The Death of Otto

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 pragerutopia.com. Hello everybody and welcome to the Dennis Prager Show. I hope you had a good weekend. And on a personal note, my beloved dog Otto died yesterday. Most famous dog in America, and that's not a joke. And he lived 12 years, which is years more than bulldogs are expected to live. I'll have some thoughts on it later, philosophical thoughts. It is a very fascinating part of life, the attachment to an animal, specifically dogs, although not only people have it with cats. And I, I don't know, I guess there could be bonds with almost any animal, but It's obviously dogs. Dogs seem to have been created for us, or from the dog's perspective, we were created for dogs. But there, there is an attachment that is real. It is not artificial. It, uh, it is a, a profound thing. My philosophical thought on this on these matters is when you get a pet like a dog or a cat, you set yourself up for pain. And yet people do it. We have the human beings, at least those who choose to have a pet with whom they bond, human beings choose a fuller life with inevitable pain over a less full life with less pain. That is the Garden of Eden story, by the way, as I understand it. Adam and Eve chose a painful existence as autonomous humans rather than a painless existence, and indeed immortal one, but not having the full freedom of free will. That is the choice people make. The truth is, anytime you bond with a person, you have inevitable pain inevitable. And that, that is the human condition in a nutshell. 1-800-PRAGER-776-877-243-7776. Prager, you will be sending out a notice. People have bonded with, with Otto. And should be informed about it. We choose pain and the fullness of life over a painless life. I have often said on my broadcasts that I do not want the goal— I do not aspire to the goal of having on my tombstone, he Avoided pain. Avoiding pain is not one of my big goals. I don't seek it. Nobody likes pain, but you can't live a full life by any means if you want to avoid pain. It is like the people who say, 'I'm not going to get married My parents divorced, so I'm not going to get married. I don't want to go through that. Okay, so you have chosen the painless route. You don't get married, you don't have the pain of divorce. That is correct. Or for that matter, the pain of widowhood. That's right. So you make that choice. Painless choices are almost always the bad choice. Painless is a bad choice. So we're going to get another dog and set ourselves up for another time of pain. But you would have the fullness of that experience. That safety has become a god, and truly a god. People sacrifice their lives One of the definitions of a god is that with, with which, or that to whom you, you sacrifice your life. We— people sacrifice their lives to the god of safety. We saw that during COVID preferring to have their children meet no other children for a year, 2 years, not go to school For safety. We're putting masks on 2-year-olds on airplanes for safety. Getting a vaccine that was never properly tested for safety. And I've seen it before that. I spoke about, uh, show and play, better safe than sorry, what I developed, I know, a decade ago. As the new ending of the United States national anthem. This is— so this is not new. For the land of the free, better safe than sorry. Yeah, better safe than sorry. Or how often I was wished in the last couple of years, be safe. I know people meant well, so of course I didn't react, but I can't stand that. Be safe. Limit your life. Be safe. That's how I hear the wish. Limit your life. Or be a sheep. It's even worse. So, some reflections on pet-hood. And I welcome you. The news just came in literally as the theme of my show was playing. My producer told me that Tucker Carlson has announced— was it his announcement or Fox? Fox's announcement that Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox News. He left. That he left. Yeah, his last broadcast was Friday. And there was no hint of it, I assume, on that broadcast. And unless there's been a breaking development in the last 8 minutes, I can't tell you anymore. I have no idea whose decision it was. Uh, I don't like to speculate, and this is not a speculation. Well, it is a speculation. I don't like to speculate, and here's a speculation. Not as to why he is leaving or left, but rather something that did puzzle me. He began showing some of the— what is it, 40,000 hours of video in the Capitol? And then abruptly stopped. Everybody wanted to see more. Why did he abruptly stop? Does anyone know? Did Fox tell him to abruptly stop? So that's my own— I don't— and as I say, I don't like to speculate, but that is a question that might actually now be answered with his having left Fox News. He was the biggest star on Fox News. The biggest star in cable news. Well, is there a bigger star on non-cable news? No, exactly. I guess the biggest star on television in terms of any news broadcasting or commentary. Well, everybody, here's a story for you. Academic research fraud grows. That's a shock. Florida State University criminology professor who recently left his job amid accusations that the falsified data— that he falsified data to make racism look worse than it is. So we not only have race hoaxes in the country, physical hoaxes, we now have academic hoaxes all with the intention of convincing black America and the rest of America that the country is filled with racism. But if it's filled with racism, why do you need all these hoaxes? That's been my question. You didn't need any anti-Semitic hoax in 1930s Germany. It was the real deal. Read to you about what's happening in academia. It is not surprising. We return in a moment. You're listening to The Dennis Prager Show. Natural disasters, airline cancellations and runway near misses, supply chain issues, inflation, rising interest rates, and sky-high government debt. This is Dennis Prager for AmFed Coin and Bullion. There's a lot in the news about what consumers cannot control, so let's talk about what you can control. You can control how you choose to invest and protect your wealth. That's why I choose to do business with Nick Grovich and his company, AmpFed Coin and Bullion. Now is a great time to own tangible assets like gold, silver, and platinum. With over 41 years' experience and tens of thousands of satisfied clients, Nick will help you make informed decisions and show you smart choices which have been proven winners time and time again. AmpFed Coin and Bullion will sell you the right types of precious metals to get the maximum value for your money. Take control of your investments like I do. Did, call Nick and his team at Ampfet Coin and Bullion at 800-221-7694. AmericanFederal.com. AmericanFederal.com. Okay, I am reading to you about the amount of fraud in academia in their research. Professor Eric Stewart at Florida State University, a criminology professor. Left his job recently because he was accused of falsifying data to make racism look worse. Now here's an interesting thing. I did not see a picture of Professor Eric Stewart. My guess is he's white. Would you take a look? I'm very, very curious. It neither proves anything. I'm just curious. It appears Professor Eric Stuart faked results in at least 6 studies about American crime, and some have observed his alleged conduct— misconduct is not an isolated example. This week, The College Fix also reported on a diversity, equity, and inclusion paper from the University of Minnesota's Health Services Department that's been retracted for misrepresenting the, quote, authenticity of experiences cited. Oh, he's Black. Okay, it's— I, I don't know. My only reaction is it makes me sadder, but it vindicates my position about that There are so many blacks who have engaged in race hoaxes to prove how racist the country is. But if it's that racist, why do you need a hoax? This is what the left has done, the corruption of the mind of so many minorities in this country. You are a victim of white heterosexual Christian males. They are the perpetrators. And so people have to exaggerate in order to prove the point. So this is just another one. Over 62% of academic papers on psychology— you hear that? Over 62% of academic papers on psychology and 39% on economics are non-replicable, meaning there's no way for researchers to definitively verify or falsify the results of these studies. Well, that's the whole point of this, of a study. You can replicate it. If you can't replicate it, It's not valid. Research misconduct, some of it in the form of outright fraud, is unfortunately pretty common in higher education, said Peter Wood, president of the center-right National Association of Scholars. Researchers at Ivy League and other prestigious universities also have been criticized for misrepresenting and fabricating data. On April 10th, the Office of Research Integrity in the Department of Health and Human Services announced Yale Professor Carlo Spirli, quote, engaged in research misconduct by knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly falsifying and/or fabricating data in multiple studies. In February, Harvard University professors saw 5 of their studies retracted after an investigation found they misrepresented data. This is just further evidence that truth is not a left-wing value. There are people for whom truth is not a value. Who are not on the left, but it is predominantly true for the left. Ankajin, a peer-reviewed journal that published some of the research, said in a statement that, quote, there was no underlying research data available to resolve these discrepancies or to validate the reported results. In December 2022, it was announced that Stanford University's current president and prominent neuroscientist Marc Tessier-Lavigne— there's a last name for you— was under investigation for scientific misconduct. This came after a group of researchers, including Tessier-Lavigne, were publicly accused of altering multiple images in a study published in the European Molecular Biology Journal. This man was president of Stanford. Is that right? The president? Yeah, he is. He is Stanford's current president. He's under investigation for scientific misrepresentation, misconduct. Oh my God. And this had nothing to do with race, just cheating. This was, uh, and his published— his study was published in the European Molecular Biology Journal. Wow, indeed. Well, the story of the day, aside from Tucker Carlson having left Fox, uh, seems at a sort of moment's notice. Is the story of the 51 spies of 2020. It is one of the worst episodes of corruption and lying in American history. It dwarfs the Watergate denials or cover-ups of Richard Nixon, dwarfs it. If this had been done by Republicans there would be impeachment hearings. So it's— you may remember, right before the election in 2020, 51— says, yeah, 51 intelligence heads in the United States said that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. Every one of them lied. Because truth is not a left-wing value. The Dennis Prager Show. Hey everybody, I'm a big believer in this product: Fast Growing Trees. I am not a gardener, to say the least, but I do believe that trees make a house, they make a neighborhood. My wife taught me this many years ago. Difference between a beautiful neighborhood and a plain one is trees or absence of trees. With Fast Growing Trees, you don't need to be an expert gardener to have a great yard. Every plant Fast Growing Trees sells is raised and cared for by their team of expert growers. All you have to do is put it in the ground. So listen, go to fastgrowingtrees.com/prager. You'll get 15% off your entire order now through October 31st. Again, 15% off at fastgrowingtrees.com/prager. It's wonderful. You'll change your world with beautiful trees and plants at fastgrowingtrees.com/prager. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager here, and I, I woke you. I'm talking about this, this unprecedented level of lying and corruption by every major institution of the US government— FBI, CIA, and, and the like. 51 heads, heads of intelligence agencies past and present signed a statement in order to elect Joe Biden. And it doesn't bother a single person of the left or single organization of the left of which I am aware. You are allowed to cheat and lie to the American people to win an election. That is why when people ask me, was the election honest, I always say I don't know. What I do know is that if there was a possibility of cheating in order to win, Democrats would do it. The left does not believe in the same moral norms liberals do. Leftists do not. That's it. Everything is changed in the world of the left. Math doesn't have only one right answer. Men give birth. Put tampons in men's rooms. It is a sick, sick, sick world. And evil. This is an— I don't know of anything equally corrupt in American history in terms of the government. Wall Street Journal editorial: Why is public trust in American institutions, including the press, in free fall? One reason is the revelation last week that the Biden for President campaign— get this— his campaign helped to organize the open letter that spread disinformation about Hunter Biden's famous laptop computer on October 19, 2020. Just a few weeks before the election. The House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees released portions of a deposition transcript exposing the origins of the statement from 51 former U.S. spies declaring that Hunter Biden's laptop had, quote, all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation. The admission came from Mike Morell, former Deputy CIA Director under Barack Obama. The letter served its political purpose of giving the media and Joe Biden the opening to dismiss the New York Post's laptop scoop as Russian disinformation. It turns out that the Biden campaign was behind the letter, and they impeached Donald Trump. Mr. Morell told Congress under oath that he received a phone call from Anthony Blinken on October 17, 2020, 3 days after the Post published emails from Hunter's laptop. Mr. Blinken was then a senior advisor to the campaign and is now Secretary of State. We have a lying crook, crooked person. As Secretary of State. Not the first. According to a letter the House committees sent to Mr. Blinken last week, Mr. Morell said the call was, quote, couched as simply gathering Morell's reaction to the Post story, yet it set in motion— this is all a quote— the events that led to the issuance of the public statement, unquote. Committee question to Mr. Morell. Again, Mr. Morell was the associate head of the Deputy CIA Director under Barack Obama. Committee question to Mr. Morell: Prior to Mr. Blinken's call, you did not have any intent to write this statement? Mr. Morell's answer: I did not. The letter says Mr. Morell also, quote, explained that the Biden campaign helped to strategize about the public release of the statement, unquote. Mr. Morell says he then contacted an aide to former CIA Director John Brennan, and I'll tell you what he said, to the aid of former CIA Director John Brennan. Hello everybody, welcome to the Dennis Prager Show. The big story today is Tucker Carlson has left Fox News abruptly, to the best of our knowledge, abruptly. He was on on Friday night, and now he has announced that he is gone. So one tweet of someone who follows the news is, my sources are telling me Tucker was all set to go live tonight. He probably had plans to talk about the lawsuit, that is the Dominion lawsuit, and clear his name. Producers were prepping guests and slots of Monday's show. Corporate nixed the idea and Tucker got up and quit. I have no idea if that is accurate. I'm not a fan of speculating, but it's inevitable in this case. The most popular man in the news industry on video, on television, on internet. So it's a big deal. I assume we'll find out one day. Maybe, maybe Today, maybe tomorrow, and it'll be— well, I'll tell you this, uh, it will be very interesting on many levels where he goes. He can single-handedly give massive life to another not another network necessarily, though obviously that's true, but to something like Substack or any of the internet sites where, where voices that have been suppressed— I'm not saying his was, but where voices that have been suppressed have been— wherever he goes will be a massive boost to that place. So that obviously will be interesting. So there, uh, welcome to the show, my friends. I'm Dennis Prager, and as I reported, my beloved dog Otto died yesterday, and I reflected on life, death, and safety on the first hour, and I will be talking a lot more about it on my fireside chat. In case you don't know about my fireside chat, I do one every week. And it is up at prageru.com. You want to play life safe, or do you want to lead a full life? You want to play life safe, don't get married, don't have children, and for that matter, don't even have a dog. Then you will avoid the pain of their inevitable death. Such is what it is. Here's an amazing story. About the sick time in which we live. The big weightlifting organization in the U.S., Power USA Powerlifting— a judge— this is National Review— judge forces USA Powerlifting to cancel Minnesota events over policy barring males from female division. They will not— as of now, there will not be weightlifting competitions in the state of Minnesota organized by USA Powerlifting because they have said that men cannot compete with women in the women's division even if they say they are women. That's it. This is an actual newscast, ladies and gentlemen. This is not a satire about future absurdities. Do you realize that had I read this, if I were privy to the future and I read this article to you 10 years ago, you would have thought that it was not funny, that, and that I had lost my mind. People would actually believe Prager had lost his mind. That a judge would rule that in the state of Minnesota you are legally obligated to allow men to compete in the women's division in powerlifting. If there's anything where that is more obviously cheating on the part of trans females. I, I would like to know what it is. Leah Thomas, the trans woman— how much did Leah Thomas win by? Was it 50 seconds? Some, some ridiculous number. Did you realize 50 seconds? Those races are usually determined within 1 second. A Minnesota judge issued a ruling last week that blocked USA Powerlifting from hosting tournaments in the state over its decision to prohibit males from competing in the female division. The court demanded USAPL, that is USA Powerlifting, Cease and desist from this unfair discriminatory practice. It is unfair to disallow biological males from competing in female sports. So I, I would just ask anyone who agrees with that, why do we have any female sports at all? If males don't have a built-in advantage, why keep anything restricted to females? Then we have no problem, correct? Then anybody can compete. If we were to take the left seriously, there is only one possible solution: abolish men and women sports. That would solve the entire Trans dilemma. Anybody who is regarded as a Homo sapiens can compete. So that, that would include anyone, including my technical director. He, he could then compete because he is a Homo sapiens. Is that correct? You, you so identify? Oh, you're a flaming Homo sapiens. That's very funny, actually. When the organization refused, the court ordered it to withdraw from Minnesota. I actually think that's a great development. I want people to start to get angry at left-wing judges and left-wing legislators that pass laws upon which judges can make these decisions. If you can't discriminate on the basis of sexual identity or gender identity, then that is the genesis of the problem. Because the simple mind does not regard the word discriminate as ever possibly a moral term. Discrimination by definition is wrong. Uh, but that's not true. We should discriminate all the time, just not in a wrong way. You don't discriminate against people on the basis of their, of their color, skin color. That's the obvious one. The lack of discrimination is what allows the musical world to produce noise and some very ugly new concert halls. And it is what allows the great turd exhibit in the Netherlands as an art exhibit— sculpted giant poop. They didn't discriminate between beauty and ugly. Discrimination is the basis of a sophisticated life. The plaintiff in this case is J.C. J-A-Y capital C-E-E Cooper, a male athlete that— a male athlete who sued USAPL after being banned from female events. All right, so this is National Review saying he's male, where in the New York Times would say she and female. Cooper alleged that the organization had violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Anti-discrimination statutes. And that's the story. Just for note, USAPL's policy drew the ire of Representative— USAPL again is USA Powerlifting— Representative Ilhan Omar, a giant of our time, who urged Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to investigate the organization for violating state anti-discrimination laws In a letter sent on behalf of Cooper, Omar called the notion that trans women have a, quote, direct competitive advantage over biological females a myth. You know what the beauty of these leftists like Ilhan Omar? They're wrong on every issue. It's not even the clock. No, no, the clock rule does not apply. They're not right twice a day. By the way, you should all analyze— it's not an easy question to discern the answer to. When you know, if all you knew was this person, let's say you never heard of Ilan Omar, let's go Ilan Jackson. This is a little odd, but let's just make that up. Elon Jackson says that males having an advantage over females is a myth. You know her position on every other subject. Why is that? Try to analyze that with you. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Mike Lindell with MyPillow is launching the MyPillow 2.0. When Mike invented MyPillow, it had everything you could ever want in a pillow. Now, nearly 20 years later, he discovered a new technology that makes it even better. The MyPillow 2.0 has the patented adjustable fill of the original MyPillow, and now with a brand new fabric that is made with a temperature-regulating thread, the MyPillow 2.0 is the softest, smoothest, and coolest pillow you'll ever own. For my listeners, the MyPillow 2.0 is buy one, get one free offer with promo code Prager. MyPillow 2.0 temperature regulating technology is 100% made in the USA and comes with a 10-year warranty and a 60-day money-back guarantee. Just go to mypillow.com and click on the radio listeners square to the buy one, get one free offer. Enter promo code Prager or call 800-761-6302 to get your MyPillow 2.0 now. Okay, everybody, Dennis Prager. Dennis Prager here. I have a guest that many, many, many of you know, Kat Tynf. She is the co-host of Gutfeld, the most popular late-night comedy show on television, and she has a book out. And I, I knew her as a writer well before I knew her as a, as a television personality, I guess. You Can't Joke About That. Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We're All in This Together just came out, and it is a major bestseller on Amazon. So, Kat, welcome to The Dennis Prager Show, first of all.

Yes, thank you so much for having me. Yeah, I think that we've been on Red Eye together several times back in the day when I was just starting out as a writer.

That's correct. I go back a long time with you. That, that is exactly right. So what prompted you to write this?

Well, what prompted me to write this was, if you know, you read the book, you'll see that I've been through a lot of stuff, right? And what I noticed, everything I went through, whether it was the, you know, surgery that I had, or when my mom died when I was 26 years old, all of these standards of speech that were sort of put in place to protect people going through tough things actually made it worse for me because I felt like everybody around me couldn't actually speak to me. They were so scared, clearly, of saying anything wrong, and that added discomfort to what was already devastating. And you just kind of look at society at large, and I think that we're not really having real conversations anymore because we're too afraid to talk to each other. And what really can help is joking around about it and levity. And I think that as long as a conversation is well-intentioned, and certainly jokes are always well-intentioned because they're jokes, that should be encouraged.

Yes, well, there's a war on humor because humor is based on truth or it's not funny, right?

Yeah, absolutely right.

That people need to know that, that that's why there's so much truth in comedy. It is. There's no comedy if it's not based on truth. So give me an example of some, or two examples of things people won't say that you, you realized and wrote about.

All right, well, I, I made sure to try to write about everything. I didn't want to just talk the talk. I wanted to, you know, actually walk the walk too. So I mean, there's things like race, there's things like gender, but there's also things like illness and things like death. I think that there is the idea that if something is really sad or tragic, they can't joke about it. But I really think that those are the most important things to joke about. And there's this difference, I think, between sensitivity, which— real and true sensitivity, and bullying, which really a lot of what's presented as sensitivity these days is actually bullying. Because look, I'm an emotional person. I'm a woman. I got a lot of feelings, and I'm pro-speech, which includes speech about feelings. If I'm upset by something, I'll say it. But there is such a difference between expressing that your feelings are hurt and expecting the world to revolve around your hurt feelings, which, that's not being sensitive, that's actually being completely self-obsessed.

That's so accurate and wise. How did you attain this level of understanding about life? It's a very serious question. I ask it to anyone with whom I share values. How did you get here?

Well, it all started back when I was about 22 years old and I lived in Los Angeles, and I had gotten broken up with my boyfriend, who was the only person I knew in LA. I was originally going to go to Columbia Journalism School after college. I was accepted, I was enrolled, and then I realized I didn't have $80,000 to take out a loan. I would never pay that back. So I decided to intern and waitress so, you know, doing— learning broadcasting skills for free. So at this time in my life, I was a waitress, I had pretty much no money, I had— I didn't know anybody except the people I worked at the restaurants with. Things were really tough. I mean, I lived in this horrible apartment. I got fleas— my cat got fleas the same week as I got scabies. I ended up losing the apartment, things were so tough, and what I started doing during that time in my life was going to perform stand-up comedy, going to like open mics and bringer shows, and talking about what a disaster my life was on stage, because I found that talking about this stuff took some of the power away from the things that were making me feel so powerless. And it also, you know, having people laugh, it became my only means of connection during the loneliest time of my life. And I just, you know, I lost my mom at a young age, and I found the same things to be helpful. So as things have gone on, I realized that everything I'm being told about speech and about humor, the truth is actually the opposite of what everybody seems to think. And a lot of research in my book backs this up.

I mean, all right, hold on, hold on. You know the power of breaks. Kat Timpf is a thinker and she's funny. And her latest book is now out, You Can't Joke About That. It's on the DennisPrager.com. Hey everybody, Dennis Prager speaking to the co-host of the most popular late night TV comedy show, Gutfeld. She is Kat Timpf. Many of you know her. I've always known you as thinking, as a thinker. And you've got two great qualities— thinking, three— thinking, humor, and courage. So it's a pretty powerful combination. It sounds to me— I asked you how did you come to your, your views on life, so I'm going to ask you the opposite right now. Why are so many young women opposite of you in their thoughts on life?

I would say because people do not think, or they do not want to challenge or question things, because there is this idea that being— there is this common decency of needing to be careful of what you say. And so they do not really question it. I also personally have had a lot of difficulties, especially for somebody of my age. And I think that also research shows that a lot more people agree with me than will admit it. There is a huge gap in between what people think and what people will actually say. So what we've done on a mass scale is created the wrong rules for our society, which is hurting all of us.

Right. So there's this gap between what they think and what they'll say, but there's an even more, or at least equally important gap between what they believe and how they vote. Why doesn't their voting— why isn't their thinking manifested in their voting?

Yeah, I think that there's just these extremes where people will say, okay, I'm, you know, this side is intolerant and this side is, and I think that people don't really want to question things. I really think that we need to face the reality that nobody who is truly tolerant is going to act like half the country. Doesn't exist. Um, and this idea of words being violence, I think, is really, really harmful because it keeps people from talking. Because if words are violence, then violence is violence, and not responding to it with violence, you're doing that person a favor. So that shuts down the exact kind of communication that we really need to be able to understand each other better and to understand the world better.

When would you have first said, uh, I I am libertarian or conservative? What age?

I mean, even in high school, I think I was.

So it's part of your disposition?

It is. Yeah, it is absolutely part of my disposition because you just have to look around and, you know, the system doesn't really work for people, right? And I think that the more decisions you can make for yourself, the more freedom you have to create the life it is that you want. To create. And going back to women specifically, um, one of the people— I dedicated this book to my cat and also to Joan Rivers. And Joan Rivers was amazing because she saw herself, and I see her, not just as a great female comedian, but as one of the best comedians because she was unafraid to touch on any topic. And there's too much focus on what's being done to you and all the reasons you can't get ahead. And I've had many of those, but it's much more helpful to focus on how you're going to do it anyway.

Obviously, from the way you've spoken, you're very attached to your mother. Is that correct?

Yes, yes, absolutely.

And how old was she when she died?

She died when she was 57 of a very rare illness. She was very healthy, um, and it was completely a shock to me and very sad because it was a week to the day after my 26th birthday, and we were just starting to have that kind of relationship that you have when you're both adults, right? Um, And I don't really get to have that. She never really got to see me succeed. And that's something that is absolutely very sad to me.

Sad to me to hear it. If I may ask, and you certainly don't have to comment on it, did you have a relationship with your father?

Yes, my dad and I— my dad is my best friend. My dad is, uh, we developed the best friendship because my mom died in Boston. So I was taking the bus at the time there to go see her in Boston while my dad was there. The rest of the family was at home and we were kind of making medical decisions with my mom together. I have a great, great, amazing father, and that's a huge part of the reason that I am where I am.

I would agree with that. We always talk about how boys need fathers, but we don't talk about how much girls need fathers.

Yeah, I am so— I wouldn't be who I am without my dad, being able to call my dad at any time and have him be there for me, really truly in the trenches with me. I wouldn't be the person that I am without him, and I am so grateful. And I always say that I am who I am because I have the best dad in the world.

And yet you dedicated the book to your mom and the cat.

Well, no, to Joan Rivers and the cat. So this cat—

oh yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, Joan Rivers. Yeah, right.

And the cat— this cat has been with me since the time that I'm talking about in LA. This cat is 13 years old. Um, I won't let him die no matter how much he wants to. It is ridiculous because he's a feral cat. He's not good looking. He's not really nice to anybody but me. But I was a Boston Market cashier really struggling when I got this cat, and he's been with me the entire time.

Would you be as funny if you didn't suffer?

I don't think so, because I wouldn't have needed to be funny. I wouldn't have needed to develop humor as a way of coping with all of these things.

Right. Um, yeah, I, I, I was almost certain of your answer. That the, uh, generally speaking, comedians come from groups that have suffered, and, uh, you're not in that group because I assume you're white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, basically, but you have individually suffered. Do you ever, if you ever wake up and think, you know, I, I can't see myself being funny today I have.

I absolutely have. But then I just make a joke about that because sometimes I'll go on the show and I'll be like, oh, I don't really think of the show. And I'm like, oh wow, Kat, are your massive, um, earth-shattering opportunities too much for you right now?

Oh, I know, that's so good. That is so terrific, right?

Yeah.

Who the hell am I to be in a bad mood?

Yeah. Oh, you don't want to be on TV? Like, you know, So that gets me out of it pretty quick.

That is awesome, folks. This is why you should read the book. The book is You Can Joke About That. That's the title. And then of course a long subtitle. And it is— that's it— Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We're All in This Together. I mean, after you hear her, it should be self-recommending. Kat, I hope to see you soon. This was a total delight.

Absolutely. It's always great talking to you. Thank you so much for having me.

Truly a pleasure. See what she did in the— that answer was so terrific. Yeah, so, you know, and she, she then like smacks her head with a windmill and goes, are you kidding? Look at your life. Hello everybody, Dennis Prager here. So you've heard The biggest name in news on television, Tucker Carlson, has left quite abruptly, has left Fox News. And Don Lemon, not quite the powerhouse that Tucker Carlson is, he has been let go of, let go by CNN. That was an understatement, by the way. It was an understatement when I said he wasn't quite the powerhouse? Yes. I think you intended— I don't know what. Yeah, I intended it to be an understatement. Understatements are very powerful. It was sad to me because I actually had a good relationship with him prior to the Trump era. The Trump era is a perfect test. I asked Jordan Peterson once, do you know somebody— can you say you know someone well if they haven't been tested? And he immediately said no. That has really stayed with me. COVID was a test. Did you want to know truth, or did you want to be sheep-like in your behavior? That was a test most Americans were found wanting. Oh, virtually every school, virtually every church and synagogue— that was the most depressing. Churches and synagogue walking lockstep with the government. What the hell do you need religion for if their god is the state? The secular irrational state, I might add. Well, life in some ways is a series of disappointments. I am not immune to that, but I am more immune to others because I have such a low opinion of human nature. So I am more inclined to celebrate good and courageous people than to lament the sheep and the cowards. I expect sheep-like cowardice, and therefore I'm not usually surprised. Sometimes I still am. I was a little stunned by Organized religion marching in lockstep with the government on shutdowns. I run a, uh, a Rosh Hashanah and Kippur service, have for 15 years. We had maskless services in 20— let's see, 2022. We had, of course, in 2020 because it's in the fall. Uh, it was not possible to have one in 2021. Because that— not in 2020, there were no services. Yeah, there were. It was— oh, oh, excuse me, 2019. You're right, I missed one year. I had 2021. Yes, because last year— yes, of course, I had the— I didn't— I have the year before. Did I miss two years? Uh, you might have had 2021. I, I— yes, I had 2021. Let me get this straight in my brain. No, no, I don't think so. 2021. Here, the 2019, we discover COVID. That's it. Yeah, 2019, because 2020 is the elections. So 2019, we discover COVID. Yeah, that was when I was on Bill Maher, and it happened right after that. It was in January, February. Okay, you're right. Okay, so it doesn't matter. Winter 2019, 2020. Fine, that's fair. Oh, it doesn't matter to me. Say January 2020. So I had services in 2019 because it was a non-issue. I didn't have in 2020, everything was closed. Did I have in 2021 is the question. I think you did. And I think you did in 2022.

I think you did.

Yeah. So I, well, certainly 2022. Anyway, I disobeyed the injunction. There was a period of about 6 months when I was literally the only person at airports not wearing a mask. And I gotta tell you, you know, I'm 6'4", I stick out, and it was not easy. I fully acknowledge that, but I had to make a statement and be consistent with my principles. I was approached 4 times by police officers in 4 different airports in the country. In every instance, they walked over and said, Dennis Prager, just want you to know we really love you. In each case, my adrenaline rushed. Was I being arrested? Some leftist even tweeted a picture of me at LAX, Los Angeles International Airport. Look, Prager's the only one without a mask. I was so happy that he put it out there, that there was evidence of it. Anyway, the long The short of it is life being a series of disappointments, and the more you expect, the more disappointed you will be. That's— that is, there is a phrase one of you called in on. I'm telling you what I have learned from you, especially those of you who have undergone the 12-step programs is just astonishing. Now let's see.

Hmm.

Yeah, here it is. Expectations are future resentments. Isn't that a fantastic phrase? That's exactly right. Expectations are future resentments. That came on the happiness hour that I did on the issue of resentments. First hour, I read to you from the Wall Street Journal how the Biden campaign engineered with 51 top spies, in other words, FBI, CIA, etc. To declare the Hunter Biden laptop Russian disinformation, and nothing will happen. Nothing. Was there cheating in the 2020 election? So here's an interesting question for you: is this considered cheating, lying to the American people about one of the candidates, a gigantic, no, knowable lie, and helping him win. Is that cheating? There are many ways of cheating. They are not only with regard to ballot counting or ballot stuffing or ballot harvesting or a 1-month period of voting instead of 1 day. There is also— this is a form of cheating, is it not? What if 50 former heads of the FBI and CIA, National Defense, or whatever other agencies there are, what if they had come out with a statement, Donald Trump raped the woman last week? Right? 50 heads of former intelligence agents or former heads of intelligence agencies. Let us say they came out with that. Would that be called cheating? Uh, 2 weeks before voting day. So there, there are many elements to the cheating question. And there They won, didn't they? That was what's-his-name, Harry, uh, Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader for years. A truly, uh, despicable man. I, I will share with you, as I always do, I share with you what I think, and certainly— not certainly, but on occasion what I feel. Here's a feeling sharing. How's that? That should be celebrated by many on the left who are into sharing feelings. Here is one of the handful of disappointments in my life. Disappointment in half my fellow Americans. I was such an American, not only lover but admirer, and talk about the American people as knowing there were always bad people in any group, obviously. I mean, if just 1 out of 10 Americans is a bad person, that's 35 million bad people. But I had always spoken of Americans in laudatory terms— the friendliest, most open And then, and then I see what happened in 2020— people losing their minds and becoming mean, not talking to parents because they voted for Donald Trump. Did we ever have that in American history? Of course not. You voted for X, I won't talk to you, I won't let you see your grandchildren. There is such a thing. I didn't believe it. I never used it during his administration. That's Trump Derangement Syndrome. Back in a moment. The Tucker Carlson issue is very fascinating. Did they let him go? Did he resign? There's statements now that they let him go. May I offer your theory to the public? CNN and Fox. My producer's belief is CNN is trying to move to the middle from the left, and Fox is trying to move to the middle from the right. I don't know. I don't— he doesn't know, and I don't know, but it is an interesting theory. 1-800-PRAGER-776. I'll tell you one thing, talk radio is a Rock of Gibraltar. And of course, cumulatively, way, way, way, way more listeners than any TV has. That's why we're here. So in light of that, I'm going to take Klaus in Oxnard, California. Hello, Klaus. Or Klaus?

Hey Dennis, thank you for taking my call.

You're welcome. Is it Klaus or Klaus?

It's Klaus.

Klaus. I was close.

You were close.

I was close on Klaus.

You were close on Klaus. That's right. Hey, um, quickly before I get to my main subject, just want to express my condolences to you and Sue and the entire Prager family and Dennis Prager, you, about the passing of Otto.

Um, that's very sweet of you. Well, you know, you're right to— I mean, there is a hole that he left. I'm almost amazed to say this because I'm a people person more than a pet person, but there's— I can't deny it, I miss him. And my wife is really loved him very deeply. Thank you. Anyway, go ahead.

Yeah, I've, for as long as I've been alive, I've always had at least one dog in my life.

All right, so you've gone through this. Yes, you've gone through it. Exactly.

I've had, I've had a total of 6 dogs in my life.

How old are you?

I am 31.

How did you have 6 dogs in 31 years?

Uh, so we've staggered them. Um, like my parents got a dog when— before I was born, and he was like 4 years old, and then they got a second dog.

And I see, so they would, they would get them before the previous one died. I got it.

Correct.

All right, what's your subject?

And, uh, Prager, you should have a little bronze statue of—

oh, that's funny. We should. You're entirely right.

Like Greyfire's Bobby and, uh, Balto in Central Park. But anyway, okay. So, um, in light of the subject of talk radio and Tucker Carlson being outed or leaving that Fox, um, Glenn Beck just broadcasted a text line that we should all text to, to sign a petition to keep AM radios on new car production. There is a, there is a very viable threat to keep AM radios out of cars.

That's right, that's correct. And electric cars.

Yes, yes. I know you got a lot of loyal listeners, millions of them, most of them listening on.

Well, what I had— I, I'm familiar with this and it's, it's a very serious issue. It would, it would end talk radio basically because so much of it is based on car listening, and that would be a tragedy for our values, a big, big deal. Yeah, so that the, the hope that I have read is that the government requires AM radios because if there is an emergency, that is the only way they would be able to communicate with people, correct?

Correct, because it's more reliable than anything. Travel farther.

Yes.

And anything. Yeah, so that's right. Um, if I may, the text number is 56288, and you text the word AM, capital A, capital M, to 52886. Let me just verify that just to make sure, because I don't want to give a wrong number.

You don't, right? Glenn Beck, uh, Yeah, we should get the Glenn Beck tweet and retweet it. Yeah, yeah, that's what we'll do. Well, listen, you are now one of my 30 favorite listeners in Oxnard.

52886, that is the number. And sign that petition. Thank you, Dennis. Love you.

Thank you. I get a lot of love from men. I'm very touched by that. The funniest in that regard was the woman who called me a couple of years ago and said, you know, I wake up to Hugh Hewitt and I shower with you. I'll never forget that call. Okay. Don Lemon is out too. I, I, it's hard for me to imagine, but anything's possible. Would MSNBC pick him up? You just don't think he—

yeah, I don't—

it's very interesting. Well, he, he is not the same man as I knew when I used to go on CNN on his show. I think Trump Derangement Syndrome was a factor in his life. So they're— they haven't yet released the report. The police have not, or the FBI have not, on the trans murderer, mass murderer in the church. And that's very important. My suspicion is that this person was very angry at Christians for affirming that there are only two sexes. This is— there is an anger and violent element in the trans community that is a little scary, and I don't get scared easily. Did you see what happened to this Utah legislator? Well, this Utah legislator, right? Who doesn't want guys to compete in girls' sports. His whole house was vandalized. Imagine if that happened to a left-wing pro-choice person. We return. Hi there, everybody. Where was the, uh, where's the story on the transgender female, biological male, who's threatening people? Did you see that one? Was it, uh, was that sent last night? Because like, I'm reading so many trans stories. Oh God. Here, I gave you the powerlifting one that a judge ruled that USA Powerlifting must, must have males compete against females, biological males against biological females. If I put that— let me ask you a question. If I put that judge on a lie detector machine and said, do you believe it is fair to have biological males in weightlifting compete against biological females? Do you think he would pass the test? See, because this is our perennial question: does the left believe their lies? I think they do often, but I'm not sure if you ask that question Would any leftist pass the test? See, if you ask the question, is it fair to bar transgender females from female sports, they'll say no, that's not fair, and they might pass the test. They really believe that. But what if you ask the test the other way? Do you think it is fair to females to have biological males compete against them in sports? How would they answer that? I think all of you should ask that question of your liberals and leftist relatives and friends. Don't argue, just ask. I'm just curious. There's a curiosity question. I love you. I don't want to debate. I just want to know where you're coming from. People are flattered when you flatter them like that. I want to know where you're coming from. Okay, and by the way, it's true. I want to know where they're coming from too. I want to know where your brother-in-law is coming from. Is it fair to the women? If it is fair to the women, then why is there women's sports? That's the obvious follow-up question. All right, I covered that earlier. The, uh, well, the, uh, well, the one— there was another one. I didn't understand the math. You know what is what? Maybe there are 3 articles out of 10,000 I read in a year that I don't understand. I don't understand how they are using preferred pronouns in math. When do you use any pronoun in math? I think if you create a problem If you— I'm repeating you. If you create a problem, it's like if somebody walked to the store, somebody walked to the store, so you would say they— okay, so, okay, so they walk to the store at 4 miles, at a rate of 4 miles an hour, how many miles will they cover in 45 minutes? That's what you're not— yeah, but we would say that now. We do. They You know, when we're referring to an unknown individual. So anyway, all right, I mean, it doesn't matter. I didn't find that. I didn't quite understand what they were talking about. But the reason why they're doing this, why it's important. Yeah, no, the reason is everything. Here's another one for you folks. Public school teaches 5-year-olds they may be transgender and flies the transgender flag. A March 24th principal's weekly update for San Francisco area Burton Valley Elementary announced festivities for a day of observance and education. Quote, next week you will notice a new flag on our flagpole as we fly the transgender flag. Wait, what is the transgender flag? There's— I know that there's a gay pride, the GLGBTQ+ flag? What is the transgender flag? Across all of the schools in Lafayette School District, in accordance with school board resolution 11-2223, to honor International Day of Visibility, we will also be reading a story as a school called It Feels Good to Be Yourself, a book about gender identity. Well, this is at an elementary school, and yet parents keep sending their kids there. I'm telling you, all of you who have any money, tell your children that you will help them as much as possible financially if they homeschool their children. 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.