South by Southwest

Dennis Prager here. Thanks for listening to the Daily Dennis Prager Podcast. To hear the entire 3 hours of my radio show commercial-free every single day, become a member of Prager Utopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at pragertopia.com. Well, everybody, it's the third to last day. Is that right? Yeah, last Thursday of the year. Hi, everybody, I'm Dennis Prager. I wish you a happy New Year. I wish my country a happier New Year. I can't— I won't even go so far as say happy, but happier. I have to be realistic. The internal desire to destroy it all is quite deep. How did this happen at Southwest Airlines? How did they cancel nearly all their flights? Thousands of flights canceled. Most having nothing to do with weather. With the weather-affected American and United and Delta as well, the, the story here is Southwest's bulky technology sets stage for winter debacle. Now I gotta tell you what I find most interesting. I think most significant, perhaps not most interesting. And that is, will anybody be fired? Has anybody at Southwest been fired? And if this happened in Japan— and I certainly don't advocate this— but had this happened in Japan, in Japan, There would have been suicides. I remember Japan Airlines, or was it Korean Airlines? I'm not talking about being shut down, or even— I don't know what it was. I think it was food. I think it was Japan Airlines many years ago, and one of its heads just committed suicide. Or, you know, as Stanford University, that joke Brought down by its left-wing herd. It's become a joke. Bad joke, by the way, not a funny joke. They, they, they have a list of things that the way you ought to say them. So for example, you don't say American because it might offend people in South America, not one of whom says they're American, by the way. It's a combination of ignorance and— and I was going to say evil, but I'll reserve that word for atrocities. But destruction. So you say US citizen. You don't say any longer committed suicide, died by suicide, like it happened. It wasn't done. Died by homicide. What about murdered? Will they say died by murder? Not run over. No, no, no, no, no. Hit by car. Well, actually, people do say he was hit by a car. Yeah, that's true. People say that. Anyway, they died by suicide. Someone did at Japan Airlines years ago. I don't advocate that position, but how do you keep your job or jobs at Southwest? Will, will they reimburse the people for their airfare and then still fly them? Are they going to pay for their hotels? I mean, this, this is a farce. Luggage sitting, sitting in an airport tarmac. If we saw pictures of this coming from some third world country, we'd go, well, it doesn't happen here. Increasingly, what happens there happens here. They prosecute and persecute former prime ministers and presidents. So do we. They have a completely corrupt upper elite that uses the government to suppress dissent. So do we. The left everywhere is the same, and the left is the same as the right-wing dictatorships in Latin America. And people vote for them. And I know one of the reasons, because there are some dear liberals in my life, and they don't know any of this. If you live in New York, Boston, any of the big cities, but especially New York and Boston, you know so little about what is happening in this country It's, it's almost all revelatory. I wonder what percentage of New Yorkers know about the Hunter Biden laptop. I'd be very curious. Do you know anything about— well, who is Hunter Biden? See, I would say that most Democrats I believe this. Most Democrats in New York City do not know who Hunter Biden is. If they do, they know nothing about the notebook. And if they heard of the Hunter Biden notebook and you said, was this an attempt at getting at Joe Biden by Russian disinformation, they would say, of course. That's right, because they, they read the Boston Globe and the New York Times. Does the New York Times still own the Boston Globe? Have to look into that. It's an interesting question, is another human question about Southwest. Is it okay to be angry at Southwest? You know, this whole question is a very interesting question. Of when is it appropriate to be angry. I think you can judge a person by that. It's one of the ways to judge a person— what makes them angry. That's, that's a very telling question. There's a great Hebrew saying which I assume 99% of you don't know Hebrew, but you will be able to ascertain the similarities of the word. There's a play on words I learned very early in my Hebrew studies as a kid. You can judge a person by kiso, caso, and coso. Do they sound similar? That's the whole point. Kiso means his pocket, kaaso means his anger, and koso means his cup. You can judge a person by how he deals with money, his pocket, kaaso, his anger, and koso, when he drinks. Good one, eh? Very, very intelligent point that was just made by a somewhat intelligent man. So it's really remarkable that it would apply to a woman too. Thank you, thank you. To say that that was unnecessary is like saying it's chilly in Buffalo. Be that as it may, it applies to women too. Is that a good one though? Kiso, kaso, koso. His pocket, his anger, and his cup. By the way, I'm gonna reveal something to you. I have a very high standard for my work that I try to live by. One of them is that virtually every segment of my radio show, the person listening will learn something important about life. That, that is a very big deal to me, and that's a good one. But anyway, how many people, since the left has taken over education and shattered character education, How many people even think about improving their character? How do I judge my character? It's— I have to say, my sense is that's not a big question in most American schools. How do I judge my character? If I— I think if I said to the average high school kid, how do you go about judging your character? The answer would be, I'm sorry, what do you mean? That's the one. What do you mean? That's right. 1-800-PRAGER-776. We continue as the new year approaches. The Dennis Prager Show. MyPillow is excited to bring you their biggest bedding sale ever, and just in time for Christmas. For a limited time, get the Giza Dream bedsheets for as low as $29.98, a set of pillowcases for only $9.98, and rejuvenate your bed with a MyPillow mattress topper for as low as $99.99. They also have blankets in a variety of sizes, colors, and styles. They even have blankets for your pets. Get duvets, quilts, down comforters, body pillows, bolster pillows, and so much more, all with the biggest discounts of the year happening now. They're also extending their money-back guarantee for Christmas until March 1st, 2023. Making them the perfect gifts for your friends, your family, and everyone you know. So go to mypillow.com and use the promo code Prager, or call 800-761-6302. You'll get huge discounts on all MyPillow bedding products, including the Giza Dream bedsheets, for as low as $29.98. And get all your shopping done now while quantities last. Yeah, by the way, I got so much mail about the opening theme issue that I raised yesterday. Almost all of you made reference to the fact that I should simply listen to Sean. I was very touched. I can't tell you, it meant a lot to me. Sean right now is levitating. He's just— he's so happy to hear that. And it takes effort for him to levitate. It's not easy. It's not easy for me, now that I think of it. I have a lot of calls on Southwest. It's very disturbing that in the United States of America, which we all perceive is, is being shattered by its elites, something like this would have happened. So I want very well— I really do want to get, uh, some responses, uh, from you. This, this, this should not go ignored or forgotten. The ruined holidays of so many Americans, the catastrophic failure of their systems. By the way, I admit that I have— I raised this at least a decade ago. I don't fly Southwest much, which for me is more— I still fly more than most people because I fly so much. Because they don't have a first-class section. I'll be perfectly open with you, that's the reason. And there are no reserved seats, it's first come first serve. And in light of that, I pay extra always to go— I forgot what it's called— business something, business direct, business select, business something. And I pay a lot more than the regular ticket to, to be the first to board. But I'm never the first to board. There are always about 10 people before me, people who get a note from the doctor that they have to board early, and they all walk on. I'm not talking about people who are in wheelchairs, of course they should go on first. I'm talking— no other airline does this, no, only Southwest. Why is it annoying? Because they take the only seats that I, who paid more, Business Select, that's what it's called, I paid more and I can't get the seat that I paid for because the people who have a doctor's note to get on first get on first. There's no moral justification for it. I don't believe that half of these people need to get on earlier, more than half. If you walk right on, you should get a regular seat and board with everybody else. I think most of them cheat, to be perfectly honest, but they encourage the cheating because they don't tell them You can't take the best seats that are available. They let them sit anywhere. I've raised this with flight attendants. None of them have had a single answer for me, not one. What are they going to say? You're right? They should. You paid extra, you should have the first choice of a seat. Anyway, it's a very interesting and tough question because I feel for people. It's cheaper to fly Southwest. I assume, otherwise why would you do it? They're very nice, by the way. I will say that. I have had very pleasant experiences with their flight attendants. So I want to give credit where it is due. I remember checking in Southwest about 3 years ago, and the very cheerful woman said, so Southwest, your favorite airline? And I remember thinking, I'll never forget this, I remember the debate that went on in my brain. What do I do? Do I make her feel good or do I lie? Do I lie and make her feel good or do I tell the truth? What do you think I did, Sean? What do you think I did? Make her feel good and lie or tell the truth? No, it's not my favorite airline. What do you think I did? You think I told the truth? What does Rick think? He also thinks that? You guys are right. That's exactly right. I said, actually, Delta is. But with a big smile. All right, let's see here. Uh, San Diego, Mark. Hello. Hello, Mark.

Hi, Dennis. Uh, I read something on Facebook yesterday from the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association which claims that, uh, this whole meltdown is basically the culmination of something that's been going on for 2 decades at Southwest. Uh, Gary Kelly was the former CEO of Southwest who retired in early 2022. And this pilot is reporting in here, says he's been there for over 35 years watching this slow-motion train wreck take place. And he claims that this Kelly guy was an accountant rather than an operations-oriented person, unlike the founder of the airline, Kelleher. Who knew how to run an airline with operational expertise.

Well, well, who hired the man? I, I mean, so he, he didn't just come in as an extraterrestrial. So who hired him?

That unfortunately that's not mentioned, but typically in corporations, as I'm sure you know, the board of directors.

Yes, exactly. So they should resign too. To be perfectly honest, that's right. Okay, thank you. By the way, if that is accurate, I have to say if I, I don't have any first-class knowledge of this, uh, excuse me, first, uh, yeah, firsthand knowledge. I don't have any, obviously. But if it's true, any— the accountant is the one who ran the airline. That is a great metaphor for the utter failure of the medical authorities. They should not run medical policy. Accountants are only concerned with the bottom line, and the, the medical associations have their own extremely narrow vision which does not enable him to pilot the airplane of society. But, uh, it's a good metaphor. We continue on the Dennis Prager Show. Look, you did the tough thing during COVID You paid your people and pulled your business through the pandemic, or really the lockdown. And now doing the tough thing could qualify you for up to $26,000 per employee at COVID Tax Relief org. Government funds are available to reward companies with 2 or more employees who stayed open during COVID This is not a loan and you don't have to pay it back. The program is complicated, but nobody knows more about it than the CPAs and tax experts at COVIDTaxRelief.org. You pay nothing upfront. They do all the work and share a percentage of the cash they get you. Businesses of all types, including nonprofits and churches, can qualify, including those who took PPP loans, even if you had increases in sales. You did the tough thing nothing for your employees during COVID let COVIDTaxRelief.org help you get up to $26,000 per employee. Visit COVIDTaxRelief.org. That's COVIDTaxRelief.org. Hey everybody, Dennis Prager here. The, the sad thing, but I'm not saying it to make you sad, I don't want you to get sad, But I don't want you to live in la-la land either. The sad thing about Southwest and its utter and total collapse at this time— and I can't tell you, it affected— didn't affect me personally or anyone I know for that matter, but I am so angry on behalf of the tens of thousands of people, holidays ruined, and and who had the simple desire to buy a ticket and be flown where they bought their ticket to fly to. And utter collapse through mismanagement, overwhelmingly mismanagement, sheer ineptitude. And as I began with, I don't know if there's a single person at Southwest who will be fired. The whole board should be fired. What does it take for people to take the responsibility and say, "I failed!" Is that even possible in America today? But it is a metaphor for the collapse of so many of our institutions. The South— that the year should end with Southwest's meltdown. So somebody wants to correct me and I always go to them first. Where is that? Let's see. Okay, here we go. Allison in Los Angeles. Hello. Thank you for calling.

Hi Dennis. I just thought it was a little bit unfair of you when you said most of the people who board early, and correct me if I misunderstood your point, and like for disability categories, like most of them walk onto the plane and it sounded like you were saying you didn't think that they really needed that. And some of them—

that's correct. That's my belief.

Yeah.

Because no other airline does it.

Okay, so maybe I misunderstood you, because I typically fly with other airlines and they do have a passengers with disabilities section. Some of us have like invisible disabilities. We don't use mobility aid or a wheelchair. Without getting into the details of mine, if I stand in place for a long time, I'm prone to fainting. So some of us really do need that early access, even though we may not look it superficially from the outside.

All right, that's fair. I totally accept that. Accept that amendment to what I said. But other airlines— listen, I fly every week virtually, and they say, and those who need extra help— that, those are the words they use— families, those with little children, and those who need extra help. They are never, ever the same number of people as on Southwest. There's no doubt in my mind that a serious percentage of the people doing it are cheating. They should not be going on first, and Southwest should not allow them to take any seat they want. Do you agree with me on that?

Fair enough. So I don't know Southwest and how they do it since I don't typically fly with them.

So, all right, so you have this condition of where you, if you stand too long, you, uh, you're You're liable to faint. Is that, is that correct? Did I get, did I hear you correctly?

Yeah. So, so standing in place is harder for me to walk.

Okay. I hear you. And I obviously, I believe you. So what do you do on non-Southwest flights when they say those who need extra time, you, you, you board then?

So they typically will say passengers with a disability can board first and they'll remain seating up until the last moment and then I'll get on. It's because especially it's harder when I'm carrying my carry-ons and those are heavy to begin with. I'll get more symptomatic. So that'll typically be how I do it.

All right. Well, listen, I wish you a happy and healthy year and I thank you for, for calling. And I've learned from you. I, I still maintain my position that Southwest has an abuse of that system at, uh, at work and that they should not allow those people to take seats that they didn't pay for. That's it. I mean, it's— okay, I'll just leave it at that. Uh, Chicago and Carl, hello.

Hi Dennis, uh, it's an honor to speak with you.

Thank you.

I just wanted to share with you that, uh, these comments— I'm an A-List preferred member with Southwest. I've been with them since '06. I fly multiple times a week and they have been my airline. But this past week, um, I got stranded down in Orlando with my family. We were on vacation. I think the biggest thing that I'm angry about is the lack of integrity in which this is being handled. No communication, none. And so We were calling friends. We were— I actually have a friend that is a pilot for Southwest, and we knew that something was happening as we sat at the airport and our flight kept getting delayed, but it was like an hour each time. All of the flights were doing that, so we knew something was up. I was able to get a hold of my friend.

Oh, okay. I want to hear that. I want to hear that. I'm very curious what your pilot friend said. I wonder, how long does it take to drive from Orlando to Chicago? And would that have been quicker? Hey everybody, it's Dennis Prager here. I'm just thinking, in the Chinese calendar, isn't the— is it Isn't there? Yeah, there is, right? Every year is like the year of, and then they say an animal, right? Take a look what the next Chinese New Year will bring, or what, what we're in right now. So I was thinking, if, if we did that in the Western calendar, what would this be the year of? Hmm. Really, it's not just the year, it's really the age of confusion. Is this confusion— if you needed one word to summarize the woke destruction of the West, what would it be? Confused. 22nd January will be the next Chinese New Year, and it will be the Year of the Rabbit. What, what year are we in now? We're still not there. I've really— I flummoxed. Oh, it's the Year of the Tiger. We're in the Year of the Tiger. That's cool. Yes, we're in the year of meltdown. Maybe that's, that's the, uh, the term. Just remember, everybody, You've got to be mature. You have to handle reality and stay, stay upbeat, because they win if they depress you. Can't let them win. That's how I look at it. Anyway, it's the next-to-last show of the year, and I invite you just to call in on whatever subject. Don't be insulted if I don't take your call. There could be any number of reasons. I always say that. Friday, the last hour each week is open, but I'm going to open up lines now. I spent the entire first hour on Southwest, and I asked a, a simple question: will anybody be fired? That's almost like asking, will anybody run the 2-minute mile. It's so unlikely. We live in the age of non-accountability. You're only accountable for things that are actually okay. Okay, you can get fired. You, you probably can get fired at Southwest if you say men give birth on some Southwest, uh, inner forum, some social medium at Southwest. You could probably get fired for that much sooner than for ruining the week, let alone the holiday week, of tens upon tens of thousands of people who trusted Southwest to get them there and their 1, 2, 3, or 4-hour flight. As I noted, I am angry on their behalf. I have been unaffected by this. I have the capacity to get angry on others' behalf. The College Fix, one of the important sources of information on the cesspool known as the American university, lists 14 campus hate crimes that turned out to be hoaxes in 2022. I have asked over years now, has there been— how many actual racist incidents have there been on college campuses in the United States versus how many are hoaxes? By hoax, we mean exactly that. Some minority student who has decided, or some on occasion a non-minority left-wing student has decided to depict the university students as racist by painting some racist graffiti on a black student's dorm door, for example. Usually it's a black student who does it because we know why, but nobody admits it because we live in the age of pure lying, which is the dominant characteristic of the left. Truth is not a left-wing value. It is a conservative and liberal value, but not a left-wing value. So they, they don't want to discuss, uh, how much, uh, how much— how many hoaxes there are. And why is— why are there hoaxes? Well, here's the truth: because there's so little racism in America, you have to make it up. That's why. There were no anti-Semitic hoaxes in Germany in the 1930s. Jews did not have to make up anti-Semitic hoaxes. I wish they did. They would have lived. There wouldn't have been a Holocaust because Germany would not have been anti-Semitic. When you make up a lot of hoaxes, it means the reality isn't there, so you need to make up a hoax. All these racist hoaxes Jussie Smollett being the most famous one of them. They are done because there's so little real racism. The left makes it up and they just call everyone with whom they differ a racist. Larry Elder was called by this truly despicable human who writes a column for the LA Times, Erica D. Smith. It's a despicable person and it's a despicable paper. For keeping her employed. Called Larry Elder the blackface of white supremacy. Talk about no accountability. There's no accountability on the left. None. Like Southwest. You don't get fired. You can say the most despicable thing as a leftist and you're fine. You can say the most innocent thing as a rightist and you're done. Professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, a few years ago I had her on my show. She said what America needs is a return to middle-class values. Basically, finish high school, get a job, get married, and then have children. And she was called a racist, and 250 law professors asked that she be fired from her first-year teaching course. Yeah, that's what you pay for. You don't pay for calling Larry Elder the blackface of white supremacy. There's no price paid. You're rewarded at the LA Times. Yep. So they have the list that College Fix— we should put it up at, uh, at the, uh 14 examples of hoaxes. A noose investigation at Stanford also remains up in the air, though the rope itself had been there for years. Stanford University, shame on you if you give to your alma mater. Shame on you. You have decided to continue the destruction of universities by donating a nickel to them. And don't tell— don't fool yourself. Oh, I'm only giving to the business department, or I'm only giving to the, uh, the biology department. It's fungible. Fine, you— they'll, they'll put it in, in what you want, and then they have all the extra money to hire thousands of more DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion officials. Yeah, so they have, they have a whole, uh, the whole list here at the, uh, at The College Fix. Here's the latest from there: University removes art history professor for showing class two ancient Prophet Muhammad depictions. That's amazing. Hamline University in Minnesota has reportedly declined to renew the contract of an art history professor because they showed— they're using they because I guess they don't know, it's just they should still— he or she, of course, the person— show two ancient art images depicting the Prophet Muhammad during an optional online class segment. That's weird. It was painted in the Middle Ages and you can't show it? Well, this is the way universities work. You can crap on Christianity all you like, but you can't do any truths about Islam, let alone crap on Islam, which I am not in favor of. The left is exactly what the obsequious always are. They bully those they can bully, and they are obsequious to those who will bully them. That's why there's Islamophobia but there's no Christophobia, right? There's no hatred of Christians, there's only hatred of Muslims, right? Exactly. Uh, okay, so Hamline University. In Minnesota. That's a shock. Minnesota. Oh my God, there's any state I cannot imagine anything like that happening, it's Minnesota. So sad. A lot of nice people there. It's one of the states, by the way, we have the most support for PragerU. I have a very good feeling toward Minnesotans, not Minnesota. You know, when I hear it, I really want to use it. You know, I have a reaction to great classic musical music that is— I've never used drugs, never, but it's as close as I get to what I think a drug high must be. You know, I talk about the folks who sell me my audio equipment, you know what I call them? My drug dealers. That's how I refer to the guys, my audio equipment dealers. I have such a— it's a chemical, it's a biological reaction. When I was a sophomore in high school, and I fully acknowledge I was— the more I look back at my early life, the more I realize how different I was. Happy and different, not unhappy different, but it was so different. I did no homework for 4 years of high school. I have a theory on that, by the way. I have a theory that one of the reasons I have so much energy at my age, and I have the exact same amount as I did at 25, I think one of the reasons, and luck is one of them, there's no question, Attitude is one of them, but I really do believe one is I, I waited so long to work hard that I, I never burned out. I, I, I basically skipped, hopped, and jumped through high school. I did no work for school. My, my parents thought I would end up God knows where. But I lived with it. And one of the things I did was explore everything. I grew up in New York City. I don't like New York City, but I deeply appreciated its, its culture. I used it virtually every week. I would go to a play or an opera or a concert or even a ballet. I actually, in high school, One year I bought a subscription to the New York City Ballet. I wanted to expose myself to everything life had to offer and see what I reacted to. So a man named Dr. Harren, I will never forget him, is one of the teachers in the secular studies. Half the day was religious studies, half the day was secular. Dr. Harren, that's how I remember him. I have no idea what his first name is. And he wanted to cultivate culture in us. And he said, okay kids, I got $1 concert tickets to Carnegie Hall. $1. Which even then was, I mean, it was serious money, a dollar, but still in all it was $1. So I said, I'll take one. I don't know if any other kid did. I bought, I bought one for a dollar, and I went. I had no idea what classical music was like. I went to Carnegie Hall for a dollar. It was an all-Handel concert. Handel is the composer of the, the great work The Messiah and so many other great works. I did not know who Handel was. I didn't know anything. And it was just strings. It was his Concerti Grossi, Opus 3 or Opus 6. I think Opus 6, just for those, the handful of you for whom that matters. And I'll tell you what happened. It was transformative. I fell in love like a man falls in love with a woman at first sight. I fell in love with classical music at first hearing. I couldn't believe the, the excitement I felt watching and listening. The next day— and I lived in Brooklyn, and not Brooklyn near Manhattan, Brooklyn near Coney Island— and I went into Manhattan the next day after school, so that's evening, and I took all of my lunch money $32. I remember the sum. $32, which was a month of lunches, and I spent it on concert tickets. You'd think I would have lost weight. What did I eat?

I—

okay, I— this I have never said publicly. I know this for a fact. It's a drop embarrassing. So you have to understand Jewish law to understand what I ate. I went to a yeshiva high school, okay? It's a religious high school, half the day in Hebrew religious subjects, half the day in English secular subjects. So in, in among the Orthodox, which is how I was raised, you say a blessing before you eat. The blessing is generally, blessed are you, God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. And then you have a piece of bread because you can't make the blessing over, over something else. It's like a wasted blessing in Hebrew. So what they did is they had little pieces of bread available if you didn't have your own sandwich, let's say. So you would make the blessing and have the little piece of bread. I ate all the little pieces of bread. No, not like a duck. No, like a prisoner. I ate bread and water for lunch for a month in order to buy the concert tickets. You happy you asked me what did I eat? It was a totally legitimate question. What, the music? Yes, it was like an— yes, I was willing to say you're right, I became an early addict. That is right. So that's how it started. Now that— so I, I understand that not everybody will react to music as emotionally as I do. I totally— or not actually to classical music. Most people react emotionally to some music. Most people do. We have some gamelan music there because that's, that's our, that's our standard of non-Western music because the chief music critic of the New York Times said this was as great as Beethoven's Third Symphony, Indonesian gamelan music. So I, I was not familiar with it, and I really love the music of many nations and But here we go. Now, I'm not playing this for you to mock it, God forbid, and I mean that sincerely. I have no doubt that to many Indonesians that is as emotionally moving as the Tchaikovsky that we just played was to me, or the Handel that I heard in high school. It just shows that some music will touch somebody. But what I do mock is the New York Times music critic who turns out to be a true idiot. He, he's against blind or Auditions, yeah, for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. You shouldn't choose on the basis of their instrumentality, but their color. Back in a moment. Well, everybody, welcome back. I gotta share with you a truly brilliant— it even hurts me to say it, it does. But you know, truth wins out. I'm about to compliment Sean McConnell. One minute, take a deep breath. So I, I mentioned to you the concept in Jewish law of— it's called brachalavatalah, a, a wasted blessing. And he loved the term and said, that is America, a wasted blessing. Do you know, if I wrote a book today about America, that would be the title: The Wasted Blessing. Whoa, I got the chills. All right, just for that, you're, you're allowed a mistake today. It doesn't matter whether I allow it or not, by the way, just for the record. We're very open at this show, I must admit. One of you called up sometime this past year and said, Dennis, I have the perfect word to describe you. And I'm thinking, uh-oh. I figured, let's give it a try. And what is that, I asked? And he said, transparent. And I said, that's exactly right. I— that is an aim of mine, to be transparent. That's why people frequently say to me, strangers, you know, I feel like I know you. To which I always respond, you do. And that's because I am transparent. Or as my wife would put, there are no black boxes. You know, I ought to do the black box idea. I think that that's a great one for a happiness hour. Do you have a— do you have or know someone with a black box? Anyway, uh, oh, this was— no, that's not— I take it back, it's not this past year. There was a few years ago that somebody said that. Well, I was doing— I was speaking at a fundraiser for PragerU in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and my son was there, my older son, who was the head of fundraising. He was very gifted, and he was there, and he often will speak at these fundraisers. So I told the story about the guy who said I was transparent. And my son got up and he said, what you may not know is how— what a challenge it was to grow up with a transparent. Good line. He's a funny dude. Well, that would be a wasted blessing. Yeah, well, you got to remind me to use that term. All right, let's see what's on your mind, because whatever is on your mind is good. And all right, Todd wants to correct me. You know, that's what I go to first. Hello, Todd in LA.

Hey, Dennis. Yeah, how are you? Um, happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year to you and everybody at the station.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, everybody?

Yeah, um, RJ, Alan, Sean, you know, um, Chuck.

Wow, wow, okay.

Hey, it's the season. Um, I don't really want to get your blood boiling because I know the Southwest thing has made you crazy. Um, we actually were beneficiaries of that this year from Phoenix to Burbank yesterday. They— the communication was horrible and everything, but I did the calculations and it's actually hundreds of thousands.

Oh, I said tens of thousands. So let me tell you, I'm happy you called. I thought you were going to say I overstated, and, uh, I— this is a good example of something I said.

I'm sorry, I said I'm happy I called too.

Yes, thank you, and Happy New Year to you. Uh, I didn't know, and I always try to understate because I took a vow at the beginning of my radio career never to exaggerate. The issue of lying is not even feasible, but I try not to. So that's a good example— hundreds of thousands. Well, I remember My theme on the first hour was, will anybody be fired? We continue on The Dennis Prager Show. Okay everybody, the final hour of the show. It's the final hour of the penultimate show. Now, when was the last time you used the word penultimate in your life? Huh? We could rename the show The Vocabulary, the Build Your Vocabulary Show. That would be good. We should do one segment a month. On building your vocabulary. For example, lugubrious. Sean, do you know what lugubrious means? I didn't think so, that's why I asked. It's a great word. It sounds great. It means sad, but it's not exactly sad. You can't say I'm lugubrious like you say I'm sad.

It's a good—

it's a good one. Uh, this hour, so let me see here. Hmm, I, I love these. Uh, there are so many funny calls that come in, sometimes I can't repeat them. Uh, I have an idea for this hour, so Suzette Thank everybody. Mike, Liz, Patrick, Sean, Judy, Bill, James, Gary. Uh, they're really good calls, but I, I want to do something about the show since it's the penultimate show of the year. So I'm going to let you go. God bless you all. Let's talk. What, what would you like to see if I added a dedicated hour to the show. We have a male/female, a happiness, and an ultimate issues hour. Could you think of an additional hour? Don't make up something just to spur the moment, but if you really feel strongly about an hour— a lot of people have recommended, when I have asked this, a lot of people have recommended that I do an hour on religion. I've given that a lot of thought. Of course, some Ultimate Issues Hours are about religion. I am as involved in religion as I am in anything. It's very tempting because secularism is a dead end. It's a moral dead end. It's a happiness dead end. It's a meaning dead end. In every way. It's, it's an artistic dead end. The, the post-Judeo-Christian— really, what I— the better word— Judeo-Christian is a fine word, and I know there are Jews who don't agree with it, there are Christians who don't agree with it, and they don't understand it. That's why they, they don't agree with it. Judeo-Christian doesn't refer to theology, it refers to values. There are Judeo-Christian values. Views. But what really it means is biblical. The trouble is the word biblical sounds so unappealing to the pseudo-sophisticated, which means almost every college graduate. But that's what it really is— rooted in the Bible. Abraham Lincoln had a Bible on his nightstand, and he, he rarely went to church, but he read the Bible every, every day. I, I think you should go to a church or synagogue each week. I do. I go to synagogue each week, but I, uh, I— if I had to choose Would I rather most Americans read the Bible every day or go to church or synagogue every week? That would be a tough, tough call because I think it's critical to have a religious community. It's critical to the country. I don't only mean to the individual, but it gives you an idea of how important I think Bible study is. Hence my 10-year project. It was supposed to be 2 years, it's 10 years writing my commentary on the first 5 books of the Bible. If you— if I have touched you in any way, I will admit, I know it sounds like a sales pitch, I'll live with it. If I have touched you, I don't understand why you wouldn't read my Rational Bible. It's the repository of wisdom of the greatest 5 books ever written, the first 5. Everything, everything we know is based on them. All of Judaism, all of Christianity, all of the West is rooted in the first 5 books, from love God to love your neighbor The Garden of Eden, Ten Commandments, the Exodus. It's, it's all, it's all there. So I, I swallow my pride and tell you, I beg you to read the Rational Bible. There are 3 volumes out. Deuteronomy came out 2 months ago. Many of you never heard of Deuteronomy. That's because Like great music, you're not taught the great things, the great wisdom, the great achievements of life. I'm reading a few books right now because it's too hard to resist when I discover another new book that I need to read. I listen to many of these. And I read them as well, or I have them available so that I can make notes and keep them. But anyway, I— there's a new gigantic biography of J. Edgar Hoover, the, the famous— how did he have— what did he head the FBI for 40 years, whatever it was. And I, I should really, uh, I'll, I'll get it from the book itself It describes what he studied in high school in, I guess, the, the 1910s or the 1920s. I don't know when he was in high school, but around then. It, it could make you weep. He studied, for example, I believe, 3 or 4 foreign languages. Do kids study any foreign language in, uh, in our elementary schools? They study English. Can they diagram a sentence? Can they write cursive? Can they explain what an adverb is? Do they know what constitutes a sentence? A subject and a verb. Fish swim is a sentence. Fish nice is not a sentence. You need a noun and a verb, or what is it, a predicate? What— I don't remember the grammatical term. Do they learn that? Do they learn when to use periods and commas? Do they learn the difference between "it's" with an apostrophe? Do they know what an apostrophe is? But they know about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Well, anyway, so back to the issue. An hour on religion. Sean, what do you think of an hour on religion? You do? You think it's a good idea? No, no, for me, obviously. Yeah, that's certainly true. Maybe, maybe I would do— it's, it's, uh, I'll see how people call in and react and also send me an email. When I do— see, when I do the Ultimate Issues Hour, sometimes it touches on religion, but it's, it's not teaching religion, it's teaching the importance of religion. That's That's not the same thing. It's a gamble because a lot of people are taught to be turned off by religion as if it's intellectually inferior to their superior secular studies. And I blame the secular rot that has taken over our education system from kindergarten to graduate school. But I also blame religious people who don't teach its brilliance and relevance properly. Sometimes it's not their fault, they haven't been taught it. So I'll take your calls. What would you like? And of course, I'm still ruminating over the opening theme. One, one person I deeply respect texted me just today on this issue. And what did he say? I'll, uh, I guess I'll read it to you when we come back. No, here it is. We need a gladiator to fight for Western values, keep the existing theme. It's an interesting argument.

No, honey, no.

Okay, all, Dennis Prager here, and this is the next to last show of the year. If there is a year that went by faster than 2022, I cannot recall it. Now, is it a matter of as you get older, years go faster? Is that, is that the entirety of it? In other words, if you're 25, does it seem like 2022 zoomed by or not? Sean, you're 25. Do you feel that the year went fast? I'm serious. You do feel it? No, no, clearly if you're younger, but you're younger than me And it went very fast to you. Yeah, it's— I, I don't know. All right, let's see. So, uh, let me summarize the— some of the calls. Don't be offended if I don't actually take your call. I'm asking if you think I should add a dedicated hour. I have 3 now. Ultimate issues: male, female, and happiness. What do you think of one on religion? It would certainly be unique in American communications to have one on a secular show. I mean, this is not— it's not a Christian or Jewish or religious show, but— so I'll just respond and, and let some lines get open. Then I'll tell you why I don't need to have the discussion, because I cover it so often. For example, Jim in Cleveland says you should have a hypocrisy hour of the left, which is pretty funny when you think about it. I'll react in a number of ways. First of all, welcome to the hypocrisy hour. I don't think it's going to appeal. It's a funny thought though. And now the hour on hypocrisy of the left. The— I would say of the left's sins, hypocrisy is not one of the, uh, it's filled with hypocrisy, but if that were their biggest sin, the country would be in great shape. The— when Gavin Newsom demanded that restaurants be shut down, uh, or that you not be, uh, allowed in without a mask, or whatever the rules were Yeah, I think they were shut down. And then he went to this ultra-expensive restaurant without a mask. Or Nancy Pelosi also shutdowns, business shutdowns, ruin people's lives, mask, uh, mask, uh, unscientific idiocy. And then she was caught on camera at a hairdresser without a mask. Of course it was hypocrisy, but it was much worse. It was that they lie about what they believe. If they believed that you would, you would die, or you potentially would die from COVID if you went unmasked to a business, why would they go? What, what do leftists believe is a riddle to me. I don't know. Do they really believe America is systemically racist? I think if you say it enough, you end up believing it. Do they believe it at the outset? Do they believe that colleges are a rape culture? Do they really believe that? But they send their kids to college. They send their daughters to college. Would you send your daughter to a rape culture? Do they really believe that the seashores of our country, or any country, will be inundated by rising, gigantic rising ocean water because of global warming? Then why do people like Barack Obama buy mansions on the coast? Why do so many liberals live on coasts? We're all going to drown, and I'm going to buy a house on the water. Is that hypocrisy, or does it mean they don't believe a word they say? I don't know. It's certainly hypocrisy, but what do they believe? They believe whatever is effective and whatever they're told to believe. Sheep and left are almost synonymous. Anyway, Jim, I gave you a long reaction and didn't even talk to you, so take it as a compliment. Again here, uh, John in West LA, you need to do an hour on education. I do so many hours on education that I don't need a dedicated hour. See, that's the point. I have to do a dedicated hour on a subject that I generally don't talk about. So thank you for that, I appreciate it. Let's see, uh, okay, JD says time goes faster as we get older. That is correct, and I appreciate that. So I've just, uh, just liberated 4 lines, ladies and gentlemen. 1-8-PRAGER-776. And I don't know what line 4 is about yet. So Dane in LA, I'll take your suggestion. Hello, Dane.

Hello, Dennis. Thank you. Yes, I think the hour should be about history. I'm a history teacher here in Los Angeles, and I think it would do very well to, uh, do a deep dive on the issues you talk about daily and weekly.

I had a history hour, uh, for, uh, I don't know, a year or two. Wherein I would— it was the only dedicated hour where I always had a guest. I would have some historian on some work of history. Sean, how did that go over? Sean, hold on, Dane. Don't, don't say anything. I want to get Sean's— do you remember I did the History Hour, Sean? Why did we let it go? Do you know? Was there a sense that it wasn't super popular? What was the reason? I don't hear a word you're saying, but I do see your lips. Okay, fine. I don't know if it was Nick, Steven. I just maybe— all right, yeah. Oh yeah, that's right, it was not a dedicated time, it was a dedicated hour. Did you hear those, Dane, or are you too young?

I started listening about 5, 6 years ago, so I don't remember exactly when you had that hour. I've never heard it.

So let me, let me ask you, you teach at a public school or a private school?

Public school.

Is your school woke?

You could say that.

Okay, I'll say it. Your school is woke.

Yeah.

Okay. Well, I mean, so how do you survive?

Sorry. Well, I teach, you know, going back to a bit of what you commented on last segment, do students know how to write a sentence? Do students know? I teach history and I make sure that they all know how to evaluate evidence, construct an argument, and write a college-level research paper. And if they do that and they become woke, that's on their research. And if they do that and become critical-thinking adults, I feel like I've done something.

Well, thank God you exist, Dane, and Happy New Year.

I appreciate it. You too.

Thank you. I'm happy that he exists. I like this one. When did you discover this one? Is this the first time? About 2 weeks. That's how long it takes me, 2 weeks. Hey y'all, next to last show of the year. Dennis Dennis Prager here. Should I try for another dedicated hour? I'm doing two experiments with you. Do I go to a new theme? Been a lot of push to keep the Gladiator theme, so I am influenced in this way by your reactions. Give me the Tchaikovsky. Tell— this was— this is the lead candidates for— candidate for a great Western piece of music to open the show with, because I want to further Western civilization. Are you getting there, or should I keep talking? It's really great, you know. It's great. Every time I hear it, I think, yeah, maybe we should go with that. I'm really torn, I admit it. I got to make a decision within 72 hours. So we'll maybe do some more voting tomorrow or send me an email at dennis@dennisprager.com. The other is, do I start with a fourth dedicated hour? I'm very tempted to do an hour on religion. Tell you, uh, an added thing in my life in the broadcast arena— Dennis and Julie every week, a podcast with this 23-year-old in whom, frankly, I, I see me. I've never said that before. It's, it's really quite remarkable. And the openness with which we talk, it's unique. It's just simply unique. You can see Dennis and Julie, you could see the whole thing on YouTube. Comes out Mondays at 1 PM Pacific, 4 PM Eastern, 3 PM Central, 2 PM Mountain. 10 PM Middle East, uh, 3 AM Australia. Just thought I'd share that with you. And that's called Dennis and Julie, or you could just listen at the Salem Podcast Network, right? Also, she has her own daily podcast And it premieres today, 1 PM Pacific, 4 PM Eastern, 10 PM in Oman. And she is, uh, she interviews an ex-CIA covert intel officer. It's, uh, she's remarkable. Worth watching and/or listening. So you can watch that one at youtube.com, at youtube.com/juliehartman, H-A-R-T, not H-E-A-R-T, or on the Salem Podcast Network an hour later in the audio. And you should. All right, let's take more of your call—

call-eth.

David in Flushing, Michigan, not to be confused with Flushing, Queens, New York.

Yes, hello Dennis. Hello, can you hear me good?

I hear you well.

All right, well, yes, um, yeah, um, I like the idea of an hour, uh, dedicated to religion Religion in general isn't the, you know, the problem. It's what made our civilization great, and we could bring back a lot of religion and still be going the wrong way.

Yeah, well, I'm going to comment on that. Dennis Prager here. Thanks for listening to the Daily Dennis Prager Podcast. To hear the entire 3 hours of my radio show, commercial-free every single day, become a member of Pragertopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives, as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at pragertopia.com.