two traits about boring dates. One was the, the woman, and it would be the same for a man, but I didn't date men, that she wouldn't be passionate about something. And the other was the boring individual didn't ask me anything about me, right? And it wasn't my obsession with me. I'm not obsessed with me. I asked the whole night about her because the truth is I am interested in— if you're not interested in others, you're boring.

If you're not interesting, you're not interested.

Well, that's what I had a great line for my kids. I used it once because it ended it. If either of my boys ever said to me, I'm bored, I said, no, you're not bored, you're boring.

Every parent should adopt that. Isn't it great? I have this ability and I really, I love this about myself. I can like figure out how to make any situation interesting or fun, even just sitting on an airplane when people are boarding. I love people watching. Oh, me too. I love seeing how many have tattoos, how many have died, you know. Right.

So here's what are their shirts. Right. You just make it fun. I exactly make it fun. Oh, I did that with something and I forgot what it was. I gotta try to remind myself. You do that with a lot of things. I do it with anything I can. But I, when I sit in first class, so I see everybody coming on and sometimes I will count masked versus unmasked because I'm just curious how many people still wear masks. And it's depressing, actually. Oh, it is. Another one is tattooed versus non-tattooed. Uh, another is just by race. I'm just curious who's boarding this plane, right? It's so you can make all sorts of contests for yourself.

And I also love watching the way that, um, families interact with one another, or husbands and wives, or their children with their parents, or, you know, it's just A guy got on.

I would have loved you to have been there. A guy of about 20, about your age, 22, I guess, boards the plane with his girlfriend. I assumed it because she was right in front of him and he was talking to her. So yeah, I'm sure it was a girlfriend, maybe his sister. I doubt it. But anyway, He was whole— he was very non-masculine and holding a giant stuffed animal.

Oh God, was it a service animal or a—

no, no, yeah, I, I have— uh, geez. And wearing a mask. Oh, of course. So let me just say, was he also wearing like a BLM t-shirt or something? Well, right, so my My assumption was he wasn't one of those who was going to ask me for a selfie.

Oh yeah, definitely not.

You know, that's interesting. With all the people who asked me for a selfie at the airports, not one was a mask wearer.

Well, that would make sense. Makes perfect sense. Yeah, the mask wearers would be disqualified.

And I would take a selfie with a mask. Of course. Yeah, but, but It does make sense.

See, that's the thing. We don't— I don't— I mean, do I feel sorry for them? Yes. I don't.

I don't care. I admit I care. I don't— I will never treat them poorly, right? But I do care for the reasons I told you. Yeah.

Okay, you know what, you're right, because I do care.

Society pays a price for their mask. No, no, God forbid. I— like I said, but the— but it was a It was a— it's a long flight, Miami-LA. It's 5 hours. And not to say essentially a word to the person next to you, it's very odd for me.

Oh, that's routine for me on, on flights, or even not to say a word. Well, just to have people just not— I mean, I say a word.

So I have a standard thing to all— I always do. You ask if they're married? No. Oh, that's right. If they don't have a mask on and we actually talk and they're young. I don't ask 40-year-olds.

Just admit it, you ask all the young people.

I do, yeah, yeah. Generally, you're right. But no, the way I open up any conversation, 'cause I am curious, I just say, so are you from here or there?

Yes, I do that too, yes.

And then if they say, so I'm from here, all right, what brings you to LA? Or if I'm from there, oh, how come you were in Miami? And that, that, it just interests me. What do these people do? Why are they? And in first class, I'm particularly interested. Obviously, they must be somewhat successful financially speaking. Their life may be in shambles otherwise. You know, what do they do that enabled them to do this?

You know, when I was younger, of course, now I don't really do this because I just enjoy having a genuine conversation with someone and learning about them authentically and have them learn about me authentically. But when I was younger, my wonderful mom would entertain me on 5-hour— you know, we would go— my fam— a lot of my family's from Massachusetts, so we'd fly to Massachusetts and we'd travel across the country a lot. And she would entertain me by pretending to like be someone else on the plane and strike up a conversation with someone. Like, really? Yes, she'd pretend to be British. My mom is She is such a character. She's so much fun. She can do any kind of accent, and she's one of those observant people where you would make up conversations. Oh yeah, my— you know, like, where are you from? From London. We're from London. You know, she was just like— or, you know, she'd do like a Southern accent. Oh, it was so funny. It was so funny. Like, she would— see, I've just continued with the Southern accent. She would do it for the whole like 6-hour flight. And she would adopt the mannerisms of the day. It was so fun.

I don't think I flew with my parents once in their lives, now that you mentioned.

Really? Why?

Well, I have to say it in a way that does not mislead people. I didn't want to do much with my family. Again, the candor.

That's— well, that's what we were talking about the other day on the— sorry, I don't want to cut you off, but no, no, go ahead. That— what we— I mean, we were talking about this idea when people say that they're close, they say that they're like family. Oh God, you had a very interesting intervention. I'll let you explain.

Okay, so I have to explain the last thing. My parents were wonderful human beings. They, they they spent very little time with the kids. They spent a ton of time with each other. They— their, their life revolved around each other. And I, I ironically sort of thrived as a result, I think, more so than my brother did. Uh, and he's fine, but I'm just saying, I don't think He thrived. I built up tremendous strength knowing that I couldn't really rely on the home as this place of comfort, or at least of emotional comfort. It was certainly secure. Look, we're all— we all have natures, so my nature worked out with this well, but I did fly alone a lot. And I'll give you a very funny little anecdote from my, my childhood. So my mother's sister, whom I loved, Aunt Chippy, she lived in Florida.

Oh, I have an Uncle Chippy. An Uncle Chip?

An Uncle Chip, but I call him Uncle Chippy. Well, the— that's, that's how— that's odd. So we— when visiting her was like the highlight of my life because all she did was love me up, which I didn't get at home. And it was Florida, which to a New Yorker was Shangri-La. Even before DeSantis, Florida was— well, then it wasn't political Shangri-La. It was just— right.

Of course it was.

It was what it was anyway. So they They, at 7 years of age, they sent me for 6 weeks to visit my Aunt Chippy. Wow. Missing school and everything, which to their credit—

I'm sorry, did you mention the month just now? In the winter. Oh, in the winter. Yeah.

So you missed school to visit Aunt Chippy? Which I was thrilled about. But so here's the interest. First of all, I didn't miss my parents. Why would I? I got all this love from Aunt Chippy. But the point that I wanted to make was the— at the funny anecdote, to give you an idea of the independence that the way I was raised bred in me. I finally come home after 6 weeks, and guess what? My parents were late to the airport.

So what did you do?

No, no, just the very notion, the thought. Today, parents would have been there an hour before at least.

Oh, especially my parents.

To sign all documents. Those days there was nothing to sign. So what— this is the punchline. I'm 7 years old. My parents show up late. They arrive at the baggage place. I'm tipping the bellhop, the, the, the yourself. I'm giving a tip to the guy who takes the luggage.

Oh my God. Can, can I ask a, well, before I ask this question, I want to clarify the point I brought up when we were discussing people who are close and I said they're like family. I loved your rejoinder. You said, no, it's better to say that they're like friends. Yes, because you choose your friends and you develop— it's just people, right? You explained it better than I did, so go on.

The word romantic has two meanings, and they, they have nothing or almost nothing to do with each other. So if there is romantic behavior and there is romantic thought— romantic behavior is I tell my wife how beautiful she is, which she is. You know my wife.

She is.

And, and I tell her how much I love her. That's romantic. Okay, that's good. Romantic thought is not good. Romantic thought is romanticizing reality. I do not think romantically. I, I know that families have built-in issues in almost every case. So the idea that you say about, let's say, two, two, uh, let's say two women who are very close, they're close like sisters, or two guys are close like brothers, but very few brothers are that close. Yes, very few sisters are that close. So better to say about two sisters, they're so close, they're like, they're as close as friends. That was what I was saying.

Can I ask you, perhaps it is too invasive of a question, and please, you know, tell me if you don't want to.

It's very, very hard to get a too invasive question.

That's fair, but I still, I would like to preface it with that. Okay, so, and I know how much you, um, respected and loved your parents, but you know, you're telling me this story. They send you away for 6 weeks to see Aunt Chippy, and then they come back and you're not— you know, uh, they're late to the airport. Did you—

I mean, I didn't think they loved me when I was a kid.

Did that— because what I admire about you is you have, you know, you're such a healthy person. You know, I know you don't view yourself as a victim. No. But that must have made you so sad. Well, did it?

I didn't. So here is a very interesting thing. Very interesting, and I haven't resolved it myself because I think about me, but I, I'm not important. I think about everybody. So I have actually posed on the, on the radio, on the Happiness Hour— I haven't for a long time, I maybe I'll revisit it— how important is it to have a happy childhood? It sounds almost absurd. Of course you want every kid to have a happy childhood. I wanted my kids to have a happy childhood. But that's not the question, what do you want? It is how important is it? Because I argue, at least it's true in my case, what I did was develop antibodies.

And it, it's a good way of putting it.

Yes, especially today's world. I was vaccinated against emotional problems, as it were. So starting in, in, in 6th grade, not until then, I sought love from guy friends. I've— from 6th grade to today, I've always had guy friends that I loved and loved me. Love is love. Who it comes from is very secondary to getting it, right? You know that I've never said this publicly. I've never— no, no, the story I have, but I never said the thought. Love is love. It doesn't matter who it comes from. That is a very big deal, what I just said to you. And it certainly was true in my life. I did not feel loved by my parents when I was a kid. That's just the way it is. I was not all that happy as a kid. However, starting at the age of 14 to today, I've been happy.

So did you, would you say you had a happy childhood?

No. Right. But I had a happy adolescence.

Right. Well, I am preoccupied with this question actually because of the way that I think about America. We've talked a lot on this podcast. I know I said recently that wokeism is synonymous with spoiled brat syndrome. The worst thing that America ever did, well, obviously besides slavery, you know, there are many bad things that America did, but take it what you will, what I'm about to say, you know that there are qualifications. The worst thing America did is that it became such an incredible, prosperous, free country. Because I think the biggest problem today is that we have a generation or two or three of ingrates. People who don't even know how lucky they are because they've had it so good. I mean, even the other day, I was just driving up to Starbucks. Unfortunately, it was not the Starbucks on La Crescenta that you would like me to go to where you saw that guy reading— or someone saw that guy reading The Rational Bible. But I was just driving up and I thought, even the fact that like the roads are paved and I don't have to worry about like getting shot, you know, like there's just so many— I can go to a Starbucks, there's, you know, I don't have to worry that my Drink is contaminated. I mean, every step you take, we are so lucky. So it goes back to this thing about childhood, because unfortunately, if you have too good of a childhood, you end up being ungrateful and really crippled by that. I, I know from personal experience, I feel so lucky looking back on my life because I did have a happy childhood in all of the ways that are important. You know, I did feel love enormous amounts of love from my parents. I felt like they— very secure in my house. They really supported me. But also, as I talked about a few episodes ago, my sister Gina and her autism and the, the horrible situation surrounding her care caused me a lot of pain. And obviously I would not wish that on my sister. I'm not grateful that she has been in that situation. I'm so grateful that I had that balance.

Who you are. That's right.

If it were too good, that would not be good for me. Yes. And now that I'm an adult, I see so many people, especially a place like Harvard, so many privileged people who have never had to endure any kind of hardship in their lives, and they really are crippled as a result of it.

That's right. That's the big issue. They, they, they don't know pain, or they— and they expect life to be pain-free.

Right. We were just talking about America. Before we forget and this podcast ends, I have to give a shout out to one of our listeners. His name is Steve Freed. Steve sent us— Oh, God, that's right. These Topps cards. A few episodes ago, we were talking— I forget how it came up, but Dennis Prager said that when he was younger, he— oh, I think I said because I bought this book on the states, or I had to learn— listen, whatever, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.

See, um, these shaped me. And Steve found them on eBay. So what was I like, 6th grade? Did you figure it out?

Uh, oh yes, I learned the states and capitals and countries.

When this set of cards came out— oh, was I in 6th? No, no, was I in 6th grade? Did you see the years? No, because I think the years were the late '50s.

There's no year, but here's how you know that it's quite old. United States, here I'm holding up the US card.

Doesn't it have 50 stars?

Oh, that's quite interesting. I think it does, but it says, ready for this, the population is 162 million. It's now double that. Well, but that's really the Eisenhower era.

Right.

But you can see these cards are so old, and I love that because they're just filled with this.

Yes, Steve Freed, thank you.

Steve, thank you. This was so thoughtful.

Fight between Julie and me because I want them and Julie wants them.

Hey, I'm sorry, maybe this is going to start a fight. It was addressed to me.

Okay, in order— because he didn't know my address, he sent it to the Salem studio. Okay, that pretty much ends that.

But he did write a card that said, 'To Dennis and Julie.' But, um, huge—

so show it to the camera because, folks, every card has a flag. Yes, every card. But the back— so I learned, by the way, I learned every flag in the world, and I still know them. It shows you what you memorize early.

See, it's old. It's— this one is the Union of South Africa.

Yes, that's right.

It says on the back what type of, um, government. It says British province. Population: 13 million. And it says main product: sheep. Language: Afrikaans. Money unit, pound. So, boy. Wow, that is something. I am so excited to just— What language?

Afrikaans.

So here we have Turkey. Oh, and they have on the back how to say hello in the language.

I memorized everything. I can tell you the main products, the language, the population, the area. Steve, oh my gosh. I loved it. And that's one of the— look, my dream was to go to all those countries, and I did. And you did.

Well, how about this, Dennis? We can trade off. I'll have custody of them for a week and you can have custody of them for a week.

That's a deal. I know you'd say no. You thought I'd say no, but I accepted the deal. Sean, what's our state? Make sure that Sean gives out the social media.

Oh yes, so we recently just started social media accounts. Wait, wait, wait, forgive me, what?

What did you say, Sean?

I got it. Social media.

No, no, he said something after that. Oh, okay.

We recently just created social media accounts, although we were just talking about how we want to get off of social media. But you know, maybe you should just stay on so that you can see. Of course, there's good and there's bad. So, uh, we have Twitter and Instagram, and it's @DennisJuliePod. There's no and. It's just @DennisJuliePod for both Twitter and Instagram, and then there is a Facebook page that's The Dennis and Julie Podcast. So I hope that you will follow those, and we do crank out good content on those accounts. See, it really is, social media, you can look at videos of Silly Putty.

Without social media, there'd be no PragerU.

Or you can look, oh, I learned so much from looking at PragerU Instagram. Please follow those. And Dennis, happy birthday tomorrow, August 2nd.

Right, but this comes out tomorrow.

So I guess happy birthday today, right?

Yes, that's really nice. Thank you. It's a very interesting question as you get older. So it's— I, I had on my show a, a 60s a— was it a 15-year-old, a Prager Force member? She's very impressive. She's a Canadian whose family just moved to Florida to be free. And so I said, how old are you? On the air, she goes, uh, I'll be— in a month I'll be 16. So I actually said on the air, that's the sort of thinking that only the young will, will do. Yeah, nobody has ever said In a month I'll be 58.

Oh, when I was younger, I would be like, 6 weeks till I'm 70, you know? And now you're like, oh God, no, you're not in the oh God stage yet. I kind of think I am. Life has gone by. It does, it does.

Okay, quickly, that's why I want you to get married.

Oh, oh, you have made that clear. They go by. Okay, so we're gonna end on a kind of fun— is it okay that I'm—

yeah, yeah. Oh, the card you wrote.

I wrote Dennis birthday card, and my parents are Dennis a birthday card. But in this one, I did this fun thing where I wrote down some Dennisisms on the back of the card. Okay, I'm just gonna read a few. Yes indeed. That's one of— I don't even think the viewers know, but when he's off air, he goes, yes indeed, yes indeed.

Yes indeed.

Oh, I have to do another ad. Oh God, maybe we shouldn't.

We probably shouldn't.

Okay, we got it. I'm joking. Okay. I know that you like the products. It's just reading about it.

And I'm very grateful to them. But I can't say I'm happy to read the ads or to record them.

I just bought a gorgeous new camera. That's a big one. Dennis, when I was doing an ad read, Dennis was taking photos of me. Oh, this is a legendary one. Wife is Sanskrit for flaw finder, which I believed.

Do people know the story behind that one?

Oh yeah, we told it. We told it. By the way, for those of you who haven't heard it, it is not indeed true. I thought it was, but it is not. I'm having a blast. We reference that on this podcast. Where is the Starbucks man? Oh, this is a great one. What's his name again? That's so you. You're cursed with names. I am. The worst part of missing Shabbat is that you missed Shabbat.

That's a very big one. By the way, that we have not discussed. What is the punishment for violating a ritual law? We should do that once because that's, that's a huge theme in my life.

Okay, okay, I'll read two more. There's a lot here. One of them is, that's one thing Dennis does to annoy Sean. He just goes in the mic and goes, I would like to make something clear.

Sean asked me to do that in order to awaken him.

Yes. And he also asks you to crumple the, the ad thing.

When I finish an ad, I'll demonstrate it. Every time. When I finish an ad, in order to have Sean know that the ad is over. Now, every time. That is a service. Yes. You may think it's obnoxious. It's a service. But I think of it as a service. Okay.

All right, last one. Oh God, this is such a big— You know I fasted for 7 hours? You know I fasted for 19 hours?

No, no, no, I would never say 7. That's pathetic.

Oh God, did I say 7? Sorry, 17. I meant to say 17. Oh, okay. Whew.

Every day you fast. Every day, yes.

And by the way, it's very impressive.

I agree.

I can only fast for like 9 hours, i.e., my sleep time, and then I'm back to the fridge.

Yeah, but you don't need to fast.

Well, you know, I eat like I'm still a water polo player, and I'm not.

Oh, how interesting. But you know what, by the way, were you super muscular as a water polo player?

Oh, I look at photos of myself and I shed a tear.

I have— you want to look like that again?

I was jacked, but it wasn't, it wasn't masculine. It was like—

because a lot of times it is.

Okay, maybe jacked implies masculine. I was quite toned, and now I don't know if I am as toned, but maybe one day.

I will tell you, I, I love watching the sport, water polo.

Yeah. Oh, but it's vicious.

Oh, when I didn't know how vicious till I saw underwater shots.

Oh, and you're not even—

you guys are trying to drown each other.

Well, you know what, I had a rule I never, ever, ever started off playing dirty. Some people would, they'd start off grabbing suits. But if a girl grabbed my suit, forget about it, I'm gonna grab your suit.

Well, that's a reason men will want to watch the sport. God. See, you don't think like a man.

No, I don't. Sean did. And I'm happy to say—

Sean, admit, did you not think what I thought? Oh my God. Did Rick? Rick, did you? And Rick is the holiest man in the entire group.

Sean just responded, I'm still thinking it. See you next week, guys. Bye.

You got time, you're only man, babe, and everybody wants the same. Everybody wants the same thing.